The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2004

10 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / J U LY- A U G U S T 2 0 0 4 L E T T E R S the department. The many studies carried out by various commissions and committees have had — and will have — no effect or impact on the department’s intro- spective, introverted culture. Foreign public opinion simply doesn’t count. Neal Walsh FSO Fredericksburg, Va. Deeds, Not Words It’s all very well for pundits, practi- tioners and kibitzers in the field of mass communications to bemoan the inadequacy of U.S. efforts at public diplomacy (Speaking Out, April). The fact is, however, that no nostrums involving bureaucratic reshuffling, financial resources, technical enhance- ments or programming expertise are likely to produce measurable changes in America’s global image as long as our society and political leaders are seen to behave in ways that belie the values we profess to hold dear — i.e., values such as freedom, self-determi- nation, democracy, elemental fairness, human rights and equal justice under law. This rings especially true with regard to U.S. policies toward the Middle East. In other words, it’s not what we say that will improve America’s declining image abroad, but what we do. To pretend otherwise is self-defeating. It is also hypocrisy. Thomas J. Carolan Jr. FSO, retired Silver Spring, Md. Internal Outreach Like Bill Kiehl (Speaking Out, April), I had grave doubts about the consolidation of USIA into the Department of State in 1999. What I have seen and experienced first-hand since then, however, has convinced me that the integration of public diplomacy into the State Department has given us the best opportunity we have had since the days of Charlie Wick to inform and influence the decision-making process. Our experience in communicating across cultural and language divides, our understanding of how to shape messages that will persuade and influ- ence, and our knowledge of how to deploy human and program resources creatively in support of policy objec- tives are assets we brought to the Department of State. It’s true that many of our colleagues in Washington may not fully understand what it is we do because we are largely field-orient- ed, and they may not grasp how pub- lic diplomacy can and does add value to the policy equation. So it is our responsibility to inform them. In my view, to stovepipe public diplomacy within the department, by reconsolidating PD offices now dis- persed throughout the department under an under secretary for public diplomacy, is no remedy. What serves the interests of the PD func- tion and the department better is to continue to conduct our own out- reach program to educate our col- leagues about what we can and should be doing as equal partners at the policy-making table. It can be done: take a look at the inspection report of the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs conducted two years after consolidation. The inte- gration of public diplomacy is hap- pening throughout the department, and will continue to take root, large- ly due to the efforts of people — within and outside the PD cone — who simply understand the worth of reaching out to publics and make a conscious effort to factor that into policy-making. That’s what enabled WHA’s approach to succeed. Simply to insist, as Kiehl does, that PD officers are victims of uninformed rating officers in Washington and in the field gives little credit to all involved. While they may not be Web access to major advertisers. Go to www.afsa.org Click on Marketplace tab on the marquee Bukkehave www.bukkehave.com Charles Smith Corp. Living www.SmithLiving.com Clements International www.clements.com Diplomatic Auto. Sales www.diplosales.com Executive Club Suites www.execlubdc.com Georgetown Suites www.georgetownsuites.com Harry Jannette International www.jannetteintl.com Hirshorn Company, The www.hirshorn.com Laughlin Management www.laughlincompanies.com Long & Foster www.simunek.com Marriott www.marriott.com Oakwood www.oakwood.com Quality Hotel www.hotelchoice.com/hotel/va058 Prudential Carruther/Piekney www.foreignservicehomes.com Prudential Carruthers www.prudentialcarruthers.com Remington www.remington-dc.com SDFCU www.sdfcu.org State Plaza www.stateplaza.com U.S. Gov’t Printing Office http://.bookstore.gpo.gov/sb/ sb-075.html WJDManagement www.wjdpm.com For more information about advertisers in the Journal go to: www.afsa.org/marketplace MARKETPLACE