The Foreign Service Journal, October 2009

practices of young populations across the world. In Africa, Iran, China and Russia, young people are reaching out as much as they can across borders through their laptops, cell phones, Blackberries and iPhones to update their Facebook profiles, follow each other on Twitter , and far more. The State Department’s leadership realizes we need to be a significant player in this growing space, but the funding for that has not yet materialized. Resources need to be provided to every embassy, and throughout the de- partment, to allow PD officers and staff to access these technologies, with a streamlined process to gain approval to add software and hardware to our OpenNet terminals. As the tools change, PD officers will require a more sophisticated approach to ongoing ed- ucation in order to stay current, en- hancing their ability to apply these technologies appropriately. The Bureau of Information Re- sourceManagement, IIP’s Information Resource Officers and Information Resource Center staff must be trained in the logistical use of new media and their strategic application for public diplomacy. We also need to reach out to information technology private-sec- tor giants like Google and Microsoft to create partnerships that enable us to use these technologies with foreign au- diences worldwide. Finally, we need to empower PD officers overseas to determine how best to employ emerging technology in their specific program environments. In some countries, SMS may be the most effective way to reach out to au- diences with limited Internet connec- tivity. In others, Web-based technolo- gies have already replaced print media. Working with their front offices, public affairs officers must be able to choose which media are the best to use to communicate effective messages to their particular audiences, given the reality of limited staff and budgets. Develop the Next Generation PD officers usually will do at least two, and possibly four, years of out-of- cone work before bidding on their first public diplomacy position. When they do bid on those jobs, they are often dis- advantaged in the process because they cannot clearly demonstrate their public diplomacy expertise. The PD leadership can help by establishing clear guidelines for new officers that outline necessary skills (programman- agement, budget review, public speak- ing, media training, etc.) and how to obtain them during entry-level tours, whether in PD positions or not. This can be accomplished in liaison with the Public Diplomacy Training Division and the Consular Training Di- vision at the Foreign Service Institute. However, this means that embassies will have to balance their needs on the consular line with the need to develop a professional public diplomacy corps within the Foreign Service. (This ap- plies to other cones as well, of course.) Armed with this skills development plan, both the officer and prospective supervisor can be confident that bid- ders on FS-3 PD jobs will be prepared for the work, whether or not they al- ready have public diplomacy on their resumé. USIA’s junior officer training program sharpened the skills of entry- level personnel going into assistant cul- tural affairs officer and assistant information officer positions, placing them under the supervision of experi- enced PD officers and including rota- tions in consular, political/economic and management sections. Furthermore, mid-level officers in the field should be encouraged to be creative and innovative by competing for special funds that R would earmark to develop new programs. Expand Mid-Level Training and Professional Education Opportunities The need for a highly professional, well-educated public diplomacy corps has never been greater. A stronger PD officer corps will have the ability to reach new audiences, as well as ne- glected ones, using a variety of meth- ods. A public diplomacy expert com- bines policy expertise, media savvy, a general understanding of education and the performing arts, and experi- ence with grants administration, budg- ets, technology and cultural exchange projects — a daunting repertoire to master. Regrettably, mid-level officers all too often have been denied the pro- fessional development opportunities necessary to achieve the most effective outreach skills. Opportunities should also be given for officers to earn a master’s degree in Bureaus can better achieve their policy objectives when they have an integrated public diplomacy strategy. S P E A K I N G O U T 16 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / O C T O B E R 2 0 0 9