The Foreign Service Journal, October 2015

48 OCTOBER 2015 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Food has always been part of the expo-goers experience, but especially for this important food-centered fair. The U.S. pavilion food trucks in Milan lacked identifying decoration due to their rotating menus—a bit disappointing given the creativity displayed by other countries (the Dutch food trucks were hard to beat). COURTESYOFMATTHEWASADA State should establish a permanent two-person unit that is then temporarily embedded into whichever regional bureau is hosting the next expo. and programming. While ECA has authority to manage U.S. participation per the Fulbright-Hays Act of 1961, the Bureau of International Information Programs might be a more logical home given its responsibility for the U.S. government’s American spaces and platforms. State should establish a permanent two-person unit in ECA or IIP that is then temporarily embedded into which- ever regional bureau is hosting the next expo. The department should consider creating more one-year domestic and overseas assignments for Foreign Service person- nel to be involved in content creation and delivery of material at the pavilion. Finally, IIP should develop a specific world’s fair campaign to push out to posts to maximize coverage in local press about U.S. and host country participation. In 2009, Congress authorized establishment of Brand USA, the United States’ first tourism promotion agency. Funded by a $10 surcharge on every international airline ticket, the agency promotes tourism to all 50 states. While Brand USA contributed to the content development and construction expenses of the U.S. pavilion in Milan, there is greater scope for collaboration in Dubai, given the shared interest in public diplomacy and tourism promo- tion and Brand USA’s independent, non-appropriated, fee-driven revenue stream. Finally, it is time for the State Department and the next admin- istration to request federal funds for the construction and opera- tion of a U.S. pavilion as part of a true public-private partnership and to rejoin the Bureau of International Expositions to increase the chances that a U.S. city will be chosen as a future host. Now is the time for public diplomacy investments to tell our story, explain our policies and mobilize humanity to address our global challenges. This year the United States will spend tens of millions on countering violent extremism. Perhaps a small por- tion of that should go toward U.S. participation at the next Public Diplomacy Olympics—the 2020 World’s Fair in Dubai. n