The Foreign Service Journal, December 2018

16 DECEMBER 2018 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL A Restructuring of Public Diplomacy? O n Oct. 19, Foreign Policy reported that the State Department is consid- ering an overhaul of its public diplomacy function. This summer Secretary of State Pom- peo directed the Bureau of Public Affairs and the Bureau of International Informa- tion Programs to explore the possibility of merging under a new name, the “Bureau of Outreach.”The new bureau, according to FP , would likely be headed by the cur- rent PA head, Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs Michelle Giuda. The division between the two bureaus dates to the Smith-Mundt Act of 1948, which prevents federal agencies from directing government programming at domestic audiences, construed as a way to block government propaganda from reaching American voters. IIP has since remove language just prior to the release of the 2017 document had reportedly come from the Secretary of State’s office. At the time, dozens of human rights, health and development organizations protested the decision with a letter expressing “deep concern.” In October, lawmakers and civil society organizations spoke up in advance about the 2018 Human Rights Report. A group of 129 members of the House of Representa- tives sent a letter to Secretary Pompeo on Oct. 1 expressing their “strong opposition to the omission of reproductive rights” from the report. The legislators explained: “Congress relies on the department’s accurate and unbiased reporting when considering appropriations requests for foreign assis- tance, and when considering legislation that could shift or influence U.S. foreign policy.” The lawmakers requested that within 30 days the department provide a justification for the decision, and all correspondence and internal documents relating to it. The next day, 97 civil society organiza- tions sent their own letter to Secretary Pom- peo, stating that “striking certain threats or abuses against some marginalized commu- nities or people, including women and girls, from the report sends a message to abusive governments that the United States turns a blind eye to such action and may embolden regression on women’s rights globally.” The 2018 reports are “being prepared right now with explicit instructions to con- tinue this excision,” Foreign Policy reported on Oct. 23. That will omit, says FP , “vital reporting on some of the most common deprivations of women’s reproductive free- doms worldwide.” This edition of Talking Points was com- piled by Donna Gorman, Steve Honley and Shawn Dorman. S ometimes, you get assigned to a post that is so far away, it feels like it’s on the opposite side of the earth. But is it really? The Antipodes Map site will allow you to find the antipode—the opposite side—of any place on the globe. Simply click on a spot on the left map on the site, and the antipode to that spot will be displayed on the right map. It also lists major cities that have antipodes: if you’re reading this in Hong Kong, for example, La Quiaca, Argentina, is directly beneath your feet. Antipodes isn’t, technically speaking, the most useful site out there. But it’s an entertaining way to think about world geography, for both adults and kids. And it can give you a fun perspective on your current post. Oh, and speaking of kids: Remember when you were little, and someone told you that if you dug a hole straight through the Earth, you’d wind up in China? Not true, according to Antipodes Map. In most areas of the United States, you’d land in the ocean if you could dig straight through. There are, however, a few places in Argentina and Chile that are directly opposite China. Happy digging! SITE OF THE MONTH: www.antipodesmap.com focused solely on overseas audiences, while PA handles press and other domestic issues. Often, however, the work of the two bureaus intersects. The plan was developed in part as a reaction to Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, which exposed a need to improve State’s social media outreach. “The plan was not finalized, and there would be no reduction in staffing if the merger went forward,” a depart- ment spokesperson told FP . The Language of Reproductive Rights I n the April edition of Talking Points, we reported the removal from the State Department’s 2017 Country Reports on Human Rights of language regarding women’s reproductive rights and discrimination. The instructions to