A Snapshot of Public Diplomacy
Thursday, June 28th 2012
Today when I opened my e-mail I was greeted by a message from the new Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. The message entitled "A Snapshot of Public Diplomacy" was a rundown of public diplomacy activities in each of the regional bureaus, ECA and IIP.
This is the sort of "weekly highlights" that would be compiled (and still is I suppose) by each regional PPD office and the ECA and IIP bureaus to send forward to the "front office", i.e. R or the Office of the Under Secretary. For post posts and offices it was (or is) the only way to get noticed by the top of the hierarchy. But in the past that is about as far as it went. Oh sure the folks in R would send around the highlights to various bureaus and offices at State, perhaps copies would make their way to USAID, DOD Policy and even to the White House but the public never saw any of it. Now, lucky members of the public like me--and now you--can see what PD folks are up to and it is often some impressive stuff. You can check it out for yourself at this website:
Since we have been talking a bit about Smith-Mundt in these pages of late, it is worth noting that this sort of material was often held back from the curious eyes of the American public in the past because of some misunderstandings if not downright misinterpretations of the regulations relating to the dissemination of propaganda to the citizens and residents of the USA. Finally common sense has prevailed and the people who pay for this activity can actually learn what their tax money buys. And I think they will believe, as I do, that it is good value for money.
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William P. Kiehl
Treasurer / Board Member
Bill Kiehl is founding President & CEO of PD Worldwide, consultants in international public affairs, higher education management, and cross-cultural communication. Dr. Kiehl is currently the Book Review Editor and editor emeritus of the journal American Diplomacy, published by the American Diplomacy Foundation in cooperation with the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He served as Executive Director of the Public Diplomacy Council from February 2004 through April 2007. Dr. Kiehl has taught public diplomacy at the Foreign Service Institute and has lectured at a number of colleges and universities in the U.S. and abroad. He holds his Doctorate in Higher Education Management from the University of Pennsylvania; his dissertation was "The Influence of Campus Internationalization on Local Communities."
...click authors name for more infoAuthor: Bill Kiehl
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It's a Snapshot
For photographers, “a snapshot” is a quick picture, taken in an instant and meant only to capture a moment.
A “snapshot” is not usually a well-composed or thoughtful treatment of the subject matter. Compare, for example, an Ansel Adams photograph of Yosemite with any of the several million snapshots taken each year by tourists.
So let's agree that these public diplomacy “snapshots” don’t do full justice to the broad array and complexity of public diplomacy work going on around the world in any given week.
With that caveat, I wholeheartedly agree with Bill Kiehl: this effort to share “snapshots” of public diplomacy is welcome.
When Americans understand what State does, they generally support it. The Wikipedia leaks of State Department telegraphic messages, mostly published between April and November 2010, had the unintended benefit of giving Americans a pleasant surprise. Citizens as well as policy wonks and journalists admitted that they never appreciated just how deeply perceptive, accurate and well-informed U.S. diplomats really are.
While the A Snapshot of Public Diplomacy in Action will never match Wikileaks in terms of headlines generated, it is a positive step. Maybe it signals a change in attitude for a State Department that long preferred to conduct the nation's foreign affairs out of the public eye.
Public diplomacy needs public support. One way to get it is to let the American public understand and appreciate what’s being accomplished.
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