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READING BETWEEN THE LINES
SEP 13, 2007
 Posted by Craig Hayden
All posts by Craig Hayden


The New York Times published an interview with the United States Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy, Karen Hughes, on August 28, 2007. The interview was conducted by Robert McMahon of the Council on Foreign Relations and can be found here. McMahon posed some relatively straightforward, if not overly provocative questions, for the Undersecretary. In this blog post I take a critical look at her responses. It is not my aim to simply reject her statements -- but I do think it is important to look at the implications of her policy rhetoric. Hughes’s appointment as the steward of U.S. public diplomacy…... Full Text
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‘DEEDS’ INDEED: EXAMINING THE ETHOS OF U.S. PUBLIC DIPLOMACY POLICY
APR 27, 2007
 Posted by Craig Hayden
All posts by Craig Hayden


The many justifications for U.S. public diplomacy policy range from the concrete to the abstract. In forums such as this Web site, public diplomacy is described as both a specialized instrument for foreign policy promotion, as well as a symbol of the lofty ideals of promoting international dialogue and cultural understanding. Yet the instrumental aspect of public diplomacy typically boils down to the amplification of United States ethos. Public diplomacy conveys aspects of U.S. national character that in turn creates opportunities for dialogue, highlights shared cultural heritage, and provides exposure to information about U.S. policy and society. It builds an…... Full Text
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PUBLIC RELATIONS, PELOSI, AND THE U.S. PUBLIC DIPLOMACY MACHINE
APR 12, 2007
 Posted by Craig Hayden
All posts by Craig Hayden


U.S. public diplomacy programs aim to cultivate connections between foreign publics and the United States, which in theory fosters greater understanding of the United States, its motivations, and ultimate policy objectives. It should make sense of U.S. politics and reveal a more "objective" picture of the stewards of U.S. policy, who act at the behest of the American people. And it’s not an exact science. Strongly entrenched negative views about the U.S. in the Middle East (and elsewhere) continue to push the State Department towards new ideas for how this can be accomplished. One of the more recent efforts involved…... Full Text
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DISAGGREGATE: A STRATEGIC DIRECTION FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY
MAR 15, 2007
 Posted by Craig Hayden
All posts by Craig Hayden


An article by George Packer in the December 18, 2006 issue of the New Yorker raises some interesting questions for public diplomacy. The article, titled "Knowing the Enemy: Can social scientists redefine the 'War on Terror'?" highlights how insights from counter-insurgency and cultural anthropology studies have revealed that the U.S. conflict with jihadist groups is largely informational. And, this conflict is comprised of multiple groups reflecting both local and regional concerns. According to Packer, the sweeping notion of the "War on Terror" fails to reflect that the "war" is made up of very particular groups that operate on a local…... Full Text
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PERSUASION IN PUBLIC DIPLOMACY: BACK TO BASICS
MAR 1, 2007
 Posted by Craig Hayden
All posts by Craig Hayden


Much of the discussion on the Public Diplomacy blog dwells on how a nation can persuade others about its image and its policies. The most common observation has been that actions (e.g. a foreign policy) can "speak" louder than any communication campaign. Again and again, this argument is presented: U.S. public diplomacy programs face difficulty because U.S. policy actions so obviously overpower any attempt to persuade publics through international broadcasting, cultural exchanges, and the other components of U.S. public diplomacy. The U.S. needs to move beyond this stopping point. The debate on branding has been instructive, but I think some…... Full Text
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