Diplomatic experts expressed deep concern about America's declining image in the world and the state of U.S. public diplomacy in a new survey conducted by a public diplomacy scholar.
An overwhelming majority (88 percent) of more than 200 former high-ranking officers in the United States Information Agency who participated in the study said the U.S. is not diplomatically prepared to address ideological threats to U.S. interests in the 21st century.
Unlike traditional "state-to-state" diplomacy that involves behind-the-scenes negotiations between national leaders, public diplomacy involves direct and open "state-to-citizens" communication between a nation and the people of other nations. The purpose of American public diplomacy is to enhance relations between the U.S. and foreign publics.
"The responses of these diplomatic experts were both passionate and emphatic," said Kathy Fitzpatrick, a professor of public relations who conducted the study. "They clearly believe that much needs to be done to rebuild America's public diplomacy."
More than 80 percent of the former USIA officers rated American public diplomacy efforts today as either "poor" or "marginal." In contrast, more than 80 percent of the former USIA officers rated America's public diplomacy efforts during the Cold War as "good" or "excellent."
Nearly all (94 percent) expressed deep concern about the rise in global anti-Americanism, with similar numbers (95 percent) indicating that additional resources are needed to fund the U.S. public diplomacy mission today. In addition, 75 percent said the Bush administration does not consider the opinion of foreign publics to be important to the protection and advancement of U.S. interests.
The results of the study were released at the annual conference of the International Studies Association on March 27 in San Francisco.
Fitzpatrick is a public diplomacy scholar whose recent work, "Advancing the New Public Diplomacy: A Public Relations Perspective," appeared in a 2007 issue of The Hague Journal of Diplomacy. She is working on a new book about the future of public diplomacy in the U.S. and around the world.