Public Diplomacy, America-Style

The Brookings Institute released an interesting new report, coming out of their Project On US Relations with the Islamic World. Kristin Lord argues that the US needs to foster more robust public diplomacy in the direction of foreign publics, rather than just diplomatic relations. The report's biggest innovationn is the idea of to create an NGO, a so-called USA-World Trust, to be the beacon for US values abroad. Essentially this organization would take part in a multi-pronged strategy to secure US interests by harnesing America's greatest asset--the American people themselves. To do this, the USA-World Trust's mandate would be to engage in five major activities:

First, it will conduct research and analysis, drawing on the knowledge of experts and conveyed in a form useful to public diplomacy practitioners. Second, it will tap the vast potential of the private sector and engage companies,non-governmental organizations, universities, and others to work on innovative new initiatives. Third, it will provide grants and venture capital to endeavors that advance the USA-World Trust’s objectives. Fourth, it will identify, cultivate, and experiment with new technologies and media products that support U.S. public diplomacy and strategic communication. Fifth, it will bring together practitioners from the U.S. government, scholars, and talented visitors from the private and non-profit sectors to address public diplomacy and strategic communication challenges. In all these efforts, the Trust will engage new voices and talent, serve as a resource to government and private groups that wish to improve America’s image, strengthen America’s relations with foreign populations, and combat anti-American ideologies.

Read the full report here.