TITLE

U.S. Public Diplomacy: State Department and the Broadcasting Board of Governors Expand Efforts in the Middle East but Face Significant Challenges: GAO-04-435T

AUTHOR(S)

Ford, Jess T.

PUB. DATE

February 2004

SOURCE

GAO Reports;2/10/2004, p1

SOURCE TYPE

Government Document

DOC. TYPE

Article

ABSTRACT

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, were a dramatic reminder of the importance of our need to cultivate a better public opinion of the United States abroad. Yet recent opinion research indicates that foreign publics, especially in countries with large Muslim populations, view the United States unfavorably. GAO issued two studies in 2003 that examined changes in U.S. public diplomacy resources and programs since September 11 within the State Department (State) and the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG); the U.S. government's strategies for its public diplomacy programs and how it measures their effectiveness; and the challenges that remain in executing U.S. public diplomacy efforts. Although the studies did not focus exclusively on the Middle East, they identified systemic problems that would apply to public diplomacy activities there. Since September 11, State has expanded its public diplomacy efforts in Muslim-majority countries considered to be of strategic importance in the war on terrorism. It significantly increased resources in South Asia and the Near East and launched new initiatives targeting broader, younger audiences--particularly in predominantly Muslim countries. Also since September 11, the BBG has initiated several new programs focused on attracting larger audiences in priority markets, including Radio Sawa and Arabic language television in the Middle East, the Afghanistan Radio Network, and Radio Farda in Iran. State and BBG have increased their efforts to support the war on terrorism. However, State does not have a strategy that integrates all of its diverse public diplomacy activities and directs them toward common objectives. In addition, we found that while the BBG did have a strategic plan, the plan lacked a long-term strategic goal or related program objective to gauge the Board's success in increasing audience size, the key focus of its plan. Furthermore, there is no interagency strategy to guide State's, BBG's, and all federal agencies' communication efforts and thus ensure consistent messages to overseas audiences. In addition to strategy deficiencies, we found that State and the BBG were not systematically and comprehensively measuring progress toward the goals of reaching broader audiences and increasing publics' understanding about the United States. In addition to weaknesses in planning and performance measurement, State and BBG face several internal challenges in carrying out their programs. Challenges at State include insufficient public diplomacy resources and a lack of officers with foreign language proficiency. The BBG also faces a number of media market, organizational, and resource challenges that may hamper its efforts to generate large audiences in priority markets.

ACCESSION #

18173870

Tags: INTERNATIONAL relations;  UNITED States. Government Accountability Office;  DIPLOMACY;  TERRORISM

 

Related Articles

• Assessment of Public Diplomacy Platforms Could Help Improve State Department Plans to Expand Engagement.  // GAO Reports;7/21/2010, preceding p1 

  No abstract available.

• Highlight of a FORUM: Enhancing U.S. Partnerships in Countering Transnational Terrorism. Dodaro, Gene L. // GAO Reports;7/31/2008, p1 

  Information about several papers discusses at a forum sponsored by the Government Accountability Office on enhancing partnerships in countering transnational terrorism in the U.S. is presented. Topics include the discussion on types of partnerships or initiatives in countering the enabling...

• Tools of engagement. Zaharna, R. S. // Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists;Sep/Oct2006, Vol. 62 Issue 5, p66 

  The article features "U.S. Public Diplomacy: State Department Efforts to Engage Muslim Audiences Lack Certain Communication Elements and Face Significant Challenges," a May 2006 report of the Government Accountability Office of the U.S. It started with a postmortem of sorts, recounting the State...

• Diplomatic Security's Recent Growth Warrants Strategic Review.  // GAO Reports;12/7/2009, preceding p1 

  The article presents a report prepared by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) of U.S. to assess the evolution of Bureau of Diplomatic Security's mission since 1998. Its mission to ensure a safe environment for the conduct of U.S. foreign policy, involves the protection of people, property...

• Implant Sciences [IMX]: OSI Systems' [OSIS]: American Science and Engineering [ASEI]: Intel Corp. [INTC]: Briefing.  // TR2: Terror Response Technology Report;3/2/2011, Vol. 7 Issue 5, p1 

  This section offers news briefs related to terror response technology as of March 2011, including the 600,000 U.S. dollars in new orders received by Implant Sciences for its Quantum Sniffer QS H-150 handheld explosives trace detector, the decision by the U.S. Government Accountability Office to...

• Subject: Initial Results on Availability of Terrorism Insurance in Specific Geographic Markets.  // GAO Reports;7/11/2008, p1 

  The article presents the initial results on availability of terrorism insurance in specific geographic markets addressed by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. Accordingly, GAO complied and analyzed the available data on insurance and reinsurance industry capacity, terrorism insurance...

• GAO: Terrorism-insurance coverage still a challenge in high-risk areas.  // Mortgage Banking;Sep2008, Vol. 68 Issue 12, p92 

  The article presents a report from Government Accountability Office (GAO) on terrorism-insurance coverage in the U.S. The report states that certain policyholders may face challenges in obtaining desired amount of terrorism-insurance coverage at reasonable prices. The report noted that...

• Public/private partnership necessary to insure terror risks.  // Business Insurance;10/2/2006, Vol. 40 Issue 40, p8 

  The article reports on the announcement by the U.S. Government Accountability Office that private insurance has no appetite for covering chemical, nuclear, biological and radiological terrorism risks. That is hardly surprising since the insurance industry has been saying as much for years, and...

• Some terror cover hard to find: GAO. Hofmann, Mark A. // Business Insurance;7/14/2008, Vol. 42 Issue 28, p4 

  The article focuses on a U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report which revealed that certain commercial property policyholders continue to face problems finding terrorism coverage at prices they consider reasonable. The GAO said commercial property terrorism insurance coverage appears...

Read the Article