Public Diplomacy in Action

The Bureau of Public Affairs carries out the Secretary of State's mandate to help Americans understand the importance of foreign affairs. The Public Affairs Bureau vigorously pursues the State Department's mission to inform the American people and to feed their concerns and comments back to the policymakers.

Since September 11th, 2001, the Bureau of Public Affairs has addressed Arab and Muslim audiences through many public diplomacy activities including:

• Foreign Media Interviews: Facilitating interviews with the Secretary of State and other Department principals to reach out directly to foreign audiences.
• Harnessing the Private Sector: Working with business and entertainment groups to advance the message of shared values and open opportunity. Examples include the MTV production "Global Discussion with Colin Powell" which aired all over the world.
• Foreign Press Center Briefings: Journalists from other countries receive the opportunity to question American administration officials on U.S. foreign policy.
• Reporting Tours: Journalists from other countries are brought to the U.S. to conduct interviews with Administration officials and members of the public, visit important cultural and educational sites, and tour various cities. These tours result in more accurate, positive press coverage in the journalists’ home countries. Recent tours have included:

  w A two week reporting tour to Washington, Detroit, Dearborn and New York City for Indonesian journalists who visited mosques and Islamic centers to meet with Muslim Americans and share their experiences and views of life in America before and after September 11. (Over sixty articles were published in Indonesia as a result of this tour);

  w A reporting tour for journalists from Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Oman on Muslim Life in America and U.S. policy since 9/11. The program included an interview with Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage in Washington, DC; a visit to Toledo, Ohio, one of the largest Muslim immigrant communities in America; and New York City where they met with UN officials, toured Ground Zero, and visited a Muslim school.

  w Silk Road Tour for journalists from 12 countries including Syria, Pakistan, and several majority Muslim nations. The tour highlighted contributions made by Muslim-Americans to U.S. cultural and artistic life as well as U.S. respect and appreciation for Muslim cultural heritage; coverage of the Smithsonian "Silk Road" Folklife Festival in DC; the Art Institute of Chicago, the Institute of Islamic Information & Education, and the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago; and visits to Ground Zero and Fourth of July festivities in New York City.

• Television Production Assistance: We assist other countries in producing reports on newsworthy topics. We provide television crews, videotape footage, help with production of feature reports, and assistance with interviews of U.S. officials and location filming.
• Language Facilities: We provide translations of important speeches and programs through our American Embassy Television Network, which allows foreign broadcasters to retransmit the programs in their native languages, which include Arabic, Pashtu, Dari, Urdu, Russian, Mandarin, Turkish, Spanish, and Portuguese.
• Cooperative Productions include: Pakistan: "Islam in America"; Kyrgystan: "America After September 11: Muslims/Terrorism"; Indonesia: "Terrorism/Muslim Issues"; Russia/Moscow: "Bioterrorism"; and Slovenia: "U.S. Points of View on Terrorism".
• Other projects include: 15 American Embassy Television Network feature stories, mini-documentaries and news releases on Afghanistan humanitarian assistance and Afghanistan women and children; two 30-minute documentaries on "Islam in America;" a video titled "From September 11 to July 4th" and video news releases on "Ground Zero Photo Exhibit," and "Muslims in Pre-Ramadan Bazaar."