Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy to Discuss U.S. Government Communication to Foreign Populations

The U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy will meet on Friday, May 24 to examine how the United States government communicates with foreign publics. The meeting will take place from 10 a.m. to 12 noon in Room 1408 of the U.S. Department of State at 2201 C St., NW, Washington.

Commissioners will discuss current perceptions of the United States held in the Middle East when they hear from Graham Fuller, a former senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation in Washington and former vice-chairman of the National Intelligence Council at the Central Intelligence Agency. Mr. Fuller recently returned from a speaking tour of the region and will report some of the findings acquired during this tour.

Additional areas to be discussed by the Commissioners include current public diplomacy legislation in Congress, State Department outreach programs for youth and the training of embassy public affairs officers.

The Commission is a bipartisan Presidentially appointed panel created by Congress in 1948 to provide oversight of U.S. Government activities intended to understand, inform and influence foreign publics. It reports its findings and recommendations to the President, the Congress and the Secretary of State and the American people.

Current commission members include Harold Pachios of Maine, who is the chairman; Charles Dolan of Virginia, who is the vice chairman; Penne Percy Korth of Washington, D.C.; Lewis Manilow of Illinois; and Maria Elena Torano of Florida.

Members of the general public may attend the meeting, though attendance of public members will be limited to the seating available. Access to the building is controlled, and individual building passes are required for all attendees.