| FY 2006 Performance and Accountability Highlights -Table of Contents Released by the Bureau of Resource Management November 2006 Strategic Goal 11: Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs
Increase Understanding For American Values, Policies, and Initiatives to Create a Receptive International Environment Under Secretary Karen Hughes speaks on religious issues facing the world at the International Prayer for Peace Summit in Washington, April 2006. AP/Wide World Photo The international exchange of information, persons, and ideas is fundamental to the security of the United States. Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs functions are premised on the knowledge that public opinion, the development of future leaders, and the benefits of education programs influence societies and affect official decision-making almost everywhere in the world. The need for public understanding continues to be critically important, both domestically and internationally. The Department’s public diplomacy activities seek to counter anti-American sentiment, promote better appreciation and understanding for the U.S. abroad and foster greater receptivity for U.S. policies among international publics, as well as greater knowledge among Americans around the world. Public diplomacy programs encourage and empower individuals with a positive vision of hope and isolate those who preach violence and extremism. Over the long term, public diplomacy programs foster a sense of common interests and common values between Americans and people of different countries, cultures and faiths. The table below summarizes Department performance ratings for the Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs strategic goal. Performance Trends. There have been a number of significant trends under the Department’s Public Diplomacy Strategic Goal. The Department has continued public diplomacy outreach to Arab and Muslim publics. There has been an increase in exchange students from the Middle East compared to FY 2005. Additionally, the Department is working to target younger segments of society around the world. Additionally, the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Education are working together to engage leaders of U.S. higher education in a renewed partnership to strengthen international education and emphasize its importance to the national interest. Moreover, President Bush has announced the National Security Language Initiative to increase the number of Americans learning critical need foreign languages such as Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, and Farsi, as well as others. Key initiatives and programs. The Department invested approximately $334 million in public diplomacy international information programs and an additional $432 million in educational and cultural exchange programs, including the flagship Fulbright program. Elmer Davis, director of the U.S. Office of War Information, poses after conferring with the President at the White House in Washington, D.C., August 1943. AP/Wide World | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The U.S. Government launched its first major effort of what later would be called public diplomacy in April 1917 during World War I when it created the Committee on Public Information. Though the Secretaries of War, State, and the Navy were members, the committee was led by George Creel and became known as the Creel Committee. The Committee’s goal was to engender support for American war aims and President Woodrow Wilson’s international, democratic ideals. Congress abolished the Creel Committee at the end of the war in June 1919. President Harry Truman established the Office of War Information to do similar work during World War II. In January 1948, Congress passed the Smith-Mundt Act which prohibited all future agencies charged with international public diplomacy efforts from operating domestically.