New Public Diplomacy Report

The Public Diplomacy Council, a non-profit organization committed to the study, practice and advocacy of public diplomacy, released a report today entitled "A Call for Action on Public Diplomacy"

Following is the media alert released by the Council in connection with this report.

PROFESSIONALS CALL FOR TRANSFORMATION OF U. S. PUBLIC DIPLOMACY


Members of the non-partisan Public Diplomacy Council, in a White Paper
released today, call on the administration and the Congress to undertake a
transformation of American public diplomacy to bring it into the 21st
century. The "Call for Action on Public Diplomacy" notes that U.S. public
diplomacy is in crisis. Reorganized and adequately funded public diplomacy
is vital to a successful foreign policy and the war on terrorism. The
report posits the need for a more robust global communication strategy and
puts forward five action recommendations.

The recommendations include: creation of a new agency within the State
Department to manage civilian international information and exchanges
functions; a 300 percent increase in overseas staffing for public diplomacy;
increases in funding and closer integration of international broadcasting;
the establishment of a cabinet level interagency committee to coordinate and
direct a national public diplomacy strategy; and a public-private sector
partnership to provide permanent funding for international exchanges.

The entire text of the "Call for Action on Public Diplomacy", with
commentaries on the paper, is available on the Council website at
www.pdi.gwu.edu <http://www.pdi.gwu.edu>.


The Public Diplomacy Council, founded in 1988, is a non-profit organization
committed to the academic study, professional practice and responsible
advocacy of public diplomacy. Its fifty members represent practitioners and
observers of public diplomacy past and present. The Council joined with
George Washington University's School of Media and Public Affairs and Elliot
School of International Affairs to establish the Public Diplomacy Institute
in 2001.