Public diplomacy is that "form of international political advocacy in which the civilians of one country use legitimate means to reach out to the civilians of another country in order to gain popular support for negotiations occurring through diplomatic channels."Smith Jr., Paul A. On Political War (Washington: National Defense University Press, 1989).

Examples

America George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Samuel Adams all exercised public diplomacy in arguing the case of justice for the American colonies. The most notable use of Public Diplomacy by American Founding Fathers was the United States Declaration of Independence in 1776Waller, J. Michael (ed.) The Public Diplomacy Reader. (Washington, D.C.: The Institute of World Politics Press), 40.

1914–1918 World War I

1917–1919 – President Wilson created the Committee on Public Information led by advertiser George Creel

1920s – Advent of Radio

1939–1945 World War II

1936 – Roosevelt's Good Neighbor Policy

1938 – The Division of Cultural Relations (State Dept.) – Interdeparmental Committee for Scientific Cooperation (USIA pamphlet) – response to Nazi German and Fascist Italian propaganda aimed at Latin America.

1940 – Nelson Rockefeller's Office of Inter-American Affairs

1941 – U.S. broadcasting 24/7

1941 – Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor, U.S. enters into WWII → U.S. broadcasting goes global

1942 February – VOA's first broadcast June – United States Office of War Information (OWI) created by President Franklin Roosevelt The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) – predecessor to the CIANakamura, Kennon H., Weed, Matthew C. U.S. Public Diplomacy: Background and Current Issues (Dec. 18, 2009) Congressional Research Service. https://sgp.fas.org/crs/row/R40989.pdf

1945 – Cold War OWI terminated VOA – transferred to the State Department Founding of Radio Free Europe/Radio LibertyNakamura

1946 – The Fulbright Act of 1946 – "Mandated a peacetime international exchange program"

1947 – Fulbright Program founded. Establishment of the CIA, the Central Intelligence Agency was a successor to the OSS and it proceeded to lend intellectual, legal, and material support to American Public DiplomacyWaller

1948 – U.S. Information and Educational Exchange Act signed by President Harry Truman

Also known as the Smith-Mundt Act, it is a charter addressing America's peacetime overseas information program. 1948 – Congress creates the U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy – to advise and make recommendations on the conduct of public diplomacy.Hybl, William J., Bagley, Elizabeth F. et al. Getting the People Part Right: a report on the human resources dimension of U.S. public diplomacy. U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy, 2008.

June 1948 – May 1949 – Berlin Blockade

1949 – the Hoover Commission advised the creation of an independent information agency

1950 – Campaign of Truth (Truman)

Aug. 1, 1953 – Eisenhower founded the Independent United States Information Agency (USIA) the United States Department of State directed educational exchange programs.Dizard Jr., Wilson P. Inventing Public Diplomacy: The Story of the U.S. Information Agency, (Boulder: Lyne Rienner Publishers, Inc.,) 2004.Nye

1961 – Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act (Fulbright-Hays Act of 1961) – "consolidated various U.S. international educational and cultural exchange activities. It expanded other cultural and athletic exchanges, translation of books and periodicals, and U.S. representation in international fairs and expositions. The Act also established government operation of cultural and education centers abroad."USIA Overview Brochure. http://dosfan.lib.uic.edu/usia/usiahome/overview.pdf

1961–1964 – Edward R. Murrow appointed USIA director. He states, "Truth is the best propaganda."

1962 – Cuban Missile Crisis

1977–1978 – the State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs is combined with USIA to create the United States International Communication Agency (USICA) Carter issues second mandate for USIA/USICA: "to reduce the degree to which misperceptions and misunderstandings complicate relations between the United States and other nations. It is also in our interest—and in the interest of other nations—that Americans have the opportunity to understand the histories, cultures, and problems of others, so that we can come to understand their hopes, perceptions, and aspirations."USIA Overview Brochure

1978 – VOA folded into USIA/USICA

1982 – Reagan restored the name to USIAUSIA overview brochure

1987 – Reagan's tear down this wall! speech at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany.

1989 – Year of Miracles: Solidarity (Polish trade union)

1990 – amendment to U.S. Information and Educational Exchange Act – authorized USIA director to "make certain products available to the Archivist of the United States for domestic distribution". But only 12 years after the fact.

1994 – United States International Broadcasting Act

1998 – Foreign Affairs Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998 States that – USIA will be integrated with the Department of State as of October 1, 1999, moving public diplomacy closer to the center of U.S. foreign policymaking.

1999 – USIA abolished and full authority given to the State Department's Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs VOA is put under the direction of the bipartisan Broadcasting Board of Governors

2001 – September 11 – Terrorist attacks against the United States. Subsequent invasion of Afghanistan.

2002 – Strategic communication Policy coordinating Committee established.

2003 – Invasion of Iraq

2007–2008 – Counter-Terrorism Communication Center established – replaced by Global Strategic Engagement Center.

Important legislation

The following four acts provide the foundational legislative authority for public diplomacy as practiced by the U.S. government: First: The State Department's basic authorities Act of 1956 - Authorizes six Under Secretaries of State for the United States Department of State and requires the existence of an Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. Second: The United States Information and Educational Exchange Act of 1948 (Smith-Mundt Act) authorizes the Secretary of state to "Prepare and disseminate 'information about the United States, its people, and its policies, through press, publications, radio, motion pictures, and other information media, and through information centers and instructors abroad.'" ~ the controversy of the Smith-Mundt Act, pertains to Section 501 which, "unlike previous government public information efforts, prohibits materials developed under the authorities of this Act from being disseminated within the United States, its territories, or possessions" - Matt Armstrong articulates the dilemma: The law imposes a geographic segregation of audiences between those inside the U.S. and those outside it, based on the fear that content aimed at audiences abroad might "spill over" into the U.S. This not only shows a lack of confidence and understanding of U.S. public diplomacy and international broadcasting, it also ignores the ways in which information and people now move across porous, often non- existent borders with incredible speed and ease, to both create and empower dynamic diasporas...No other country, except perhaps North Korea and China, prevents its own people from knowing what is said and done in their name.Armstrong, Matt. Reforming Smith-Mundt: Making American Public Diplomacy Safe for Americans. (02 August, 2010) http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/6175/reforming-smith-mundt-making-american-public-diplomacy-safe-for-americans Third: The Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961 (Fulbright-Hays Act of 1961) This act "authorizes U.S. exchange programs as a public Diplomacy tool" Fourth: The United States International Broadcasting Act of 1994 Reorganizes U.S. non-military international broadcasting Creates nine-member Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG)under which it places all U.S. international broadcasting. "Charges the Secretary of State and the BBG with respecting the professional independence and integrity of the international Broadcasting Bureau, its broadcasting services, and the grantees of the board."

U.S. Information Agency (USIA)

USIA supported a coordinated and extensive approach to public diplomacy. As Kathy Fitzpatrick sums up: USIA's presence was felt in all corners of the world. Thousands of public diplomacy specialists were stationed in more than 175 countries. The Voice of America was broadcasting to 100 million people weekly. USIA was producing books and magazines in more than 100 languages. The agency was operating a global library network in 150 countries, teaching English to thousands of foreign citizens, hosting exhibits depicting American ideals that drew billions of visitors, producing films and programs widely popular in other nations, and administering cultural and euducational exchange programs in which millions of world citizens participated. According to USIA veteran Wilson P. Dizard Jr., "it was the biggest information and cultural effort ever mounted by one society to influence the attitudes and actions of men and women beyond its borders."Fitzpatrick, Kathy R. The Collapse of American Public Diplomacy: what diplomatic experts say about rebuilding America's image in the world - a view from the trenches. (Hameden: Quinnipiac School of Communications, 2008)http://www.publicdiplomacy.org/Fitzpatrick2008.pdf, 4. Therefore, a piece of legislation which had serious ramifications for American Public Diplomacy was the Foreign Affairs Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998 which folded USIA into the State Department and put all International Broadcasting in the hands of the BBG.

In the 21st century

Structure

In a 2008 survey of USIA alumni, Kathy Fitzpatrick surmised, "Notwithstanding increased funding for public diplomacy in the Middle East after 9/11 and despite dozens of reports by government and private organizations calling for substantial improvements in public diplomacy capabilities, American public diplomacy remains underfunded, undervalued, and underutilized."Fitzpatrick,5

Since 1999, the Foreign Affairs Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998, also known as The Consolidation Act, abolished USIA and transferred its functions (information, cultural, and educational operations) to the United States Secretary of State and the United States State Department. Specifically, these functions fall under the leadership of the Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. On the other hand, the Consolidation Act also established the BBG as an "independent entity within the executive branch." U.S. International Broadcasting continues to play a vital role in American public diplomacy. As former president of the BBG and 2008 undersecretary of state for public diplomacy, James K. Glassman says, "U.S. international broadcasting is America's largest civilian public diplomacy program, and one that "provides a lifeline to people seeking the truth" in many closed societies."Babb, MacKenzie C. (Staff Writer America.gov) New U.S. Public Diplomacy Head Cites "Arsenal of Persuasion". (09 June 2008) http://www.america.gov/st/peacesec-english/2008/June/20080609153917cmbbab0.5993921.html

An organizational chart of Public Diplomacy within the Department of State is available on pg. 19 of the 2009 report by CRS (Congressional Research Service) entitled U.S. Public Diplomacy: Background and Current Issues available online at: https://sgp.fas.org/crs/row/R40989.pdf

On pg. 25 of that same report by CRS, there is an organizational chart of U.S. International Broadcasting under the BBG. Also Available at: https://sgp.fas.org/crs/row/R40989.pdf

Issues

Oversaturation