SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED United States Department of State and the Broadcasting Board of Governors Office of Inspector General Summary Report Public Diplomacy at the Department of State Report Number ISP-I-05-54, March 2005 IMPORTANT NOTICE This report is intended solely for the official use of the Department of State or the Broadcasting Board of Governors, or any agency or organization receiving a copy directly from the Office of Inspector General. No secondary distribution may be made, in whole or in part, outside the Department of State or the Broadcasting Board of Governors, by them or by other agencies or organizations, without prior authorization by the Inspector General. Public availability of the document will be determined by the Inspector General under the U.S. Code, 5 U.S.C. 552. Improper disclosure of this report may result in criminal, civil, or administrative penalties. SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED TABLE OF CONTENTS KEY JUDGMENTS . 1 INTRODUCTION. 3 Purpose . 3 Background . 3 SMITH-MUNDT ACT . 5 DEPARTMENT OF STATE PUBLIC DIPLOMACY STRUCTURE (CONSOLIDATION) . 7 Concept . 7 State Organization for Public Diplomacy . 7 Office of the Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. 8 Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs . 10 Bureau of International Information Programs . 12 Regional Bureaus. 14 Functional Bureaus . 15 Overseas Embassies and Posts . 16 Conclusion . 17 FORMAL RECOMMENDATIONS . 19 APPENDIX . 21 History . 21 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED KEY JUDGMENTS • Following the merger of the United States Information Agency (USIA) with the Department of State (Department) in 1999, consolidation of public diplomacy within the Department is not complete. At best, public diplomacy is meeting quantitative goals but fails to meet its maximum potential to achieve the qualitative standards required in a changed world where public opinion is as important as foreign policy. • Consolidation has been more effective at embassies and their constituent posts than within the Department in Washington. • The advancement of information technology has blurred the difference between foreign and domestic audiences for information dissemination that existed when the Smith-Mundt Act was written. • The Office of the Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs is structurally underpowered to coordinate both strategic and tactical public diplomacy within the Department. • The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) is the most viable organization in the government for conducting international mutual under- standing programs. Nevertheless, there is less appreciation within the Department, and the government as a whole, for the importance of this long-range strategic conduct of public diplomacy. • The structure of the Bureau of International Information Programs (IIP) is incompatible with the traditional Department organization, resulting in diminished effectiveness to conduct tactical (short-range direct foreign policy support) public diplomacy. OIG Report No. ISP-I-05-54 , Summary Report on Public Diplomacy at the Department of State - March 2005 1 . SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED • Public diplomacy organizational structures within regional bureaus suffer as a result of a lack of centralized guidance and responsibility. • The Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs has taken timely actions to address operational improvements related to OIG and other recommendations. The establishment of the Office of Policy, Plan- ning and Resources is an important step in addressing many of the issues identified during the inspections. This memorandum report is based on a review of recent inspections in Wash- ington, DC, and at U.S. diplomatic missions abroad, subsequent to the consolida- tion of public diplomacy into the Department of State in 1999. It is also based on the Reorganization Plan and Report submitted pursuant to Section 1601 of the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998, as contained in Public Law 105-277. Senior Inspector James Dandridge, II, prepared this report. 2 . OIG Report No. ISP-I-05-54 , Summary Report on Public Diplomacy at the Department of State - March 2005 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED INTRODUCTION This report summarizes the results of Office of Inspector General's (OIG) inspections and observations on the conduct of public diplomacy since the consoli- dation of that function into the Department in 1999 through December 2004. It assesses the effectiveness of the Department's structure to conduct public diplo- macy and makes recommendations on the structure and resources for the effective execution of public diplomacy. To understand the chronological basis of the conduct of public diplomacy in support of U.S. foreign policy, a brief history is included in the appendix. Purpose USIA was abolished on October 1, 1999,1 when the conduct of public diplo- macy was consolidated within the Department at that time. OIG assumed its oversight responsibilities of the conduct of public diplomacy with special emphasis on evaluating the status of the consolidation and the conduct of public diplomacy. This summary report focuses on the current status of the consolidation of public diplomacy within the Department in Washington and was prepared after inspecting ECA, IIP, and the regional bureaus. Background Traditional diplomacy is defined as government-to-government relations, and public diplomacy is government-to-people and people-to-people relations in an international environment. The Department is responsible for conducting tradi- tional and public diplomacy in support of U.S. policy and international operations. In addition to the Department, the Broadcasting Board of Governors is responsible for coordinating informational international broadcasting on behalf of the U.S. government. 1Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998 (P.L. 105-277). OIG Report No. ISP-I-05-54 , Summary Report on Public Diplomacy at the Department of State - March 2005 3 . SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED Interest in public diplomacy has increased in response to outside polls that show favorable attitudes toward the United States sharply declining, not only in the Arab and Muslim world, but globally. Although studies acknowledge that the decline stems principally from disagreement with U.S. policies in the Middle East and other U.S. policies, they conclude that the United States could and should be doing a far better job of understanding, informing, engaging, and influencing foreign publics. 4 . OIG Report No. ISP-I-05-54 , Summary Report on Public Diplomacy at the Department of State - March 2005 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED SMITH-MUNDT ACT In legislation over the years, Congress restricted USIA's public diplomacy apparatus from being used to influence U.S. public opinion. The Foreign Relations Authorization Act of 1972 amended the Smith-Mundt Act of 1948 to include a ban on disseminating within the United States any "information about the United States, its people, and its policies" prepared for dissemination abroad. The Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998 addresses the application of these restrictions to the Department, giving it the flexibility to allocate personnel and other resources effectively and efficiently. In integrating USIA, the Department has been required to observe all applicable legal restrictions. In recent years, the advancement of information technology - largely through the Internet - has made it virtually impossible to distinguish between foreign and domestic dissemination of information in any meaningful way. For instance, much of the information developed by the Department for foreign dissemination may be accessed via the web pages from anywhere in the world. Furthermore, in light of consolidation, it has become increasingly inefficient, in terms of economies of scale, to draw these distinctions. A review of the Smith-Mundt Act, and its ban on domestic dissemination in particular, would be useful. Recommendation 1: The Department should request that Congress review the Smith-Mundt Act's continued relevance, particularly its restrictions on domestic dissemination of public diplomacy information, given the ready availability of this information via the Internet. (Action: R, in coordination with L and H) OIG Report No. ISP-I-05-54 , Summary Report on Public Diplomacy at the Department of State - March 2005 5 . SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED 6 . OIG Report No. ISP-I-05-54 , Summary Report on Public Diplomacy at the Department of State - March 2005 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED DEPARTMENT OF STATE PUBLIC DIPLOMACY STRUCTURE (CONSOLIDATION) Concept The original proposal to Congress to dissolve USIA envisioned structural transfer of public diplomacy functions to the Department intact under the policy guidance of an Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy. After Congressional review, the Department mirrored the structure of USIA and placed an additional 25 public diplomacy officers in the Department's regional and functional bureaus to strengthen the public affairs functions of those offices. The Department decided that its Bureau of Public Affairs would come under the policy guidance of the Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. The Department established a public diplomacy career cone, and all USIA Foreign Service officers were transferred to this