William Fisher

NEW YORK, Jul 22 2005 (IPS) — As the U.S. faces increasingly negative attitudes around the world, the previously arcane subject of public diplomacy has become a serious issue in the George W. Bush administration, Congress, universities, think-tanks and with ordinary people.

"Why do they hate us?" is being asked in more places and by more kinds of U.S. citizens than ever before.

Repeated polls by reputable opinion organisations such as the Pew Research Centre and Zogby International have shown that negative overseas perceptions of the U.S. are largely a product of Washington’s policies, especially those in the Arab and Muslim world.

Particularly incendiary among Arabs and other Muslims are the invasion of Iraq, the U.S. abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and what many foreigners see as the United States’ one-sided support of Israel.

The importance the administration places on finding new ways to counter these negative perceptions has been underlined by Pres. Bush’s nomination of his close confidante and advisor, Karen Hughes, to be undersecretary of state for Public Diplomacy, and former White House personnel chief, Egyptian-born Dina Habib Powell, to be her deputy.

Powell has already been confirmed to her post, and Hughes’ confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is scheduled for Friday.

But neither of these high-profile individuals have had any formal training in crafting and communicating messages that will resonate with foreign audiences who represent widely varying cultural, social, political and economic backgrounds.

That should not come as a surprise: most of the people who actually work in the public diplomacy field today have learned their craft largely from on-the-job experience. They are diplomats, educators, foreign policy experts, political scientists, and men and women who have made their fortunes in journalism or commercial broadcasting, and have sought to adapt these backgrounds to the complex task of winning friends for the United States.

Until now. Next month, the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles will begin teaching courses in a new programme that will offer a Master’s Degree in Public Diplomacy – the first of its kind anywhere in the world.

The two-year programme will be offered jointly by USC’s Annenberg School for Communication and the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences’ School of International Relations. The degree programme will officially launch in fall 2006.

Just appointed to head the new programme is one of the best-known names in the public diplomacy field – Prof. Nicholas J. Cull. Cull is director of the Centre for American Studies at Leicester University in Britain. He specialises in U.S. foreign policy, the history of propaganda and the politics of popular culture, and is the author of numerous books on the subject.

His first book, "Selling War", was a study of British information work in the United States before Pearl Harbor. Since then he has published numerous articles on the theme of propaganda, public diplomacy, politics and foreign policy. He is also an active film historian who has been part of the movement to include film and other media within the mainstream of historical sources.

His current research projects include a study of "U.S. Propaganda and ‘Public Diplomacy’ Overseas Since 1945: A History of the United States Information Agency" (Cambridge University Press, 2005).

While the new programme’s curriculum will be global, media attention predictably focuses on U.S. efforts to "win hearts and minds" among Arabs and other Muslims, especially in the Middle East.

Prof. Cull told IPS, "There is a problem underpinning all U.S. public diplomacy in the Middle East and that is the extent to which Arabs actually understand the U.S. rather well and have reasons for disliking American actions based on U.S. policy."

"A good public diplomacy response would be to show more of the debate within the U.S. so the Arab world understands there are plenty of people who disapprove of much of American-Israeli policy, and conversely that there are reasons why the U.S. behaves the way that it does."

In the Middle East, he said, "We are dealing with a different culture and cannot assume that a message will be received with the intent with which it was transmitted. What hope is there for Bush to say ‘sorry’ to the Arab world when he doesn’t seem to understand that no Arab takes an apology seriously unless the person apologising adds ‘and I ask you to forgive me’."

The Master’s Programme was conceived by USC Annenberg Dean Geoffrey Cowan, who served as director of the Voice of America radio service during the 1990s, and USC College Dean Joseph Aoun.

"There is a pressing need for a cadre of well-trained graduates who will understand diverse cultures, new forms of communication technology and a wide range of communication tools, ranging from cultural diplomacy to exchange programmes, to international broadcasting," Cowan said.

"We expect this programme to attract and train students and mid-career professionals who will become the leaders of the next generation of public diplomacy professionals," he added.

Traditional definitions of public diplomacy include: government-sponsored cultural, educational and informational programmes; and citizen-exchange programmes and broadcasts such as the BBC World Service that are used by governments to promote the national interests of a country through understanding, informing and influencing foreign audiences.

The new programme will use these definitions as starting points, but will address new ways – such as blogs, independent news organisations like Al Jazeera and non-governmental organisations – to influence and shape the worldview of citizens of foreign countries.

The curriculum will include graduate-level classes on topics such as international broadcasting, cultural diplomacy, corporate citizenship and images, and historical approaches to public diplomacy.

It is designed for students who already have a substantial undergraduate background in social sciences or relevant professional experience in subjects such as communication, public relations, media studies, journalism, political science and international relations.

In addition to the new degree programme, USC is home to the new Centre on Public Diplomacy, which has arranged for internships at such institutions as the Sesame Workshop, the European Union, a number of major consulates in Los Angeles and several leading U.S. foreign policy agencies in Washington.

"The work of the USC Center for Public Diplomacy will enrich research opportunities for students in the degree programme," said Joshua Fouts, the centre’s executive director. "This degree is the first step in creating substantive dialogue among students, scholars and practitioners at a critical period in global and political communication."