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.