PREPARED TESTIMONY OF

RICHARD G. LUGAR
A Senator from Indiana, and
Chairman, Senate Foreign Relations Committee

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY AND ISLAM

PANEL ONE OF A HEARING OF
THE SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE

February 27, 2003

Today the Committee meets to review the challenges facing U.S. public diplomacy - an increasingly important component of American foreign policy. We will give special attention to American efforts to communicate with the Islamic world, but American public diplomacy is a resource that must be applied in all parts of the world.

We are fortunate to be joined by Charlotte Beers, Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy, and Kenneth Tomlinson, Chairman of the Board of Broadcasting Governors. We look forward with anticipation to their testimony. They will be followed by a second panel of distinguished experts from academia and government who have thought deeply about public diplomacy strategies.

Recently, I outlined in the Washington Post, five campaigns for winning the war against terrorism. Two of those campaigns are at issue in today's heating -- strengthening American diplomatic capabilities and building democratic institutions in the world. American public diplomacy should be a powerful tool in advancing these campaigns. Since the terrorist attacks of September 11,2001, we have examined more deeply and more frequently the standing of our nation. Americans are troubled by examples of virulent anti-American hatred in the Islamic world, and they are frustrated by public opinion in allied countries that seems increasingly ready to question American motives or blame American actions for a host of problems. In an era when allied cooperation is essential in the war against terrorism, we cannot afford to shrug off negative public opinion overseas as uninformed or irrelevant. The governments of most nations respond to public opinion, whether it is demonstrated in the voting booth or in the streets.erica's economic success has been aided by the magic of marketing, advertising, and public relations. It is logical to conclude that these same skills could be employed to burnish and defend the American image around the world. As my colleague, Chairman Henry Hyde of the House International Relations Committee, has said, "how is it that the country that invented Hollywood and Madison Avenue has allowed such a destructive and parodied image of itself to become the intellectual coin of the realm overseas?"

This is a good question and a starting point for much debate. But as we discuss public diplomacy today, we must resist the temptation to believe that public relations wizardry alone can fix the American image overseas. Successful public diplomacy is not about manipulating people into liking us against their interests. Rather, it is about clearly and honestly explaining the views of the United States, displaying the humanity and generosity of our people, underscoring issues of commonality, and expanding opportunities for interaction between Americans and foreign peoples.

Even the most enlightened public diplomacy will not succeed overnight. Success will require resources and hard work over a period of decades that focuses on supporting democratic institutions and a free press in the Islamic world and elsewhere. It also will require the United States to engage the world at every opportunity. The missing ingredient in American public diplomacy between the fall of the Berlin Wall and the September 11 attacks was not advertising cleverness. It was a firm commitment by the American people and the American leadership to all the painstaking work required to build lasting relationships overseas and advance our vision of fairness and opportunity. The experience of September 11 jarred us out of our complacency, but this Committee is anxious to ensure that the best public diplomacy strategy is being developed.

In particular, I am concerned that our broader efforts at international development and democratization are not sufficiently coordinated with our public diplomacy. Public opinion overseas is driven by everything the United States does and says. Yet policies related to foreign assistance, military cooperation, alliance building, trade negotiations, and many other initiatives are formulated with little reference to public diplomacy. We must also examine whether resources devoted to public diplomacy are sufficient. On February 6, this Committee discussed the State Department budget with Secretary of State Powell. We noted at the hearing that for every one dollar spent by the U.S. Government on the military, only about seven cents is spent on diplomacy. Out of that seven cents, only about a quarter of a penny, is devoted to public diplomacy.

The public diplomacy budget includes funding for a wide array of activities, including State Department information programs, international academic and cultural exchange programs, and the U.S. government's broadcasting initiatives. Yet the aggregate amount that we devote to communicating the American vision to the rest of the world - about $1.2 billion -- is less than half of what some individual American companies, such as the Ford Motor Company or the Pepsi Corporation, spend on advertising each year.

The Foreign Relations Committee will be interested in learning the recommendations of our panels on funding levels and effective strategies for our public diplomacy endeavors. Your views are timely, as this Committee is engaged in the process of writing the State Department Authorization bill. We want to support your efforts, and we value any insights that you wish to provide.