[infowar.de] Anhörung der designierten Chefin für Public Diplomacy im State Department

[Ralf Bendrath <bendrath -! - zedat - fu-berlin - de>]

"I plan to mobilize our government to do more listening."
Schon mal kein schlechter Anfang. (Nein, es geht nicht um die Neubesetzung 
des NSA-Chefsessels...)
RB

http://www.state.gov/r/us/2005/49967.htm

The Mission of Public Diplomacy

Karen Hughes; Nominee for Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public 
Affairs

Testimony at confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations 
Committee

Washington, DC
July 22, 2005

Thank you, Chairman Lugar, Ranking Member Biden, and distinguished members 
of this committee. I thank Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison and Senator John 
Cornyn for their friendship and support, and for the outstanding job they 
do representing our beloved state of Texas.

My husband, Jerry, is with me today, and I thank him for his support. I’m 
sorry our children couldn’t be here; our daughter is picking our 
granddaughter up at camp, and our son is – story of our life – at a 
baseball tournament in Texas. They’re very supportive. When I asked my son 
whether he thought I should take on this great challenge he said yes. I 
asked why, and he said, "Because you really care about it, Mom – and it’s 
really important for my generation."

I am honored and humbled that President Bush and Secretary Rice have asked 
me to lead America’s public diplomacy at this historic time because it is 
vitally important for all of us and for the next generation, not only here 
in America but for precious children everywhere.

I believe there is no more important challenge for our future than the 
urgent need to foster greater understanding, more respect and a sense of 
common interests and common ideals among Americans and people of different 
countries, cultures and faiths throughout the world. The mission of public 
diplomacy is to engage, inform, and help others understand our policies, 
actions and values – but I am mindful that before we seek to be 
understood, we must first work to understand.

During one of my visits to Afghanistan, I heard an old Afghan proverb that 
I believe sets a good standard for our public diplomacy. The proverb 
counsels: "It takes two hands to clap." As Secretary Rice has said, public 
diplomacy is a conversation, not a monologue.

If I had the opportunity to say just one thing to people throughout the 
world, it would be: I am eager to listen. I want to learn more about you 
and your lives, what you believe, what you fear, what you dream, what you 
value most. Should I be confirmed, I plan to travel and reach out to both 
citizens and leaders of other countries, and I plan to mobilize our 
government to do more listening. And as I travel, I am eager to share the 
story of the goodness of the American people. Our country, while far from 
perfect, has been a tremendous force for good, liberating millions and 
bringing help and hope to countless lives.

I recognize that the job ahead will be difficult. Perceptions do not 
change quickly or easily. We are involved in a generational and global 
struggle of ideas – a struggle that pits the power of hate against the 
power of hope. As Prime Minister Tony Blair said after the horror of the 
London bombings, "This is a battle that must be won, a battle not just 
about the terrorist methods but their views. Not just their barbaric acts, 
but their barbaric ideas."

In the long run, the way to prevail in this battle is through the power of 
our ideals; for they speak to all of us, every people in every land on 
every continent. Given a fair hearing, I am sure they will prevail. People 
the world over want to be able to speak their minds, choose their leaders 
and worship freely. People the world over want to be treated with dignity 
and respect. People everywhere want to feel safe in their homes; parents 
want a better life for their children. Our adversaries resort to 
propaganda, myths, intimidation and control because they don’t want people 
to decide for themselves. In contrast, we want to create the connections 
and conditions that allow people to make up their own minds, because we 
are confident that given a fair hearing and a free choice, people will 
choose freedom over tyranny and tolerance over extremism every time.

I will be guided by four strategic pillars that I call the four "E’s": 
engagement, exchanges, education and empowerment.

We need to engage more vigorously. We cannot expect people to give a fair 
hearing to our ideas if we don’t advocate them. And research shows, when 
people know that America is partnering with their governments to improve 
their lives, it makes a difference in how they think about us. America 
must improve our rapid response, and, as Secretary Rice has said, we must 
do much more to confront hateful propaganda, dispel dangerous myths, and 
get out the truth.

The second E is exchanges. People who have the opportunity to come here 
learn for themselves that Americans are generous, hard-working people who 
value faith and family. I want to recognize our new Assistant Secretary 
for Educational and Cultural Affairs, Dina Habib Powell, who will be my 
deputy if I’m confirmed. She is justifiably proud of her rich Middle 
Eastern heritage and will bring that valuable perspective to our work 
every day.

Our exchange programs are responding to the new realities of the post-911 
world, reaching out to critical new participants such as clerics and 
community leaders. We need to make our exchange programs even more 
strategic, attracting teachers, journalists, youth leaders and others who 
have the ability to influence a wide circle. We want more American young 
people to study and travel abroad. And I have a special message for young 
people across the world: we’re improving our visa process, and we want you 
to come and study in America.

The third pillar is education – for we know education is the path to 
upward mobility and greater opportunity – for boys and girls. Americans 
must educate ourselves to be better citizens of our world – learning 
different languages and learning more about other countries and cultures. 
And through English language training programs, we can give young people a 
valuable tool that helps them improve their own lives and learn more about 
our values.

The final "E" is empowerment – people cannot give a fair hearing to our 
ideas if they are unable to consider them. We will take the side of those 
who advocate greater participation for all, including women. We will 
create relationships with those who share our values and we will help 
amplify the voices of those who speak up for them – like the brave young 
Pakistani woman who spoke out to say that rape is a terrible crime – not a 
matter of honor.

Members of the committee, if confirmed, I will seek and I will need your 
help. I know many of you care deeply about public diplomacy. America’s 
public diplomacy is neither Democratic nor Republican but American – and 
who better to represent our values than those of you who represent us 
every day. I will call on you – for input, for ideas, and to represent our 
country overseas.

I am also indebted to the many citizens who have given a great deal of 
thought and work to nearly 30 comprehensive reports on public diplomacy. 
Many leaders of those efforts have taken time to meet with and advise me. 
I am indebted to them, and I will need their continued help. They have 
made important suggestions for strengthening public diplomacy. The State 
Department has responded by increasing our outreach to younger and broader 
audiences, by inviting more women and representatives of the Arab and 
Muslim world to visit our country – and we have much more to do.

After this thoughtful and thorough analysis, now is the time for action 
and implementation. Members of the committee, I welcome your ideas as we 
go forward and I want to share some of my priorities.

First, almost every report cited the critical need to reinvigorate the 
interagency process. President Bush and Secretary Rice have asked me to 
lead that effort from the State Department, to identify and marshal all 
the communications and public diplomacy resources of our different 
government agencies and provide leadership to make our efforts more 
coordinated and more strategic.

Numerous reports also cited the vital need to more fully integrate policy 
and public diplomacy. Secretary Rice and I learned from working together 
at the White House that, in today’s world, the two are almost inextricably 
linked. Secretary Rice has told me that, if confirmed, she intends for me 
personally and public diplomacy institutionally to play a key role in 
policy development.

To do that effectively, we must invest in our people. I will work to 
reinvigorate public diplomacy as a vibrant, vital career path. Our 
professionals in the Foreign Service, the Civil Service and the Foreign 
Service National cadre are incredibly dedicated; they do important, 
difficult, often dangerous work around our world. I will do all I can to 
support and empower them with strategic and policy guidance and the 
training and tools they need to carry out their mission on the front lines 
of diplomacy. I intend to serve as the advocate for a reinvigorated public 
diplomacy community in the State Department.

We also must develop effective ways to marshal the great creativity of our 
private sector. American companies, universities, private foundations, our 
travel industry all have extensive contact with people throughout the 
world. Our music and film industries, artists and entertainers create 
powerful impressions – sometimes good, sometimes bad, but always powerful. 
I welcome ideas to more fully engage the private sector because I believe 
this engagement is critical to our success.

I will also seek to involve and empower our most important national asset: 
our citizens. Since the announcement of my nomination, I have received 
heartfelt letters from my fellow Americans who want to help share our 
story with the world. Through the Internet, through video-conferencing, 
through our citizen ambassador program, I will seek ways to foster greater 
communication between foreign publics and the people of America.

America’s public diplomacy has a proud and successful history; today we 
face new and different challenges. During the Cold War, we were trying to 
get information into largely closed societies whose people were hungry for 
that knowledge. Today, we are more often competing for attention and 
credibility in the midst of an information explosion. We need to be more 
creative in our communications, using new technologies, and we need to 
strengthen our use of research and the evaluation of our programs to 
determine how to be most effective.

President Bush recently told one of our new ambassadors: "Your job is 
primarily public diplomacy." At a time when rumor and myth reach mass 
audiences in seconds, communicating with foreign publics is vital to the 
success of our foreign policy and it is the job of all of us, from public 
diplomacy and public affairs professional to ambassador, to Cabinet 
Secretary, to Senator, to President, to every individual American.

Distinguished Senators: I feel particularly privileged to have been asked 
to serve at this time in our nation’s history, when Secretary of State 
Rice has called for a new transformational diplomacy to advance President 
Bush’s agenda of freedom and dignity for all people everywhere.

I’ll never forget meeting a young woman in Afghanistan who told me of her 
belief that women should be able to go to school and work and choose their 
husbands. As I was leaving, she asked the translator to stop me: "Please 
don’t forget us," she said, "please help us live in freedom."

I hope that through this work, together we can help many more people live 
in freedom. I promise I will always speak from the heart, and I will 
always stand for what the President has called the non-negotiable demands 
of human dignity: the rule of law, limits on the power of the state, 
respect for women, private property, free speech, equal justice and 
religious tolerance.

We do not expect instant results. This struggle of ideas will span 
generations. But I am confident our ideals will prevail. As President Bush 
said, "There is only one force of history that can break the reign of 
hatred and resentment, and expose the pretensions of tyrants, and reward 
the hopes of the decent and tolerant, and that is the force of human freedom."

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would be happy to answer any questions.

* * *

Released on July 22, 2005

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