Public Diplomacy for a New Era

You don’t hear much about public diplomacy these days. Following September 11, however, strategic communications and messaging were all the rage. Americans asked themselves why some people in the Middle East would do such a thing. The sense was that if we could communicate to people in that wider region, we could overcome misunderstanding and prevent another attack on America.

Public diplomacy soared into the limelight. Reports and studies were commissioned as America looked for answers to how we communicate with the Muslim world. Hundreds of recommendations were offered—some were implemented, most were not. Still, communicating with Muslim populations remained problematic. In retrospect, it should have been no surprise considering that the reports focused overwhelmingly on Washington, not on what actually happens in Muslim countries. In fact, public diplomacy officers with experience in Muslim countries were largely left out.