PUBLIC DIPLOMACY IN THE MIDDLE EAST HEARING BEFORE THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIONAL SECURITY, OF THE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION FEBRUARY 10, 2004 Serial No. 108-153 Printed for the use of the Committee on Government Reform Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.gpo.gov/congress/house 94-158 PDF U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON: 2004 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM DAN BURTON, Indiana TOM DAVIS, Virginia, Chairman CHRISTOPHER SHAYS, Connecticut RON LEWIS, Kentucky JO ANN DAVIS, Virginia TODD RUSSELL PLATTS, Pennsylvania CANDICE S. MILLER, Michigan MARSHA BLACKBURN, Tennessee HENRY A. WAXMAN, California JOHN F. TIERNEY, Massachusetts DIANE E. WATSON, California STEPHEN F. LYNCH, Massachusetts CHRIS VAN HOLLEN, Maryland LINDA T. SANCHEZ, California C.A. "DUTCH" RUPPERSBERGER, Maryland ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON, District of Columbia JIM COOPER, Tennessee BERNARD SANDERS, Vermont (Independent) MELISSA WOJCIAK, Staff Director DAVID MARIN, Deputy Staff Director/Communications Director PHIL BARNETT, Minority Chief of Staff! Chief Counsel CONTENTS Ford, Jess T., Director, International Affairs and Trade, General Account- ing Office; Stephen Johnson, senior policy analyst, the Heritage Foun- dation; David E. Morey, president and CEO, DMG, Inc., and member, Council on Foreign Relations Public Diplomacy Task Force; and Ste- phen P. Cohen, president, Institute for Middle East Peace and Develop- ment, and member, Advisory Group on Public Diplomacy for the Arab Tomlinson, Kenneth Y., chairman, Broadcasting Board of Governors, ac- companied by Norman J. Pattiz, founder and chairman, Westwood One, member, Broadcasting Board of Governors; and Harold Pachios, chairman, Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy Tutwiler, Margaret, Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Cohen, Stephen P., president, Institute for Middle East Peace and Devel- opment, and member, Advisory Group on Public Diplomacy for the Arab and Muslim World, prepared statement of Ford, Jess T., Director, International Affairs and Trade, General Account- Johnson, Stephen, senior policy analyst, the Heritage Foundation, pre- Morey, David E., president and CEO, DMG, Inc., and member, Council on Foreign Relations Public Diplomacy Task Force, prepared statement Pachios, Harold, chairman, Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy, Shays, Hon. Christopher, a Representative in Congress from the State Tutwiler, Margaret, Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Letter dated February 11, 2004 292 PUBLIC DIPLOMACY IN THE MIDDLE EAST TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2004 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIONAL SECURITY, EMERGING THREATS AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM, Washington, DC. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:05 p.m., in room 2154, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Christopher Shays (chairman of the subcommittee) Presiding. Present: Representatives Shays, Ruppersberger and Tierney. Staff present: Lawrence Halloran, staff director and counsel; Thomas Costa, professional staff member; Robert A. Briggs, clerk; Richard Lundberg, fellow; Andrew Su, minority professional staff member; and Jean Gosa, minority assistant clerk. Mr. SHAYS. A quorum being present, the Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations hearing entitled, "Public Diplomacy in the Middle East," is called to order. The end of the cold war was seen by many as the ultimate victory in the global ideological struggle. Using words as weapons to kindle the spark of liberty and oppressed peoples, the forces of freedom helped defeat communism in the decisive battle without firing a shot. Public diplomacy, the cultural exchanges, education programs and broadcasts used to promote U.S. interests to foreign audiences, pierced the Iron Curtain more effectively and efficiently in some ways than missiles. But then the tools that helped bring down the Berlin Wall and splintered the Soviet Union were allowed to rust in the mistaken belief that the battle of ideas was over. Subsumed within the State Department's "stifling culture and starved for resources," public diplomacy was left to wither without strategic focus or organizational direction. So when the United States needed a strong voice to counter the toxic antipathy emanating from radical factions and terrorists in the Middle East, the world often heard only a hoarse, fragmented whisper. Studies and analyses done inside and outside the Federal Government concluded our public diplomacy capacity lagged far behind the critical requirement to counter terrorism on the rhetorical and ideological battlefields of that volatile region. According to the State Department's Advisory Group on Public Diplomacy for the Arab and Muslim World, "The United States today lacks the capabilities in public diplomacy to meet the national security threat emanating from political instability, economic depravation and ex (1) |