Communicating with the World: U.S. Public Diplomacy Overseas

237 Pages·1990·11.49 MB·English

by  Hans N. Tuch (auth.)

COMMUNICATING WITH
THE WORLD
THE INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF DIPLOMACY
concentrates on the processes of conducting foreign relations abroad,
in the belief that studies of diplomatic operations are useful means of
teaching or improving diplomatic skills and of broadening public
understanding of diplomacy. Working closely with the academic
program of the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service,
the Institute conducts a program of research, publication, teaching,
diplomats in residence, conferences, and lectures.
COMMUNICATING WITH
THE WORLD
U.S. Public Diplomacy Overseas
Hans N. Tuch
Foreword by Marvin Kalb
An Institute for the Study of Diplomacy Book
ST. MARTIN'S PRESS
New York
© 1990 by the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy,
Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.
All rights reserved.
For information, write:
Scholarly and Reference Division,
St. Martin's Press, Inc., 175 Fifth Avenue,
New York, N.Y. 10010
First published in the United States of America in 1990
Second paperback printing 1993
ISBN 978-0-312-04532-6
ISBN 978-0-312-04809-9 ISBN 978-1-137-10687-2 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-137-10687-2
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Tuch, Hans N., 1924-
Communicating with the world: U.S. public diplomacy overseas I by
Hans N. Tuch; foreword by Marvin Kalb.
p. cm. - (Martin F. Herz series on United States diplomacy)
includes bibliographical references.
1. United States-Diplomatic and consular service. 2. Diplomacy.
I. Title. II. Series.
JX1706.T78 1990
327.2-dc20 89-49579
CIP
To my wife, Mimi, who lovingly and unselfishly shared my life and
my experiences in public diplomacy and contributed to making my
years in the Foreign Service meaningful, satisfying, and memorable.
This page intentionally left blank
Contents
Foreword, Marvin Kalb . . . ix
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii
Abbreviations and Acronyms . xv
Part I The Practice of U.S. Public Diplomacy Abroad 1
1. Defining Public Diplomacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2. The Origin and Development of U.S. Public Diplomacy 12
3. Practicing Public Diplomacy . 39
4. The Methods-The Media . 58
5. The Voice of America . . 87
6. Worldnet . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
7. The Advisory Function . . . . 106
8. A Critique of U.S. Public Diplomacy 113
Part II Case Studies in the Practice of Public Diplomacy 123
9. The Beginning of U.S.-Soviet Cultural Relations . 125
10. Practicing Public Diplomacy in Brazil . . . . . . . . . 140
11. Dealing with the German "Successor Generation" . . 152
12. INF Deployment in the Federal Republic of Germany 161
Epilogue ........................... . 172
Appendices 175
1. Directors of the U.S. Information Agency 177
2. USIS Germany Country Plan Fiscal Year 1986 178
3. USIS Budget (10/1/88)-Colombia . . . . . . 188
4. Public Affairs Goal Paper for President's Visit to the
Federal Republic of Germany, June 1982 ...... . 190
5. Quarterly Analysis from USIS Bonn to the
U.S. Information Agency, January 4, 1983 193
6. USIS Country Plan (Brazil)-Fiscal Year 1989,
Academic Exchange Program 199
Bibliographic Note 215
Index ...... . 217
viii COMMUNICATING WITH THE WORLD
Vignettes
Roy Cohn's Descent on the Libraries of Europe ........... 19
Amerika Magazine in the Soviet Union . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Arts and Artifacts-Khrushchev at the American Exhibit . 63
Tit-for-Tat Diplomacy . . . . . . 129
Cash for the Casa . . . . . 146
The Mothers of Filderstadt . . . . 167
Foreword
MARVINKALB
H
ans Tuch (who has always been known to his friends as Tom) has
written a valuable book: valuable, first and foremost, to a new
generation of Foreign Service officers beginning to grasp the
essential lesson of the sad Vietnam experience-that a policy conceived in
secrecy and implemented by deception, denied the popular support so
essential in a democracy, will fail, no matter how honorable the original
intent. The book is valuable also to the student of American foreign policy
who has come to appreciate the fact that policy has at least two faces, one
that remains private and the other that must be made public, and to the
journalist, American or foreign, who is skeptical of any nugget of informa
tion that is officially volunteered or leaked rather than unearthed during
independent pursuit of a story. (Why, after all, the journalist asks, would I
be given a "fact" unless it serves the government's interest? If it serves the
government's interest, then by definition it may be self-serving, perhaps
even devoid of credibility, and thus lose its value to me.)
Tom Tuch understands the rules of the game. He was, for more than thirty
years, one of the most professional public affairs officers I have ever met. I
don't know where- maybe in Moscow, or Berlin, or Brasilia, or Bonn,
several of the capitals in which he served so ably-but somewhere he learned
ix