THE UNITED STATESADVISORY COMMISSION

ONPUBLIC DIPLOMACY

REPORT1980

Public diplomacy is a new label for an old concept. It supplements and reinforcestraditional intergovernmental diplomacy, seeking to strengthen mutual understand-ing between peoples through a wide variety of international communication andeducational and cultural exchange programs. The principal agency charged with theconduct of American public diplomacy around the world is the 'International Com-munication Agency. The Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy is responsiblefor advising and overseeing the work of the International Communication Agency(USICA).

The work of USICA - and therefore the concern of the Commission - iscomplex and broad. It includes: radio and television broadcasting, publishing, filmdistribution, exchange programs, trade fairs, schools, libraries, exhibits, informa-tion centers, and a worldwide radioteletype network. Exchange activities alone areof many kinds - research, lectures, study, observation, technical training, culturalpresentations, sports events, conferences, and interviews. Such activities may besponsored and funded by governments, private agencies, or both.

Public diplomacy requires the assessment of public attitudes and opinions and asensitivity to their influence on cross-cultural communications and the developmentof foreign policy.

The International Communication Agency engages in public diplomacy:

• When a Fulbright scholar teaches anthropology in India;

• When Finland programs the USICA-produced story of Leonard Bernstein onnational prime-time television;

• When the Voice of America broadcasts to millions of listeners throughout the

Soviet Union;

• When USICA' s exhibit, "America Now," is introduced in Belgrade byMrs. Mondale as it begins a tour of Eastern Europe;

• When Colombian students learn English at a Binational Center in Bogota;

• When USICA escorts foreign journalists on tours throughout the United States;

• When producers of children's television programs from many countries,sponsored by USICA, cOllvene and exchange experiences with their counterpartsin different American cities;

• When Japanese economists read USICA's Economic Impact magazine;

• When a USICA grant helps Boston to host mayors from more than 40 cities aroundthe world, celebrating urban renaissance and exploring future challenges.

It is tempting to present a very long list. The point, however, is simple andstraightforward; these activities, and so much else, are an integral part ofU.S.foreign policy. They help create a world more understanding of the UnitedStates and its people and contribute to the development of American understanding

of others.

To the Congress and to the President of the United States

In accordance with the requirements of Section 8, Reorganization Plan No.2 of 1977,and Public Law 96-60, the United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacysubmits herewith its first Report on the International Communication Agency.

Respectfully submitted,

Olin Robison, ChairmanProfessor of Political SciencePresident, Middlebury CollegeVERMONT

John Hope FranklinSenior Mellon Fellow,

National Humanities CenterProfessor of History,

University of ChicagoILLINOIS

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Lewis ManilowAttorneyPresident, Museum of

Contemporary ArtILLINOIS

Jean McKeePublic Affairs Consultant

and Corporate Board MemberNEW YORK

Neil SherburneRegent, University of MinnesotaSecretary- Treasurer,

Minnesota AFL-CIO (Retired)MINNESOTA

Leonard L. SilversteinAttorney; Partner, Silverstein & MullensChairman, Executive Committee,

National Symphony Orchestra AssociationWASHINGTON, D.C.

Mae Sue TalleyRetired Business Executive,

Publisher, and Civic LeaderARIZONA

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Message from the Chairman

On April 1, 1978, the President of the United States, with the approval ofCongress, created the International Communication Agency (USICA). At the sametime the U.S. Advisory Commission on International Communication, Cultural andEducational Affairs was established with a mandate to serve as public trustee for thenew Agency. I By July, 1979, all seven commissioners had been appointed. Thefollowing October the Congress changed the name of the Commission to the U.S.Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy (P.L. 96-60).

The Commission is obligated to report to the President, the Congress, theSecretary of State, and the Director of the Agency concerning USICA, the principalgovernment agency responsible for conducting public diplomacy. The Commissionis to assess the policies and programs of the Agency, evaluating the effectivenesswith which it carries out its mission. In addition, the Commission has been directedto inform the public, both in the United States and abroad, about USICA and thepurposes for which it was created.

Appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate, themembers of this bipartisan Commission have spent their first full year reviewingAmerica's public diplomacy efforts. Each of us has brought to the task a unique setof perspectives and experiences, and the views set forth in this. our first Report,have been carefully considered.

We have met almost monthly during the past year and have reviewed virtuallyevery aspect of USICA's mission, organization, and program. Members of theCommission have traveled abroad to assess the Agency's field operations. * TheCommission has met regularly with the Director of the Agency and senior membersof his staff, as well as with officials in the Department of State, the White Housestaff, and key members of both houses of Congress. In addition, the Commissionhas received testimony and recommendations from a number of the organizations inour country that receive funding from USICA and whose work is both supplemen-tary and complementary to the public diplomacy mission of the United States Gov-ernment.

The Commission has conducted its assessment from two perspectives - theappropriate role of USICA in the conduct of America's foreign affairs and the wisecommitment of the taxpayer's dollar. For the purposes of our first Report, we haveconsciously and selectively focused on those concerns which we believe are ofgreatest importance to the public diplomacy of the United States during the 1980's .

• Sixteen countries have been visited on 15 separate trips. All but three were privately financed.

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The Commission is mindful of its obligation to appraise the effectiveness ofspecific USICA programs and policies. But as we developed our own appreciationof public diplomacy, we concluded that awareness of USICA' s mission and In-creased tangible support for its efforts demand an immediate, separate priority.

Within the United States USICA is relatively unknown. We hope our initialreport will introduce the Agency to a wider domestic audience, and bring aboutgreater understanding of and support for its mission.

USICA, as this government's principal resource in public diplomacy, is not aluxury item in the Federal budget. It is indispensable to our national security andwarrants far more than existing inadequate levels of support. Public diplomacy is asimportant to the national interest as is military preparedness, and it ought to betreated with the same degree of concern. We believe that public diplomacy programscan decrease the probability of military involvement.

World events during the past year have had a profound effect on the wayAmericans view the world and on the way the world views the people of the UnitedStates. By using its international communication resources wisely, our country canhelp to ensure that these views and opinions are accurate and that misperceptions arecorrected. It is to the achievement of this end that we submit this Report.

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Resources

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Research andEvaluation

Summary of Recommendations

Relationship of USICAto other ForeignAffairs Agencies

As part of this country's investment in national security,the Congress and the President should increase substantiallythe resources this nation commits to the conduct of publicdiplomacy .

• The Commission recommends that USICA's budget beincreased by $200 million. *

• The Commission recommends that the President raiseUSICA's personnel ceiling by 30 percent.

• The Commission recommends that Congress and thePresident exempt public diplomacy activities from gov-ernment-wide travel reductions.

USICA's Office of Research, with its focus on foreignpublic opinion, is critically important to all of the Agency'sactivities. It should be given independent organizational sta-tus, increased funds, and additional responsibility for evalu-ating program effectiveness.

• The Commission recommends that the Office of Re-search report directly to the Agency's Director.

• The Commission recommends that the Office of Re-search be granted an immediate increase of at least 100percent of its current budget.

• The Commission recommends that the Office of Re-search assume responsibility for evaluating the effective-ness of Agency programs.

The President and the Congress have directed USICA to"insure that our government adequately understands for-eign opinion and culture for policy-making purposes." Tohelp fulfill this obligation, the Director of the Agencyshould be assigned a permanent seat on the National Securi-ty Council.

• Commission member Mrs. Mae Sue Talley dissents from this recommendation.pcnding further review of present expenditures and the magnitude of additionalresources recommended.

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Contents

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SECTION IThe Agency

The Commission is deeply concerned that USICA is relatively unknown, and that itsmission is not understood within the United States. Overseas, the Agency is a valued andcredible institution, but far too few Americans know what USICA does or why. Even theVoice of America and the Fulbright program, both widely acclaimed, are rarely identifiedas part of the Agency.

In Section I,

A. The Agency's tasks are outlined and examples are given of programs designed tocarry them out;

B. The organization of USICA is briefly explained;C. An overview of the Agency's first two years is presented.

SECTION IIThe Commission's Recommendations

The Commission debated several options concerning the focus of the first set of recom-mendations. A number of internal Agency issues were raised during the past year, manyof which warrant our attention and will be dealt with in later reports. We concluded,however, that the level of support now granted the Agency was of primary importance. Itmakes little sense to tackle internal Agency problems, advise on specific programs, orassess individual activities when the resources needed for public diplomacy so greatlyexceed those available. Out recommendations, therefore, address the problem of basicAgency needs. USICA has been forced to spread too far, with too little, for too long.

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In Section II,

A. The Commission's recommendations are presented;

B. Issues which the Commission feels warrant further consideration are raised.

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SECTION I

THE AGENCYPublic Diplomacy and the International Communication Agency

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American hostages in Iran and Soviet tanks in Afghanistan dramatize the many forcesthat have fundamentally affected the way we as a nation view ourselves and the world.The manner in which we deal with this kind of world is increasingly dependent on thematurity, the patience, and the understanding we bring to it.

It is critically important to present the policies and diverse culture of the United Statesto foreign peoples. It is equally important for Americans to acquire a better understandingof the values, cultures, and aspirations of others. Both tasks are the responsibility ofUSICA as legislated by the Congress.

The Commission's obligation to report on USICA - its programs, its policies, and theeffectiveness with which it carries out its responsibilities - was assigned with the implicitassumption that the Agency was a known entity. This has proved to be an invalidassumption. Excluding a handful of Agency supporters in both the executive and legisla-tive branches of government, and excluding the private sector recipients of Agencygrants, USICA is virtually unknown in the U.S.

The following brief exposition of USICA's mandate and programs is therefore present-ed by the Commission as one small step in making the Agency's work better known.

A. USICA - The Task Public diplomacy is basically a continuous communica-tions process. It seeks to inform, to make international un-derstanding more probable, and to influence the worldwidecontext in which U.S. foreign policy is conducted.

To these ends, the Agency sponsors and funds a widevariety of communications activities. The Voice of America(VOA), USICA's broadcasting element, transmits 820hours of programming a week in 38 languages to an estimat-ed 80 million listenersf The Agency's educational andcultural exchange programs include the International Visitor(IV) program, the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship pro-gram, and the well-known Fulbright exchange program forstudents, professors, and senior scholars. Media productsdeveloped and acquired by USICA include films, video-tapes, magazines, exhibits, and a worldwide radioteletypenetwork called the Wireless File. In 205 posts throughoutthe world, the Agency operates libraries, conducts semi-nars, teaches English, and facilitates the presentation ofprograms in the visual and performing arts.

In 125 countries, USICA's principal representative is thePublic Affairs Officer (PAO). As part of the embassy'scountry team, the PAO is responsible for designing and

1. USICA is toExplain OfficialU.S. GovernmentPolicies

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orchestrating the U.S. Government's public diplomacy pro-grams. Aware of public opinion and sensitive to the cultureof the host country. this officer is obliged to identify issuesof bilateral concern and to engage foreign publics in a coop-erative effort to increase international understanding.

Congress and the President have outlined four basic taskswhich comprise the mission of public diplomacy.

There are a variety of ways USICA explains official poli-cies, and the choice made is determined by the subject aswell as by the level of awareness and interest on the part ofthe audience.

Some recent examples:

eAt USICA' s request. Assistant Secretary of State Rich-ard Moose responded to questions via telephone from40 leading Kenyans who had just seen a videotape ofhis pre-recorded remarks in Nairobi. A local editorstated it was' 'one of the best things ever to happen tojournalism in Kenya." The Assistant Secretary's audi-ence included the Foreign Minister.

eA member of Congress was invited by USICA' s PublicAffairs Officer in Germany to discuss the role of Con-gress in American foreign policy to a select audienceof journalists. scholars. and high-level governmentofficials in Bonn. The host noted that we "need moresessions of this kind to fully comprehend the greatcomplexity of the American situation."

e The late Ambassador and former Congressman AllardLowenstein was programmed by USICA in seminarsand conferences throughout Europe. Asia. Africa. andLatin America. A typical comment from a Berlin news-paper editor: "Only in America are such politicalfigures as Ambassador Lowenstein bred and only bymeeting and questioning men like him can thoughtfulEuropeans grasp the practical idealism which dictatesso much of American policy."

In addition to these kinds of individual events, the Agen-cy routinely provides press releases and copies of all majorU.S. Government statements, transmits the texts and back-ground explanations of documents via radio teletype , andbroadcasts official foreign policy commentaries over theVoice of America.

2. USICA is to PortrayAmerican Society tothe People of OtherCountries asAccurately andCompletely asPossible

USICA sponsors visits to the United States each year ofabout 2,000 foreign leaders in government, labor and busi-ness, science, education, and other fields. Overseas,USICA designs exhibits, conducts seminars, operatesAmerican libraries, supports private American cultural pre-sentations, sponsors the teaching of English, and producesand acquires films, videotapes, magazines, and other mediaproducts. In American and Binational Centers, USICAsponsors a variety of programs designed to encourage inter-national communication and to develop understanding ofAmerican society.

• One international visitor from Ghana returned homeand founded the Visitor Alliance modeled after theLeague of Women Voters which she had discovered ona short U.S. tour.

• Another visitor wrote from Togo: "In 30 days I sawmore than in all the rest of my life." He recommendedthat the Minister of Education go too.

• A Japanese newspaper editorial explained: "These(American) Centers are constantly trying to deepenexchanges with local citizens ... The U.S. is smartenough to send even those scholars who are critical ofU.S. policy .... "

• Public exposure to exhibits produced by USICA oftenexceeds a half-million at non-traveling exhibitions andcan reach as many as a million and a half at multi-cityshowings in the Soviet Union. The Nairobi Daily Na-tion editorialized that visitors to a recent science andtechnology exhibit' 'will see how relevant and appro-priate the U.S.-oriented technology is to the needs of afast-dev~loping Kenya." A Romanian visitor to the"Artist at Work in America" exhibit noted: "Thisexhibit is America. It shows all of the excitement andcreativity which I think of as being American."

-• Nigeria and Ghana, two important West African coun-tries adapting to civilian forms of government, arenow looking to the American system of government asa model. USICA arranged for members and staffs oftheir parliaments to meet with their Congressionalcounterparts to study the American legislative systemin detail. Scholars and Congressional staff have un-dertaken extensive visits to both countries. One seniorspecialist in the Congressional Research Service

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3. USICA is to EnsureThat the Presidentand the U.S. Govern-ment AdequatelyUnderstand ForeignPublic Opinion andForeign Cultures

4. USICA is to Assistin the Developmentof American Under-standing of OtherNations

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recently conducted a full week of workshops on legis-lative procedures for the entire 140-mell1ber Parlia-ment of Ghana.

On a regular basis, the Agency provides the Congress andthe Executive branch with:

( 1) analyses of foreign media reactions to world eventsand to U.S. policies,

(2) research reports assessing foreign public opinion,and

(3) comprehensive studies and evaluations of the publicdiplomacy consequences of U.S. policies.

Overseas, USICA's officers are responsible for the co-ordination of all press and public affairs aspects of officialU.S. representation activities. This includes preparation forofficial visits by the President, members of Congress, andother government officials, as well as the responsibility tomeet the press demands such visits entail. It is the functionof the PAO to provide the embassy with assessments ofpublic opinion, including reactions to U.S. policies andmajor events.

While both of USICA' s predecessor organizations par-tially fulfilled this function, the new Agency was specifi-cally given what has come to be called the "second man-date," helping Americans to learn about other societies.The Commission notes that USICA has been responsive tothis obligation, but feels that a more definitive program isrequired. We will continue to monitor progress in this area.

Agency grants are awarded to private groups in theUnited States to enhance American understanding and com-petence in world affairs. Among the recipients of thesegrants are organizations such as the American Council ofYoung Political Leaders, the YMCA, Partners of theAmericas, and Sister Cities International.

An important consequence of the Agency's many ex-change programs is the exposure of Americans to differentcultures. For example, American families host USICA-sponsored International Visitors, returning Fulbright schol-ars share their experiences with their colleagues, and exhib-its from other countries are shown in American museums.

B. USICA - The organi- The International Communication Agency is an indepen-zation dent agency of the United States Government. It was estab-

lished April 1. 1978 by President Carter's ReorganizationPlan No.2 of 1977 as amended and approved by the Con-gress. The new Agency consolidated the activities of twopreviously separate predecessor organizations: the UnitedStates Information Agency and the State Department's Bu-reau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

The Director and the Deputy Director are appointed bythe President. .subject to Senate approval, as are the fourprincipal Associate Directors of USICA:

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1. Associate Director for Broadcasting - The Voice ofAmerica,

2. Associate Director for Educational and Cultural Af-fairs,

3. Associate Director for Programs.

4. Associate Director for Management.

Cc Overvlew Prior to the reorganization, there was considerable con-cern that either the new Agency's academic programswould become politicized, or that its information, media,and policy functions would be blurred by undue emphasison education and cultural activities. The Agency's leader-ship has been sensitive to these fears. To the credit of allinvolved, the Agency has done much to synthesize and usein a balanced way the great variety of communications toolsat its disposal.

Concerns that the new Agency would not have sufficientautonomy were raised during the reorganization by mem-bers of Congress and others interested in public diplomacy.USICA now works closely with and takes foreign policyguidance from the Department of State, but its budgetary,personnel, and administrative independence appear to havebeen maintained.

It is imperative that the Agency responsible for present-ing the diversity of American opinion, American culture,and American politics enjoy independence from the Depart-ment responsible for official foreign policy. The Commis-sion believes that USICA has the degree of autonomy it

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needs to accomplish its mission and to protect the integrityof its programs. The Commission is concerned lest theAgency's independence be diluted, as would be the case ifUSICA's statutorily-based career Foreign Service Informa-tion Officer corps were merged with the Foreign Service ofthe Department of State. Indeed, the Agency's lack of aseparate and visible public identity is one of the Commis-sion ' s concerns.

USICA is now two years old, a short time in the life ofany ongoing institution. There are problems within theAgency, many of them the inevitable result of an extensivegovernment reorganization - some of which we willaddress in later reports. However, the Commission's rec-ommendations which follow have been chosen deliberatelyto ensure that this new Agency receive the support we feel isminimally required. Without it, many of the internal defi-ciencies will remain. The Agency cannot continue to re-spond to increased demands with insufficient resources.

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SECTION II

A. Recommendations

1. As an investment in national security, the Congress alld the President should sub-stantially increase the resources this nation commits to the conduct of public diplo-macy.

• The Commission recommends that USICA's budget be increased by $200 million.t

• The Commission recommends that the President raise USICA's personnel ceilingby 30 percent. 4

• The Commission recommends that Congress exempt public diplomacy activitiesfrom government-wide travel reductions.

Budget In 1981, the United States will spend $ I62 billion onnational defense. 5 The proposed FY- ]98] budget forUSICA is $448 million 6 - approximately 0.3 percent ofwhat we devote to military spending.

The Commission strongly believes that it is in the nation-al interest to view public diplomacy as an indispensableelement in America's national security.

The strength of our country derives as much from theideas we represent as it does from the military and economicpower we exercise in support of those ideas. Soviet dissi-dents, the mass exodus of Cubans, Cambodians, and Viet-namese to freedom in the U. S., the spread of the humanrights movement worldwide are recent manifestations of thepower of these ideas.

Current across-the-board military increases are justifiedin terms of the nation's defense. They are not, however, anexclusive guarantor of national security.

All of us are concerned - and rightly so - that wenot slip into military weakness. We are steadily mod-ernizing our military posture. Yet cutting back ourother international programs contributes to anotherkind of weakness, every bit as dangerous, It cuts backour arsenal of influence. Our support for liberty inthe world - our defense of American and Westerninterests - cannot be mounted with military weaponsalone. The battle for American influence in the worldrequires more than rockets, certainly more than rhet-oric. It requires the resources that make our diploma-cy effective. Secretary of State Edmund Muskie , ad-dressing the New York Council on Foreign Relations,July 7,1980. .

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If you give us scholarships. that is far better thangiving us 100 tanks ... While the Soviet Union offershundreds of scholarships to Yemeni students and mili-tary officers. getting scholarships to the United Stateshas been like pulling teeth without anesthesia. A se-nior advisor to President Saleh of Yemen, quoted inthe New York Times. May 7, 1980.

USICA today is operating in real dollar terms with lessthan one-half the money the same programs had in the mid-1960' s. If it were operating at those levels today, the Agen-cy's budget would approach one billion dollars. Instead, itsproposed budget for FY-1981 is $448 million.

Moreover, United States investment in public diplomacyis low in comparison with that of both our allies and ouradversaries. A report issued by the General Accounting Of-fice last year, The Public Diplomacy of Other Countries:Implications for the United States. found that in absoluteterms the U.S. is outspent by both the Soviet Union andFrance and is nearly matched by West Germany. France,West Germany, the Soviet Union, Japan, and Britain allspend a higher percentage of their national budget on publicdiplomacy than does the United States.

CountryCultural and Information Programsas a Percentage of Annual Budget"

FranceWest GermanyUSSRJapanBritainUnited States?"

0.7%0.6%0.3%0.21%0.18%0.1%

*Source: General Accounting Office, 1979**Includes Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty 7

USICA is rarely granted new funds to respond to inter-national crises and opportunities, and all too often it isforced to reprogram from existing resources. Because offiscal constraints, the Agency has been forced to cut vitalprograms and forgo significant opportunities.

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8Here are a few recent examples:

• The Voice of America does not have the funds to con-vert from the vacuum tube equipment of an earliergeneration to the more reliable and cost-effective sol-id-state systems of today .

• The highly successful exchange of persons programhas been reduced by almost 50 percent over the pastfifteen years.

• USICA was forced to divert funds from other impor-tant programs to finance long overdue increases ill theVoice of America's Persian broadcasts to Iran.

• USICA has 32 principal posts in Africa; 18 are staffedby only one American officer.

• The $100,000 cost of evacuating Agency personnelfrom Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan was taken fromUSICA's current budget, forcing cuts elsewhere. Un-like the State Department, USICA has no emergencyfund.

• America Illustrated, the United States Governmentmagazine that is sent to the USSR in exchange forSoviet Life, has lost its impressive size; its editorialcontent and staff are being reduced.

• The Voice of America is just now beginning to broad-cast to Afghanistan in Dari; it does not broadcast toSpain in Spanish, to Japan in Japanese ....

On March 3, 1980, then Secretary of State Cyrus Vancetold the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations: "Preciselybecause the world has become a more dangerous place inrecent months, we will continue to work to defuse its dan-gers." Decreasing our military vulnerability is one way to"defuse," but it is not the only way. As Ambassador Fer-nand Spaak noted on April 21, 1980, speaking for the Com-mission of the European Communities in the U. S.:

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If is the friendships and understanding that are builtbetween ordinary men and women that will ultimatelydecide the nature of relations between nations andcontinents ... we have to go further and deepen (our)understanding beyond the official and diplomatic lev-el. Our peoples themselves have to know one anotherbetter ....

Public diplomacy is in the front line of this effort, and ifUSICA is to perform effectively it must be given additionalresources. The current level of support is simply inad-equate.

An-I8-year old student of politics from Dublin recentlywrote to VOA complaining,

that it is 100 times easier to tune to Moscow than tothe VOA . . . This should be a matter of nationalsecurity. The propaganda war waged by Radio Mos-cow is sowing the seeds of Marxist revolution andanti-Americanism among the poor and oppressed ...It is all the more effective because the voice of truth isweak.

The $200 million increased funding we recommendwould merely permit the Agency to retain its current shareof 0.1 % of the total annual United States budget of FY-81,now estimated at $696 billion. A prudent assessment of ournational security needs requires that we do no less.

Can the nation afford:

• weak VOA signals beamed to Cen-tral Asia, Central China, EasternEurope, and the Near East? $70 million

• not to initiate a modest USICA pro-gram in Zimbabwe, supporting theemergence of a new democracy? $500,000

• not to support a major effort to ad-dress joint economic concernsthrough cooperative research withour European allies? $500,000

• not to produce a major exhibit for atour in China, responding to thespecial needs of two nations tryingto close a thirty-year gap? $4 million

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.not to increase the number ofUSICA officers overseas by 10% inorder to strengthen the impact ofpublic diplomacy? $10 million

• not to send Fulbright researchscholars to developing countrieswith which we now have only limit-ed contact and little exchange? $5 million

• not to convert 19 VOA broadcast-ing studios to solid-state equip-ment? $2 million

• not to convert from radioteletype tomodern word-processing equip-ment for worldwide transmission ofpress items? $3.5 million

• not to send our officers overseaswith an adequate command of thelocal language? $2.8 million

These are but a few examples." The Commission is notnow recommending new programs. It is simply stating thatwhat USICA is required to do demands resources which itcurrently lacks.

At the Commission's request, some Agency elementshave outlined their requirements beyond the limits imposedby OMB and the Director of the Agency. Their persuasiveand detailed justifications for increased budgets have clearlyidentified the severity of USICA's fiscal constraints.

Personnel USICA's budget is not its only diminishing resource.Also reduced is public diplomacy's most valuable asset -the American officer overseas and the staff required to ren-der professional support.

Agency officers serving througout the world provide themost direct, substantive, and effective link between theUnited States and the groups, organizations, institutions,and leaders in the countries to which they are assigned. Yetdue to Federal hiring limitations and employment ceilingreductions, USICA is losing several hundred more positionsthis year.

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Traveling & Shipping

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The Commission finds this deplorable, not only becauseof the impact on ongoing programs, but because it continuesa fifteen-year trend. In Western Europe alone the number ofAmerican and foreign national employees has declined 81 %since 1954. USICA's overall employment level has de-creased by 30 % since 1964 .10 The cumulative impact ofthese reductions makes prospective cuts impossible toabsorb.

Unresolved personnel problems exist in any large organi-zation, in or out of government. This is no less true ofUSICA. However, the Commission believes that these are,by and large, difficulties apart from the question of suffi-cient staff. USICA does not have enough people around theworld to do well those tasks which it is enjoined by legisla-tion to do.

The Commission recommends that the President raiseUSICA's personnel ceiling by 30 %.

The Commission is also convinced that the quality ofUSICA's language training must be improved to the pointwhere more officers not only speak but think in the lan-guage of the country to which they are assigned. Coursesshould be designed specificiaUy for USICA's personnel.Comprehension of the nuances and implications of words isrequisite to full participation in the world of ideas, opinions,and perceptions of foreign peoples.l!

Pursuant to Public Law 96-86 (1979), the Office of Man-agement and Budget has imposed across-the-board restric-tions on government travel and shipping. This applies de-spite the special needs of the foreign affairs agencies, anddespite the existing overall inadequate budget available toUSICA.

As a result of these restrictions:

• There are now several countries where USICA' s offi-cers are confined to the capital city.

• USICA' s book distribution program has been severelycurtailed.

• Agency engineers are unable to maintain adequatelyUSICA's overseas equipment.

• Agency journalists - press and radio - are pro-hibited from traveling to some of the events on whichthey must file worldwide reports.

These are but examples of a depressingly long list. TheCommission recommends that the Congress and the Officeof Management and Budget exempt public diplomacy ac-tivities from these restrictions, and take the necessary mea-sures to correct this setting of program policy by budgetarydefault.

2. USICA's Office of Research, with its focus on foreign public opinion, is criticallyimportant to all of the Agency's activities. It should be given independent organiza-tional status, additional funds, and assigned the responsibility for evaluating pro-gram effectiveness.

• The Commission recommends that the Office of Research report directly to theAgency's Director.

• The Commission recommends that the Office of Research be granted an imme-diate increase of at least 100% of its current budget.

• The Commission recommends that the Office of Research assume responsibilityfor evaluating the effectiveness of Agency programs.

The function of research in USICA is to advise the Di-rector concerning foreign public opinion, to assess foreignattitudes toward specific policies and issues, and to evaluatethe reasons for them. The Office of Research must identifywhat people think, and why, determining the basis on whichforeign publics have formed their opinions. It should esti-mate the reaction of foreign publics to policy options underconsideration by the Agency and the Administration. Re-search reports and analyses should become an integral partof Congressional and Executive foreign policy delibera-tions.

In addition, the Commission believes that the Office ofResearch should be responsible for assessing program effec-tiveness. Before the Agency sets policies governing the useof its many communication and exchange programs, theeffectiveness of existing programs should be measured. TheOffice of Research should assume this function, providingsubstantive data to help management guide the allocation ofresources on an Agency-wide basis.

The Commission notes that USICA does support someassessment programs: overseas inspections of Agency postsare conducted periodically; major resource allocation deci-sions are made annually through the Zero Based Budget(ZBB) process; and a new office has been formed to provideAgency managers with access to computer-based records ofan estimated 20,000 separate items or services produced by

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USICA each year. However, the Agency must establish anindependent evaluation staff within the Office of Researchto identify what works, where it works, and why.

At present the Office of Research is required to filter itsproposals and results through too many bureaucratic layers.The validity of research and its utility require maximumindependence. In order to eliminate undue controls fromexternal sources, the Office of Research should report di-rectly to the Agency's Director. 12

The research budget for USICA represents 0.6% of theAgency's total allocation. The paucity of funds for contractresearch studies (less than $700,000) has forced the Officeto limit its major efforts to only 14 countries worldwide.Foreign public opinion trends are not routinely available,and important surveys are not undertaken because of budgetrestrictions. In addition, social scientists in USICA are un-able to travel within the U.S. with sufficient frequency toremain in touch with other scholars engaged in relevantresearch, and too often they are excluded from participatingin international seminars because of travel cuts.

The Office of Research should be granted an immediateincrease of at least 100% of its current budget. There shouldbe far more studies initiated by USICA, such as the onerecently headlined in The Washington Post:

STUDY SEES DANGER IN SOVIETS' INABILITY TO UN-DERSTAND U.S.

Soviet inability to comprehend the workings of the Ameri-can system is currently producing a "dangerous" percep-tion gap between the two nations. according to an unusualU.S. government research study.

At a time of exceptional tension between Moscow andWashington. the study found. "The situation is dangerousprecisely because Soviet experts themselves tend to believethat they in fact understand American society " ...

These findings emerge from a unique research project spon-sored by the U.S. International Communication Agency.Murrey Marder. Washington Post, July 11, 1980

The methodology was unique, the findings were surpris-ing, and deliberations on the implications for U. S. foreignpolicy are now going on at the highest levels of govern-ment. This kind of effort should be routine for USICA,providing crucial insights and perspectives all too often ab-sent in the government's decision-making process.

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Many Agency officers are not sufficiently aware of re-search as an indispensable policy and program guide. Thereare too many instances in which research is not utilizedbecause of ignorance of social science research capabilities.Junior officers should be rotated through the Research Of-fice on a regular basis, thereby assuring a worldwide cadreof research-sensitive officers in the years to come.

3. The Commission recommends that the Director of USICA be assigned a permanentseat on the National Security Council.

USICA is required to "insure that our government ade-quately understands foreign opinion and culture for policy-making purposes." 13 To do so, the Agency must become afull participant rather than just an occasionally-consultedobserver in the foreign policy decision-making process.

USICA's professionals communicate beyond the sphereof traditional diplomacy. In the countries to which they areassigned Agency officers meet daily with students and edu-cators, journalists and artisans, government officials andpolitical leaders in and out of power. The Agency assessesforeign public opinions, public attitudes, trends, and devel-opments. Overseas, USICA's expertise is acknowledgedand used. Most U.S. ambassadors are aware of the uniquecontributions the Agency makes to the development ofstrong bilateral ties between the U. S. and other nations.

In Washington, this is all too frequently not the case.Increasingly, U.S. foreign policy decisions must reflect agreater sensitivity to foreign cultures, to foreign publicopinions, perceptions, and priorities. USICA has this sensi-tivity which should be considered in deliberations at thehighest level. Congress and the President have jointly deter-mined that USICA's Director shall serve as "the principaladvisor to the President, the National Security Council andthe Secretary of State." 13

Only as a member of the National Security Council canthe Director fulfill this obligation regularly and effectively.

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B. Additional Observations

The Commission's most urgent concern remains the inadequate resources available toUSICA. However, the following issues warrant mention in this Report as important areasto which further attention must be directed.

1. UNESCOFreedom of the press, one of democracy's fundamental

values, finds expression internationally in the final act ofthe Helsinki accords (Commission on Security and Cooper-ation in Europe), in the UN's Universal Declaration of Hu-man Rights and in UNESCO General Conference state-ments. The exercise of this freedom in today's world isincreasingly dependent on technological and professionalcapability.

Industrialized nations have a superior capacity to collectand distribute information, and this superiority has beenchallenged by many developing countries as inhibiting theirability to tell their stories, in their words, from their per-spectives, both internally and externally. '

The Commission believes it is in the national interest, aswell as in the interest of other countries, for the UnitedStates to assist in fashioning a free and equitable flow ofinformation worldwide. USICA's role in past U.S. commit-ments to address the current imbalances has yet to be ade-quately defined, and the Commission notes that while therehas been some progress, it is not nearly enough.

2. Domestic One of USICA's predecessors _ the U.S. InformationDissemination Agency - was legislatively prohibited from making any of

its products designed for overseas use available within theUnited States.14 When USICA was created, this prohibi-tion was inherited. At the time of its formation, however,USICA was given responsibility for enhancing the ability ofAmericans to understand other cultures. IS Pending furtherstudy, the Commission does not now recommend the re-moval of the old prohibition, but it does suggest that theissue be reexamined by Congress and the Agency. There isa need to assess the products USICA creates, and to harmo-nize what may be an archaic rule with the public's right ofaccess to government data.

3. USICA's Audience The Agency's policy toward international audiences isnecessarily mixed. The Voice of America reaches a massaudience, as do major exhibits and press placement effortsin foreign countries. However, many other Agency

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"1.

•endeavors are focused on carefully chosen leaders andopinion-makers in each country. The Commission suggeststhat budget restrictions and personnel limitations play aninordinately decisive role in determining the Agency'saudience policy. Both USICA and the Congress are urged toexplore the necessity of reaching a greater number of peopleworldwide and to allocate funds accordingly.

4. Budget Autonomy The relationship between USICA and the StateDepartment is intended to permit maximum independencefor the Agency, while avoiding unnecessary duplication ofeffort or expenditure overseas. A recent letter from theretiring OMB official responsible for all foreign affairs anddefense agency budgets recommended serious interferencewith USICA's fiscal independence. The Commission isreluctant to see budgetary authority affecting USICAdelegated to the Secretary of State. This would likely, in theCommission's view, unnecessarily compromise theautonomy USICA must have to fulfill its mission. Theintent of Congress was clear: USICA is to receive officialU.S. policy guidance from the Secretary of State, butUSICA constitutes an independent agency of the UnitedStates Government - responsible to the President.

5. Personnel Alluded to in the recommendations is the Commission'sconcern about the personnel situation in USICA, apart fromthe fact that there are simply not enough people. The Com-mission is not, at this time, prepared to identify discreteproblems and to pose appropriate suggestions for their solu-tion.

However, we do want to register our awareness of thefact that morale among some Agency employees is low, andthat, in our opinion, the reorganization of 2-112 years agocan no longer be cited as cause. There are administrativeproblems internally.

We believe this subject to be of such fundamental impor-tance that further study is required.

* * * * *

This report contains the Commission's evaluation of the need for USICA. As taxpay-ers, citizens, and informed advisors, we present our unanimous conviction that USICA isan unknown but indispensable partner in the national security effort, one that we, as anation, can no longer afford to ignore.

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NOTES

1. Reorganization Plan No.2 00977.

2. This is merely an estimate of VOA's audience. Prior to the opening of China, some 75 million peoplewere thought to tune in VOA's programs. The "80 million listeners" may be, in fact, many more.

3. The Commission's intention is to identify the order of magnitude of funds required. The $200 millionwould merely permit the Agency to fulfill current tasks with adequate resources.

4. The Commission wishes to provide the Agency with the personnel required to respond to presentneeds, both overseas and in Washington. If VOA needs six additional language specialists, the Agencyshould no longer be required to transfer positions from another important area. When a new post isopened abroad, another post should not have to reduce its efforts to accommodate.

5. The Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 1981 (p.552).

6. The Agency's FY-81 budget request, as amended, House Doc. 96-294.

7. Radio Free Europe (RFE) and Radio Liberty (RL) are totally separate from USICA, and do not serve thesame function as the Voice of America. Governed by the independent Board for International Broadcast-ing (BIB), RFE and RL beam in several local languages to Eastern Europe only, serving not as anofficial voice of America, but as surrogate mass media in countries where there is no free press.

8. These examples have been provided to the Commission by Agency personnel, and are documented intranscribed briefings or official memoranda.

9. These figures represent Agency assessments of costs arrived at through normal fiscal procedures.

10. In 1964, the total employment figure for USICA's predecessors - the United States InformationAgency (12,183) and the State Department's Bureau of Cultural and Educational Affairs (405) - was12,588. The current ceiling for USICA is 8,671.

11. A recent GAO report further details this need for improved language training: More Competence inForeign Languages Needed by Federal Personnel Working Overseas, April 15, 1980 (ID-80-3l).

12. The General Counsel reports directly to the Director as does the Office of Congressional and PublicLiaison. See chart on p. 15.

13. Memo from President Carter to the Director of USICA, March 13, 1978, and Executive Order 12048,March 27, 1978.

14. P.L. 80-402, sec. 501 (Title 22, USC, sec. 1461). U.S. Information and Educational Exchange Act of1948, as amended.

15. Memo from President Carter to the Director of USICA, March 13, 1978.

16. Memo of June 13, 1980, to U.S. representatives of foreign affairs, defense, and national securityelements from Edward Jayne II.

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p

For additional information, please write:

UNITED STATES ADVISORY COMMISSIONON PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20547

(202) 724-9243 '" u.s. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 19810- 334-548