Good morning, and welcome to the heritage foundation. It is a true pleasure to welcome you to our distinguished panel today. We are going to be talking about Public Diplomacy in the trump administration. Significant changes have been taking place within the state department in this field, yet at least i think, as someone who studies this extensively, not enough has really been coming forth about the extent of those changes and the effects they are having on the effectiveness of your communication with other publics in other countries. We have with us today, our main speaker will be the assistant secretary of state and a senior official in the bureau of Public Affairs. Were thrilled you could join us today. We look forward to this event. She joined the state department on february 3, 2018, and a year later became she was already assistant secretary, but took on the responsibilities of the undersecretary of state for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. She has led one of the largest restructurings in the state department in 20 years. So this is an very ambitious and a very ambitious and interesting effort, which has now created the bureau of Global Public affairs, of which she is the head. She brings a wealth of Global Strategic Communications experience. She was Global CorporateCommunications SeniorVice President in new york, and she has also previously in washington worked for Newt Gingrich as a lead member of his communications team. She holds a masters degree in political management from George Washington university and a ba in Political Science from ucla, and of the things that impressed was teamn her cv, she captain of the ucla gymnastics team, which i think is fabulous. Thank you so much for being here today on this rainy morning. Over to you. Thank you. All right, good morning. Thank you very much for the introduction. All of us are really excited to be here today, to have a conversation with you around Public Diplomacy and all we are focused on in the state department in communicating American Values, communicating American Foreign policy and really engaging the public in advancing the interests of the United States around the world. Theres never been a more important time for Public Diplomacy. Public diplomacy today is more important than ever. Engaging people, engaging the public, individuals and citizens in American Values in Foreign Policy and the Critical Issues of our time is not only nice to do, but a requirement for success. And theres a number of factors that are contributing to this. The world is increasingly interconnected and transparent, so youve got a number of factors are making Public Diplomacy court to how we succeed at the state department. The first is technology. We know there is a proliferation of channels and platforms, ways that we are able to communicate with citizens from across the world so that we are engaging and having conversations and reaching new types of audiences through these tools and channels. It presents enormous amounts of opportunity, but then you also have Technology Driving new challenges and risks. The Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy report in 2017, can Public Diplomacy survive the internet, take a look at the trends two, almost now three years ago they are highlighting. Chatbots. Artificial intelligence. Computational propaganda. Right . There is scale and speed in the technology and the tools now to pump information into the ecosystem we are living in, it has dramatically changed. Again, it presents a lot of risks. You can use that as tools for truth. You can also use it as tools for fiction, and we are seeing some maligned actors using these as a way to confuse and spew misinformation, disinformation so there is a lot of risk and Opportunities Technology is bringing to the way in which we do Public Diplomacy. In parallel, you see more people around the world having empowered voices through technology. Social media is allowing people to pay attention, to speak up, to have their voice be heard, to so they are pressuring institutions, effect change because their voices are more empowered through technology and these new platforms. So you have got technology, interestingly enough, making people more important, and the way in which we engage and communicate with people more important than ever to Public Diplomacy. Ic diplomacy. Secondly, were in a new era of great power competition, with china, with russia, with the Islamic Republic of iran, and there is more demand and importance to the way in which we communicate American Values across the world, more so than at any other time. Engaging people proactively in that message, in those stories, to help advance the values of the United States is the heart of Public Diplomacy. We know diplomacy isnt just government to government conversations anymore. We have to engage the public in what we are doing. 230thst celebrated bthe anniversary of the state department, and we know that our mission has stayed the same, to advance american interests in every corner of the world. But how we do that requires new thinking and new approaches, and Public Diplomacy is really at the forefront of how we do that, engaging people in society and citizens, making sure we are effectively advancing american diplomacy. A quick overview of how we are doing that, at the state department. My colleagues will give you a deeper dive into their areas of expertise. We have thousands of Public Diplomacy officers across the globe, engaging the public and citizens in American Values and communicating American Foreign policy. Weve got Regional Media hubs in brussels, london, manila, dubai, johannesburg, engaging with the media and foreign audiences. We know theres a lot of constituencies and areas of the world where digital hasnt penetrated as much as in the United States, so we are engaging with traditional media in many forms in order to reach those audiences and tell our story. Digitally, we are engaging with millions and millions of fans and followers and subscribers across social channels, Digital Channels of the state department, having realtime conversations. Using those as really important listening tools, to understand whats important to the audiences we are communicating with. Bringingng technology, together technologists and Digital Experts together with Civil Society in these countries to help them use digital to encourage and advance civic engagement, transparency, participation and empowering voices through social media. Through the gec, we are engaging in countering disinformation, misinformation and propaganda from state actors and nonstate actors. Through eca as well, amid all the digital and technology change, not forgetting that human relationships, people to people ties and interactions are still at the core of how we do our job. Those human relationships amid all this Digital Change are more important than ever. Matt will talk a little more about that. One of the ways, as was mentioned earlier, that we are really trying to modernize and advance how we do Public Diplomacy for 2019 and beyond, is this merger we just did, to create the new Global Public affairs bureau. It was the largest restructuring at the state department in 20 years, since the merger of usia with state. The Mission Behind that was to elevate and enhance and accelerate how we are communicating with audiences all around the world, in real time, to advance our policy and values. I was very pleased to lead this, alongside nicole, the head of the International Information programs bureau, merging Public Affairs and ifp together to create Global Public affairs. An emphasis on data and analytics. We increased in multiple Ways Investments and resources in data analytics, to measure and improve how we are communicating with audiences across the world. A lot of emphasis on content, and different types of ways, creative ways we can communicate with audiences across multiple traditional,ether digital or emerging platforms, and a future focus on platforms that will be emerging, whether it is augmented reality, virtual areity, a. I. , but how we thinking of communicating in those platforms to make sure we are advancing american diplomacy as technology continues to drive change. So, seeing a lot of ways through the merger in how we are deepening, accelerating and enhancing our ability to communicate across the world. One of our greatest advantages, and i will close with this, the United States amid is changing technology, great power competition, has the best story to tell. That is our competitive advantage. The founding values that make our country the most successful and prosperous country in the history of the world. American foreignpolicy today, our story is grounded in our founding principles and fundamental values under the leadership of President Trump and secretary pompeo. Department,he state our first duty is to the American People, to preserve their rights and advance their interests and protect their security and defend their values. In that pursuit, the focus of the state department is to seek and find and create partnership and friendship and cooperation and alliances with countries, strong, sovereign independent nations who share our values, who choose independence and cooperation over global governance, who respect the rights of their neighbors and promote security, peace, dignity and prosperity for their citizens and those around the world. So as the president said at the u. N. General assembly in 2017 echoed again this year, were calling for a great reawakening of nations, their people, their pride, their patriotism. So at the state department we are uniquely positioned, because of the ways in which we can engage with people in countries across the world, not just here at home, have a great story to tell about the partnership, friendship and cooperation we create with countries around the world that share our interests, in order to achieve mutual gain. To can see this in the advance religious freedom, the first ever hosted by the secretary at the state department. More than 100 countries participated to help advance religious freedom, think about how to end religious persecution around the world. The Global Coalition to defeat isis, the United States and 80plus countries coming together to cooperate and think through how to stop the threat of isis across the world. You see it in the new trade deal the president signed with Prime Minister abe, in the usmca, terial inw minis february, with countries coming together to think about middle east peace and security. The United States will host a working group, and so will south korea, bahrain, romania and poland to talk about in partnership with multiple countries how we will advance peace and security in the United States and across the world. Sorry, in the middle east. The u. S. Ela, you had and 50 plus nations coming together to recognize and aido, as the gu interim president of the nationally democratically assemble elected assembly. When we participate, it is to advance american interests, american ideals. The president has made this clear. We will cooperate and partner with countries who share our values, so that we all benefit together. So this is americas story, our Public Diplomacy mission. We are bringing all the tools to bear that we can to engage the public in Critical Issues of our time, communicate our interests, to advance and protect them. Out, we areay serving the interests of the United States and our fellow citizens. With that, i will turn it over to our colleagues. Deputyis the Principal Assistant secretary for our new bureau. She is a Senior Foreign Service officer, spending much of her career in south asia before helping me spearhead the alignment. I will turn it over then to matt, with the bureau of Cultural Affairs, also a career Foreign Service officer who served much of his career in the middle east, and most recently served as deputy chief of the missions in belgium and morocco. Finally, we will hear from the deputy coordinator for the Global Engagement center, to tell you about their work in countering our global adversaries in the digital space. With that, i turn it over to nicole. Thank you. As michelle just mentioned, there has never been more exciting or important time to be engaged in Public Diplomacy and communication, in shaping how the United States communicates policy and values overseas and domestically. Communications landscape is accelerating, and we need to communicate effectively in that environment. The new bureau of Global Public affairs was created to strengthen Strategic Communications at the department of state. Were now four months old. Let me tell you a little about its creation. The goal of the merger of the ofeaus at state, the bureau International Information programs and the bureau of Public Affairs, was to effectively Shape Communications for the United States around the world. Our focus was to bring together the best of both worlds of those bureauss focusing on focusing on Strategic Communications. The merger is not a new idea. This has been talked about since the integration of the u. S. Information agency into the state department. That 20year anniversary is tomorrow. This merger is long overdue, something that had been talked about for years. The difference in this effort, and i believe the reason it has been successful, is that the mission or the focus of the new bureau was tightly on Strategic Communications. WasPublic Affairs traditionally very focused on communicating foreignpolicy to domestic and foreign audiences, whereas iip focused on contextualizing American Foreign policy goals, and American Values for international audiences. When michelle and i first looked at this merger, over a year ago, we thought about the capabilities that would be needed to form a really effective Strategic Communications operation. We had a tremendous amount of support and leadership from secretary pompeo on the merger, and the ultimate goal of strengthening communications. Michelle and i provided guidance to the task force, and they took that guidance and ran with it, created the structure and framework for the new bureau, and fleshed out. Budget,ked with hr, lawyers, to make sure we were getting the Human Resources right and the money right, and developed the structure. The merger was net neutral. There was no increase in budget, no increase or decrease in personnel, and no loss in programs. My colleague matt will talk a little about some of the programs we realigned. Focusing the bureau tightly on Strategic Communications, we realized theres some places, some programs that would be better housed in other parts of the Public Diplomacy family. Use, we like to use three keywords to help explain the rationale behind the merger. Integrated, agile, future proofed. Integrated. We integrated the two heroes keeping the best of both worlds. Iips storytelling and communications, their ability to understand foreign audiences and getting insight on the ground, combined with Public Affairs and a strategic approach, the Public Affairs direct connection to public policy, we brought the best of both worlds together. Let me give you an example. In mid july as michelle mentioned, secretary pompeo hosted the second ministerial to advance religious freedom in washington. The 2019 was the largest religious freedom event of its kind in the world. There were more than 1000 Civil Society actors, religious leaders and over 100 foreign delegations that took part. The euro of Global Public affairs was critical bureau of Global Public affairs was critical in shaping the narrative around the event. The narrative by using the secretarys remarks to frame the religious freedom narrative. Key playersified like ambassador brownback and other Key Department officials. We use traditional as well as digital tools. We used interviews with the press, as well as our flagship social media platforms. Weing the ministerial, maintained this narrative with oneonone interviews with the secretary and department official, and used the hubs michelle mentioned to get the messages out to foreign audiences, and recaptured key moments digitally to push Creative Content out through our flagship social media platforms. Me go back to the idea of integration. One of the things michelle mentioned, the use of data and analytics to shape our message. To make sure we are reaching the audience we need to with the most effective message, but also to be able to do that on the backend. Looking at what we did with the ministerial, evaluating what was effective and what wasnt, and correcting and retooling our approach if there were better ways, if we were not as successful as without. Agile. Michelle talked about the fact that the new cycle is moving instantaneously. So, how are we going to Work Together quickly to be able to deliver key messages to key audiences . How are we going to get our message out, to make sure the the for the there, misinformation and disinformation . Were focused on fast and Effective Communications, in addition to the longerterm communication of American Values. Heres another example. Last week, we were consumed with the u. N. General assembly, and our participation there of the president and the secretary, and it was an opportunity to highlight American Values, as well as our engagement on bilateral fronts. Our Strategic Communications campaign produced a 40 increase in public interaction with content on our flagship digital property, when compared to our 2018 messaging around the u. N. General assembly. Were pretty proud of that. How did we do that . Previous efforts had been a bit isolated, and were focused on key events and key speeches, rather than the narrative around the u. N. General assembly. The difference in this is that we looked at the themes we wanted to push, the narratives we wanted to be presented through interviews and social media platforms, and we tightly organized around that, and it worked. Futureproofed. We didnt want to design a bureau just for 2019. This isnt about moving boxes around on an organizational chart, or adding capacity that would only work in the short term. We were looking for a structure that would make sense five years, 10 years down the line into the future, and that means having written into our structure and the way we work a focus on exploring new platforms, new technologies, best practices. Technology, but also the inperson connections and relationship building. We tried to create a bureau that would attract Diverse Talent and ensure that we are relevant in the years to come. With these three goals in mind, integrated, agile, futureproofed, and a focus on encouraging a culture of learning and development in the new bureau, we believe we will deliver on those Effective Communication tools, that we will effectively communicate policy and American Values for many secretaries of state. Thank you. [applause] ok. Hi. Good morning. Im the Principal Deputy assistant secretary, bureau of educational and Cultural Affairs at the state department, eca. Thata, our focus is on critical element of Public Diplomacy, people to people exchanges. As the assistant secretary was saying, in an increasingly digital world, meaningful realworld interaction, people to people interaction is more important than ever. So when malicious actors like china or russia try to split people apart through disinformation, our counter is to bring people back together, to establish relationships that bridge divides and build Human Networks of people in the United States and overseas who are united in both thought and action. President Trumps NationalSecurity Strategy is very clear. People to people exchanges create the networks of the future, and leaders who will extend a free and prosperous world. Id like to highlight three elements of how eca approaches the work in this field. First, our programs are effective because we create networks of likeminded alumni around the world. In fact, our assistant secretary marie royce is in thailand today, for a meeting of the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative program, bringing 150 Young Leaders from all over Southeast Asia to Work Together and talk about the future. Shes there with them today. Second, a lot of our programs are evergreen. They go back decades, some of them. They are flexible, and constantly adaptable to address new threats and priorities. Third, we are constantly optimizing our resources. We are looking at costefficient virtual exchanges, and how Virtual Technology can leverage or assist in an exchange or streamlining operations with the merger, and we are putting our programs through robust monitoring and evaluation. First, to talk a little about alumni and networks. One of the things we have in eca, we move people, move ideas, to move policy. Our programs are best thought of as an investment in people. People around the world, who become key allies of the United States, and american citizens who through our programs gain valuable experience and skills to help them become more successful. I like to talk about the alumni of our programs and highlight some of their stories. One of our key Exchange Programs exchange,re leaders established in the 1990s. Right now, about 27,000 alumni of that program, high school students, high schoolage students from 21 countries of europe, asia and central asia have participated in the program. One of them, hes from the country of georgia, and was a flex student in texas in 2014. As a student in texas, he got straight as, was in the jazz band, was homecoming prince. He went back to georgia, and applied to the u. S. Naval academy and was accepted. He will study, and then go back to georgia with an indepth understanding of the United States, American Culture and values, and like my american colleagues say, he will be a force multiplier for u. S. Georgia relations. That is the power of alumni. Second, the evergreen nature of some of our programs. Many of our eca programs go back decades. The International VisitorLeadership Program was established 80 years ago next year, and it is one of the most prestigious and valued Exchange Programs that we have. In this haveants gone on to become leaders of nations, ceos, Business Leaders and so forth. The Program Remains with the same framework as 80 years ago. We bring groups of people to the United States, let them see the United States, meet americans, our institutions, and experience life in the United States. But they were also able to adjust the themes of the programs to address current priorities, like religious freedom, countering disinformation and radicalization, advancing womens part as a patient in the economy. Just participation in the economy. Just last week, in support of the white houses womens prosperity initiative, we hosted 18 Women Leaders and around the world here in the United States meeting with u. S. Companies, business incubators, financial institutions, government representatives, looking at ways to reduce legal, regulatory and cultural barriers to womens full participation in the economy. Well. Lbright program as fulbright of course is the wellknown Academic Exchange program, which sends thousands of students, scholars, professionals from the United States overseas, and from overseas to the United States. The program is well over 70 years old now. That program, too, is able to focus on specific regional priorities of the government. For example, to highlight another fulbright alumni, a allow who was part of Fulbright Initiative we have supporting the north Korean Defector community, helping them attend university in the United States. He is a special case. He was homeless in north korea, spending four years on the streets when he was abandoned by his parents he faced starvation, and terrible brutality. He escaped to china, and eventually made his way to south korea and got an education, and now hes currently a fulbrighter at a university here in the district area, getting his phd in conflict analysis and resolution. So fulbrights building his capacities to focus on one of the american administrations top priorities, conflict in the korean peninsula. That is just one of hundreds of thousands of stories of how the Exchange Programs make a difference in a persons life and can impact our ability to achieve our Foreign Policy objectives. Adapting ourre toolkit to optimize our resources. A newear, we launched program called the academy for a. W. E. ,ntrepreneurs, or to support the White House Global Development and prosperity initiative. This is one of the new kinds of programs that incorporates a virtual element, confining innovative platforms, online tools and also in person interactions. The goal of the program is to provide women with knowledge, tools and mentors they need to turn their ideas into successful businesses. Advisor to the president ivanka trump launched the program in colombia, and we will launch it in chile. As the assistant secretary mentioned, some programs that are part of the former iip have been folded into eca. A lot of thought went into that, and the goal of building those programs into eca is to bring programs closer together that are like one another in goals. For example, we incorporated the office of american spaces, american corners, American Cultural Centers and so forth, that office is now much more closely linked with fulbright, english language programs, Global Education programs, and i think we see greater efficiencies in that merger. Id also like to mention our evaluation and monitoring. We have our own Evaluation Division within eca, and the goal of that is to capture the longterm impact of eca programs and rapid assessments of the effectiveness of programs. Using these tools, we are constantly refining and improving our programs, and you can find the completed evaluation at the state department eca website, available to the public, for an indepth look at how these exchanges affect the lives of those who are participating. Those three elements, alumni networks, evergreen and flexible programs, and efficient evaluation, are three of the key factors in the eca as we approach Public Diplomacy in the 21st century. With that, i will turn it over to my colleague. Thanks, matt. Global Engagement Center is really focused on one of the key challenges of our time. That is, to expose and counter foreign state and nonstate sponsors of disinformation and propaganda, specifically propaganda that is targeted at undermining u. S. Policies, stability, and our interests around the world. And not only those of the United States, but importantly also our allies and partners. I would say the gecs activities and mission are closely linked to Public Diplomacy. We Work Together all the time. But it goes a bit beyond that, in that we incorporate also elements such as intelligence, and some operational aspects as well. Its under this Current Administration that the gec evo lved from a mission exclusively focused on really countering extremist dialogues online and trying to thwart recruitment and use, or misuse of the Information Space to inspire people to violent extremism. Largeed the tremendously mission of targeting statesponsored propaganda and disinformation, and generally malign manipulation of the information environment by nationstate competitors. The primary state actors we are focused on would be no surprise. Competition, so we are focused on iran, russia, north korea and china as primary state actors. What the gec is doing is positioning itself as the Mission Center in an expanding network of partners all working together to counter foreign propaganda and disinformation. As we use the tools, as matt talked about, Building Networks over time of alumni and through the Public Diplomacy programs, we also look at how we can plug into those networks as we partner with people around the world who are interested in exposing and countering this kind of adversarial disinformation. An inherent part of, a really critical part of our approach and mission is the partnership with other countries. The assistant secretary spoke about that. We like to say the fundamental advantage we have over our to misuses who seek the Information Space is that we have partners, and they dont. Thegec, and many parts of u. S. Government interagency work constantly with partner through as worldwide, variety of formal and Informal Partnership arrangements. A wide is engaged in range of efforts to build societal resilience, reduce vulnerabilities, expose pernicious disinformation, and ultimately to deter our adversaries from trying to attack us. I like to liken the purveyors of adversarial information to internet scammers. Ultimately, what they are doing is throwing a bunch of stuff at us, trying to manipulate us into doing sending that is really not in our interest. As with email spam, cyber attacks, we cant stop our adversaries from doing what they are doing, from throwing that at us. Instead, we have to focus on shaping the environment, in a way such as, regardless of what the adversaries do, they are less likely to be successful. If you think about it, this really calls for a focus on building awareness and defenses. Think back, people today are much less likely to click on or believe the contents of a sketchy email that you get in your inbox. And people also have antivirus, and antimalware tools that are installed. Thats increased awareness and increase defenses, and thats really what we are looking at. Some of the ways the gec is delivering on this mission. First of all, we continue to execute on the original counterterrorism mission, including coordinating efforts to counter propaganda from isis and its affiliates, al qaeda and other terrorist organizations. One example of how we are involved in this, a partnership, gec helps lead and support the global counterisis coalitions Communications Working Group in its londonbased munications communications cell, with a staff member that is part of that. The gec works with partners to increase detection and exposure of adversarial disInformation Operations. Much of this is through intensive outreach to the technology sector. The gec convenes what we call tech demos, where companies, national labs, groups from universities and other players present their technologies to a panel of experts, to assess how they might be applied on this challenge, of adversarial disinformation. Identifieds, gec several technologies originally developed for other purposes, commercial things from the insurance industry, marketing and advertising, that have great promise for helping us to detect and defend against this kind of Digital Information manipulation. With the private sector to adapt and test these technologies against realworld disinformation challenges out in the field, and we have something that is online you can find cloud, where there is information about some of these technologies. Not all the information, for obvious reasons, but we are trying to share this across the agency and with our partners, as a way to help us more quickly address these challenges. Itself has a analytics and research team, using the most sophisticated data science and digital analytics among with along with other tools to help our government and partners understand, predict and ultimately preempt foreign disinformation. We are developing partnerships with key local social media influencers, to build resistance to disinformation, by getting content out there that can both compete in the Information Space and inoculate vulnerable audiences against disinformation,. All the Academic Research points, we use the word counter, but once disinformation is out in the wild, it is difficult, the human brain has a hard time overcoming that. Any of us that have a mother who sends us stuff on social media knows that challenge. Important. Ion is projects funding building the Technical Skills of Civil Society organizations, ngos and local independent media to shed light on the spread of disinformation. These local, credible voices are the most effective in their own communities. I would wrap up by saying that propaganda, disinformation, these are challenges as old as human society. This is not new. This is a social, cultural problem that has accelerated and intensified, made more dangerous by todays communications technologies. Gettinghy the gec is after the problem from both technological and societal approaches. Id be happy to take any of your questions. Thank you very much. We have 15 minutes here for q a. We will have a roving microphone. Please identify yourself by name and affiliation. We will start here in the front. Hi. Im jim hansen, Security Studies group. We focus on Information Operations and information warfare, and it is hard heartening to see the government organized to have a more coherent response to putting out a message and fighting against disinformation and propaganda. My question would be, right now there is a very powerful stranglehold on our Information Space, by a very small number of Tech Companies, google, youtube, facebook, twitter. Aside from the legacy media, they control in a large way what people find when they go online to find out about anything. I think it has been fairly welldocumented, they are not particularly amenable to the policies of the trump administration. Consequently, when people go to find out what the state department is doing, what secretary pompeo has said and other things, the space is not level, the Playing Field is not level. Do you see a way to push for more transparency, in the way that they both build their algorithms, in the way they rate Information Sources as what is credible and what is not, to ensure there is a marketplace of ideas where the best ideas win, and not one that is in many ways dominated by the views of the leadership of those three Major Technology companies . Ok. I can start out by saying, we partner very closely, as chris mentioned, through the gec, but across Public Diplomacy, we partner closely with social Media Companies and have those relationships to make sure that we are doing things as effectively as possible in communicating with audiences around the world. You saw in President Trumps address at the u. N. General assembly, he called out the challenge about Tech Companies more broadly having a large amount of influence in the information that gets seen. I would say it is an ongoing conversation, a challenge for us to consider, but we work very closely in that conversation with them. Right here . Angel, withs phoenix tv from hong kong. My question is, today we hear a lot of people highlighting the word uncertainty in todays american Public Diplomacy. Aboutyou please talk more the trageds tragedies physicaly towards asianpacific countries . Thank you so much. I will start off. With regard to uncertainty, the president has been clear, the secretary has been clear from day one about the values that we hold, our mission set in achieving american diplomacy across the world. As i mentioned earlier, it is focusing on american sovereignty, on partnering with strong sovereign and independent nations who share our values, whose values have always included rule of law, human dignity, religious freedom. Those have been incredibly consistent, not only within this administration but throughout american history. With regard to uncertainty in Public Diplomacy and the values we are advancing, those remain quite unchanged. Comments on the asiapacific . I would say, from the Global Engagement center, we are working very intensively in the asiapacific. Not just with respect to china, but we sort of look at what all of the actors are doing worldwide. Some of the things that are priorities, helping societies access, maintain open to credible information. Looking at issues, helping societies look at issues that might compromise that, such as concentration of media ownership and manipulation of access to the internet. Things like that. We see this access to information as really an important part of peoples ri ghts, so we are helping societies we have partnered with for many years to look at this new area, and help them to understand whats going on in their Information Space, and how they might make sure that they are monitoring that. And exchanges remain a critical part of our engagement in the indo pacific region. I mentioned the young Southeast Asia leaders initiative. We also do quite a lot of work to encourage foreign students to come to the United States and study, and china is the largest sender of students to the United States internationally. For the people to people element is critically important. And our folks in china, incountry, communicate as much as they can about American Values with chinese audiences and other audiences across asia where we have missions. That type of conversation goes on every day. Through the media, as i mentioned, a Regional Media hub in manila to communicate with foreign audiences in their language. That happens through social media, traditional media and in person communications as well. Ok. Lets see. We have a question right next to you. David stern, retired Foreign Service. Thanks for your presentation. Following on the last question. It is a matter not of American Values, but american policy. It is the uncertainty of the policy that seems to be at the heart of a lot of confusion, for many countries overseas, Foreign Countries including allies as well as enemies. Breakdowns to be a between what the white house is saying, and what the state Department Might be saying. Theres a kind of dysfunction going on in the white house communication office, in terms of articulate and policies every day, and having people appointed within the state department to talk about these policies at a very high level, with a great deal of credibility. That seems to be the problem, of the uncertainty. He streamlining going on is all well and good, but if you are not focused on dealing with the uncertainty of policy, how can you be really that effective . I would ask, what uncertainty are you talking about . I mean, are there specific examples . I will say, the white house and state department have been i will give you an example with north korea. Theres been a lot of talk the last several years, the policy community, about how to deal with north korea, how to move towards denuclearization. The idea was that there should be no efforts that would encourage north korea to think that they can keep their Nuclear Facilities and missile capabilities. North korea has gone on with a series of short range nuclear tests, the last four months or so. The president has talked about, well, this is something that everybody should do. Every nation doesnt short range tests, dont worry about it. Most of the other people outside the government dont believe in the longterm interest of the United States. And principal allies, japan and south korea, to allow that kind of testing to go on without commenting about the unacceptableness of that. Thats one example of the uncertainty. You might see more in other areas of the world, but one area i follow. The whole thing with trade with china, and whether or not tariffs are hurting or helping the process. The policy process is not being wellexplained enough, to determine whether or not this is really helpful or hurtful to the American People, or to the chinese, or even advancing the negotiations in any way. I would just say, with your example about north korea, you are citing differences in what the administration is saying and folks outside of government, not necessarily about unity. The white house and state department has been in lockstep, unified in our message. When it comes to china and trade, the president has been very clear broadly about trade, the values of fairness and reciprocity, and that is what we are charged with communicating, making sure fairness and reciprocity as part of the conversation, the values we talk about when it comes to American Foreign policy. Lets see. A question in the back row, and then down to the front. Connie kim, voice of america. Government broadcast agencies like voa and radio free asia aim to target states like north korea where information is strictly controlled. How effective will pumping information to north korea be in getting American Values across . Im sorry, can you rephrase that . How effective do you believe that pumping outside information into north korea will be, in promoting American Values . Certainly we see a lot of challenges, with sharing information of any closed community or society. As you mentioned, voice of america and the u. S. Properties more broadly are separate from the state department, but we sit on the board and certainly have a really valuable part to play in making sure we are trying to reach closed communities in other ways. It remains a challenge. North korea is an example. There are other countries. Gec has tackled this challenge as well. You have to be creative, thinking not only about media channels, but influencers, communities, the networks we create through people to people ties. A question from the front . Good morning. Thank you for being here. I am a graduate student at Georgetown School for Foreign Service. Id like to ask, how does gpa and the state department generally advocate for Public Diplomacy at home . We have seen a rise of isolationist sentiment. How can we [inaudible] thats a really good question. Part of legacy Public Affairs activities is communicating to the American People and talking about the value of what we do overseas, and why we do it. The reasoning and rationale behind Foreign Policy, how we communicate that overseas. Thats part of the new bureau of Public Affairs, outreach to the American People, talking about Foreign Policy, and more broadly talking about what the state department does. There a bit of a recruitings piece. We partner with Human Resources colleagues, to get out more broadly and spread the message about the state department and what we do. You will see that the secretary has been very vocal, and has taken a number of domestic trips, and has been a champion talking about the state department and Foreign Policy. I will add, one important mandate for the bureau of educational and Cultural Affairs is to encourage americans to go overseas, and study languages, to experience foreign cultures and foreign places. That is a real key element of what we do at the bureau, and i think that when we do that, we build understanding and support of the importance of Foreign Relations and policy. Yes . I want to thank you very much for being here today, making this overall presentation about the strategic direction. I think its great that we have everyone together doing so, and we have some great representation. Thank you for that. I am wondering if there is a followup, in terms of some of the things that you did highlight and identify, in terms of increasing awareness and action, participation in many of these programs. Are there events scheduled, perhaps, back at your department we should become aware of, or follow, to be able to identify some of the talent that we do have here to participate in many of these initiatives . I would just mentioned that a key element of a lot of our programs is to get american communities, americans involved through our International VisitorLeadership Program, which would not work without american volunteers willing to give hospitality, share time with our participants. Youthme with a lot of our exchanges. We could not do them if we didnt have host families within to step up and host students. So i think that we have a pretty robust presence on the internet, on the website, and lots of information on how americans can get involved in international exchange, so i would encourage you to take a look at that. We also have the u. S. Diplomacy center at the state department, which hosts a lot of good programming about Public Diplomacy and Foreign Policy more broadly at the state department. We encourage the public to see the great exhibits on the history of diplomacy, and current conversations happening as well. You gave me a good idea. We will followup more specifically on some of those activities and initiatives. I mentionedthe gec, to the tech demos. We hold them just about every other week at the wew looked near the location white house. If people have an interest in those. We have a question . You had your hand up before. My name is david jackson, a former director of voice of america, but also have the opportunity to work with the state department after that. One of the things i remember, i was very impressed by the Public Diplomacy people at state at that time, but i also got the impression p. D. What sort of a secondclass citizen in those days. To finally get the attention and focus on p. S. That was lacking p. D. That was lacking in the past . I will start and turn over to my Foreign Service colleagues. In my year and a half at the state department, i havent witnessed that secondclass citizen portrayal of Public Diplomacy. To my point earlier, i think thats because public to plumb as he is more important than ever, integrated deeply with policy. We work handinhand with policymakers. The same thing is happening across the private sector, where marketing and communications become core with a business, working handinhand with the business side, business drivers, csuite. Any action policy wise that we are taking to munich aids communicatestaking something. I have seen it rise in importance. I would agree. When we talk about the bureau of Public Affairs, the integration of the strength have elevated that functionality, and thats one of the things that excites me about the new bureau. We have people who are part of those conversations. If you just look at the situation, we have Public Diplomacy officers who are leaders in the department. Lots of officers are ambassadors now. My counterpart in the bureau of European Affairs is also a officer and former ambassador. , any there was sort of a integration taking a little while to get the fit right, at this point it is working very smoothly. Officer myself, i dont feel like a secondclass citizen. I would just point to the National Security council, has inaugurated a strategic an indications communications coordinating committee. That is a blessing that you are either important or problematic, but i would think important at solving problems in this case, so i think that theres increasing, certainly from the beginning of my career, increasing recognition that Public Diplomacy is not something separate, but is just part of the toolkit to advancing whatever policy interests we are working on. Ok. Well, i know that our panelists have to rush back and take care of important business, so i think we will wrap up at this point. I want to thank you so very much for coming. This has been absolutely fabulous. I hope we can continue the dialogue. Thank you very much. Thank you. [applause] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2019] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] announcer 1 weeknights we are focusing on what is available. Ambassador dennis ross and david discussed modern israels founding fathers. The former director of russian analysis at the cia talked about the downward spiral in relations between the u. S. And russia and where it may lead. And someone wait in on the challenges arab and middle eastern journalists faced while reporting on stories in their countries. Monday night 8 30 eastern on cspan two and enjoy book tv this week and every weekend on cspan 2. 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