According to the department’s performance plan, its  investment in public diplomacy continues to increase, particularly for  efforts targeting audiences in the Middle East. Public Diplomacy Resources Have Shifted to the Muslim World, but Staffing Numbers Have Leveled Off

Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, State has expanded its  public diplomacy efforts globally, focusing particularly on countries in the  Muslim world considered to be of strategic importance in the war on  terrorism. Much of this increase has gone to regions with significant Muslim  populations, including South Asia (39 percent), East Asia and the Pacific  (28 percent), and the Near East (25 percent). State officials  said that the department will initially reposition approximately 75 Foreign  Service officers this year from posts in Europe and Washington, D.C., to  India, China, and Latin America, as well as to the Muslim world. Strategy, Planning, and Coordination Efforts Are Inadequate

Since 2003, we have reported on the lack of strategic elements to guide  U.S. public diplomacy efforts. While State has  recently developed a strategic framework for its public diplomacy efforts,  it has not issued guidance on how this framework is to be implemented in  the field. Government Lacks an Interagency Public Diplomacy Strategy

In 2003, we reported that the United States lacked a governmentwide,  interagency public diplomacy strategy, defining the messages and means  for communication efforts abroad. This  committee, to be led by the Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and  Public Affairs, is intended to coordinate interagency activities to ensure  that:    all agencies work together to disseminate the President’s themes and    all public diplomacy and strategic communications resources, programs,  and activities are effectively coordinated to support those messages; and   every agency gives public diplomacy and strategic communications the  same level of priority that the President does. However, the department has not yet developed written guidance that  provides details on how the Under Secretary’s new strategic framework  should be implemented in the field. In 2005, we noted that State’s efforts to engage the private sector in pursuit  of common public diplomacy objectives had met with mixed success and  recommended that the Secretary develop a strategy to guide these efforts. Posts Lack a Strategic Approach to Public Diplomacy

GAO and others have suggested that State adopt a strategic approach to  public diplomacy by modeling and adapting private sector communication  practices to suit its purposes (see fig. 1). Recently, State has begun to help posts improve their strategic  communications planning. In addition to this guidance, the department is currently developing a  sample country-level communication plan and has asked 15 pilot posts to  develop specific plans for their host countries. Staffing Challenges and Security Concerns Limit U.S. Public Diplomacy Activities

Public diplomacy efforts in the field face several other challenges, many of  which are heightened in the Muslim world. Insufficient Staff and Lack of Staff Time Hinders Public Diplomacy Activities

While several recent reports on public diplomacy have recommended an  increase in spending on U.S. public diplomacy programs, several embassy  officials stated that, with current staffing levels, they do not have the  capacity to effectively utilize increased funds. To address these challenges, we recommended in 2003 that the Secretary  of State designate more administrative positions to overseas public affairs  sections to reduce the administrative burden. Language Deficiencies Pronounced, Especially in the Muslim World

In 2005, 24 percent of language-designated public diplomacy positions  were filled by officers without the requisite language proficiency, similar  to our findings in 2003. Embassies Must Balance Security and Public Outreach

Security concerns have limited embassy outreach efforts and public  access, forcing public diplomacy officers to strike a balance between  safety and mission. 2).
Why GAO Did This Study

Public opinion polls have shown continued negative sentiments toward the United States in the Muslim world. Public diplomacy activities--led by the State Department (State)--are designed to counter such sentiments by explaining U.S. foreign policy actions, countering misinformation, and advancing mutual understanding between nations. Since 2003, we have issued three reports on U.S. public diplomacy efforts that examined (1) changes in public diplomacy resources since September 11, 2001; (2) strategic planning and coordination of public diplomacy efforts; and (3) the challenges facing these efforts. We have made several recommendations in the last 3 years to the Secretary of State to address strategic planning issues, private sector engagement, and staffing challenges related to public diplomacy. For example, today's report recommends that the Secretary develop written guidance detailing how the department intends to implement its public diplomacy goals as they apply to the Muslim world. State has consistently concurred with our findings and recommendations for improving public diplomacy, and the department, in several cases, is taking appropriate actions. However, the department has not established a timetable for many of these actions.

What GAO Found

Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, State has expanded its public diplomacy efforts globally, focusing particularly on countries in the Muslim world considered to be of strategic importance in the war on terrorism. Since 2001, State has increased its public diplomacy resources, particularly in regions with significant Muslim populations. That funding trend has continued more recently, with increases of 25 percent for the Near East and 39 percent for South Asia from 2004 to 2006, though public diplomacy staffing levels have remained largely the same during that period. The Secretary of State recently announced plans to reposition some staff to better reflect the department's strategic priorities, including plans to shift 28 public diplomacy officers from posts in Europe and Washington, D.C., to China, India, and Latin America, as well as to the Muslim world. In 2003 and again in 2005, we reported that the government lacked an interagency communication strategy to guide governmentwide public diplomacy activities, and it continues to lack this strategy. We also noted that State did not have a strategy to integrate its diverse public diplomacy activities and that efforts to effectively engage the private sector had met with mixed success. Today, although State has developed a strategic framework to focus its public diplomacy efforts and related tactics to achieve these goals, the department has not issued guidance on how to implement these strategies and tactics. In addition, posts' public diplomacy efforts generally lack important strategic communication elements found in the private sector, which GAO and others have suggested adopting as a means to better communicate with target audiences. These elements include having core messages, segmented target audiences, in-depth research and analysis to monitor and evaluate results, and an integrated communication plan to bring all these elements together. State officials indicate that the department has begun to develop communication plans for 15 pilot posts, but it remains to be seen whether these communication plans will contain all of these strategic elements. Posts throughout the world, and particularly in the Muslim world, face several challenges in implementing their public diplomacy programs, including concerns related to staff numbers and language capabilities and the need to balance security with public outreach. For example, we found that 24 percent of language-designated public diplomacy positions worldwide were filled by officers without the requisite language skills. Furthermore, security concerns have limited embassy outreach efforts and public access. State has begun to address many of these challenges, but it is too early to evaluate the effectiveness of many of these efforts.