Got the Big Stick; Need to Learn to Speak Softly [1]
Submitted by Diane Farsetta [2] on
Condoleezza Rice [3] admitted, "We are obviously not very well organized for the side of public diplomacy." The 9/11 Commission [4] warned, "If the United States does not act aggressively to define itself in the Islamic world, the extremists will gladly do the job for us." Former State Department diplomacy [5] head Margaret Tutwiler said, "Public diplomacy need[s] to be seriously prioritized on an equal level with an aircraft carriers." State Department Cultural Affairs head Patricia Harrison described ongoing efforts [6]: "'good news' stories on reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan [for] American and foreign news," an Iraq sister-city program, support for the Iraqi National Symphony, and donating "thousands of wheelchairs to Iraq, Morocco, Jordan, Oman and other areas of the Arab world."