Drafting a New Strategy for Public Diplomacy and Strategic Communication

In May 2007, the United States Government published its U.S. National Strategy for Public Diplomacy and Strategic Communication. The strategy, authored by the Policy Coordinating Committee (PCC) on Public Diplomacy and Strategic Communication, is the first attempt at coordinating Strategic Communication efforts across the interagency community. Although a good start, the current strategy is preoccupied with the war on terror, presents a miss match in mission and objectives, fails to recognize key strategic audiences, and accepts an adversarial relationship with the media. This Strategy Research Project (SRP) paper reviews the current Strategy in terms of ends, ways, and means and in terms of its suitability, feasibility and acceptability and provides recommendations for drafting the new U.S. National Strategy for Public Diplomacy and Strategic Communication.