By PHK
Meet the author: Former U.S. Ambassador and Georgetown Journal of International Affairs contributing author to speak at Olsson’s Dupont Circle bookstore in Washington, DC on public diplomacy reform, February 5 at 7 pm.
In the winter/spring 2007 issue of the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, Ambassador Pamela Hyde Smith argues that current approaches to building support for U.S. policies and American values abroad have failed to reverse negative attitudes towards the United States.
The most recent international polling data released by Globe Scan and the University of Maryland’s Program on International Policy Attitudes on January 23, 2007 confirms the Ambassador’s observations.*
America’s image abroad – with a very few exceptions – continues its downward spiral. And as Ambassador Smith points out: “anti-American forces are taking advantage of the collapse of U.S. popularity across the globe, making anti-Americanism a national security threat.” The five-page manifesto from Revolutionary Struggle (EA), a home-grown Greek terrorist group that has claimed responsibility for a missile attack on the American Embassy in Athens on January 12, is the latest corroboration of her grim assessment.
What can and should be done?
In “The Hard Road Back to Soft Power,” Ambassador Smith recommends not only significant changes in US foreign policy and “style of international discourse” but also the critical need for expansion and restructuring of the American government’s soft power infrastructure.
Ambassador Smith will speak at the Olsson’s Books and Records, Dupont Circle (1307 19th Street NW) on Monday, February 5, 2007 at 7 pm. Her presentation and Q and A are free and the public is invited.
Copies of the issue of the Journal in which Ambassador Smith’s article is published will be available for purchase at Olssons. The Georgetown Journal of International Affairs is the official semi-annual publication of the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.
*This survey of public attitudes towards US foreign policies was conducted for the BBC World Service primarily between November 2006 and January 2007. It included 26,381 respondents in 25 countries including the U.S.