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Public Diplomacy

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PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The Baker Institute plays an active role in public diplomacy, and at the request of past and current U.S. administrations, the institute has directly consulted with senior officials in both Democratic and Republican administrations to provide them with a strategic game plan on public diplomacy in the broader Middle East.

In 2003, Ambassador Edward Djerejian, the institute’s founding director, was asked by then-Secretary of State Colin Powell to chair the Advisory Group on Public Diplomacy for the Arab and Muslim World. After extensive consultations with U.S. and foreign decision makers, the group’s findings were published in the 2003 report “Changing Minds, Winning Peace,” which has become a template for how the U.S. government should conduct its public diplomacy in the Arab and Muslim world and for what should be done to bolster the image of the United States in the region.

The recommendations in the report outline strategic direction for the United States in the “struggle for ideas” in the Arab and Muslim world, defining diplomacy as the ability to “first listen and understand, and then inform, engage and influence foreign audiences.” Other recommendations were made with respect to the roles of the White House, U.S. Department of State, secretary of state, under secretary of state for public diplomacy, and human resources.

The report also examined several key instruments of public diplomacy, including the American Corners program, access to American education and exchange programs, and English and foreign language training, as well as the advancement of technology and communications resources.

As chairman of the bipartisan congressionally mandated advisory group, Djerejian worked closely with then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and then-Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Karen Hughes during the administration of President George W. Bush to implement many of the recommendations in the report and to reorganize the Department of State’s public diplomacy apparatus.

The findings of the report have also been presented to the Barack Obama administration. President Obama’s June 2009 speech in Cairo epitomizes many of the recommendations for the future direction of U.S. public diplomacy in the broader Middle East made in “Changing Minds, Winning Peace.”

PUBLICATIONS
2010
Borders Key to Peace Talks
May 23 2010
Edward P. Djerejian
Getting to the Territorial Endgame of an Israeli-Palestinian Peace Settlement
Feb 02 2010
Edward P. Djerejian
2009
The Art of Diplomacy, 20 Years Later
Nov 09 2009
Joe Barnes
German Unification: Expectations and Outcomes (Panel Discussion Transcript)
Oct 30 2009
Douglas Brinkley, James A. Baker, III, Roland Dumas, Hans-Dietrich Genscher, Charles Powell, Markus Meckel, Eduard Shevardnadze
The Case for Democracy in the Palestinian National Narrative
Oct 20 2009
Hanan Ashrawi
A Letter to the Incoming President
Jan 13 2009
Edward P. Djerejian
2008
U.S.-Russia Relations: Recommendations for the Next Administration
Dec 19 2008
Joe Barnes
Danger and Opportunity: An American Ambassador's Journey Through the Middle East
Sep 09 2008
Edward P. Djerejian
Video Briefing Transcript: Prospects for Peace in the Middle East
Feb 25 2008
Edward P. Djerejian
2007
Final Status: Jerusalem and Return
Oct 24 2007
Sari Nusseibeh
2006
From Conflict Management to Conflict Resolution
Oct 31 2006
Edward P. Djerejian
2003
Changing Minds, Winning Peace: A New Strategic Direction for U.S. Public Diplomacy in the Arab & Muslim World
Oct 01 2003
Edward P. Djerejian
1999
The Israeli-Syrian Dialogue: A One-Way Ticket to Peace?
Oct 01 1999
Uri Sagie
EVENTS