The recommendations are summarized below. Surely a group charged with effective communications could have written something understandable, in non-bureaucratese. Incredibly turgid language.
No offense, but the recommendations sound like a boon to bureaucrats.
Recommendations
(1) The Task Force recommends that the President issue a directive to: (a) strengthen the U.S. Government’s ability to understand global public opinion, advise on the strategic
implications of policymaking, and communicate with global audiences; (b) coordinate all components of strategic communication including public diplomacy, public affairs,
international broadcasting, and military information operations; and (c) provide a foundation for new legislation on the planning, coordination, conduct, and funding of
strategic communication. (2) The Task Force recommends that the President should establish a permanent strategic communication structure within the NSC and work with Congress to create legislation and funding for a:
• Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communication;
• Strategic Communication Committee within the NSC; and an
• Independent, non-profit, non-partisan Center for Strategic Communication
The Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communication should chair a Strategic Communication committee. Its members should have the equivalent of under
secretary rank and be designated by the Secretaries of State, Defense and Homeland Security; the Attorney General; the Chief of Staff to the President; the Director of the Office of Management and Budget; the White House Communications Director; theDirector of Central Intelligence; the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; the Directorof the Agency for International Development; and the Chairman of the Broadcasting
Board of Governors. Unlike previous coordinating mechanisms with nominal authority,this Strategic Communication Committee should have authority to assign responsibilitiesand plan the work of departments and agencies in the areas of public diplomacy, publicaffairs, and military information operations; concur in strategic communicationpersonnel choices; shape strategic communication budget priorities; and provide program and project direction to a new Center for Strategic Communication.
(3) The Task Force recommends that the President work with Congress to create legislation and funding for an independent, non-profit and non-partisan Center for Strategic Communication to support the NSC and the departments and organizations represented on its Strategic Communication Committee. The Center should be a hybrid organization modeled on federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs), such as the Rand Corporation, and the National Endowment for Democracy. It should be a tax-exempt private 501(c)(3) corporation that would receive an annual appropriation approved by Congress as part of the Department of State budget. The NSC’s Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communication and the members of the Strategic Communication Committee should provide program and project direction to the Center. The Center for Strategic Communication should be governed by an independent nonpartisan Board of Directors that would include distinguished Americans drawn from relevant professions and members of Congress appointed on a bipartisan basis. The
NSC’s Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communication should be an exofficio member of the Board. The Board of Directors should appoint the Center’s Director and ensure mission coherence and quality of performance.
The Center should be guided by three purposes:
• Provide information and analysis on a regular basis to civilian and military decisionmakerson issues vital to U.S. national security including global public opinion; the role of culture, values, and religion in shaping human behavior; media trends and influences on audiences, information technologies, the implications of all source intelligence assessments, and
non-departmental, non-political advice that will sharpen their judgment and provide a basis for informed choices.
• Develop mandated and self-initiated plans, themes, products and programs for the creation and implementation of U.S. communications strategies that embrace diplomatic opportunities and respond to national security threats.
• Support government strategic communications through services provided on a costrecovery basis that mobilize non-governmental initiatives; foster cross-cultural exchanges of ideas, people, and information; maintain knowledge management
systems, language and skills inventories, and procedures to recruit private sector experts for short term assignments, deploy temporary communications teams; augment planning, recruitment, and training; and continually monitor and evaluate
effectiveness.
(4) The Task Force recommends that the Secretary of State redefine the role andresponsibility of the Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs to be both policy advisor and manager for public diplomacy. The Under Secretary should serve as the Department’s principal on the NSC’s Strategic Communication Committee; have adequate staff for policy advice, program direction, and evaluation; direct the Department’s foreign opinion and media research activities; approve senior public diplomacy assignments; and review the performance ratings of public diplomacy office director and embassy public affairs officers. All foreign policy initiatives and directives should have a public diplomacy component approved by the Under Secretary. The Department’s current resources (personnel & funding) for public diplomacy should be tripled from current levels and placed under the control of the Under Secretary. The Department should provide a core funding grant to the Center for Strategic Communication in the amount of an annual appropriation in the Department’s budget.
(5) The Task Force recommends that public diplomacy office directors in the Department of State should be at the level of deputy assistant secretary or senior advisor to the Assistant Secretary. Officers promoted to Chief of Mission positions or the Senior Foreign Service should have served at least one tour in a public diplomacy assignment in the Department or in an interagency assignment relevant to public diplomacy. The Bureau of International Information Programs should be directed by an Assistant Secretary.
(6) The Task Force recommends that the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy shouldact as the DOD focal point for strategic communication and serve as the Department’s principal on the NSC’s Strategic Communication Coordinating Committee. The Under Secretary for Policy should coordinate strategic communication activities with the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs and the Under Secretary of Defense forIntelligence. The Under Secretary of Defense for Policy should extend the role and responsibility of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs to act as the Department’s focal point for military support of public diplomacy and create a new Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Security Affairs to coordinate all activities associated with military support for public diplomacy; and provide adequate staff for policy advice, program direction, and evaluation.
(7) The Task Force recommends that the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy and the Joint Chiefs of Staff ensure that all military plans and operations have appropriate strategic communication components, ensure collaboration with the Department of State’s diplomatic missions and with theater security cooperation plans; and extend U.S.STRATCOM’s and U.S. SOCOM’s Information Operations responsibilities to include DoD support for public diplomacy. The Department should triple current resources (personnel & funding) available to combatant commanders for DoD support to public diplomacy and reallocate Information Operations funding within U.S. STRATCOM for expanded support for strategic communication programs. |
