Book Description

The United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy (ACPD), authorized pursuant to Public Law 112-239 [Sec.] 1280(a)-(c), hereby submits this white paper, "Public Diplomacy At Risk: Protecting Open Access for American Centers." ACPD is a bipartisan panel created by Congress in 1948 to formulate and recommend policies and programs to carry out the public diplomacy functions vested in U.S. government entities and to appraise the effectiveness of those activities. It was reauthorized in January 2013 to complete the Comprehensive Annual Report on Public Diplomacy and International Broadcasting Activities, and to produce other reports and white papers that support effective public diplomacy. This white paper is a follow up to the 1985 ACPD report, "Terrorism and Security: The Challenge for Public Diplomacy," which was submitted in reaction to the Inman Standards and their possible effect on the U.S. Information Agency (USIA). Today, ACPD is concerned about the pending shuttering of 21 American Centers. These Centers are essential platforms for core public diplomacy activities, such as alumni engagement, education advising for U.S. universities, English-language education, cultural programming, and speakers and forums on U.S. policy issues. They are also located in cities that are becoming increasingly important incubators for empowerment and are home to highly networked societies, such as Jerusalem; Beijing and Shanghai; Mexico City; and New Delhi.