Good morning. Thank you very m good morning thank you for theon introduction we are excited to be here today to have a conversation around authority at the state department to communicate American Values and form policy to engage the public all across the world. Theres never been in more important time for public to policy today its more important than ever engaging people and the public individuals and citizens in American Values and form policy and the Critical Issues of our time isn probably a requirement for success and theres a number of factors to this the world is increasingly interconnected andrl transparent so you have a number of factors making Public Diplomacy so the first is technology with a proliferation of channels and platforms in ways that we can communicate with citizens across the world so when we have theseer conversations but then you also have Technology Driving these risks look at Public Diplomacy we are can it survive the internet . Take a look at the trends. Chat bots, artificial intelligence, propaganda. The speed in technology and tools to put into the ecosystem it has dramatically changed and use that as tools for truth then as a way to confuse this information to the world. So in parallel you see more people around the world have empowered voices from technology and social media allows people to Pay Attention to allow people to speak up and let their voice be heard to affect change because their voices are more empowered through technology platforms. And now Technology Make people more important and thats even more important than Public Diplomacy. We are in the era of great competition with china and russia and Islamic Republic of iran and there is more demand and the importance of those American Values across the world. And then to engage people proactively from that message. And to enhance the values of the United States. And that is at the heart of Public Diplomacy. So we know that just isnt government to government conversation we have to engage what we are doing. So we know that the mission has stayeded the same but how they do it requires new thinking and new approaches so this is the forefront of how we do that to engage society to make sure we are advancing diplomacy. And then to give a deeper dive into the expertise with all those across the globe to engage the public and the citizens we have Regional Media hubs dubai miami johannesburg every major media market but where digital has not penetrated then we can reach those audiences to tell our story. With that digital channel from the state department and with those listening to us to understand what is important so then to talk about those tech camps and recent technology with Digital Experts with Civil Society to incur Civic Engagement of transparenc transparency, empowering more voices, social media where we are engaging to counter misinformation and propaganda from state actors and nonstate actors. And through eca as well with the Digital Technology change not forgetting that human relationships and this is the core of how we do our jobs. And amidst all the Digital Change its more important than ever than ever and matt will talk about that. One of the ways that was mentioned earlier that we are really trying to advance Public Diplomacy for 2019 and beyond was a merger we just did to create a new Public Affairs bureau. The largest restructuring at the state department in 20 years and the whole purpose behind it is to elevate and enhance and accelerate how to communicate around the world to advance policy and values. Was very pleased with the International Information Program Bureau to create a global Public Affairs to put an emphasis on Data Analytics in multiple ways the investment and resources to inform and measure and improve how we areea communicating with audiences all across the world. This is creative ways with the audiences across multiple platforms whether traditional or emerging platforms that are emerging whether Virtual Reality or how we are thinking about communicating with these platforms to make sure we are advancing american diplomacy. So seeing a lot of ways through the merger to enhance the ability to communicate across the world. The United States amid all of the changes with Great Power Competition has the best thory to tell that is our competitive advantage the founding values that make the most prosperous country in the history of the world with American Foreign policy this story is grounded in the founding principles and fundamental values under President Trump and secretary pompeo we know that the state Department First duty is to the American People to preserve their rights in advance their interest and protect their security and defend their values. And in that pursuit is to Seek Partnership and cooperation and alliances with strong sovereign independent nations who share our values and choose independence and cooperation and respect the rights of their neighbors to promote security and peace and dignity and prosperity for their citizens and as echoed again with an awakening of nations of pride and patriotism. We are uniquely positioned because of the way we can communicate and engage with people all across the world, not just at home with those across the world that share the interest to achieve mutual o gain. That ministerial more than a hundred countries participated to help advance religious freedom and in that goal to aldefeat isys as well as 80 plus countries coming together to cooperate how we stop the threat of isys across the world. We see it in the new trade deal with Prime Minister abbe and the warsaw ministerial that we participated in anw early 2019 we have countries coming together and now several working groups south korea romania poland and bahrain to talk about a multipleip for countries for all across the world and the middle east and in venezuela with those nations coming together to recognize and support quite o as the interim president and where wewe participate its in order to advance america as interest and the secretary has made this very clear so to partner with and form friendship one form friendships this is americas story and our Public Diplomacy remission in order to engage the public of the Critical Issues of ourur time to advance and protect them. Day in and day out to serve the interest of the United States and so with that i will turn it over to my colleagues first the Principal Deputy for global Public Affairs Senior Foreign Service officer spending much of her career in south asia before helping to spearhead the realignment in the Principal Deputy for the bureau of education of Cultural Affairs and also Foreign Service officer who spent much of his career in the middle east and his deputy chief in belgium and morocco and then from Chris Bennett for the Global Engagement center to talk about operations from global adversaries. There has never been a more exciting time to be engaged in publicbebe diplomacy and communication in shaping how the United States communicates policy and values overseas and domestically. The communication landscape is accelerating and we need to communicate effectively in that type of environment. The bureau of global Public Affairs was to strengthen communication about the department ofatme state we are w four months old and well tell you about its creation. The goal of the merger and the bureau of Public Affairs is to effectively Shape Communications for the United States around the world our focus is to bring together the best of both worlds and focused on Strategic Communication. The merger is not a new idea, in fact this has been talked about since the integration of the agency into the state department in fact that 20 Year Anniversary is tomorrow. So the merger is long overdue and something that has been talked about for years but the difference of this effort is the mission or the focus was tightlyy on Strategic Communications. Public affairs was traditionally serviced on communicating foreignpolicy to domestic and foreign audiences where ip focused on contextualizing American Foreign policy goals and values for internationalnt audiences. When we first looked at this merger over a yearr ago, we thought about thebe capabilities needed to form a operation through communications we had a tremendous amount of support and leadership from secretary pompeo and to strengthen communications so they took the guidance and ran with it to create the structure and the framework working with those to make sure we were doing it right and the money piece right the merger was not neutral with no increase in budget or decrease in personnel and no loss of programs. Now my colleagues will talk about while focusing the bureau strategically on communications we realize there are programs better housed in other parts of the Public Diplomacy families. We like to use three key words to explain the rationale behind the merger integrated, agile, and future. Integrated we integrated the two barrows taking the best of both worlds with storytelling and communications with the ability to understand foreignns audiences and with insight on the ground to combine that with Public Affairs strategicbl approach the direct connection to foreignpolicy so they brought the best of both worlds together. I will give an example in mid july, secretary pompeo went to 19vance religious freedom in washington it was the largest religious freedom event in the world. More than 1000 Civil Society actors and religious leaders but this was critical to shape the narrative. We leveraged the keynote address to frame the departments religious freedom narrative. So we did work ahead of time. We also amplified keyie players and other Key Department officials in the lead up to use more traditional tools as well as tools with interviews with the press as well as the flagship social media platforms we maintained this narrative with oneonone interviews and Department Officials and get out to key audiences and captured key moments to push the content out through the platforms. So we go back to the idea of integration and one of the things michelle mentioned is the use of data and analytics to shape the message on the frontt and to make sure we are reaching the audience we need to but also do that on the backend. So looking at the ministerial evaluating what is effective and what wasnt and correcting and re tooling our approach because we were not as successful as we thought. Talking about the fact the news cycle is moving instantaneously so how do we Work Together quickly to deliver key messages to the audience cracks how can we get the message out to make sure the truth is out there before the misinformation or disinformation . Focusing on fast and Effective Communication in addition to longerterm communication of values and heres another example. Last week we were consumed with Un General Assembly at our participation there. And it was an opportunity to highlight American Values as well as our engagement on the bilateral front. Strategic Communications Campaign produced a 40 percent increase of public interaction with the flagship Digital Properties when compared to the 2018 messaging. We are proud of that. How did we do this . Previous efforts have been isolated and refocused on key events and speeches rather than the narratives around the general assembly. Looking at the themes to push the narrative to be presenting through our interviews and through social media platforms and tightly organized around that. On the organizational chart so a structure that is five or ten years down the line into the future. So to focus new platforms and new e Technology Best practices not only the technology but the inperson connections and Relationship Building and to ensure that we are relevant in years to come. Integrated and agile and future. And then on those communication tools with policy and American Values for many secretaries of state. Thank you. For many secretaries of state. Thank you. From the bureau of educational Cultural Affairs at the state department. With that critical element of the people to people exchanges as the secretary was saying in the increasingly Digital World with realworld interaction and people to people interaction and trying to split people apart and then to bring people back together to establishto relationships and to build Human Networks in the United States and overseas President Trumps National Security strategy is very clear to create the networks of current political Civil Society of educational leaders i would like to highlight three elements first they are effective with those alumni around the world and in fact the assistant secretary is in thailand today for a meeting of the young Southeast Asia Initiative Program bringing leaders from all over Southeast Asia to Work Together and to talk about the future. Second, and then adaptable with the new threats and priorities and we are optimizing our resources looking at cost efficient virtual exchanges and how that can assist in other operations with the merger in improving programs through robust monitoring andnd evaluation. So to talk about Alumni Networks we move people and move ideas and move policy. Our programs are best thought of as the investment in people to become key allies of theey United States and american citizens gain valuable experience and skills to become morellll successfu successful. I would like to talk about the alumni of the program in the highlights of thegh stories one is called the future Leaders Exchange established in the 19 nineties at 27000 and alumni High School Students and those that have participated in this program one is from the country of georgia and got straight as and was inn jazz band and homecoming prints went back to georgia and applied to the Us Naval Academy and was accepted so right now hes studying at the Naval Academy goes back to georgia and as my military colleagues say the air force multiplier. That is the powers of alumni many go back decades and its one of the most prestigious and value that we have many participants Business Leaders and so forth to bring groups of people to the United States to experience life in the liUnited States. And then to adjust to the theme with current priorities like religious freedom radicalization and just last week in support of the white house coleman one Global Initiative we hosted 18 leaders around the world that are here in the United States meeting with us companies and business incubators and Financial Institutions looking at ways to reduce cultural barriers to full participation in the economy. The fulbright programm as well the Academic Exchange Program Sends thousands of students and scholars and professionals overseas to the United States it is well over 70 years old now as a program. But that can focus on specific and regional priorities of the government. For example to highlight another fulbright alumnus some jew was part of Fulbright Initiative that helps them attend university in the United States he was homeless and north korea spent four years on thehe street when he was abandoned by his parents. He faced starvation and brutality and escape to china and made his way to south korea and got an education. Now hes fulbright here in the district area getting his phd in conflict analysis and resolution. So to buildin his capacity and neat is just one story out of hundreds of thousands that really makes a difference in a persons life to impact the Foreign Policy objectives. Finally we are adapting our toolkit to optimize our resources. Nis year we launched a new program called the academy for Women Entrepreneurs to support the White House Global Development Prosperity Initiative this has the innovative platform of online tools and inperson interactions so it is to provide women with knowledge to the networks if anke trump launched in columbia at the asia pacific cooperation. As assistant secretary mentioned some that are part of the bureau a lot of thought went into that and the goal of voting those programs brain programs closer together that are like one another in goals so we incorporated the office of american spaces around the world now that is more closely linked with fulbright english language programs and we see greater efficiencies in that merger. I also like to mention monitoring within the eca the goal is to capture the programs longterm as well as rapid assessments to use these tools we arels constantly refining and then find the completed evaluation on the absite available to the public and those that are participating so the Alumni Networks and efficient evaluation is the key factor as we approach diplomacy of the 21st century. One of the key challenges of the time is to expose encounter state and nonstate sponsor propaganda that is targeted at underminingu. Us policy stability and her interest around the world but also importantly our allies and partners. With those activities and the mission is closely linked to Public Diplomacy but to go beyond that there are elements such such as those operational aspects as well. With the Current Administration they evolved the role from the mission that was exclusively focused to counter extremist dialogue online to have recruitment or misuse of the Information Space to inspire people to violent extremism. And then to encounter a state sponsor propaganda. That is thema manipulation by the nationstate competitors. As a talked about gray competition and as a primary state actor what the gc is doing is positioning itself when the expanding network of partners to form the disinformation and as we use the tools to build those networks over time with Public Diplomacy programs as we help and partner with people around the world who are interestedd to encounter this adversarial information. A critical part of the approach and mission we like to say the fundamental to misuse that Information Space we have partners so those in many parts of the Us Government were constantly with partner governments worldwide through a variety of formal and Informal Partnership arrangements o. The gecs are engaged in a wide range of efforts with three zillions to reduce vulnerabilities, expose pernicious information and ultimately to deter our adversaries from trying to attack us. With the purveyors of misinformation to internet scammers and ultimately what they are doing is throwing stuff at us to manipulate us to do something that is not in our interest. That is with email spam and cyberattacks we cannot stop adversaries from doing what they are doing from throwing that staff at us instead we have to focus to shape the environment in a way regardless of what they do they are less likely to be successful. If you think about it, calling for a focus on building awareness. Think back people today are much less likely to click on her believe the content of a sketchy email from your inbox also malware tools that are installed that has increased awareness and thats what were looking at. Some of the ways they are delivering on this Mission First of all we continue to execute on the original Counterterrorism Mission including coordinating efforts to counter propaganda from isis or affiliates or al qaeda or other terrorist organizations. Onerg exampleam that we are involved in this with thee partnership is to lead and support the global counter basis Communication Working Group and the londonbased Communications Cell we have a staff member thats part of that. The supporting partners to detect exposure operations much of this is throughos intensive outreach through the tech sector the gec convenes through a tech demo where companies, National Labs and other players present technologies to a panel ofxp plexperts of how they might be applied on the challenge with that adversarial misinformation and then to identify several technologies originally developed for other purposes from the Insurance Industry to marketing and advertising that have great promise for helping us to protect and defend against this digital manipulation. That we work with the private sector to adapt these technologies against realworld challenges in the field. We have something online you can find it online where there is information about these technologies not all of it is there for obvious reasons that we are trying to share this across agencies and partners as a way to help us more quickly address these challenges. To have the analytics and Research Team with a digital analytics and to help the partners better understand andun predict and preempt foreign disinformation in developing partnerships for social Media Influencers to build resistance by getting content out there to compete in the Information Space and inoculate against this information. All of the Academic Research points to the word counter but once this is out there in the wild its very difficult for the human brain it has a hard time to overcome that. You have a mother who send stuff on social media you know that challenge. Inoculation is important we are also finding numerous projects with Technical Skills Civil Societyro organizations ngos and independent media to shed light on the spread of disinformation really the local credible voices that are the most effective in their own communities. Finally propaganda and disinformation are challenges is old as Human Society but not new. This is a social cultural problem that accelerated and intensified made more dangerous by todays Communication Technologies thats why the gc is getting after the problems technological and societalal approaches id be happy to take any questions. We have 15 minutes for q a with a moving microphone. We focus on informational warfare and it is heartening to see anytime a government organizes to have a more coherent response to put out the message to fight against disinformation and propaganda. Right now there is a stranglehold on the Information Space. A very small number of Tech Companies google and youtube and facebook and twitter but they control in a very large way what people find online about anything. Its been fairly well documented they are not particularly amenable to the policies of the Trump Administration consequently when people go to find out what the state department or secretary pompeo has said, the space is not leve level. Do you see a way to push for more transparency that they bill their algorithms, rate sources for what is credible and what is not to be sure there is a marketplace of ideas and the best ideas when that not what is dominated by the views of the leadership of the three majore technology companies. We partner very closely with social Media Companies with those relationships to make sure we are doing things as effectively as a possible to communicate around the world. You saw President Trumps address at the Un General Assembly that called out this challenge about Tech Companies more broadly having a large amount of influence in the type of information that is seen. It is an ongoing conversation. It is a challenge to consider but we work very closely to have that conversation withnv them. I am with phoenix tv from hong kong but the way they have uncertainty in the american Public Diplomacy. Could you please comment on that strategy of the asiapacific countries . Thank you very much. I will start off with regard to uncertainty the secretary has been clear from day number one about the values that we hold and our mission set to achieve american diplomacy. Focusing on american sovereignty and partnering with strong and sovereign and independent nations who share our values that always include rule of law, Human Dignity religious freedom that has been incredibly consistent not only within this administration but the course history. An t with regard to uncertainty in Public Diplomacy values those unhave remain unchanged. From the Global Engagement center we are working in the asia pacific not just with respect to china but we look at what all the threat actors are doing worldwide some of the things that our priorities are helping societies to maintain open access to credible information looking at issues are helping societies look at issue to compromise that such as media ownership and manipulation of access to the internet and things like that. We see this access to information as an important part of peoples rights and then we help societies we partner with to look at this new area to help them understand whats going on in the Information Space and how they might make sure they are monitoring that. A critical part of our engagement in the Indo Pacific Region young Southeast Asia Leaders Initiative we also do quite a lot of work to encourage students thats the largest sender of students to the United States so thats why this element is so critically important those in china that are in country communicate about american policy and values with the heinese audience and others across asia so that conversation goes on every day we have a Regional Media hub in manila to communicate regionally with foreign audiences in their language it happens at the hub and through traditional media and in person communications as well. Retired Foreign Service thank you for your presentation. So to call on the last question is really a matter not of American Values but american policy thats what seems to be at the heart of a lot of confusion in many countries including allies as well as enemies. It seems to be a breakdown between what the white house is saying in the state department may bein saying with the dysfunction going on in the white House Communication Office to articulate policies every day and having people appointed within the state department to talk about these policies at a very high level with credibility. That seems to be the problem of thece uncertainty. The streamlining going on is well and good but if youre not focused on dealing with the uncertainty of policy then how can you ever be that effectivety plaque. What uncertainty are you talking about . So the white house and state department. I will give you an example of north korea. There has been a lot of talk the last several years in the policy community how to deal with north korea to move toward denuclearization the idea was we should not encourage them to think they could keep their missile capabilities north korea has gone on with a series of short range tests over the last four months. On the present has talked about that this is something everybody for every nation should do. Dont worry about it. Most people outside the government dont really believe thats in the longterm interest of the United States or the principal allies of japan and south korea to allow that kind of testing to go on without commenting about the unacceptable miss of that. That is one example there are a few more in other areas of the row but thats what i follow but trade withol china and whether or not tariffs are hurting or helping the process the policy process is not well explained enough to determine whether or not this is helpful or hurtful to the American People are the chinese in any way. With your example about north korea you cite differences in what the Administration Says thats not necessarily the white house or the state department has been in lockstep and unified with the message but with china and trade the president has been very clear about trade and the values of fairness and reciprocity that we are charged with communicating to make sure thats part of the conversation with the values that we talk about when it comes to American Foreign policy. Voice of america. Government broadcast and radio free asia targeted information to countries like northa korea where information is strictly prohibited they think they will get those values across getting that information over. How effective do you believe something outside of information is effective to promote americas values quick. Challenges lot of with any closed community or society mentioned voices of america and the properties more broadly are separate from the state department that we sit on the board with a part to play to reach those communities and other ways it does remain a challenge north korea is an example that can tackle this challenge as well to be creative to think about to influence those communities andit the network of people. Good morning. Thank you for being here at the Georgetown School of Foreign Service and i would like to ask how you advocate for Public Diplomacy at home and so how do we look at that at home with investments . To make thats a very good question that legacy Public Affairs communicating to the American People to the value of what we do overseas and that regional and how we communicate that overseas that is part of the new bureau of global Public Affairs talking about Foreign Policy and more broadly what the state department does. There is a recruiting piece with the Human Resources to get outwe more broadly to spread the message of the state department and what we do. The secretary has been very vocal taking a number of domestic trips and foreignpolicy. For the bureau of education is to encourage americans to go overseas to experience foreign cultures so thats a key element of what we do with the understanding of the importance of foreign relations. Thank you very much forin being here today with this overall presentation about thehe Strategic Direction and we have some great representations of thank you for that. I wonder if there is a follow up with what you identified to identify to increase access to participation in many programs if the events are scheduled back at your department we should become awarewe of . And to participate in these initiatives. And to give american communitiesit involved and that word not work to provide home hospitality and with the participants if we didnt have host families who could step up. With lots of information of how americans could get involved and i encourage you to take a look at that. Also Us Diplomacy Center and to encourage the public to see those exhibits on the history to look at those conversations that are happening as well. Maybe we followup more specificallyth. We hold those demos every other week over near the white house people have an interest in those. I am a former director of voice of america and also worked at the state Department One of the things by the Public Diplomacy people at that time but i also got the impression that as a secondclass citizen in those days and my question is is the recent consolidation with the focus that was lacking in the past . In my year and a half at the state department i have not witnessedr that secondclass citizen for trail of Public Diplomacy into my point earlier thats because it is more important than ever it is integrated with policy this is the same thing that is happening across the private sector as t well working handinhand with the business side thats because it is so transparent and to have Public Diplomacy and i see the importance if anything so the integration have elevated that functionality. So we do have a seat at the table and we are part of this conversation. If you look at how people reflect the policy via public officers that are ambassadors now in deputy chief and my counterparts in the bureau of European Affairs is also an officer and former ambassador. So if there was any integration it is working very smoothly and then i dont feel like a secondclass citizen. Pointing to the National Security council in a Strategic Communication policy Coordination Community that is the ultimate blessing but it will be important to solve problems in this case so there is increasing from the beginning of my career , increasing recognition that diplomacy is something separate but thats part of the toolkit to advancing whatever policy interests we are workingwh on. I know the panel has to take care of important business. We will wrap up at this point and thank you for coming and hope we can continue thehe dialogue. [applause] [inaudible conversations]. Coming up tonight look to be investigative journalist jodi kantor and megan toohey on the new Metoo Movement and Sexual Harassment allegations against Harvey Weinstein. Our night of memoirs begins with justice milk or such on his 30 year career the judiciary and the u. S. Constitution. After that disability rights attorney Harvard Law School graduate using who has been deaf and blind since birth talks but navigated the recited in hearing world. That is followed by Ruth Bader Ginsburg on life and time on the high court. Later Sharon Johnson on her book, child of the dream, a memoir of growing up in 1963 during the civil rights movement. In her book, she said, investigative journalist jodi kantor and megan toohey discuss the Metoo Movement and the investigation of Sexual Harassment against Harvey Weinstein and interviewed by
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