The context in which this report has been written is one year after Barack Obama has been elected as the new President of the United States of America for the four years presidential mandate. also, in November 2008, it has been already 7 years of American presence in the Middle-East (war in Iraq and Afghanistan) – and still no action form the US government to withdraw their troops from the region, despite what Obama promoted during his campaign – and with it, the rise of American unpopularity.
It is important for a country to have a good image in the international arena. A way to achieve this, as stated in this report and as seen throughout this module, is the through the promotion of that image on the foreign public opinion. Thus, the aim of this report is to found new ways of improving and enhancing the American image worldwide, despite the government policies, for the new area of the 21st century with all the challenges it presents.
Indeed, the Internet and the rise of non-state actors acting in the international sphere have an important influence on the foreign public opinion. To counter this, this report recommends to create a non-profit organisation, the USA-World Trust, which would support the American government in its efforts of public diplomacy. Indeed, a way to do this would be to use the American citizen themselves to promote a good image of the United States in order to counter-balance the image it has gained with the conduct of the war, to promote American values and principles that are known, or thought, to be appealing in most parts of the world (democracy, liberty, freedom, partnership and good relations with allies). This report introduces as well the relatively new topic of the importance in communication in regards to achieve these aims: technology and communication must be the principal means in which this plan will be conducted. Moreover, it emphasises on the importance of non-state actors help such as non-governmental organisations and private actors – companies, business corporations and citizen included. Cooperation and partnership between all those actors are emphasised urged in order to achieve this plan with success, putting an even more focus on the citizen, since ‘Americans themselves are the [government]’s greatest national asset’.
Kirstin M. Lord, Voices of America: US Public Diplomacy for the Twenty-First Century, Brookings Institute, 2008, available at www.brookings.edu/reports/2008/11_public_diplomacy_lord.aspx
