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Task Force Report No. #51

Finding America’s Voice

A Strategy for Reinvigorating U.S. Public Diplomacy

  • Peter G. Peterson
    Cochair
  • Jennifer Sieg
    Director

What are Task Force Reports?

CFR sponsors Task Forces to assess issues of critical importance to U.S. foreign policy to reach bipartisan consensus on policy recommendations.

Who makes them?

Task Force members aim to reach a meaningful consensus on policy and are solely responsible for the content of their report.

The world’s opinion of the United States and of U.S. policy has plummeted in the wake of the war in Iraq. The resulting widespread anger, fear, and mistrust, warns this timely report of the independent Task Force on Public Diplomacy, are creating immediate and long-term problems for the United States that must be addressed.

The Task Force, which first issued a report after September 11, 2001, points to evidence that, despite administration efforts, anti-Americanism is more widespread and dangerous than ever before. The consequences are substantial, ranging from the difficulty faced by the Bush administration in forming a coalition for U.S. efforts in Iraq, to the increase in new terrorist attacks on American interests, to strained relations with America’s transatlantic partners.

Among the recommendations of the Task Force are making U.S. foreign policy more sensitive to concerns of public diplomacy, improving communications strategies overseas, enhancing training for U.S. ambassadors, and building congressional support for public diplomacy. Failure to take these steps will make it more difficult for the United States to maintain the war against terror and other policy undertakings, the Task Force concludes.

Task Force Members

Task Force Members:

Peter G. Peterson, The Blackstone Group

Peter Ackerman, Rockport Capital, Inc.

Roger Ames, Warner Music International

Donald A. Baer, Discovery Communications, Inc.; former assistant to the White House director of strategic planning and communications

Ali Banuazizi, Boston College

Kathy F. Bloomgarden, Ruder Finn

Joan Ganz Cooney, Sesame Workshop

Geoffrey Cowan, University of Southern California; former director, International Broadcasting Bureau

Raghida Dergham, Al-Hayat

Joseph Duffey, Sylvan International Universities

Lynn Forester de Rothschild, ELR Holdings, LLC

Barry Fulton, Public Diplomacy Institute, George Washington University

Peter Georgescu, Young and Rubicam, Inc.

Marc Charles Ginsberg, NorthStar Equity Group, Inc., former U.S. ambassador to Morocco

Martin Gross, Sandalwood Securities

Bruce Gregory, Public Diplomacy Council

Henry A. Grunwald, former editor in chief, Time Inc. Publications; former U.S. ambassador to Austria

Bernard Haykel, New York University

John W. Leslie, Jr., Weber Shandwick Worldwide

Bette Bao Lord, Freedom House

Lewis Manilow, U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy

Randolph Martin, International Rescue Committee

Scott Miller, Core Strategy Group

David E. Morey, DMG, Inc.

M. Ishaq Nadiri, New York University; adviser to Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai

Nancy Nielsen, Pfizer, Inc.

Harold C. Pachios, U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy

Norman J. Pattiz, Westwood One; Broadcasting Board of Governors

Richard Plepler, Home Box Office

Moeen Qureshi, Emerging Markets Partnership; interim prime minister of Pakistan, 1993

Walter R. Roberts, Public Diplomacy Institute, George Washington University

William A. Rugh, AMIDEAST; former Foreign Service officer, U.S. Information Agency

Jill A. Schuker, The Kamber Group; former senior director for public affairs,
National Security Council

Ron Silver, Primiparous Productions, Inc.

Elliot Stein, Caribbean International News Corporation

Shibley Telhami, University of Maryland

James J. Zogby, Arab American Institute

Barry Zorthian, Public Diplomacy Foundation