American Public Diplomacy Wears Combat Boots

Today, American public diplomacy wears combat boots. The militarization of the public engagement is surprising to some but denied by few. In the most contested regions in the Middle East and in the living rooms of Muslims elsewhere, as well as in South America and Africa, the United States is most visibly represented by the military. This militarization of public engagement and our foreign policy is not the image we want to project or should project. Further, the military neither wants this role and it should not have it. 

There are several important reasons for this militarization. The most commonly discussed reasons are money and people. The Defense Department budget that can be identified as relating to strategic communication and public affairs substantially exceeds the State Department's equivalent budget. On the personnel side, State's Foreign Service Corps is about equal to the bands in the Armed Forces. But the solution is not simply more money and more people. Both of these are just over simplified talking points. The reality - and the solution - is much more nuanced.

See also:

• American Public Diplomacy Wears Combat Boots: the Pentagon's $300 million to "engage and inspire"
• Developing a National Strategic Communication and Public Diplomacy Strategy
• National Defense Authorization Act and Strategic Communication, Propaganda, and the SCMB
• American Public Diplomacy Wears Combat Boots