The Smith-Mundt Act of 1948: A Discourse to Shape America's Discourse
Date: January 13, 2009
Time: 7a continental breakfast, 8a prompt start - 5:30p close (lunch will be served), a reception will immediately follow (full agenda is below)
Location: The Reserve Officer's Association in Washington, D.C., at the intersection of First Street and Constitution Avenue, NE.
The Smith-Mundt Act of 1948 was passed as the U.S. was beginning a “war of ideology... a war unto death,” as America's Ambassador to Russia described it at the time. But two decades later, instead of promoting international engagement through information, cultural and educational exchanges, the law was distorted into a barrier of engagement. From its propaganda and counter-propaganda intentions, it transformed into an anti-propaganda law for reasons that had little to nothing to do with concerns over domestic influence and far removed from the original intent of the law. The resulting firewall has never been extensively explored or debated, the effects of which are broad and deep. The Smith-Mundt Act is believed by some to cover the activities of the State Department, the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the Defense Department, the Agency for International Development, and more. It is time to put the law into its proper context, especially in today's global information environment.
The 2009 Smith-Mundt Symposium brings together public diplomacy and strategic communication practitioners from the State Department, the Defense Department, the Agency for International Development, and other governmental and non-governmental groups, as well as academia, media, and Congress for a first of its kind discussion. The goal of the Symposium is a frank and open discussion on the foundation and structure America’s global engagement, a subject often ignored and yet foundational to the necessary change in America’s public diplomacy and strategic communication.
The symposium has the support, interest, and participation of the State Department, the Defense Department, and other agencies. Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Jim Glassman and (former) Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Support to Public Diplomacy Mike Doran will give keynote addresses and the registered audience to date (over 170) includes many from the public diplomacy, cultural diplomacy, strategic communication, information operations, and public affairs communities from across the spectrum.
In addition to the keynotes, there will be four 90-minute panels with one moderator and four discussants each. The format will be moderated question and answer and there will be no opening statements or presentations.
Registration is free, open to the public, and required to attend. Due to the level of interest, new registrations are placed on a waitlist. Congress and the media are exempted from the waitlist but we ask you still register. The entire event will be on the record and a transcript and report will be published after the event.
The event is sponsored by Armstrong Strategic Insights Group and presented in association with the Center on Communication Leadership. Funding comes from an interagency grant.
Agenda
7:00 - 8:00 Continental Breakfast / Sign-in
8:00 - 8:15 Welcome and Opening Remarks
8:15 - 9:00 Keynote by Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs James K. Glassman
9:00 - 10:30 First Panel: History of the Smith-Mundt Act
10:30 - 12:00 Second Panel: America's Bifurcated engagement
12:00 - 12:15 Break
12:15 - 1:45 Lunch / Keynote by Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Michael Doran
1:45 - 2:00 Break
2:00 - 3:30 Third Panel: Rebuilding the Arsenal of Persuasion
3:30 - 3:45 Break
3:45 - 5:15 Fourth Panel: The View from the Hill
5:15 - 5:30 Closing Remarks
5:30 – 8:30 Hosted reception in the entry atrium of the Reserve Officers Association
Keynote and Panel transcripts are available here: http://mountainrunner.us/symposium/.
Media Advisory is here: http://mountainrunner.us/symposium/media.html.
An electronic library is available to registered attendees to supplement the discussion (PowerPoint, papers, possibly some New York Times articles, etc). In other words, this event has homework.
Organizer and point of contact: Matt Armstrong, matt@mountainrunner.us, (310) 926-1942
For updates via RSS or email: http://feeds.feedburner.com/Smith-Mundt/
UPDATE: Follow-up symposiums are in development and will include deeper discussions on non-US approaches to global engagement, exchanges, the media, and of course views from Congress. These events are scheduled for April 20 and 21 in Washington, DC. Suggestions are welcome as either comments on this post or by email. Registration will open mid-February.
