Global and inter-agency communication

Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas), along with a panel of foreign policy and communications experts, spoke at the Heritage Foundation about creating a new organization to facilitate international communication and diplomacy.

Thornberry said that today’s post-Sept. 11 national security issues require government agencies to work together for solutions. In addition, he said that this communication is important for international diplomacy to solve global issues. Thornberry proposed the creation of a private organization much like the United States Information Agency (USIA) which was dissolved in 1999, to reach this goal.

Dr. Michael Doran, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Support to Public Diplomacy, said that learning about the motivations and traditions of other cultures is extremely important for understanding policy positions and decisions in other nations. He also said that this understanding could only be facilitated through greater communication between nations.

James Dickmeyer, director of Foreign Press Centers at the State Department suggested that advanced communication would be easily established by working with international embassies and ambassadors, as these establishments best represent the interests of our nation abroad.