Doran Calls For Strategic Centers In State, Dod To Direct Diplomacy

摘要

Strategic operational centers based in both the Defense and State Departments directing American public diplomacy are necessary to improve U.S. government communications efforts, Michael Doran, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategic communications, argued this week.rn"I certainly hope that the next administration will look very seriously at this question of influence and how we need to reorganize ourselves," Doran said during a Jan. 13 conference in Washington on the 1948 Smith-Mundt Act, which bars public diplomacy officials from attempting to influence Americans' views on foreign affairs.rnThe conference, held on Capitol Hill, was organized by consultant and blogger Matt Armstrong.rnThe United States needs a strategic center in the U.S. government for what's called the "influence enterprise," Doran told the audience. Within this context, it also needs new missions for public diplomacy officers, he added.