Speak locally, act globally, is the latest diplomatic policy of the US.

[Harold F. Schiffman]

Speak locally, act globally is the new US policy

Web posted at: 1/31/2007 1:43:52
Source ::: The Peninsula
doha

Speak locally, act globally, is the latest diplomatic policy of the US.
Adam Ereli, US Senior Adviser to the Undersecretary of Public Diplomacy
for Overseas Communication, told reporters here yesterday that the State
Department has set up its public diplomacy centres in London, Brussels and
Dubai to communicate with the target audience in their own language. "For
want of effective communication, there is a lot of misconception about US
polices. From now on, our official spokespersons will regularly appear on
television channels and communicate with the people in the local
language," he said.

Every US embassy will have competent professionals to communicate with the
local people. They will regularly participate in talk shows and debates on
local channels and radio. Earlier, the embassy officials used to get back
to Washington for official reactions to local issues. Now, they can
directly communicate on these issues. Now, communication has become a
major part of their job, he said.

Asked whether it would help to change the Arab world's negative image of
the US, Ereli said: "This is our first step to change the negative
sentiments of the people towards the US. We do care for people's
sentiments. The initiative is to explain ourselves, to answer tough
questions and respond to our critics in their own language," he said.
Through an orchestrated campaign, certain forces are propagating that the
US is against Islam. The initiative is designed to counter such a campaign
and convince the target audience about US foreign policy in their own
language and create mutual understanding between nations, he said.

http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Local_News&subsection=Qatar+News&month=January2007&file=Local_News2007013114352.xml

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