By Greg Hazley
The U.S. State Department said Oct. 7 that it has finished the framework for its public diplomacy operations, naming six assistant secretaries as well as a deputy assistant for international media engagement experienced in the Arab world to put a public face on U.S. policies overseas.
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Dana Shell Smith, an Arabic language spokeswoman and media hub director for State in Dubai, has taken the international media engagement post. She will be among a handful of U.S. officials who will appear on Arab news shows to give a U.S. point of view to coverage.
McHale said in March that the new position would be created, saying it was to be created with the State Dept.’s public affairs bureau to give “high level attention” to foreign media.
Smith was a public affairs officer at the American Institute in Taiwan and was embassy spokeswoman in Jordan after a stint in Tel Aviv handling public diplomacy for the U.S. embassy in the Gaza Strip. In addition to Arabic, the Foreign Service Office speaks Chinese, Hebrew and Spanish.
In addition to Smith, six deputy assistant secretaries comprise the PD framework overseen by Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy Judith McHale.
McHale said in a statement that a key goal of the new advisors and framework is to ensure a “close integration” between PD and policy formulation.
The new deputy assistants and their bureaus include Spencer Boyer, who handles PD and public affairs for Europe and Eurasian affairs; Grata Holtz, who handles PD and strategic communications for Near Eastern affairs; James Moore, overseeing south and central Asian affairs who was minister counselor for public affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Turkey from 2003-06; Fabiola Rodriguez-Ciampoli, western hemisphere affairs and former comms. director for Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.); Jennifer Park Stout, east Asia and Pacific affairs and a former Hill staffer, and David Bruce Wharton, African affairs and directed PD and public affairs for the Africa bureau since 2009.
A GAO report released in July outlined significant cutbacks in U.S. public diplomacy since the 1990s, but McHale announced a plan in February to “revitalize” the framework of PD ahead of its budget request for 2012.
McHale told the Senate Foreign Relations committee in March that the new regional deputies would be established to put a PR perspective in senior policy talks.
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