Events Detail

The Project on National Security Reform (PNSR) is pleased to invite you to a Roundtable on Interagency Reform discussing a case study on "The Crisis In U.S. Public Diplomacy: The Demise of the USIA – Context And Coda," by Professor Nicholas J. Cull, University of Southern California, and Professor Juliana Geran Pilon, Institute of World Politics and National Defense University.

Tuesday, May 6, 2008; 2:30 PM – 4 PM

Please RSVP (affirmative replies only) by sending your name and current institutional affiliation to Richard Weitz at Weitz@hudson.org.

Location: Hudson Institute, Betsy and Walter Stern Conference Center, 1015 15th Street, N.W., 6th Floor, Washington, D.C. 20005

This case study reviews the decision to eliminate the U.S. Information Agency in 1999, which left unresolved a host of serious problems within the U.S. interagency and weakened American public diplomacy after the Cold War. Winning the war on terror requires an effective U.S. strategic communication strategy to engage global publics and fight the battle of ideas.

The Project on National Security Reform (PNSR) is a non-partisan initiative sponsored by the non-profit Center for the Study of the Presidency (CSP). PNSR seeks to improve the U.S. Government's ability to integrate all elements of national power and more effectively respond to the strategic challenges of the 21st century.  Modeled on the historic effort that led to the Goldwater-Nichols legislation, PNSR has established nine working groups that are undertaking a rigorous study of the national security system.  Historical case studies constitute the first element of the study methodology.  These case studies will inform the analytic work of PNSR's other working groups by highlighting recurring trends in the way the U.S. national security system addresses complex national security problems.  Ultimately, PNSR will recommend changes to the National Security Act of 1947, presidential directives to implement other reforms, and new Congressional committee structures and practices.

Attendees at PNSR workshops may use the information as background, but may not identify the speaker, the other attendees, or PNSR itself or quote anything said at the event.

We hope that you can attend.

Richard Weitz, Ph.D., Leader

 Case Studies Working Group

Project on National Security Reform