President Obama came into office globally hailed as the savior of America’s standing in the world. Now, three-and-a-half years into the Obama presidency, international disappointment has set in. In its recent release of the 2012 report, the Pew Global Attitudes Project stressed that global public opinion is still so much …
On May 17, Robin J. Lerner, deputy assistant secretary for private sector exchange at the State Department, made a valiant attempt to correct the troubling disparity in the public diplomacy competition between the Chinese and American governments, a competition in which the Chinese are clearly pulling ahead. The issue in …
Controversy has swirled around the Smith–Mundt Modernization Act since it passed mark-up as an amendment to the House version of the National Defense Authorization Act last Friday. Smith–Mundt has prohibited U.S. citizens from accessing the public diplomacy products of the U.S. government, whether in print or on the airwaves, since 1948. Critics on the left …
The House Armed Services Committee clearly acted in the U.S. interest when it voted to modernize the Smith–Mundt Act last week, as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act. Since 1948, Smith–Mundt has prohibited agencies of the U.S. government from informing the U.S. public in print or on the …
Cuban Solidarity Day should make us renew efforts to extend a little more freedom to the Cuban population, which is still effectively imprisoned under their creaky Communist autocracy. May 20 marks the 110th year of Cuba’s independence, of which 53 long years have been spent under the Castro brothers’ dictatorship. …
“Americans are tired of carrying the burden of foreign obligations, frequently unappreciated by others and always costly in blood and treasure,” lamented Senator Jon Kyl (R–AZ) last week, as he gave the annual Jesse Helms lecture at The Heritage Foundation. The Senator, who spoke powerfully in favor of engagement and …
Kudos to the House Appropriations Committee for protecting U.S. international broadcasting against the eviscerating cuts in language services and personnel contained in the President’s proposed fiscal year (FY) 2013 budget. If the budget passes—a big “if,” of course—it could reverse a direction that can only be described as self-defeating for American …
Depending on Russian government-funded media to broadcast news from Voice of America (VOA) is about as brain-dead as depending on Russian spaceships to send American astronauts into space or depending on Russian fuel supply for the U.S. ground and air forces in Afghanistan. The outcome will surely not be in …
On her first visit to China in 2009, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told Chinese leaders that she considered human rights secondary to other, greater issues. “Our pressing on those issues can’t interfere on the global economic crisis, the global climate change crisis and the security crisis,” she said. Have those …
In a depressing reflection of American studies at left-dominated American university campuses, Indian students will soon be learning not only about U.S. history, the Constitution, and American government but also about American transgender issues, cross-dressing, feminism, multiculturalism, and pop culture. All courtesy of the U.S. taxpayers. The curriculum was unveiled …
