The transatlantic financial crisis and a natural downsizing after the drawdowns in Iraq and Afgha... more The transatlantic financial crisis and a natural downsizing after the drawdowns in Iraq and Afghanistan have pressured NATO and European governments to slash expenditures for defense. Europeans have reduced military budgets 10-15 percent. Spain spends less than one percent of GDP on defense. There are three possible negative consequences of this decline: (1). capability shortfalls will enfeeble the NATO Alliance such that it cannot achieve its stated "level of ambition," (2). burden-sharing tensions will fracture the NATO alliance, and (3). Europe will be reduced to military-and international-irrelevancy in a global power shift. No amount of initiatives to maintain capability in this environment, such as various international agreements and "pooling and sharing," will suffice to avoid one or more negative consequences if cuts continue and deepen. For the time being, NATO remains a robust-and Europe's singular-credible force. The Alliance has successfully weathered such pressures in the past, and the United States has too strong a vested and historical interest in NATO to unilaterally withdraw.
The great conflict of our times is fueled by hate media in the Middle East, and this anti-America... more The great conflict of our times is fueled by hate media in the Middle East, and this anti-American vitriol can influence Muslim masses. The U.S. tries to mitigate this through public diplomacy—cultural exchanges, mass media campaigns, and good will visits. But America’s public diplomacy is hamstrung by the lack of a decisive Presidential mandate, small staffs and budgets, and a back-burner Washington mentality. Critically, one of the greatest assets of the U.S. has been quiet on this issue—corporate America. Can business “sell” a positive view of the U.S. to the Middle East? The idea of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been booming since the end of the twentieth century. Corporations also annually donate billions for charitable campaigns. Why can’t those efforts be directed toward improving the image of the U.S. abroad? The central question of this paper asks to what degree corporations view, or do not view, public diplomacy as a natural extension of corporate citizenship. Part I reviews current public diplomacy efforts and the rise of CSR. In Part II, questions were put to a cross-section of opinion leaders to provide a snapshot of current thinking and attitudes about business as an instrument of public diplomacy. Members of academia, the U.S. government, industry, advertising and marketing firms, think tanks, and nongovernmental organizations share their views. There is a lack of published work on this subject. This paper fills a gap by clarifying the issue, framing and stimulating debate, and suggesting further in-depth research. Recommendations are provided to government decision makers, industry, and the wider public.
Youth throughout the Muslim world are inculcated into a belief system characterized by hatred and... more Youth throughout the Muslim world are inculcated into a belief system characterized by hatred and intolerance toward the West, particularly the United States, resulting in the recruitment of many into jihad and the "martyrdom" of the suicide attack. This paper surveys formal efforts by the United States government to repair its image in the Middle East (public diplomacy) and thus curtail "hate speech" that incites violence and encourages extremism. It also offers the inquisitive generalist a snapshot of United States military psychological operations (or simply "PSYOP" in military jargon) and its practitioners' efforts to change opinion in the forward theater of operations. A secondary objective of this work is to offer the decision maker, public policy expert, and senior military officer concrete recommendations for the use of PSYOP as a tool of public diplomacy-a jump-off point for a carefully coordinated international effort to inoculate a new generation of Muslims from ubiquitous messages of hate and help them understand the West, develop cross-cultural ties, and practice tolerance. _____________________________________________________________________________
The transatlantic financial crisis and a natural downsizing after the drawdowns in Iraq and Afgha... more The transatlantic financial crisis and a natural downsizing after the drawdowns in Iraq and Afghanistan have pressured NATO and European governments to slash expenditures for defense. Europeans have reduced military budgets 10-15 percent. Spain spends less than one percent of GDP on defense. There are three possible negative consequences of this decline: (1). capability shortfalls will enfeeble the NATO Alliance such that it cannot achieve its stated "level of ambition," (2). burden-sharing tensions will fracture the NATO alliance, and (3). Europe will be reduced to military-and international-irrelevancy in a global power shift. No amount of initiatives to maintain capability in this environment, such as various international agreements and "pooling and sharing," will suffice to avoid one or more negative consequences if cuts continue and deepen. For the time being, NATO remains a robust-and Europe's singular-credible force. The Alliance has successfully weathered such pressures in the past, and the United States has too strong a vested and historical interest in NATO to unilaterally withdraw.
The great conflict of our times is fueled by hate media in the Middle East, and this anti-America... more The great conflict of our times is fueled by hate media in the Middle East, and this anti-American vitriol can influence Muslim masses. The U.S. tries to mitigate this through public diplomacy—cultural exchanges, mass media campaigns, and good will visits. But America’s public diplomacy is hamstrung by the lack of a decisive Presidential mandate, small staffs and budgets, and a back-burner Washington mentality. Critically, one of the greatest assets of the U.S. has been quiet on this issue—corporate America. Can business “sell” a positive view of the U.S. to the Middle East? The idea of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been booming since the end of the twentieth century. Corporations also annually donate billions for charitable campaigns. Why can’t those efforts be directed toward improving the image of the U.S. abroad? The central question of this paper asks to what degree corporations view, or do not view, public diplomacy as a natural extension of corporate citizenship. Part I reviews current public diplomacy efforts and the rise of CSR. In Part II, questions were put to a cross-section of opinion leaders to provide a snapshot of current thinking and attitudes about business as an instrument of public diplomacy. Members of academia, the U.S. government, industry, advertising and marketing firms, think tanks, and nongovernmental organizations share their views. There is a lack of published work on this subject. This paper fills a gap by clarifying the issue, framing and stimulating debate, and suggesting further in-depth research. Recommendations are provided to government decision makers, industry, and the wider public.
Youth throughout the Muslim world are inculcated into a belief system characterized by hatred and... more Youth throughout the Muslim world are inculcated into a belief system characterized by hatred and intolerance toward the West, particularly the United States, resulting in the recruitment of many into jihad and the "martyrdom" of the suicide attack. This paper surveys formal efforts by the United States government to repair its image in the Middle East (public diplomacy) and thus curtail "hate speech" that incites violence and encourages extremism. It also offers the inquisitive generalist a snapshot of United States military psychological operations (or simply "PSYOP" in military jargon) and its practitioners' efforts to change opinion in the forward theater of operations. A secondary objective of this work is to offer the decision maker, public policy expert, and senior military officer concrete recommendations for the use of PSYOP as a tool of public diplomacy-a jump-off point for a carefully coordinated international effort to inoculate a new generation of Muslims from ubiquitous messages of hate and help them understand the West, develop cross-cultural ties, and practice tolerance. _____________________________________________________________________________
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Papers by Mark Kilbane