Seeking to reverse anti-Americanism in the Arab world and beyond, the United States is developing an Office of Global Communications to try to improve America's overseas image, the Bush administration said yesterday.
US officials specifically cited the Middle East and Europe as two key areas where the country has an image problem. Arabs feel the United States is pro-Israel and cannot be trusted, and many Europeans are appalled at what they perceive as a go-it-alone foreign policy.
The new office, which will play essentially a co-ordinating role among various US agencies at the State Department and elsewhere, will seek to explain "what America is all about and why America does what it does," said White House spokesman Mr Ari Fleischer.
The new office is an extension of the information operation launched by the Bush White House with the US-led war on terrorism.
It is the brainchild of Ms Karen Hughes, a longtime Bush aide who returned to her native Texas early this month.
She is expected to remain closely involved in the new operation.
The United States has been stung by a wave of anti-Americanism in the Islamic world and elsewhere in reaction to the US military campaign after the September 11th attacks and a perception that America is pro-Israel at the expense of Palestinians.
"In recognition of the fact that we are involved in a global war on terror, the President sees a need for a White House role in global communications," Mr Fleischer told reporters.
The Office of Global Communications is to be operated out of the White House in concert with the State Department's Office of Public Diplomacy.
"This is a sign of the importance the President attaches to how other nations see the United States," Mr Fleischer said.
The Coalition Information Centre, an operation with branches in London and Islamabad, was set up in October in response to concerns that the United States and its anti-terror allies were losing the information battle with Afghanistan's former Taliban leadership.
Mr Fleischer said the new office was not a dressing up of the short-lived "strategic information" office that the Pentagon closed in February after news reports suggested it might be used to spread disinformation abroad to bolster US defence policy.
Part of the US effort to date was to open Radio Sawa for broadcast to the Arab world.
Radio Sawa opened on March 23rd and broadcasts on FM in Amman, Kuwait, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. From AM transmitters in Kuwait and Rhodes, it is also audible in Iraq, Egypt, Lebanon and Syria. US officials have cited anecdotal evidence from the region to say the experiment has been a success.
"Right now it would be safe to say that Europe and the Middle East are serious priorities, but the focus is going to be on the whole world, Asia, Africa, Latin America, everywhere," said a US official.
The official said there was a need for a White House office to bring together various information agencies.
- (Reuters)