Strategic Communication: NGOs and Strategic Communication

After the Unipolar Moment, a collaborative project of the Stanley Foundation and the International Institute for Strategic Studies, led by David Shorr and Patrick Cronin, considers how the United States can restore its role as a global leader. To this end it has held a series of conferences and commissioned papers for discussion of this issue.

Agenda 2008 at the Center for the Study of the Presidency is an initiative to define the most important strategic challenges for the next administration and convey its findings to the presidential campaigns through outreach and events. Under the guidance of the Center’s president, David Abshire, the project is led by Alex Douville. The centerpiece of Agenda 2008 was the book A Call to Greatness: Challenging Our Next President, which was distributed to all major presidential candidates and key members of Congress. In addition, during the 2008 presidential campaign, the Center for the Study of the Presidency produced groundbreaking publications to assist the presidential transition and hosted a panel discussion at the National Press Club focusing on the potential of a new president to rise above bipartisanship to confront America’s challenges.

America’s Role in the World Working Group at Georgetown University is co-chaired by Ambassador Chet Crocker and Smart Power Commissioner Ambassador Tom Pickering and directed by Casimir Yost. It aims to define the set of geopolitical challenges that will face the next administration, from the growing danger of failing states to transnational issues like climate change and pandemic disease.

American Security Project, directed by Jim Ludes with a board that includes former Senator Gary Hart and Smart Power Commissioner Richard Armitage, is a bipartisan initiative of leaders from the military, think tanks, and government. It focuses on restoring American leadership and preparing for 21st century challenges with a strong emphasis on international security issues.

American Solutions for Winning the Future, a nonpartisan organization led by Newt Gingrich, advocates the use of all of America’s instruments of national power and the collaboration of both parties to overcome domestic and foreign policy challenges.

Business for Diplomatic Action is a task force of representatives from a number of multinational corporations, led by Cari Guittard, that seeks to reverse the consequences of America’s negative image abroad. To this end, the BDA runs an exchange program between American and Arab businessmen. In addition, it collaborates with the travel and tourism industries in the US, participates in speaking events and roundtables, grants interviews with the media and is involved with the creation of a new public diplomacy institute.

Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding through Georgetown University is an educational foundation committed to building bridges between the West and Islam by addressing such issues as stereotypes of Muslims, the relationship between Islam and modernity and American foreign policy in the Muslim world.

Center on Public Diplomacy led by Joshua Fouts at the University of Southern California studies how the United States can better engage and express its values to the world. To this end the CPD provides innovative scholarly research, policy and analysis and professional training on public diplomacy. Of particular note is their Smart Power Project, which has its own blog and seeks to develop a national strategy to integrate American hard and soft power tools.

Citizens for Global Solutions is a grassroots organization under the leadership of Charles Brown that engages in activism regarding key national security and humanitarian issues such as energy security, international law, and the genocide in Darfur. To this end it is involved in lobbying congress for funds for UN missions, endorsing and “grading” members of congress based on their record vis-à-vis global issues, running programs like the Multimedia Contest and managing a blog to facilitate discussion of global current event issues.

Connect US is a new collaborative effort between several foundations and NGOs led by Eric Schwartz, the former UN Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery. It aims to provide grants to individuals and organizations that are committed to sustained and effective American engagement with the world, on issues ranging from nonproliferation to global health and democracy promotion. To this end it seeks more effective collaborations across issue areas among foundations, NGO’s and between the two.

Foreign Assistance Reform project at the Brookings Institution, under the guidance of Lael Brainard, focuses on how to restructure America’s foreign assistance agencies to maximize effectiveness.

Freedom House is a non-profit, non-partisan NGO that advocates democratic governance, civil liberties and human rights all over the world. To this end it produces reports on the state of freedom worldwide, holds public events and press conferences, gives congressional testimony, meets with policymakers and offers training and support to indigenous democracy advocates around the world.

Global Interdependence Initiative at the Aspen Institute, led by David Devlin-Foltz, promotes American leadership in the world. Its goal is an America committed to cooperation, economic development, and good governance in an interdependent world. It deals especially with issues that the US can’t or shouldn’t handle single-handedly like global warming or the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Its blog, GII-Exchange, tracks these issues. GII created the Continuous Progress Strategic Services (CPSS) to consult with clients that strive to change US foreign policy. Notable clients in the past have been the Connect US funding collaborative, Humanity United, World Learning, Americans for Informed Democracy and The California Endowment.

HELP Commission was charged by Congress, through legislation introduced by Congressman Frank Wolf (R-VA), to deliver a plan to the President that would reform the foreign assistance bureaucracy to maximize efficiency and effectiveness in triggering economic growth. Mary Bush is the appointed chairman of the Commission.

Impact ’08 is an initiative launched by the Center for U.S. Global Engagement, co-chaired by former Secretary of State Madeline Albright and former Secretary of Defense Frank Carlucci. Under the direction of Liz Schrayer, its objective is to build political support for greater investments in development assistance and diplomacy. To this end the initiative organizes meetings and forums between its members and political candidates, increasing public awareness of its program through the media and town halls and maintaining a website with expert opinions regarding US foreign policy and foreign assistance.

Institute for 21st Century Energy, recently launched by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and led by Gen. James Jones (ret.), calls for leadership from the U.S. government and private sector to apply American innovation to develop clean and affordable fuel alternatives. To this end the institute uses development, education and advocacy to actively build support for meaningful action on energy.

Integrating Instruments of Power and Influence in National Security, a joint project undertaken by the RAND Corporation and the American Academy of Diplomacy and co-chaired by Robert Hunter and Edward Gnehm, studies how the United States can coordinate its civilian, military, and non-governmental components abroad.

Managing Global Insecurity project housed at the Brookings Institution in conjunction with Stanford’s Center for International Security and Cooperation and NYU’s Center for International Cooperation and led by the former State Department Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization Carlos Pascual, is designed to demonstrate that American leadership and increased commitment to multilateralism will make it a more effective instrument to achieve American goals. To this end MGI provides recommendations and generates momentum for the next American president, the United Nations, and key international partners to launch a strategic effort to build the global partnerships and international institutions needed to meet 21^st century trans-border challenges and threats.

Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom at the Heritage Foundation, led by Nile Gardiner, is dedicated to preserving and expanding the historical alliance between the US and the British Commonwealth and using this relationship as the cornerstone for American leadership in the world and the advancement of freedom to all peoples of the world.

National Security Network, directed by Rand Beers and Ilan Goldenberg, both formerly of the 2004 Kerry-Edwards campaign, is a collection of foreign policy Democrats who seek to enhance American foreign policy by combining a strong military with a commitment to alliances and diplomacy. To this end it organizes national security and foreign policy forums and does outreach with the local media, opinion leaders and political figures.

Our Voices Together is a network of organizations brought together by families affected by the September 11^th attacks. 9/11 Commission members Lee Hamilton, Thomas Kean, and Bob Kerrey chair the board. Led by Marianne Scott, the group works with Americans to foster dialogue on national security concerns related to terrorism.

Partnership for a Secure America convenes a prominent board of national bipartisan leaders – including six senators and four national security advisors – to address issues such as Darfur, U.S. commitment to the United Nations, and need for energy independence. Led by Chip Andreae and Jamie Metzl, it seeks to reestablish a bipartisan center to American foreign policy and improve inter-party collaboration. To this end the Partnership develops and seeks bipartisan consensus on national security and foreign policy issues, conducts a free, national media campaign and organizes national events including townhalls, conferences and speaker series.

Princeton Project on National Security is a multiyear bipartisan initiative, co-chaired by George Schultz and Anthony Lake. The Project brings together leading thinkers on national security from government, academe, business and the non-profit sector to analyze key issues and develop innovative responses to a range of national security threats. Under the direction of G. John Ikenberry and Anne-Marie Slaughter, it published its final report with recommendations in September 2006. More recently, it held a conference in March on the effectiveness of current international institutions for working with the emerging powers.

Progressive Priorities Project at the Center for American Progress, a collaborative effort that draws upon the expertise of the entirety of the Center’s scholars, seeks to identify the key threats to the United States in the 21st century and propose how the United States can utilize its hard and soft power instruments in tandem in the interests of the world. It combines bold policy ideas with a modern communications platform to help shape the national debate, expose the hollowness of conservative governing philosophy, and challenge the media to cover the issues that truly matter.

Project on National Security Reform looks at the interagency mechanisms and regulations to determine how the United States government can be better oriented to meet its national security needs. Smart Power Commissioners Charles Boyd, Joseph Nye, and Thomas Pickering are all members of the project’s board of directors. James Locher III, an architect of the 1986 Goldwater-Nichols Act, runs the project.

U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy, led by Ann Olson Schodde, runs education and training programs on how to improve citizen diplomacy with a far-reaching network of American civil society groups, interfacing with private and public organizations to expand support networks for Americans, and consulting with the U.S. government to assist other countries.

U.S. in the World Initiative at the New America Foundation, under the direction of Priscilla Lewis, has developed through extensive research and consultations a guide on how to most effectively engage with the American public on a bipartisan set of foreign policy issues.

World Learning led by Carol Bellamy emphasizes international education and intercultural understanding through its offices in 77 countries. Through its international education programs World Learning fosters global citizenship by connecting over 3,000 young ambassadors annually across cultural differences and social barriers.

3-D Security Initiative is led by Lisa Schirch at Eastern Mennonite University and draws its name from the three pillars of American foreign policy: defense, diplomacy, and development. It strives to promote conflict prevention and peacebuilding investments and strategies in US policymaking. To this end it fosters greater recognition within the US government of international and local civil society perspectives on conflict prevention, principled negotiation, and sustainable development in security policymaking.

21st Century Defense Initiative at Brookings, directed by Peter Singer, produces cutting-edge research, analysis and outreach that address some of the most critical issues facing leaders shaping defense policy in the coming century. The Initiative focuses on three core issues: the future of war, the future of U.S. defense needs and priorities, and the future of the U.S. defense system.

Strategic Communication

A comprehensive guide to the theory and practice of strategic communication.

August 11, 2009

NGOs and Strategic Communication

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