Washington must also reorganize public diplomacy operations to grant more autonomy to public diplomacy officers. When the U.S.I.A. was an independent agency, it had the autonomy to adapt rapidly to cultural and regional circumstances. But now that public diplomacy falls under the purview of the State Department, the operation faces considerable bureaucratic red tape.

For example, Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Karen Hughes came under fire last year for micromanaging diplomats' interactions with the press. In fact, a disgruntled diplomat leaked Hughes' memo explaining her various press policies to the Washington Post-a sign of frustration in the ranks.

But as William P. Kiehl of the U.S. Army War College has observed, the blame doesn't rest entirely on senior State Department officials. Rather, the problem is structural. Said Kiehl: "There are at least five different public diplomacies (one for each region) rather than unity of command and a coherent and single public diplomacy adapted to local condition as needed."

Therefore, Kiehl continued, the "Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs has full responsibility for the conduct of public diplomacy worldwide but lacks the authority over that worldwide public diplomacy. It is a recipe for failure."

The U.S. government must combat this "recipe for failure" by reestablishing the U.S.I.A. as an independent agency. This will accomplish three crucial objectives. First, it will provide the autonomy necessary for the U.S.I.A. to respond quickly to changing circumstances; second, it will increase the agency's influence in Washington; third, it will help the agency recruit talented public servants who might otherwise avoid information- and communications-related careers due to their second-class status within the State Department.

Reviving cultural centers and reestablishing the U.S.I.A. as an independent agency-will go a long way toward revitalizing American public diplomacy. After all, there's a reason these strategies were employed during the Cold War-they work.