Ms. Hughes was energetic. For example, she created far-flung “media hubs” so that, when something happened, American spokesmen abroad could respond in a more timely fashion. But her personalization of public diplomacy – presenting herself to the Muslim masses as a genial “working mom” -- did not have the impact intended.
What’s more, Ms. Hughes bought into the State Department delusion that you can educate people about the U.S. by dispatching emissaries who are only too eager to tell the world how much they, too, detest George Bush and his policies.
How can the President make progress in public diplomacy in the few months remaining to him? Start by discarding the peculiar notion that America can or should be “liked.” We’re at a critical moment in history -- a war is being waged against the U.S. and other free nations by Militant Islamists and their oil-rich enablers. Now is no time for popularity contests.
Concentrate instead on being understood. Bush has articulated his core belief succinctly: “The survival of liberty in our land depends on the success of liberty in other lands." Can it really be so hard to defend that idea to audiences abroad?
Finally and most importantly, Bush should not appoint another political operative as his public diplomacy chief. He should appoint an individual of learning and achievement. There is one obvious choice: Fouad Ajami, the distinguished scholar and author, a Lebanese-born Shia Muslim who is American by choice and conviction.
No one understands the Arab and Muslim worlds better than Ajami. And no one can better explain America and this White House than Ajami, who has written: “Grant Mr. Bush his due: The revolutionary message he brought forth was the simple belief that there was no Arab and Muslim 'exceptionalism' to the appeal of liberty.”
Naming Professor Ajami to this position would make a more compelling statement than just about anything else Bush can say or do.