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Strategic Communication and American Credibility Steven Monblatt May, 2008 In 1962, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, President Kennedy sent former Secretary of State Dean Acheson to Paris, to brief President De Gaulle on what was happening. Acheson brought with him U-2 photos of the Soviet rocket emplacements in Cuba. De Gaulle refused to look at them. “This is mere evidence, and great nations such as yours would not take a serious step if there was any doubt about the evidence at all…” Most of the discussions I have heard and papers I have read about resolving the US Government’s strategic communication dilemma have revolved around a search for technical or organizational responses to the precipitous decline in our standing in the world, and the consequent reduction in our ability to persuade people to support our policies. Certainly, we need to improve both our organizational abilities and our command of the techniques and technology of persuasive communication, but focusing on them has often obscured and even worsened more fundamental problems. For example, on April 20, The New York Times reported on how DoD provided high level access to ex-military officers who work as on-air consultants for the TV networks. Some of these consultants were involved in soliciting contracts from DoD at same time. This project was well-conceived technically, and worked in the short term, but ended up costing the credibility of everyone involved, including the military analysts. The episode left the impression that all involved traded their integrity for access. In the long run, they simply added to our strategic problem which is that too few people believe our official statements and policies. What do government public diplomacy specialists think? In 2007, Kathy Fitzpatrick Professor of Public Relations at Quinnipiac University surveyed 441 ex-USIA officers, most ex senior Foreign Service officers with an average of 25 years service. Of these, 213 responded. The result