Strategic Influence and US Credibility

According to Corman, Hess & Justus; credibility impacts persuasiveness and is therefore an important element of communicating and influencing foreign audiences. The United States does not fare well with many foreign populations because of historical inconsistencies between our words and actions –we do not appear to be genuine. As Americans, we tend to be aware of these sentiments, yet the government does not appear to understand how we should go about reversing them and creating better more credible relationships with other countries.

I believe that the more important question we should be asking right now is not ‘how can the US affect the decision making of other countries?’, but ‘how can the US strengthen its credibility abroad?’ This second question is vital to the success of the first, yet is overlooked as a means of making public diplomacy more effective.

Corman, Hess and Justus give some recommendations for improving credibility; however, I do not agree with them completely and see areas of their recommendation that could use improvement or more research. They suggest that planners understand that this will not be an overnight process, that no matter what policy or programs are implemented, credibility will not happen quickly. It will take time to create trustworthy relationships, this is certain. But how they suggest we go about trying to create trust and credibility is questionable. Involving sympathetic Muslims and using lower level officers to relay messages for example seem to me as transparent ploys. Just as I can look at commercials and advertisements and tell that it was created to appeal to me as a woman, as an African American, or whatever; I think that audiences will not just fall for hearing the same messages from a different messenger. This is especially true if there is obvious connection between these messengers and the US government. Perhaps the most successful way to build credibility is without direct government involvement –afterall, some of the most successful public diplomacy is implemented by non-governmental groups and organizations. This gets very tricky though, because it IS the government that needs to establish the credibility, not just the American people. It seems to me that government agencies need a renewed focus on cross-cultural communication techniques, understanding perceptions and the importance of relationship building. From guest speakers in class as well as the readings, I have gathered that the government does not like to focus on cultural aspects… probably because the results are not quickly or easily assessed. However in order to create a more credible US, we must listen to what foreign audiences are saying and analyze the root issues that will allow our influence to be stronger and more credible.

Sources:

Steven Corman, Aaron Hess, and Z.S. Justus. “Credibility in the Global War on Terrorism: Strategic Principals and Research Agenda”. Consortium for Strategic Communication. Report #0603. June 9, 2006