Office of Global Communications (Text Only)

National Security Presidential Directive

Draft NSPD
(2nd Draft)

MEMORANDUM FOR

This document is another in a series of National Security Presidential Directives.

Effective national security policy advances United States interests around the globe. Recent events make clear that attitudes toward the United States among international audiences help foster international cooperation or, alternatively, aggression and misunderstanding.

In pursuit of better global communications, this directive establishes the Office of Global Communications and the Global Communications Strategic Council within the Executive Office of the President to be headed by the Deputy Assistant to the President for Global Communications.

The mission of the Office is be to provide strategic direction and themes to the United States government agencies that deliver messages about America to foreign audiences.

The objectives of the Office will be to coordinate and devise efforts that promote America's interests, prevent misunderstanding and aggression, build support for and among United States' coalition partners, and inform and persuade international audiences. The Office will coordinate the executive branch's global communication's efforts so as to meet these objectives.

The Office will work with executive departments and agencies, international allies, and private entities to develop and implement strategies for disseminating truthful, accurate, and effective messages about the United States, the American people and their government and coordinate revisions to that strategy as necessary.

The strategy will be devised to obtain maximum results in areas of the world deemed high priorities by the Administration, engage private American citizens and groups in the United States and overseas in disseminating these messages, and recognize and capitalize on new and developing media and technology.

The Office will assess federal public diplomacy and global communications programs and efforts, so as to evaluate results and recommend changes; ensure proper coordination between agencies; integrate the strategic themes of the Administration into such programs and efforts; and avoid and prevent duplication or redundancy in such programs and efforts.

The Office will prepare, deploy, and oversee teams of communicators to be placed temporarily within areas of high global interest and media attention. Each such Information Center will ensure that United States government information is rapidly provided in these remote and/or distant locations, consistent with the President's announced policies and the Administrations global strategic objectives.

Examples of locations to which such a Center would be deployed include, but are not limited to areas in which international media are closely following a nearby conflict involving United States armed forces. Such an area is defined as falling outside the particular combat zone; areas in which international media are closely following a nearby terrorist attack on United States citizens or assets, or those of our international coalition; areas in which international media are likely to closely follow the treatment of foreign nationals accused of doing harm to United States and/or our allies.

In performing these functions, the information center will work with Federal, state, and local agencies, as well as international coalition partners, as appropriate, to disseminate accurate and timely information about topics of interest to the on-site news media; assist media personnel in obtaining access to information, individuals, and events that reinforce the strategic communications objectives of the United States and its allies; and ensure that all executive departments and agencies, as well as coalition partner governments, having relevant public information responsibilities are represented at the Center or included in decision-making for the Center's activities. The Center should also include personnel from coalition partner governments, as appropriate.

The Office of Global Communications will be directed by the Deputy Assistant to the President for Global Communications.

The Office of Administration within the Executive Office of the President will provide the Office of Global Communications with such personnel, funding, and administrative support, to the extent permitted by law and subject to the availability of appropriations, as directed by the Chief of Staff to carry out the provisions of this order.

Heads of executive departments and agencies are authorized, to the extent permitted by law, to detail or assign personnel of such departments and agencies to the Office of Global Communications upon request of the Deputy Assistant to the President for Global Communications, subject to the approval of the Chief of Staff.

** ?? ** Additional support for the Office will be provided by the staff of the International Public Information (IPI) Core Group, as overseen by the Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. The IPI was created on April 30, 1999 by President Clinton's issuance of a Presidential Decision Direction (PDD 68).

** ?? ** Would this help OCG or bureaucratize it? Can it be worded vaguely enough so that we can decide as events warrant? Would this section (or another document) have to amend or replace PDD 68?

I hereby establish a Global Communications Strategic Council (the "Council"), which will be responsible for advising the Office with respect to all aspects of global communications. The Council will serve as the mechanism for ensuring coordination of global communications-related activities of executive departments and agencies and effective development and implementation of global communications strategies.

The Council will have as its members the Counselor to the President, the Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, the Deputy Assistant to the President and Counselor to the National Security Advisor, the (USAID person), (these are TBD: the Chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the Director of the Voice of America,) and such other officers of the executive branch as the President may from time to time designate. The Chief of Staff, the Chief of Staff to the Vice President, the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, the Press Secretary to the President, the Communications Director to the President, the Counsel to the President, and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget also are invited to attend any Council meeting. The heads of other executive departments and agencies and other senior officials will be invited to attend Council meetings when appropriate.

The Council will meet at the direction of XXXXX.

This order does not alter the existing authorities of United States Government departments and agencies. All executive departments and agencies are directed to assist the Council and the Deputy Assistant to the President for Global Communications in carrying out the purposes of this order.

(other boilerplate language)

GEORGE W. BUSH
THE WHITE HOUSE,
April , 2002.

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