Posted on: Wednesday, July 31, 2002

EDITORIAL
Propaganda won't improve U.S. image

President Bush's proposal to institute an "Office of Global Communications" to coordinate the administration's foreign policy message and supervise America's image abroad isn't a bad idea, if handled correctly.

The worst mistake would be to create an office of spin doctors to paint a benign face on policies that are seen as harmful. Washington can't win support in Arab countries, for instance, by pretending that it doesn't support Israel and authoritarian regimes in the region.

Rather than squander its credibility in that way, its efforts should be realistic, low-key and farsighted.

Perhaps the simplest and least disingenuous way for the Bush administration to win friends abroad is to pay more attention to what people think when it formulates its policies. Its reputation for unilateralism in walking away from international accords from global warming to antiballistic missiles is less than helpful.

Flashy Web sites, advertising and propaganda broadcasting won't paper over such flaws.

The best way to fight a negative image is to counter it with the truth, in concrete and indisputable terms. We'd suggest an important place to start, for instance, is a big increase in student exchanges, including restoration of money for Fulbright scholarships. It's the rare scholar indeed who can return home after years of study at an American university without a genuine appreciation for our strong points.

And we support President Bush's call to double the number of Peace Corps volunteers abroad by 2005. Flooding selected countries with young, bright, well-educated Americans is the best antidote to the depraved image so often ascribed to us.