Further demise of US public diplomacy
By Roland Wilson
With the worldwide social and economic devastation caused by the coronavirus, many countries are struggling to redefine what the new normal will be.
The United States, which has been shown to have an Achilles heel when it comes to curtailing the spread of COVID-19, has been hit particularly hard.
One of the results of this is that many U.S. schools have been forced to either close or go to an online format causing financial and academic hardship to both the students and the universities.
Yet despite this, the United States recently announced the suspension and revocation of foreign student F-1 and M-1 visas for those who will only be taking online classes in fall 2020, even though it is not the students' choice, but a difficult decision made by campuses based on the continued threat of the coronavirus.
Although this decision has now been rescinded, it is estimated that over 200,000 students on F1 visas alone would have been impacted if carried through. Also, this original decision would have only served to hurt universities, students and local economies by forcing students to leave the U.S.
More importantly, this rash political decision to suspend and revoke foreign student F-1 and M-1 visas in order to force schools to reopen was seen by many as an unwise mixing of domestic policy with public diplomacy, with a very negative consequences on both.
Sadly, even though this decision is now rescinded, it already had the impact of hurting the U.S. image abroad.
Ironically, the mission of U.S. public diplomacy according to the U.S. State Department is “to support the achievement of U.S. foreign policy goals and objectives, advance national interests, and enhance national security by informing and influencing foreign publics and by expanding and strengthening the relationship between the people and government of the United States and citizens of the rest of the world.”
In other words it is a leading tool for which states and peoples are brought together for positive interaction, and mutual understanding and benefit.
Yet, U.S. public diplomacy, which used to be the envy of the world, has been in steady decline since the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, and with it, the opinion of world citizens about the United States.
In other words, the very public diplomacy, which was created to help change the tide of the Cold War and prevent the spread of communism, has now eroded to a shell of its former self.
By now linking a domestic policy and political objective directly to the ability for U.S. educational institutions to lead the world in educating others, it directly undermines one of the intended purposes of public diplomacy, which is to show the best of that which the United States can offer the world. It also directly impacts the ability for U.S. culture and tourism to be used as tools to support these same public diplomacy efforts.
The foreign students who are willing to study, live and travel in the United States should be openly welcomed and encouraged to come, even with the coronavirus and the variety of classroom formats, which are forced upon educational institutions.
If not, the status of the U.S. abroad will continue to deteriorate while these young students find other countries that are more understanding, accepting and welcoming to their needs. This will, in turn, lead to a loss of future talent and the economic value of those who would make the U.S. their home.
In order to counter the decline in the value of a U.S. education abroad and the degraded image of the U.S. in the global stage, we must first stop mixing domestic politics with public diplomacy efforts.
Dr. Roland Wilson is program coordinator for the Conflict Analysis and Resolution program at George Mason University's Korea Campus.