by Dell Pendergrast.

The article discusses the changes in organizational culture of the U.S. Department of State made necessary with the incorporation of the USIA (United States Information Agency) into the overall structure of the Department.
“USIA adapted more rapidly to the changing contours of the new global environment”, suggests the author, whereas “the State Department, absorbed in the conventional business of government-to-government relations, lagged behind. The merger of the two agencies provokes a serious concern about USIA's more open, technologically advanced, publicly-oriented style of diplomacy disappearing inside a larger, dominant culture less hospitable to organizational innovation”. “The State Department organizational culture must change and restructure itself not only to absorb new colleagues from USIA, but also to meet the challenges of conducting foreign policy in the next century” — concludes the author.

Source: FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL, March 2000

Contributed by Andrei Mikheyev

The Report of the Overseas Presence Advisory Panel, U.S. Department of State. November 1999

Along with other suggestions on improving the work of the US Foreign Service, this report emphasizes that "the United States can better ensure the future success of its overseas presence by fostering an organizational culture that values knowledge—its development, sharing, and storage." In particular, with the proliferation of new information technologies, "the new role of information will entail a transition from what has been called the “cable culture” of the past to a more open digital culture".

Source: Postgraduate Diploma in Diplomacy reading materials 

Contributed by Andrei Mikheyev

Report of an Independent Task Force Cosponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations and the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Frank C. Carlucci, Chair, Ian J. Brzezinski, Project Coordinator

"The department’s professional culture is predisposed against public outreach and engagement, thus undercutting its effectiveness at public diplomacy and undermining its coordination not only with Congress, but also with other agencies of the U.S. government," - asserts the report

"The Department of State is impaired by a professional culture that emphasizes confidentiality over public diplomacy and public affairs.The department’s professional culture remains predisposed to “information policing” rather than “information providing.” (...)

Revamping the department’s culture, procedures, and infrastructure is critical to ensure that it not only can execute effectively U.S. foreign policy, but also that it can contribute effectively to the development of U.S. national security policy."

The report names "[t]ransform[ing] the Department of State’s culture into one of openness and public outreach" among the top priorities for the reform process. "If the department is going to operate effectively in the information age, it will have to adopt a culture of greater openness and direct greater energy toward public outreach and engagement" - argue its authors

Source: Postgraduate Diploma in Diplomacy reading materials

Contributed by Andrei Mikheyev

A Report of the Center for Strategic and International Studies Advisory Panel on Diplomacy in the Information Age

Reinventing Diplomacy is the product of a blue-ribbon panel under the direction of a former administrator of the now-defunct United States Information Agency, Barry Fulton. The panel’s report recommending drastic reforms in the culture, management, priorities, and information and communications technologies at the State Department. "Reinventing Diplomacy offers six strategies to turn around the antiquated practices of the foreign affairs department. Among other things, it calls for an end to the culture of secrecy and exclusivity that shrouds diplomatic practice, by placing greater emphasis on public awareness and opinion and on broader participation and networking, while balancing the requirements of security and openness".

Source: Center for Strategic and International Studies website

Edited by Evan H. Potter

The authors in Cyber-Diplomacy look at the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) as a case study of a foreign ministry that has had to make considerable adjustments in recent years - in the management of its CIT infrastructure; in the impact of communications and information technologies on its diplomatic culture, and in the use of communications technology to promote its public diplomacy. Mass communications and advances in communications technology pose fundamental challenges to the traditional conduct of diplomacy by reducing hierarchy, promoting transparency, crowding out secrecy, mobilizing global social movements, and increasing the importance of public diplomacy in international relations. But the primary source of change, the force that acts as a common denominator and accelerates other changes, is communications and information technology (CIT).

Source: McGill-Queen's University Press website:

Contributed by Andrei Mikheyev