21st Century Statecraft Archive

The President is in Tokyo today, and will be in China for the first half of next week.  In advance of the trip, our State Department hosted simultaneous press conferences in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou for audiences composed primarily of bloggers– a first for the U.S. in China. The attendees– a mix of English- and Chinese-language bloggers– were able to openly ask questions and comment on China’s internet restrictions, and several bloggers live-Tweeted the proceedings.

This is yet another example of the very smart 21st Century Statecraft being plied by the Clinton Department of State. Rather than limiting ourselves to interacting strictly with the governments of foreign countries, we can engage directly with people around the world. By lending credence to China’s bloggers, we help them in their effort to become a respected and efficacious voice for change in their own country. Even in cases in which our own objectives don’t quite line up with the ideals of the bloggers themselves, empowering a multitude of voices is a big step in the right direction.

We do, naturally, seem to be getting a bit of pushback from Beijing. When he stops in Shanghai next week, President Obama is hoping to hold a town hall meeting with Chinese youth in his typical free-flowing, agenda-free format.  Rumors abound that the Chinese and U.S. officials are having some trouble agreeing on the terms for the event, and it may be scuttled as a result. Fine. I, for one, would rather see the town hall ditched than see a phony compromise event in which the attendees have no freedom to speak their mind.

Speaking today in Marrakesh, Secretary Hillary Clinton announced a new initiative of the State Department, “Civil Society 2.0.” Under this program, State will provide funding and expertise to allow grassroots civil society organizations around the world use technology to grow and work more effectively.  From the press release:

“Civil Society 2.0” includes the following components:

1. Deploying a team of experienced technologists to work with civil society organizations around the globe to provide training and support to build their digital capacity. The competencies developed in the trainings will include:
   
   • How to build a website
   • How to blog
   • How to launch a text messaging campaign
   • How to build an online community
   • How to leverage social networks for a cause
2. Partnering these technologists with local civil society organizations and governments to develop and implement technology-based solutions to local problems.
3. Publishing interactive “how to” programs and curriculum online to help organizations that do not have access to in-person assistance.
4. Creating a curated open platform that allows any citizen or company to develop, share or suggest content for the curriculum.
5. Allocating $5 million in grant funds for pilot programs in the Middle East and North Africa that will bolster the new media and networking capabilities of civil society organizations and promote online learning in the region.

In the past, this kind of capacity building would have been undertaken by Western governments and NGOs. By letting foreign peoples and governments tackle their own problems, it’s much more likely that those problems will be addressed and solved in effective, locally-relevant ways. What’s more, this spread of technology will help promote American ideas, and make the U.S. a more sympathetic actor in the eyes of those around the world.

This is yet another element of the very savvy “21st Century Statecraft” that Secretary Clinton and her advisor Alec Ross are applying around the globe, and a part of the “Smart Power” approach to global leadership that the Obama Administration has embraced.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Islamabad, and yesterday she announced American support for a new mobile-phone based social network in Pakistan.  The network is called “Humari Awaz,” which means “our voice,” and it is accessible through a free SMS shortcode on all five mobile networks. Pakistanis will be able to use these networks for purely social ends, or to enhance business, media, agricultural, and other purposes. The US government will pay for the first 24 million text messages sent through Humari Awaz.

As in much of the developing world, Pakistan’s 95 million mobile subscriptions vastly outnumber landline or internet connections, so it makes a lot of sense to leverage SMS technology to tie people together.  I’d be curious to hear more about who State is partnering with on this– particularly who will be operating the back-end– and how the network will function for users.

But on a less tech-y and more geopolitical note, I’m a big fan of the State Department’s continued embrace of “21st Century Statecraft,” to advance American interests by using modern technology and encouraging its adoption around the world. Pakistan is the “most dangerous place on earth,” and also one of the places most central to American security. Leveraging social technology to help build civil society, improve the economy, and empower Pakistani citizens is a smart, focused use of our power, and initiatives like this may do more to promote American security than any direct US action against al Qaeda’s strongholds in Waziristan ever could.