kennedy recruited the famed journalist to advise him on policy and to run usia. perhaps president obama or his successor should hire an information adviser who is similarly experienceded. in the age of rt and isis online recruiting in our digital age,s it's time for our country to more engage in our marketplace of ideas. we should not delay. thank you. >> thank you, david. i see one hand. good afternoon. my name is arnold. journalist in china and you've mentioned russia, you've mentioned isis. you've mentioned middle east. afghanistan. you haven't said anything about china. i wonder if you can assess the impact of china in the so-called information war, especially with the recent discussion by president xi, of inserting the factor of sovereignty into the internet. >> well, china and the recent years, has taken the whole subject of self-power very seriously. there are you know, reportedly having a sign of a budget of over $7 billion to various kinds of projects in what we would call public diplomacy and broadcasting. yp i don't know if you've ever seen the headqua

at -- usia. perhaps president obama or his successor should hire an information adviser who similarly experienced. in the age of isis on line recruiting in our digital age is time for a country to more effectively engage in the marketplace of ideas. we should not delay. thank you. [applause] >> thank you david. we are up into your questions and comments. i see one hand. >> good afternoon. my name is arnold and i teach journalism in china. you have mentioned russia and you mentioned isis. you have mentioned it the least afghanistan. you haven't said anything about china. i'm wondering if you can assess the impact of china in the so-called information war especially with the recent discussion by president chi inserting the factor of sovereignty into the internet. >> while china in recent years has taken the whole subject of soft power very seriously. there are reportedly having assigned a budget of over seven billion dollars to various kinds of projects and what we would call public diplomacy and b

i served a tour of duty in usia. dick cheney was in eastern europe and the soviet union, and he said, i assure you that is a terrible idea because the state department doesn't have the slightest interest in the programs that are managed by the u.s. information agency, not the slightest interest. now i think davis was right. i think the state department has very little interest. here we are in the center of the american foreign service association. most of the people in that association are former or current state department officers. we have a problem right in our own tent. most of our colleagues don't give a wit -- >> what's your question? >> davis said -- i'm trying to get to the question in a little bit. davis said there's not enough money -- there's even less money than when the merger took place in, what, 1999. we need to do all of the above, but we can't do it with less money. and we can't -- it should be obvious -- one of the things he was saying, we need a different management structure. yeah, the question i

working to cater with the bbc, work with the french press, cnn, and what i would like to see is the usia doing is developinging progr-- developing programming that is relevant to unfolding events as the region sees them. put our values forward and our concerns. you said one of the greatest strengths we have is our values that we project and they are very different from china and they would be embraced more than china. >> secretary defense ash carter has been outspoken but there are so many chinese narratives and i came back looking at the south china sea and the question of does america do strategic communication well and if we have gotten out of the business of the strategic communication is part of a bigger discussion. >> remember what eisenhower did in the '5 # 0s and in the case of china he emphasized this. we have done it before. >> are you next? and then don fish. yes, sir. >> thank you. i enjoyed that. we discovered everybody pay attention to the china problem. i feel you do a disservice to the u.s. government by claiming that we are not doing a lot of the things you recommend we

manila, working with the bbc, and work with the french press, cnn, and what i would like to see is the usia doing is developing programming on a regular bases that is relevant to unfolding events as the region sees them. but our spin on the events as they unfold, put our values forward and our concerns. i mean you said earlier that one of the greatest strengths we have are our values we project. they are different from china and would be embraced more quickly. >> secretary of defense, ashton carter, has been an effective spokesperson, but there are so many narratives from china out there. the question of does america do strategic communication well or are we out of the business of strategic communeation is a legit question. >> remember what eisenhower did with esia. he used that to project an entire line. in the case of china, he emphasized blocking the move of communist behavior into the southeast asia. we have done it before but we are not focused right now. >> thank you. i enjoyed that. i discovered what we all take for granted, that everybody is paying attention to the china problem, is

morrow to advise them on information policy and run usia. perhaps president obama or his successor should hire an information advice or similarly experienced. in the age of rt, isis online recruiting in our digital age is time for a country to more effectively engage in the marketplace of ideas. we should not delay. thank you. [applause] >> thank you, david. welcoming your questions and comments. as the one hand. >> good afternoon. my name is arnold sackman and i teach journalism in china. you have mentioned isis. you have mentioned the middle east, afghanistan. you have it then anything about china. i wonder if you can assess the impact of china, the so-called information war, especially with the recent discussion by president exide and the fact there is sovereignty into the internet. >> well, china and the recent years has taken the whole subject area seriously. there are reportedly have been assigned a budget of over $7 billion to various projects in what we would call public diplomacy and broadcasting. i don't know if you've ever seen th

if you look at what the budget was when usia handed it over to the state department, it's smaller now. and that's, you know, many years later when the dollar isn't worth what it was. why is that the case? it should the nobody the case. if anythinging public diplomacy is getting more important, not less. so, i think the leadership of the state department needs to look closely at this and really should put a higher priority on it and we should have an undersecretary who stays for a while. we have one now who wants to stay and that's wonderful. there have been too much turnover in the job i think, i'll say that. yeah. >> thank you for your comments. monty mcghee, i work with the state department, but i'm not here speaking on behalf, i'm speaking for myself. i really enjoyed both of your pieces. the fp as well as the more in depth part of the piece. i wanted to go back to a point that was made earlier, but address anytime a little bit of a different way. this idea of new media versus traditional media. you focus a lot on the idea of a shrinking budget and the need to invest more. what i'm

as i say, look you with the budget was when usia candidate a department. it is smaller now and many years later when the dollar is not worth what it was. why is that the case? it should not be the case. if anything, public diplomacy is more important, not less. leadership of the state department needs to look closely and should put a higher priority and have an undersecretary who stays for a while. we have one now is seems to be ready to stay a nice wonderful. there has been too much turnover in that job. i was at that. >> thank you for your comments. montini key. i work at the state department but i am not here speaking on behalf. i'm speaking for myself. i enjoyed both of your pieces, the fp as well as the more in-depth harvard peace. i want to go back to a point made earlier addressed in a little different way the idea of new media versus traditional media. you focused a lot in your pieces that the idea of a shrinking budget and need to invest more. what i'm interested to know if given the fact that much of the next generation or much of the world the w