The Brookings Institution held a discussion in which in unveiled “Voices of America: U.S. Public Diplomacy for the 21st Century,” a plan to improve U.S. public diplomacy.
“Power is diffusing into a larger and more diverse group of nations, non-governmental organizations and multinational corporations than ever before,” said Kristin Lord, a fellow at Brookings and author of “Voices for America.”
Lord called for the creation of a non-profit organization called U.S.A.-World Trust which would “conduct and commission research and analysis…and convey it in a form useful to public diplomacy practitioners.” It would also “tap the vast potential of the private sector…to engage companies, non-governmental organizations, universities, think tanks and others to work on innovative new initiatives” and “provide grants and venture capital to endeavors that advance the nation’s public diplomacy objectives.”
“The goal in all the instances would be to attract new talent and new voices to the challenge of improving U.S. public diplomacy,” said Lord.
The panelists agreed that one of the most important things the U.S. should do is listen to public opinions in foreign countries. “Listening conveys respect, and a lot of people in the Muslim world feel that we don’t respect them,” said Martin Indyk, Senior fellow at Brookings and Director of the Saban Center for Middle East Policy. “The consequence of listening is that you have to show that you’re going to change something about what you do as a result of listening. Otherwise, people get the sense you aren’t listening at all even though you say you are.”

Liz Hancock, U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) Public Health Advocate, says that 80,000 children under the age of five were treated in emergency rooms for toy related injuries in 2007 (0:32).

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Liz Hancock, U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) Public Health Advocate, says that although Congress passed legislation to stop the sale of toys containing toxic phthalates by February 10th, 2009, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) published a legal opinion informing manufacturers that they will be allowed to sell these products until their inventory run out (0:20).

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Ambassador Richard H. Jones, Deputy Executive Director of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) sub-group the international Energy Agency, said the recent economic crisis could lead to a premature supply crunch in energy.
Speaking at an OECD discussion on “Energy Projections to 2030″, Jones said that this, among other findings, signals that the era of low energy prices is over.
Jones said that there is still a chance for energy and climate concerns to be addressed, citing the COP-15 United Nations Climate Change Conference set to be held in Copenhagen from November 30th to December 11th, 2009.
According to Jones, if a solution is not found it “wont be for a lack of resources or technology, but a lack of leadership.”

Martin Indyk, Senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and Director of the Saban Center for Middle East Policy speaks about the importance of public opinion in Middle Eastern countries. (1:14)

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Martin Indyk, Senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and Director of the Saban Center for Middle East Policy speaks about America’s image in the eyes of the Middle East public. (0:40)

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Carl Schmid, Director of Federal Affairs at the AIDS Institute, discusses the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the U.S. and what groups have been most affected by the virus. (0:38)

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Carl Schmid, Director of Federal Affairs at the AIDS Institute, stated that over 1.1 million people in the U.S. are currently living with the HIV/AIDS virus. He also remarked that 56,000 new people are found to be infected every year. He added that African Americans and homosexual males are affected at a disproportionately high percentage.
Rebecca Haag, Executive Director of the AIDS Action Council, called it “shameful” that Washington D.C. has higher AIDS rates than some Sub-Saharan African countries.
Haag said it is vital for the U.S. government to “develop a national AIDS strategy.” Haag was surprised that a strategy hasn’t already been formed 25 years into the epidemic.
Haag advocated better sex education. She said that there is no evidence that abstinence-only education has any impact on preventing sexually transmitted diseases.
Christine Lubinski, Executive Director of the HIV Medicine Association, claimed that health care reform is very important to the fight against AIDS. She mentioned that if the health care system works for those with HIV/AIDS, “it will work for everybody.”

As the holiday season rapidly approaches, the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) warns that due to recent decisions by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), toys that parent’s purchase this Christmas may be less than safe.
Following a wave of recalls in 2007, Congress passed legislation that gave CPSC more resources to ensure product safety. However, while the legislation stated that companies would have to cease selling toys containing toxic phthalates by February 10th, 2009, the CPSC published a legal opinion informing manufacturers that they will be allowed to sell these products until their inventory run out.
“Unfortunately, while the product safety bill is a major step forward, many of it’s protections are still not fully in effect, so it’s still buyer beware this year…Congress gave America’s children the gift of safer toys and the CPSC is taking them away,” said U.S. PIRG Public Health Advocate Liz Hitchcock during a news conference for the release of PIRG’s 23rd annual toy safety survey.
In the absence of CPSC protection, PIRG suggested that parents could evade health risks this holiday season by avoiding toys that are made of soft plastics and children’s jewelry that is made out of metal since each run the risk of containing toxics or lead.
While Hitchcock did not answer how many of the toys that made this year’s list were manufactured in China, Consumer Program Director Edmund Mierzwinksi mentioned that 80% of toys sold in the U.S. are imported from China. While a rise in imports would naturally warrant further safety inspections, Mierzwinski contends that increased inspection have not kept pace with the rising amount of imports.
“There haven’t been enough guards at the gate,” said Mierzwinski.

President elect Obama announced his nominees for the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and discussed a plan to cut wasteful government spending.
Peter Orzag, director of the Congressional Budget office, will serve as the new OMB director and Robert Nabors, 13th Clerk and Staff Director of the House Appropriations Committee, will serve as OMB deputy director.
Following the President-elect’s statement yesterday that his economic team would craft a stimulus package aimed at creating jobs and rebuilding the national infrastructure, Obama announced that in order to pursue these investments, the U.S. will need to cut wasteful spending.
“When we are facing both rising deficits and a sinking economy, budget reform is not an option. It is an imperative. We cannot sustain a system that bleeds billions of taxpayer dollars on programs that have outlived their usefulness, or exist solely because of the power of a politician, lobbyist, or interest group. We simply cannot afford it,” said Obama during a press conference held at the Chicago Hilton Hotel.
“This isn’t about big government or small government. It’s about building a smarter government that focuses on what works. ”
The President-elect also said that the responsibility for shaping a more effective budget will fall with the OMB, and that Orzag’s prior experience is ideal for this task.
“Peter doesn’t need a map to tell him where the bodies are buried in the federal budget. He knows what works and what doesn’t, what is worthy of our precious tax dollars and what is not,” said Obama.