lily
10-31-2007, 08:46 PM
Bye-bye (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/31/AR2007103100788.html?hpid=topnews)
Bush Adviser Hughes Leaving State Department
By William Branigin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 31, 2007; 4:14 PM
Karen P. Hughes, a longtime confidante of President Bush and one of the last
remaining members of his Texan inner circle, announced her resignation today
as the State Department's public diplomacy chief.
Hughes, 50, informed her staff today that she is leaving by the end of the
year, concluding a two-year tenure that has failed to reverse a decline in
U.S. popularity abroad under the Bush administration. She said she plans to
return to Texas.
The Republican media specialist, a former television reporter,
was tapped by
Bush in March 2005 to become undersecretary of state for public diplomacy
with the rank of ambassador, taking on the tough job of changing unfavorable
perceptions of the United States around the globe, particularly in the Arab
world. She was confirmed by the Senate in July 2005 and took office two
months later.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Hughes described her task as "a
long-term challenge" that will continue after she leaves office. "This will
take a number of years," she said.
In her effort to improve the U.S. image abroad, Hughes traveled extensively,
set up three "rapid-response units" overseas to handle public relations in
reaction to news events and made more U.S. Arabic speakers available for
interviews with news media in the Arab world. The State Department's public
diplomacy budget was nearly doubled during her tenure, reaching nearly $900
million a year.
In one of her latest initiatives, Hughes appointed baseball Hall of Famer
Cal Ripken Jr. as an "American public diplomacy envoy" and dispatched him to
China as part of what the State Department called an effort to "promote
cross-cultural dialogue with international youth to increase understanding
of America."
Hughes's efforts, however, have not been enough to overcome the unpopularity
of the war in Iraq and negative views of Bush in many parts of the world.
According to the Pew Global Attitudes Project, a survey conducted by the Pew
Research Center, a "global slide" in public perceptions of the United States
has persisted in recent years, marked in some places by anti-Americanism
that is difficult to change.
For example, the project reported in March, "favorable attitudes toward the
U.S. declined in Germany, from 78 percent in 2000 to 37 percent currently,"
with similar numbers in France and worse ones in Spain, where only 23
percent of respondents had a favorable view of the United States.
In Turkey, a NATO ally, only 12 percent held a favorable view of America,
the Pew center said, citing its latest poll. "Most people in these countries
held positive views of the U.S. at the start of the decade," it said.
In all five predominantly Muslim countries included in its most recent
study, fewer than one-third of those surveyed had a favorable view of the
United States, the Pew center reported.
Hughes told the Associated Press that the war in Iraq was usually the second
issue that Muslims and Arabs raised with her, after the long-running
Israeli-Palestinian conflict. She said she advised Bush and Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice two years ago that U.S. help in ending that conflict
would probably do more than anything else to improve America's standing
worldwide, the AP reported.
In a joint appearance with Rice at the State Department this morning, Hughes
said she plans to leave office in mid-December and return to "private life"
in Austin, where her husband has remained.
Bush Adviser Hughes Leaving State Department
By William Branigin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 31, 2007; 4:14 PM
Karen P. Hughes, a longtime confidante of President Bush and one of the last
remaining members of his Texan inner circle, announced her resignation today
as the State Department's public diplomacy chief.
Hughes, 50, informed her staff today that she is leaving by the end of the
year, concluding a two-year tenure that has failed to reverse a decline in
U.S. popularity abroad under the Bush administration. She said she plans to
return to Texas.
The Republican media specialist, a former television reporter,
was tapped by
Bush in March 2005 to become undersecretary of state for public diplomacy
with the rank of ambassador, taking on the tough job of changing unfavorable
perceptions of the United States around the globe, particularly in the Arab
world. She was confirmed by the Senate in July 2005 and took office two
months later.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Hughes described her task as "a
long-term challenge" that will continue after she leaves office. "This will
take a number of years," she said.
In her effort to improve the U.S. image abroad, Hughes traveled extensively,
set up three "rapid-response units" overseas to handle public relations in
reaction to news events and made more U.S. Arabic speakers available for
interviews with news media in the Arab world. The State Department's public
diplomacy budget was nearly doubled during her tenure, reaching nearly $900
million a year.
In one of her latest initiatives, Hughes appointed baseball Hall of Famer
Cal Ripken Jr. as an "American public diplomacy envoy" and dispatched him to
China as part of what the State Department called an effort to "promote
cross-cultural dialogue with international youth to increase understanding
of America."
Hughes's efforts, however, have not been enough to overcome the unpopularity
of the war in Iraq and negative views of Bush in many parts of the world.
According to the Pew Global Attitudes Project, a survey conducted by the Pew
Research Center, a "global slide" in public perceptions of the United States
has persisted in recent years, marked in some places by anti-Americanism
that is difficult to change.
For example, the project reported in March, "favorable attitudes toward the
U.S. declined in Germany, from 78 percent in 2000 to 37 percent currently,"
with similar numbers in France and worse ones in Spain, where only 23
percent of respondents had a favorable view of the United States.
In Turkey, a NATO ally, only 12 percent held a favorable view of America,
the Pew center said, citing its latest poll. "Most people in these countries
held positive views of the U.S. at the start of the decade," it said.
In all five predominantly Muslim countries included in its most recent
study, fewer than one-third of those surveyed had a favorable view of the
United States, the Pew center reported.
Hughes told the Associated Press that the war in Iraq was usually the second
issue that Muslims and Arabs raised with her, after the long-running
Israeli-Palestinian conflict. She said she advised Bush and Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice two years ago that U.S. help in ending that conflict
would probably do more than anything else to improve America's standing
worldwide, the AP reported.
In a joint appearance with Rice at the State Department this morning, Hughes
said she plans to leave office in mid-December and return to "private life"
in Austin, where her husband has remained.