Reality Check
Laura Rozen found an interesting essay in her post, State, unplugged, by Price Floyd, recently retired director of media affairs at the State Department.
Speaking of the difficultly of his job, trying to put the best face on US foreign policy, Mr. Floyd notes:
We have eroded not only the good will of the post-9-11 days but also any residual appreciation from the countries we supported during the Cold War. This is due to several actions taken by the Bush administration, including pulling out of the Kyoto Protocol (environment), refusing to take part in the International Criminal Court (rule of law), and pulling out of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (arms control). The prisoner abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib and the continuing controversy over the detainees in Guantanamo also sullied the image of America.
His basic point is that people aren’t going to listen to what we say when they see what we do.
