First, the undersecretary of state does not control the half of the traditional public diplomacy budget that goes for broadcasting (it is under an independent board) or the Pentagon's huge information effort in Iraq and elsewhere.

Second, "public diplomacy" is not a panacea. Misinformation is widespread in this world of 24/7 global chatter, and public diplomacy can help bring facts and reasoning into the ongoing discussion. But it alone cannot remake America's image abroad - an image that is formed primarily by our policies and actions.

Third, public diplomacy has not recovered from a decade of neglect when we won the Cold War and Washington decided it was no longer necessary. Budgets, programs and personnel levels at the U.S. Information Agency declined sharply, as Americans assumed that public diplomacy was no longer needed because we were the sole superpower and could do what we wanted....

While President Bush was using massive military force in Afghanistan and then in Iraq, others were looking for alternative ways to defend American interests and respond to terrorism. Professor Joseph Nye of Harvard coined the term "soft power." He argued that besides military and economic superiority, we should pay attention to our behavior in places such as Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib that undermine our standing and the willingness of others to support our interests, and that we also need cultural and information programs to explain ourselves....

The fourth reason criticism of Ms. Hughes is unfair is that there are no quick fixes. Public diplomacy includes long-term instruments such as education as well as explanations of policy, and she has taken important steps that will bear fruit in the long run....

Finally, when post-9/11 visa security measures caused a sharp decline in visas for foreign students, threatening our exchange programs, State Department officials worked to reverse the decline. Last year, more students came here - fully screened and investigated - than before 9/11....

The full text is available online on the Baltimore Sun Web site.