(2006-0201-F ) Conference on Culture and Diplomacy - Department of State

The materials in FOIA 2006-0201-F are a selective, not necessarily all inclusive, body of documents responsive to the topic of the FOIA. Researchers should consult the archivist about related materials. FOIA request 2006-0201-F contains materials from several agencies and individuals, including the First Lady’s Office and Millennium Council. The White House Conference on Culture and Diplomacy, which took place on November 28, 2000, grew out of the reorganization of the United States Information Agency (USIA) in October 1999. The USIA merged with the Department of State, and many of its functions passed over to the Office of the Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. Evelyn S. Lieberman, head of this particular office, and Ellen Lovell of the Millennium Council played key roles in bringing about the White House Conference on Culture and Diplomacy. They wanted the United States to make cultural concerns a more important factor in the development of its foreign policy. The White House Office of Records Management (WHORM) Subject Categories for the White House Conference on Culture and Diplomacy contain only three records of interest. WHORM Subject File FG001 is a memo to President Clinton in which a number of recent news items are dealt with briefly, including Secretary of State Madeleine Albright’s assessment of the White House Conference on Culture and Diplomacy. WHORM Subject File MC003 is the address President Clinton delivered at this meeting. WHORM Subject File (unknown) is a request from a member of Congress that a not-for-profit organization be allowed to send a representative to the gathering on November 28, 2000. The WHORM Alpha Files contain no relevant records. The White House Staff and Office Files contain correspondence, publications, memoranda, speeches, and schedules maintained by individual staff members. The files of Raj Adlakha consist of various drafts of schedules for the day of the White House Conference on Culture and Diplomacy. Stephanie Cutter files include talking points and information sheets dealing with the four afternoon workshop sessions, which were an integral part of the seminar. Constituting the core of the textual records, the files of Ellen Lovell contain biographical materials concerning participants in the workshops, background memos, press briefings, and NSC recommendations as to who should be invited to the conference. Additional information about those receiving invitations to the meeting can be found in the files of Melanne Verveer, who was the First Lady’s Chief of Staff. Her papers contain several lists of the close to 200 invitees to the White House Conference on Culture and Diplomacy. Ministers of culture and education, members of Congress, key figures in the Clinton Administration, and celebrities such as Meryl Streep, Jack Valenti, Yo-Yo Ma, and Charlie Rose were among individuals invited to attend this heavily publicized assembly. The Automated Records Management System (ARMS) Emails provide more in the way of detail pertaining to the White House Conference on Culture and Diplomacy. There are press releases (coming mainly from the Department of State), transcripts of press briefings involving Evelyn S. Lieberman and Ellen Lovell, a transcript of the opening session of the meeting at which both the President and First Lady delivered prepared remarks, and correspondence dealing with the follow-up to the gathering. A highlight of the ARMS Emails is the back-and-forth exchange revolving around who should be invited to participate in the workshops. Particularly interesting is the debate over what course of action to pursue if an original invitee turned down an invitation from the White House. The NSC Cable, Email, and Records Management Systems supply the researcher with additional insight into the White House Conference on Culture and Diplomacy. Especially useful are the NSC Emails which contain a considerable amount of give-and-take over who would make good panelists/participants at the meeting. In the end, the NSC arrived at a recommendation list broken down by geographical areas.