Foreign Countries and U.S. Public Relations Firms: The Case of Three Persian Gulf States

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to learn how many foreign countries are using U.S. public relations firms to influence U.S. policy makers and to support their own causes. It is estimated that foreign countries spend more than $150 million every year on U.S. public relations firms. These public relations campaigns were designed to achieve differing political, economic, social and educational goals in the United States. Using American government data, this study will concentrate on three Persian Gulf States, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Kuwait, who are among the leading countries that have been spending millions of dollars on U.S. public relations campaigns. Saudi Arabia is a pioneering country in this field, especially active since the early 1970s. After the September 11, 2001, bombing of World Trade Center, Saudi Arabia was criticized by the U.S. Congress for hosting and supporting terrorist organizations. After the Bank of Commerce and Credit International (BCCI) scandal, in which the UAE was a major shareholder in the bank, UAE hired several U.S. public relations, lobbying, and law firms to overcome this problem. Kuwait noticed the importance of public relations and, following the invasion of their country by Iraq in 1990, turned to Hill & Knowlton (H&K) for support. The government of Kuwait in exile, using a front group called the Citizens for a Free Kuwait (CFFK), spent more than $11 million on a successful propaganda campaign to get the United States government to intervene. As a result of these successful campaigns, when there are political crises between the U.S. government and Arab Gulf States, public relations (PR) spending on behalf of these countries rises.

KEYWORDS:

• Arabs
• Bank of Commerce and Credit International (BCCI)
• Citizens for a Free Kuwait (CFFK)
• Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA)
• front groups
• Hill & Knowlton (H&K)
• Kuwait
• lobbying
• lobbyists
• Persian Gulf States
• propaganda
• public relations (PR)
• Saudi Arabia
• United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Acknowledgments

Yasin Al-Yasin (PhD, Wayne State University) is a faculty member, Department of Mass Communication, Kuwait University, P.O. Box 527, Salmiyah 22006, State of Kuwait.