ate AB ea aa ee iiss go ‘of é 2 ev EE Re! Ae reeseeaeee] b. The discussion groups should be organized and encoura private auspices, with the Government confining its activitie ed under to (1) initial stimulation of private agency interest and (2) the subse- quent development of the normal public information material with a view to its suitability for use by discussion groups. Mae eo re ete ee ¢. No attempt should be made to achieve a dramatic initi tion of nationwide program; on the contrary, major emphasis should be on the gradual, solid encouragement of discussion groups, in phase with the amount of real interest it is possible to stimulate. a unities d. The discussion groups should be organized in local c primarily around nuclei of people interested in joining in sugh discussions, rather than in the local meetings of our national volugtary assoelations (the latter, however, would be excellent places in w ich to stimulate individuals to join in such discussion groups, and he cooperation of the national voluntary associations to this end should | be sought). 10. There was inaugurated in 1956 a program of group discussid ns which comes very close to meeting the specifications I have suggested ahd ve--the "Decisions -- USA" program of the Foreign Policy Association. The concept of the program is set forth in the 1956 Report to the President of the For~ eign Policy Association: it . eoccesees Hach year, with the advice of many interested citize ms a&cros the country and with the help of a committee of experts, the Fa eign Pol-~ icy Association selects six to ten of the most pressing proble 5s of Us. Se foreign policy which will demand the attention of the American [public. We then provide a wide variety of coordinated materials and servi inate public discussion of each selected issue. s to illun- Finally and mqst impor- tant, whole communities are invited to enlist the participatioy of their local newspapers, radio and television stations, schools and cijvic organizations from service clubs to youth groups, in a campaign to st widespread discussion of one selected subject each week. ......4 Samples of the coordinated materials are shown in Appendix A. > ake pst 11. In 1957, group discussions of the "Decisions -- USA" progr am were held in more than 200 communities, the number of groups in each com munity ranging from one in some cities to 152 such groups meeting concurre ntly in the City of Baltimore. le. It is my recommendation that an attempt be made to induce Policy Association to develop a body of discussion materials on o heritage, nuclear weapons effects, and non-military defense, to su materials already prepared to stimulate discussions of foreign pol itary strategy. It is my conviction that these areas are most clos that the effects of nuclear weapons require as never before in his our conduct of international affairs and the development of our fo be skillfully handled in order to protect and build on our basic n itage without resort to war. he Fore ign national iement the ign policy ional her-~