September 10

"Tagging, Tracking and Locating"

--Newfangled technologies designed to track people from long distances, without the targeted people realizing they are being tracked

“You can't use the Internet if you can't read.”

--Cyrus Farivar, “Google, HSBC and others want to bring satellite-based Internet to the developing world” (Salon)

NEW BOOK

Hans N. Tuch, Arias, Cabalettas, and Foreign Affairs‏: A Public Diplomat’s Quasi Musical Memoirs (New Academia/Vellum Books, 2008)

UPDATED READING LIST ON PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Netherlands Institute of International Relations ‘Clingendael’ Library and Documentation Centre

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Report: Asia Requires Urgent U.S. Attention - Business Wire: According to America's Role in Asia: Asian and American Views, a new published volume of foreign policy recommendations written by 20 distinguished Asian and U.S. experts, the United States would be well advised to set a good example of upholding the very values it espouses. U.S. allies in Asia are acutely aware of America’s poor image among their own publics and want the next administration’s foreign policy to pay special attention to public diplomacy. Both Americans and Asians will benefit if the political, intellectual, and cultural bridges are strengthened.

Why cultural diplomacy remains so important - Harmony Beat; News about Cultures in Harmony, published by its director, William Harvey: The copious public diplomacy efforts of the U.S. government and numerous cultural diplomacy organizations have been nowhere close to sufficient. On a grand scale, the project of ameliorating the American image over the past seven years has been a failure. What will be needed is public diplomacy at a scale previously unimagined. We need to send Americans to the Middle East to listen, not just to talk. We need to send Americans to the Middle East to learn, just to teach. When Cultures in Harmony launches projects, it conceives of them as fully equal exchanges.

Paranoid Conspiracy Theories - Leo Americanus: “[H]ow can U.S. public diplomacy ever succeed in winning hearts and minds? I don't think that it can, because those who will believe our public diplomacy are already convinced. Those that aren't convinced will never believe a word out of our mouths. The only way we can change perceptions is through a long term demonstration of results, not words, and, more importantly, the spread of more moderate perceptions from those in the [Middle East] region who can see both sides to those who cannot. Really, the hearts and minds can only be won from within the region, not through U.S. public diplomacy.”

Creating The Neoliberal Consensus - Patrick Vessey, UK Libertarian Party, The unofficial blog of the UK Libertarian Party: “Working alongside democracy promotion is ‘media assistance,’ or ‘development communications.’ According to a recent USAID policy document -- just about the most explicit material you’re going to get on the subject -- ‘A global analysis of USAID media programmes indicates that independent media assistance has contributed to the achievement of many foreign policy goals. It often, though not always, produced the same results that public diplomacy sought to achieve.’”

Senator Obama's Civilian National Security Force – papabear, The New Beginning: Obama will set up an America's Voice Initiative to send Americans who are fluent speakers of local languages to expand our public diplomacy. He also will extend opportunities for older individuals such as teachers, engineers, and doctors to serve overseas.

“Oh… My… God… I’m a Diplomat” – Smaug, Cave! Hic Dragones: “Fran Drescher was named a public diplomacy envoy by the US State Dept. A joke should write itself. (Actually, when she was on Favreau’s 'Dinner for Five' she was quite charming).”

Do a Great Thing for Your Country – Host an Exchange Student – iContactCommunity: EF Foundation students are between 15 and 18 years old, and arrive with health insurance and their own spending money. EF Foundation for Foreign Study is a nonprofit organization with thousands of volunteers across the country that brings high school students from all over the world to live and study for a year in the United States. Karen Hughes, former Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, named international exchanges as one of the four strategic pillars needed to strengthen America’s ties with foreign nations.

Awakening Moment - Irene Eng, The Kibbitzer: Former Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Karen Hughes’ blunder on her first maiden voyage to the Middle East was a telling indicator just how much the Americans understand the world. When Hughes expressed hope that one day “[Saudi] women will be able to fully participate in society,” the audience, 500 women all clad in black from head to foot, was bewildered.

‘Basketball’s more than a game’ - John Nchimbi, Daily News: “Olympic gold medallist Jennifer Azzi who is among the US basketball envoys who started a three day clinic in Dar es Salaam yesterday, has said basketball is more than simply being a great athlete seen on court. … The US Public Diplomacy Officer Karen Grissette said the programme is a reflection of the deep friendship between the people of Tanzania and America. 'It is a friendship that goes beyond policy and truly unites Tanzanians and Americans -- our love of Sports,' said Karen.”

Thornbill on goodwill mission to Nagaland – The Morung Express: “On a goodwill mission to meet and interact with representatives from different sections of society, visiting Deputy Public Affairs Officer at the US Embassy in New Delhi, Elizabeth Thornbill expressed her keen desire to return to Nagaland saying that she felt ‘welcomed and at home among the Nagas’. … Coming across as a strong votary of dialogue and public diplomacy, Thornbill spoke on the need to communicate with citizens in other societies and to take a common approach to solving problems whether it is global warming, violence, HIV/AIDS, trafficking and all. … [S]he informed that an agreement was signed recently between the US Government and the Government of India for financing educational exchange programs known as the US-India Educational Foundation, awarding ‘Fulbright-Jawaharlal Nehru Scholarships and Grants.’”

Some Reflections on Naga Ceasefire - U A Shimray, Mainstream: The remote North-Eastern region [NER] has also been affected by the wave of “globalisation.” The wave is in the form of market and resource extraction. Recently, the Government of India has proposed dozens of dams in Arunachal and Sikkim, uranium mining in Meghalaya and Special Economic Zones in Nagaland. India’s newly created Public Diplomacy Division [PDD] in the Ministry of External Affairs [MEA] is keen enough to learn about the North-East.

Commentary: Canada’s ‘bird poo politics’ – The Zimbawe Guardian: Western public diplomacy on the crisis in Zimbabwe and the Sadc region has been abysmal, filled with gesture politics that does very little for progress and improvement of the lives of millions of Zimbabweans.

US diplomat to negotiate for UN in Western Sahara - Martin Barillas, Spero News: US diplomat Christopher W. S. Ross is apparently the new United Nations Secretary General’s personal envoy for the Western Sahara. Ross has served as US ambassador to Algeria and Syria and was US State Department Senior Adviser for Arab World Public Diplomacy.

Was ist das? No DW TV In Germany? - Nana Agyeman Birikorang, G-News: “Was ist das? (What’s that?) No DW TV in Germany?...That was my initial expression in Deutsch when I heard that it is almost impossible to receive the transmission of Deutsche Welle Television (DW TV) the German external broadcaster in Germany. I was shocked to the bone. … As if the Seminar Moderator Friederike Boge knew what was going through my mind during the lecture in the sense that we were divided into four groups and fortunately unfortunately my group was given a topic on 'Public Diplomacy and the Transformation of International Broadcasting' and I was chosen by the group to do the presentation.”

APDS - Paul Rockower, Levantine: “We had the first meeting of the Association of Public Diplomacy Scholars (APDS), the student group that represents Pub D students. I am running for class representative. I gave a little ad hoc presentation on my candidacy. … Apparently, the class decided differently, and elected someone else. … Otherwise, was out the other night on a blind date with a rabbi. Reminds me of the riddle about the doctor not being able to operate on ‘my son,’ the punchline being that the doctor is a woman.”

RELATED ITEMS

BBC Poll: In 22 Nations, Obama preferred over McCain – Melinda Brouwer, Public Diplomacy and the 2008 U.S. Presidential Elections

'Transatlantic Trends' Survey 2008: Europeans Back Obama but Not Necessarily His Policies - Gregor Peter Schmitz, Spiegel: According to a major survey, Europeans want the Democrats to win back the White House this year. But Barack Obama's positions on Iran's nuclear program and Afghanistan are not widely supported in Europe, and the huge European interest in the election may not translate into closer trans-Atlantic ties.

The Foreign Policy Difference: Obama offers a sharp break with the postwar consensus on American exceptionalism - Fouad Ajami, The Wall Street Journal: Mr. Obama truly believes that he can offer the world beyond America's shores his biography, his sympathies with strangers. In the great debate over anti-Americanism and its sources, the two candidates couldn't be more different. Mr. Obama proceeds from the notion of American guilt: We called up the furies, he believes. Our war on terror and our war in Iraq triggered more animus. He proposes to repair for that, and offers himself (again, the biography) as a bridge to the world.

The 20 questions we would ask Sarah Palin - Rebecca Frankel, Foreign Policy Passport

Obama, Mccain And Al Qaeda : On Election Day, remember 9/11 - Jeffrey Goldberg, International Herald Tribune: The next president must do one thing, and one thing only, if he is to be judged a success: He must prevent Al Qaeda, or a Qaeda imitator, from gaining control of a nuclear device and detonating it in America. Everything else -- Fannie Mae, health care reform, energy independence, the budget shortfall in Wasilla, Alaska -- is commentary.

Seven years on, three big 9/11 lies - Muhammad Cohen, Asia Times: After enjoying virtually the entire world's goodwill after 9/11, polls showed America's standing in the world plummeted after the Iraq invasion. Favorable ratings are only recovering now because the Bush administration is approaching its end. It's impossible to calculate the impact of that tide of anti-Americanism in areas from the value of the US dollar to the potential Einsteins and their parents who have decided against moving to Bush's America.

US, Iran, and the Axis of Friendship - Rita Nakashima Brock and Amir Soltani, Boston Globe: Americans have an opportunity to reignite the remaining embers of the international goodwill of Sept. 12, 2001. War between Iran and the United States is not inevitable; it would be stupid, senseless, tragic, and expensive.

Worshiping the Indispensable Nation - Andrew Bacevich, TomDispatch: The United States will not change the world's political map in the ways top administration officials once dreamed of. There will be no earthquake that shakes up the Middle East -- unless the growing clout of Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas in recent years qualifies as that earthquake.

America's Unwelcome Advances: The Pentagon's foreign overtures are running into a world of public opposition - Chalmers Johnson, Mother Jones: The United States now seems to be the last of a dying species -- the sole remaining multinational empire. The pressures of America's massive indebtedness, the growing contradiction between the needs of its civilian economy and its military-industrial complex, and its dependence on a volunteer army and innumerable private contractors strongly indicate an empire built on fragile foundations.

Kremlin's PR Machine Falling on Deaf Ears - Vladimir Frolov, Moscow Times: A serious communications breakdown between Russia and the West over the Georgian crisis has escalated into an unwillingness to speak to each other in normal diplomatic terms. Russia and the West are simply shouting past each other.

Dividing Line: War in the Caucasus Propaganda 2.0 - Matthias Kolb, Süddeutsche Zeitung: The fight for the right of interpretation between Russia and Georgia has broken into a full-fledged battle. It is taking place parallel to the fights on all channels -- on television, in newspapers and especially in the Internet.

Kitsch Trumps Baroque: Koons' Versailles Show Ruffles Feathers in France – Spiegel: The pomp and splendor of Versailles is about to be invaded by pop art as a major retrospective on US artist Jeff Koons opens Wednesday. The decision to display the 17 works of kitsch in the former royal palace has upset quite a few French conservatives.

Facebook unveils new look with a new approach – AP, USA TODAY: The popular online hangout Facebook is forcing users to adapt to a redesigned website -- whether they like the new look or not -- starting today.

State Department Staffer Responds to Condi's "Not Enough Blacks at the State Department" Bullshit - Princess Sparkle Pony's Photo Blog: I keep track of Condoleezza's hairdo so you don't have to.

World War II Posters: Don't talk about ship movement or cargo (Part 2)

AMERICANA

Snowbilly Strip Malls: Take a Tour of Beautiful Wasilla, Alaska! - Wonkette

The Americans secessionist streak: In a recent poll, one in five agreed that states have the right to peacefully secede from the Union - Christopher Ketcham, Los Angeles Times