September 20

“Is that a mobile in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?”

--Headline in highwayAfrica

“I have my coffee, and sit, and I watch Oprah. It's my favorite time of day."

Wafa Mohamed, 38, a mother of five from Riyadh

VIDEOS

Tony Blair takes the jokes as TV host Jon Stewart mocks his stance on Bush and the war in Iraq - Times (London)

Blair Shows His Charmingly Imperialist Side - Truthdig

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

State's Trolls 'Push Back' Against Anti-U.S. Bloggers - David Axe, Wired: State employs eight professional Internet "trolls" whose job it is to log onto blogs in unfriendly countries and "push back" against what Glassman says is misinformation about the U.S. … One target of Glassman's trolls is Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's personal blog. "We ... think that our guy made some very telling points," Glassman said.

State Department Digital Debaters = Trolls? - Steven R. Corman, COMOPS Journal: “Writing today in Danger Room, David Axe called members of the State Department’s Digital Outreach Team (DOT) 'trolls' … . Is it reasonable to label the DOT members as 'trolls'? Methinks not. My personal experience with trolls is that they try to completely disrupt an online discussion group, to prevent it from carrying on as usual. They mainly do this by being e-jerks, baiting people into emotional, off topic reactions and flaming. Sometimes they hack boards to delete or change posts, or impersonate other members. Above all, they do all they can to prevent anyone from finding out who they are or where they come from, so there is no chance of retaliation by aggrieved parties.”

Public Diplomacy: Danger Of Protesting Too Much - Avuncular American: An expatriate view of America and the world from Europe by former diplomat Gerald Loftus: “In a very laudable initiative, the US State Department's Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy James Glassman engaged with bloggers the other day (I was invited, but the conference call machinery didn't succeed in reaching me in Brussels). Glassman … gets points for attempting a mighty hard task: convincing the world, despite much evidence to the contrary, that America wants to listen.”

Bloggers’ Tele-Conference with Glassman: Blogging Diplomacy with Iran – Alex Belida, VOA News Blog: The VOA News Blog was invited to take part as were several prominent bloggers who routinely write about public diplomacy and strategic communications issues. Much of the session focused on Iran and included a discussion of a recent online exchange between a member of the State Department’s Digital Outreach Team and a senior Iranian official.

Open-Thread is still open, and what about USIA 2.0, USAID, and more – MountainRunner: “I find it interesting that while there’s a fair amount of talk about a USIA 2.0, or as I call it, the Department of Non-State (details forthcoming), nobody’s suggested a person to lead it. Perhaps they’re assuming the entire PD apparatus will be ripped from State, leaving DOS absolutely no effective means of international engagement? Will the same disruption happen at DOD or will they continue to own direct engagement? And if separating PD and PD-like functions from State is intended to create a more independent, arms-length from policy apparatus, then what about the tactical requirements that the arms-length Dept of Non-State can’t and won’t fulfill?”

Guinea: United States, Country Enjoy Robust Relationship On Central Issues - AllAfrica.com, Washington: Phillip Carter III, the former U.S. ambassador to Guinea, said the United States is working to use public diplomacy resources and help from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the international donor community to support the effort that everything is done to ensure the upcoming parliamentary elections in Guinea are "the most transparent, the most democratic" elections possible.

Fire as a Tool of Terror - Theterrorwonk: Fire Diplomacy: The potential vulnerability in the less developed countries to arson should be addressed, first because it is a humanitarian issue, but also because it is an important opportunity for public diplomacy. Firemen worldwide quickly find common ground based on the essentials of their profession. Consequently, fire safety, prevention, and mitigation are potentially fruitful realms for positive, non-political, international engagement.

U.S. Declining Interest in Sri Lanka an Opportunity to Charter an Independent Path under Rajapaksa Presidency - Daya Gamage, Asian Tribune: "Sri Lanka is in the process of painfully and slowly comprehending that the United States does not consider Tamil Tigers in any way connected to the ‘Global War on Terrorism’ despite the Sri Lankan separatist/terrorists operate internationally to procure arms, lethal weapons and technological know how, heavily lobby policymakers of western nations using very effective public diplomacy tool and the use of front organizations manned by LTTE professional acolytes in Western Capitals."

Jamie Ferrell '08 Awarded Surprise Fulbright Teaching Assistantship to Chile - Rockbridge Weekly, VA: Washington and Lee '08 graduate Jamie Ferrell feels that Fulbright assistantship "allows me to serve as sort of a U.S. cultural ambassador to Chile while also being able to immerse myself in Chilean life and culture. This opportunity will serve me well in my future career - I just found out that I passed my foreign service exam, so I plan to enter the Foreign Service as a public diplomacy officer with the U.S. State Department after I get back from Chile."

Bryan Frost, 23, remembered as free spirit: Friends said they'll remember Idaho native for his happiness, bravery and enthusiasm - Alexander Comisar and Catherine Lyons, Daily Trojan: Bryan Richard Frost, a student in the USC School of Cinematic Arts, died early Thursday morning from stab wounds after a fight several blocks north of campus. He was 23. "He always knew he was the type of guy that was going to do something important," said Peter Winter, a first-year graduate student studying public diplomacy.

Last Train to Texas: The Bushies are back in town - Anthony Zurcher, Texas Observer: Last month, Karen Hughes was named global vice chairwoman of Burson-Marsteller, a public relations firm run by Democratic campaign strategist Mark Penn. Her new clients will presumably expect a greater level of success than Hughes achieved in her previous job, “commuting” to Washington and abroad from her home in Austin as the State Department’s undersecretary of public diplomacy in charge of improving America’s image in the Middle East.

The Zionists Who Dictate White House Policy - Greg Bacon, Goon Squad: In January 2008, Paul Wolfowitz replaced Fred Thompson as chair of the U.S. State Department’s International Security Advisory Board (ISAB), which is tasked with providing State “with independent insight and advice on all aspects of arms control, disarmament, international security, and related aspects of public diplomacy.”

RELATED ITEMS

U.S. criticizes Asian governments' record on religion - AP, USA TODAY: Both China and Myanmar have been classified among "Countries of Particular Concern" since the first State Department religious freedom report came out in 1999. North Korea was added to that category in 2001. The Asian states were among 198 countries and territories included in the 10th annual report.

Indian propaganda against Pakistan & Iran - Jawayria Malik, Pakistan Observer, Pakistan: India is feeding a range of "tailored intelligence" into U.S. system which shapes US political and intelligence perceptions of the situation, encouraging the belief that Pakistan is the problem in resolving the conflict in Afghanistan and now Iran is becoming party to it.

A Modernized Taliban Thrives in Afghanistan: Militia Operates a Parallel Government - Pamela Constable, Washington Post: The new Taliban movement operates Web sites and a 24-hour propaganda apparatus that spins every military incident faster than Afghan and Western officials can manage. The Taliban's revival has been fueled by fast-growing popular dissatisfaction with Karzai's government, which has failed to bring services and security to much of the country. Deepening public resentment against civilian deaths caused by U.S. and NATO alliance airstrikes is another factor.

All Counterinsurgency Is Local - Thomas H. Johnson and M. Chris Mason, Atlantic: The U.S. engagement in Afghanistan is foundering because of the endemic failure to engage and protect rural villages, and to immunize them against insurgency. Local teams with on-site development personnel -- “District Development Teams,” if you will -- could serve to support nonmilitary development projects. State Department and USAID personnel, along with medics, veterinarians, engineers, agricultural experts, hydrologists, and so on, could live on the local compounds and work in their districts daily, building trust and confidence.

Worry About bin Laden, Not the Taliban – Ivan Leland, Antiwar.com: To deflate the Taliban ascendancy in Afghanistan and Pakistan, most of the US effort should be reoriented to the same policy that has reduced violence in Iraq: paying off your enemies not to fight you.

Afghanistan Isn't Like Iraq” Why A "Surge" Won't Work There - Fred Kaplan, Slate: The U.S. and other countries could pour lots and lots of money into Afghanistan, so the government can equip, train, and pay a much larger national army.

Deadly U.S. airstrike sparks protests in Iraq - Stephen Farrell, International Herald Tribune

Why the Surge Worked - Matthew Kaminski, Wall Street Journal: Gen. Jack Keane helped conceive the new Iraq war strategy and then sell it to the White House.

Sunni Baghdad Dark on Satellite; Kagan Proved Wrong Again - Juan Cole: Informed Comment: Thoughts on the Middle East, History, and Religion: Satellite imaging that shows Sunni Arab neighborhoods in Baghdad dark gives evidence that the ethnic cleansing of the Sunnis by Shiite militias accounts for the fall in violence in Baghdad, not the extra troops Bush sent, called the “surge.”

Bush's Shifting Ideology: 2nd Term Markedly Different From 1st - Michael Abramowitz and Dan Eggen, Washington Post: Bush has moved away from long-standing positions on a range of foreign and domestic issues. In the final year of his second term, he has reached out diplomatically to North Korea and Iran, and engineered a dramatic midcourse correction on the Iraq war.

The View From Bush's Dead End - Dan Froomkin, washingtonpost.com: A central point of the repeatedly validated Bush critique is that the president (either knowingly or cluelessly, we're still not quite sure) led a massive misinformation and exaggeration campaign that led the nation into supporting the war on false pretenses. That his propaganda campaign worked does not somehow allow Bush to evade his personal responsibility. Quite the contrary.

The Wars of John McCain - Jeffrey Goldberg, Atlantic: In one area Mc Cain has been more or less constant: his belief in the power of war to solve otherwise insoluble problems. Nothing in his experience, recent or not-so-recent, has moved him away from his essential belief that the president has a duty to confront perceived threats well before they reach American shores.

Gunmaker to the world – Editorial, Boston Globe:The United States now provides 52 percent of the world's arms, more than twice the share of second-place Russia. The arms race makes the world a more dangerous place. The next administration needs to cut them to a size that fits the actual dangers of the world.

Spielberg Signs Movie Deal with India's Reliance: The director leaves Viacom's Paramount studio for a $1.2 billion deal to launch his own filmmaking company with the India entertainment group - Ronald Grover, Business Week

Saudi women beat a path to the TV for Oprah - Katherine Zoepf, International Herald Tribune: Today, "The Oprah Winfrey Show," with Arabic subtitles, is broadcast twice each weekday on MBC4, a three-year-old channel developed by the MBC Group with the Arab woman in mind. The show's guests, self-improvement tips, and advice on family relationships -- as well as Winfrey's clothes and changing hairstyles -- are eagerly analyzed by Saudi women from a wide range of social backgrounds and income levels.

IMAGES

Photo Gallery: Group Sex Relief, Spiegel