October 16

“How can a man in a cave outcommunicate the world's leading communications society?”

--Former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Canadian Affairs Richard Holbrooke (2001)

“As one foreign diplomat [sic] asked a couple of years ago, ‘How has one man in a cave managed to out-communicate the world’s greatest communication society?’”

--Secretary of Defense Robert Gates (2007)

“Thanks for any light you can shred.”

--E-mail from a State Department employee to your "Public Diplomacy Press and Blog Reviewer" compiler


PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Our Backward Public Diplomacy – Mark Dillen, Foreign Policy Association: Public Diplomacy and the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election: “The truth is that while America has retreated into fortress embassies, all the activities that once represented official America’s effort to reach out to the publics of foreign countries -- exhibits and concerts, film showings, literary evenings, bi-national centers, American libraries -- all these things are now gone, tagged passé. … In its place there is virtually nothing -- because all that remains is virtual. The State Department produces splashy Web sites and holds discussions in the virtual 'Second Life.' How can this replace real contact with real people? For all the value of instantaneous communications technology, nothing can replace direct face-to-face contact and broad, public engagement. The retreat of American public diplomacy behind the walls of fortresses and into the Internet is just that -- a retreat."

US diplomacy tainted by 'militarization' - Jim Lobe, Asia Times: “While the Pentagon's budget has risen to heights not seen since World War II, United States diplomatic and foreign aid assets have largely wasted away and must be quickly rebuilt by any new administration that takes office in January, said a new report released in Washington this week by former senior foreign service officers. The report, written by the American Academy of Diplomacy (AAD) and the Henry L Stimson Center … [says] currently suffers serious shortages in personnel in virtually all of its operations, from consular activity to development assistance and public diplomacy.”

The Great Reagan Pyramid Scheme Comes Crashing Down - Juan Cole, Informed Comment: Thoughts on the Middle East, History, and Religion: “The Republican Party that Nixon invented melded the moneyed classes of the Northeast with the white evangelicals of the South. This odd couple went on to simultaneously steal from and oppress the rest of us. The moneyed classes were happy to let the New Puritans impose their stringent morality … So there you have it. Abolish puritanism in government policy; go back to using the government to regulate industries and finance and provide services; and fight terrorism with better public diplomacy and better police work instead of with militarization -- and you might get out of this thing intact.”

Campaign 2008: Life in these United States - George Weigel, The Tidings, CA : "What role should Washington play in elevating our national cultural life? How will you use the presidential bully pulpit to address the cultural sewer of the popular entertainment industry? Pornography is a highly profitable American export; does that concern you, morally and in terms of our public diplomacy?"

A Fool’s Paradise – The Federalist Commentary, Free Media Online Blog: “U.S. public diplomacy and international broadcasting have become a fool’s paradise, putting the 'ugly American' stereotype on display. … The latest manifestation of the endless reservoir of fantasy is a video contest on the subject of democracy in which the State Department is soliciting amateur video entries worldwide. It doesn’t matter that this subject gets broad treatment on such video websites like YouTube. But then again, originality has become one of the casualties in the fool’s paradise of mediocrity in the U.S. public diplomacy bureaucracy.”

According to these descriptions, VOA is a state-run government shortwave broadcasting service - Kim Andrew Elliott Discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy: "'This article was written by Michael Bowman writing in Washington DC for Voice of America, a United States Government entity.' Disclaimer at the bottom of VOA story reprinted by The Raleigh Telegram, 13 October 2008. Similar disclaimer: The Raleigh Telegram, 13 October 2008. Comment by Mr. Elliott: The Raleigh Telegram is not restricted from using VOA material, either for copyright or Smith-Mundt reasons -- the newspaper used the articles on its own accord, and not with any encouragement from VOA. The description of VOA as 'a United States Government entity' is, however, problematic. The description is correct: VOA is part of the International Broadcasting Bureau, a U.S. government agency. VOA employees are in the Civil Service. But the description might give readers the impression that the articles were written to convey U.S. policy. Actually, they are real news articles, the journalistic integrity of which is protected by the VOA Charter and by the 'firewall' Broadcasting Board of Govern[o]rs. So maybe a better description would be 'Voice of America, a U.S. government funded but autonomous news service.'"

Arts advance diplomacy, Kennedy Center chief says - Evin Demirel, ArkansasOnline: "Fostering the arts abroad is an effective form of public diplomacy, said Michael Kaiser, president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, on Tuesday night at the Clinton School of Public Service."

Honorary Doctorate a Fitting Birthday Present for Dave Brubeck - Carol Arche, Radio & Records, posted on Smooth Jazz Network “It’s going to be another busy year for recording artist Dave Brubeck. Brubeck, one of the world’s most innovative jazz pianists — an artist and a creator in the truest sense of the words. … In April 2008, Brubeck became the very first recipient of the U.S. State Department’s Benjamin Franklin Award for Public Diplomacy coming on the 50th Anniversary of his first State Department tour. In Nov. 2008, he will be guest of honor at the Russian Embassy for an event sponsored by the Foundation for American-Russian Cultural Cooperation."

Avon Foundation & U.S. State Department Convened International Forum to Combat Global Burden of Breast Cancer – MarketWatch: “The Avon Foundation and the U.S. Department of State announced today their partnership to strengthen the global fight against breast cancer at the 2008 Breast Cancer Global Congress held at the Department of State's George C. Marshall Center. … ‘Through this partnership with the Avon Foundation, we were able to create this Congress to bring together a diverse group of experts to fight a disease that knows no boundaries,' explained Goli Ameri, Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs. ‘By combining private sector support and expertise with a successful government public diplomacy program, this partnership will magnify the impact of existing State Department exchange programs and the global philanthropic work of the Avon Foundation.’"

American actress Fran Drescher visiting Semmelweis University - Semmelweis University: “The First Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology hosted on October 6, 2008 the accomplished actress, writer and health care advocate, Fran Drescher on her first visit to Hungary as a freshly nominated American Public Diplomacy Envoy. She is the founder and chairwoman of the Cancer Schmancer organisation, which aims to raise awareness about the as early as Stage 1 diagnosis of all women’s cancers, so that there remains a good chance of those patients being curable.”

Meanwhile, In Mombasa, LPD-17 pulls in... - Springbored's Springboard: “From the Kenyan Standard [newspaper], the San Antonio pulls into port. Hopefully for no other reason than what normally brings Navy ships into port. You know...the, ahrm, public diplomacy. [From the newspaper]:’Women seem to virtually smell these military ships from the high seas. Like a bushfire, word spreads with incredible speed and they begin swarming the seaport in a tradition that has lived on through decades. Twilight girls parade themselves at Mombasa’s Saba Saba intersection. American marines are the most popular because they are perceived to be wealthy.’”

Three in a row... and some ridiculous thoughts - Gabriela M.S., Desde El Zulo: “¿Y qué va a hacer Obama si gana? ¿Cómo va a enfrentar el hecho de que es ahora la Unión Europea la que se eleva como una de las próximas potencias económicas? Y digo inmediata, porque no hay que olvidar a las emergentes. Ya no será posible sostener aventuras en solitario, la balanza va inclinándose hacia el otro lado y la presión va a estar ahora sobre Estados Unidos. ¿Llevará una política de Public Diplomacy similar a la de Clinton que tanto le sirvió a nivel internacional? No le vendría nada mal.”

Moscow Must Gear Up to Fight Information Wars, Diplomatic Academy Dean Says - Paul Goble, Window on Eurasia: “The Russian government must prepare to fight information wars which are becoming an ever more important part of geopolitical life, restoring parts of the Soviet-era system and going beyond that as well, according to the dean of international relations at the foreign ministry’s Diplomatic Academy…. [Dean] Igor Panarin … who first attracted widespread attention in the Russian elite with his 2003 book, ‘Information War and the Third Rome’ says that Moscow must ‘immediately’ move to create ‘a mechanism’ to ensure that the Russian media reflect Moscow’s interests, to repulse information attacks from abroad and to advance Moscow’s interests around the world. He proposes eight steps to achieve those goals [among them the] creation of a Russian council on public diplomacy, which Panarin says would include representatives of the government, the media, business, political parties and NGOs and possibly be headed by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.” PHOTO: Igor Panarin.

The personal side to MDGs [Millenium Development Goals] in Africa - Eddie Burke, UK in USA bloggers, FCO Bloggers: Global conversations: “As part of Blog Action Day 2008, I want to share a personal encounter I had with poverty earlier this year. In April, I had a rather unique opportunity to visit Africa for the first time at the the invitation of Africare, one of the most respected NGOs in the US. … [T]he trip drove home the magnitude of the task ahead of us to eradicate poverty in Africa. It's one thing to be engaged in public diplomacy on development in Africa sitting at your desk in Washington, DC, but quite another to see poverty in person. It really grabbed my heart to see such destitution up close. I remember picking up one little boy and smelling the urine on him. It was his normality. How can that be right?”

Australian cultural policy - Oxford Analytica: “In spite of its democratic self-image and international reputation as a marketer of soap operas, the nation [Australia] has long pursued a high cultural agenda at state and federal level, though not always coherently. … At the beginning of the year the new government of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd cut spending on foreign affairs as part of its drive to cut 1.8 billion Australian dollars (1.2 billion US dollars) from the budget. The 'Australia on the World Stage' initiative was a casualty -- designed to use the arts as an instrument of public diplomacy. This month Rudd ran into trouble with the arts community, as his instructions to the Australia Council to establish ‘protocols’ for the depiction of children in art (prompted by concern about paedophilia) were criticised as incoherent and tantamount to censorship.”

Australia, South Africa promote themselves - Kim Andrew Elliott Discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy: "Australia's new advertising campaign employs videos made by filmmaker Baz Luhrmann. They start in the UK on 8 October, and will appear in the US from late November/early December. See Tourism Australia web page. [Elliott Comment:] Very unusual approach: sort of like film noir as tourist promotion. See also australia.com. 'South African Tourism continues its global marketing campaign with the launch this week of a BBC World campaign that will promote the joys of visiting South Africa to more than 78 million weekly television viewers and web surfers across the world.'" travelwires.com, 15 October 2008.

In a crisis, Happy Danes find trust is key - Teis Hald Jensen, Reuters: “The problem for Denmark’s government is that not enough people outside know either how happy the Danes are, or why. So the government is spending $75 million to improve its image. Danish diplomat Klavs Holm said most people picture Denmark in terms of Hans Christian Andersen, The Little Mermaid and Tivoli Gardens. What they don’t see is the country’s ‘unique Danish values.’ ‘The Danes are ’The Happy People.’ Why?’ said the Under-Secretary for Public Diplomacy, citing how Danes are comfortable with simple pleasures like swimming in the harbor on a summer’s day, which could be deemed risky elsewhere.”

War Propaganda: Fabricating an Outside Enemy: Part III: The Disinformation Campaign, Chapter 11 - irif, International Relations in Focus: "In close liaison with the Pentagon and the CIA, the State Department ... set up its own ‘soft-sell’ (civilian) propaganda unit, headed by Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Charlotte Beers, a powerful figure in the advertising industry. ... Beers was appointed to head the State Department's propaganda unit in the immediate wake of 9/11. Her mandate was ‘to counteract anti-Americanism abroad.’” PHOTO: Charlotte Beers.

+A Cup of Milk Tea+ - tchan, shadoewhunter.livejournal.com: “My maternal figure and I had an argument which consisted of a variety of topics (thanks to her) from me getting fat thanks to the chemicals of my lab (wtf) to me doing mice work (again, wtf) to my choice of living area to my current job search process and my major. 'Why did you have to pick such a useless major? Why couldn't you have kept going to be a doctor?’ … Drop it, mums. … I'm looking into applying for Department of State FSO position as … (consular or political or public diplomacy). It looks so competitive and the window for hiring is only open for 5 days. Double sigh. I feel completely incapable of the first task they give us: writing a personal narrative for 6 questions describing my suitability for appointment. I feel so under accomplished just starring at the application process.” PHOTO: author of the blog.

RELATED ITEMS

Military Domestic Propaganda Ban Signed Into Law - Press Release, PolitickerNH.com: Congressman Paul Hodes today commended President Bush signing a domestic military propaganda ban into law as part of the 2009 Defense Authorization Act. The Congress passed Congressman Paul Hodes' amendment to the 2009 Defense Authorization Bill to prohibit the Department of Defense (DOD) from engaging in propaganda programs and requiring the GAO to launch an investigation into the DOD Military Analyst Program. PHOTO: Congressman Hodes.

Obama Goes Old School & Afghans Get New Media in the Propaganda War - Dominic Patten, Examiner.com: “[T]he UK is considering stepping up the propaganda war against the Taliban in Afghanistan with a digital strategy. The basic plan, according to the BBC, is to get more aggressive online and that NGOs would hand out camera equipped cell phones to Afghans so they could make short films about their lives and the good that Western influence has had on their lives. ... It would seem absurd if it weren’t for the fact that this MO is exactly what the Taliban have been doing for years. When they want to shame the West in the eyes of Afghans they distribute footage of ruined villages or charred bodies on cell phones.”

Iran: US Anti-Iran Propaganda Futile: Iranian Ambassador to Baghdad Hassan Kazemi Qomi said that Pentagon's recent propaganda against Iran inside Iraq is doomed to failure – FARS News Agency: "Four large media companies are contributing to the Pentagon's plan to provoke the Iraqi public opinion against the Islamic Republic and strain Tehran-Baghdad relations," Kazemi Qomi said in reference to a US State Department's [sic] plan to allocate a $300 million budget to regional media to campaign against Iran. The Iranian official voiced Iran's protest against the move which 'is totally in contrast with the interests of Tehran and Baghdad.'"

US combat troops could exit Iraq by 2012 - Demetri Sevastopulo, Financial Times: The US and Iraq have reached agreement on a draft security accord that would pave the way for US combat troops to leave Iraq by the end of 2011, officials said on Thursday.

Reviving Russian-Western relations - Samuel Charap and Andrew Kuchins, Boston Globe: The economic crisis in Russia thus presents an opportunity for Europe and the United States -- one that we must seize. It would be wrong to forget the fundamental challenge to international law and the international system posed by Russia's attack on Georgia. But it would also be a mistake not to take advantage of an opportunity to return our relations with Moscow to a more constructive track.

Palin Attempting to Channel Condi? - Princess Sparkle Pony's Photo Blog: I keep track of Condoleezza's hairdo so you don't have to: "Except, ew, are they suede with ties at the top? Those boots are so sub-Condi it isn't even funny." Right photo: from Wonkette