October 8

“One in 10 American light bulbs is powered with fuel from dismantled Russian nuclear bombs.”

--Professor Matthew Bunn and Research Associate Andrew Newman

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs James Glassman at National Press Club - C-Span Video Library

Winning Democracy Through New Media Contests – Ted Lipien, freemediaonline.org: “U.S. public diplomacy is in deep crisis as is U.S. international broadcasting. … Neither the State Department officials nor BBG bureaucrats understand how new media works, which has resulted in programming initiatives that foreign audiences are likely to view as embarrassing. What works well for independent NGO-driven media is rarely effective when new media strategies are employed by government bureaucrats.”

Al Qaeda Could Exploit U.S. Visa Program, Feinstein Says - Kevin Mooney, CNSNews.com: U.S. Homeland Security officials should adopt a more restrictive approach to the visa waiver program rather than expand it at a time when terrorists are probing for immigration loopholes, said Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) during a recent hearing on Capitol Hill. … Jena Baker McNeill, a homeland security analyst with the Heritage Foundation, wrote in a policy paper circulated at the hearing [that] [t]he “VWP [Visa Waiver Program] is a fabulous way to accomplish several important goals: building a community of free nationals; fueling economic, cultural and social ties; and increasing American public diplomacy,”

7 Oct - News and Blues (economic) - Opit's Linkfest: American public diplomacy wears combat boots: “(which says the US is represented by ... murder and mayhem)”

Occupations over Occupation - Rita J. King (Eureka Dejavu), DIP's Dispatches from the Imagination Age: "Yesterday, Meridian International and Gallup pulled off the impossible--an entire day's worth of speakers and panel discussions that held the audience spellbound from start to finish. Loaded with valuable information about the development of a new global culture from a variety of perspectives, the Global Engagement Forum included a bevy of heavyweights … this group represents the fact that a new global culture is no longer just a fantasy held by bleeding hearts, but an economic necessity.” Among those attending: Goli Ameri, the Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs. PHOTO: Goli Ameri

Iran News Round Up - National Review Online Blogs: "Ahmadinejad, in a live television interview, says … There has been a major transformation of our relations with the U.S., because we have managed to conduct effective public diplomacy and have managed to establish contact with the people of the U.S....”

Former Envoys Decry Arts Cuts: Mel Cappe and Peter Sutherland say PromArt and similar programs are essential for successful public diplomacy efforts - Michelle Collins, Embassy, Canada: “[Q]uietly on the afternoon of Friday Aug. 8, the government announced that the Department of Foreign Affairs' $4.7-million PromArt program would be cancelled, as would the Heritage department's $9-million Trade Routes program. Both helped to cover the expense of sending artists and performers abroad and to promote Canada's cultural industries in foreign markets by providing funding for groups, such as the Association for the Advancement of Music and the Arts and the Association for the Export of Canadian Books.”

Partnership Running Festival - Bye Bye Uncle Sam: “Per la gioia di grandi e piccini, la prossima domenica 12 ottobre si terrà a Budapest, capitale dell’Ungheria, l’attesissima terza edizione del 'NATO Partnership Running Festival', competizione podistica che prevede un tracciato di dieci chilometri per gli adulti e di quattro per ragazzi e ragazze sotto i quattordici anni. ... Sponsor principale è la NATO Public Diplomacy Division.”

Volunteer Event - Life-at-SUNY-ESF: By engaging in public diplomacy, nation-states communicate with the people of other countries to shape a favorable public opinion, gain a better understanding and build a positive reputation abroad. Together with Professor Dennis Kinsey, the director of Public Diplomacy Program at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, doctoral student Olga Zatepilina is conducting a study to explore the effects of visual communication in the formation of people’s attitudes, perceptions, and opinions of a foreign country.

Austinite Karen Hughes: Debate More Important to McCain - CBS 42, TX: A former top advisor in the Bush Administration says Tuesday night's Presidential debate is the most crucial of the election. Austinite Karen Hughes was President Bush's Communications Director while he was Texas Governor, 2000 campaign spokesperson, special counselor to the President and Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy.

Iraq: The Perspective After Five Years – News/Events, Heritage Foundation: Among the speakers at this discussion is Ambassador Tom C. Korologos who was a long-time member of the U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy and a charter member of the Broadcasting Board of Governors that has jurisdiction over all non-military U.S. Government radio and TV broadcasting overseas.

RELATED ITEMS

Countering jihadists A battle of de-radicalization - Walid Phares, Washington Times: "The much-needed strategy of engaging 'counter-jihadi' Muslims and civil society groups in the greater Middle East has been almost ignored by chanceries and their counter-terrorism experts. Ironically, instead of focusing on engaging the dissidents, pro-democracy human rights NGOs and activists, the 'advice' extended to European governments and now to the United States as well, is to engage –- read cut deals with -- the Islamists and even the jihadists."

Don’t Drink the Lemonade - Monika Maslikowski, COMOPS Journal, “In a classic counterinsurgency, promoting the legitimacy of the Pakistani government would be of utmost importance. However, the legitimacy of the Pakistani government may not even be relevant in the tribal areas. … [T]he aim of a strategic communication campaign in these areas needs to be towards empowering local non-militant tribal leaders. … The difficulties the U.S. faces in its strategic communication campaign in Pakistan are directly tied to the resurgence of the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.”

New Army Field Manual for Operations, FM 3-0 - Stability Operations - Swedish Meatballs Confidential(Pnsfw)- “The new operations manual institutionalizes the need for cultural awareness, which is critical to understanding populations and their perceptions to reduce friction, and prevent misunderstanding, thereby improving a force's ability to accomplish its mission. Soldiers and leaders must master information. To the people, perception is reality. Altering perceptions requires accurate, truthful information presented in a way that accounts for how people absorb and interpret information with messages that have broad appeal and acceptance. This is the essence of information engagement in the new FM.”

FCC Probes Pentagon Analysts – Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers, U.S. New & World report: The Federal Communications Commission has begun notifying several TV military analysts that it is probing congressional complaints that the pundits did not properly disclose their ties to the Pentagon when reviewing the war in Iraq on air. VIA

What McCain and Obama Just Don’t Get About Central Asia - William Pfaff, Truthdig: The more foreign troops that are sent to a country like Afghanistan, the more Afghan and Pakistani nationalist outrage and fury is generated, and the more support there is for the Taliban against the foreigners.

Obama Won the Foreign-Policy Questions: Mccain Was Vague And Contradicted Himself During The Debate - Fred Kaplan, Slate

Anti-American Fervor in Europe - Soeren Kern, FrontPageMag: Anti-Americanism is the one of the few things on which most Europeans can actually agree. It has become a politically acceptable way to evade responsibility by blaming America for Europe’s own shortcomings. Americans should expect European anti-Americanism to grow worse in the years ahead, regardless of who becomes the next American president.

Sneezing on the world – Editorial, Boston Globe: Now that the credit contraction US financial firms have provoked is infecting economies around the world, even foreign leaders hostile to Washington have reason not to gloat over America's comeuppance.

U.S. judge orders release of 17 Guantánamo detainees – William Glaberson, International Herald Tribune: The ruling was a sharp setback for the Bush administration, which has waged a long legal battle to defend its policies of detention at Guantánamo.

Seven Years After First Air Strikes, Afghans Hope For Jobs, Peace: Ron Synovitz - RFE/RL: Many Afghans are becoming increasingly embittered by the continued reliance on air strikes by NATO and U.S. led-forces. PHOTO: A girl carrying garbage for recycling or for use as fuel in Kabul.

US, Pakistan torn apart over terror - Tariq Mahmud Ashraf, Asia Times: Although disagreements between Pakistan and the US have persisted since the latter invaded Afghanistan in 2001 and president General Pervez Musharraf engineered the abrupt somersault in Pakistan's policy towards the Taliban to bring it in line with US dictates, these have seldom assumed serious proportions or created apprehensions as they do now.

A working relationship: U.S. must continue cooperating with Russia to reduce the nuclear threat despite its actions in Georgia - Matthew Bunn and Andrew Newman, Baltimore Sun: The Bush administration and its successor should take a page from Mr. Reagan's playbook: While responding appropriately where U.S. and Russian interests diverge, Washington must work to build a genuine partnership with Moscow where our vital interests overlap - especially in reducing and controlling nuclear arms.

Red Dawn: Its Portrait Of Russia Is Dated. Its Portrait Of America Is Timely—And Terrifying - David Plot, Slate: Recognizing that we're again living in an age of existential dread, MGM recently announced plans to remake Red Dawn. With the Russian army having run rampant over Georgia and the Kremlin hissing over American plans to base a missile defense system in Poland, this seemed the right moment to revisit Red Dawn.

The Future Of Media: Africa - Gwen Lister, radiovop.com, Zimbabwe: It would be a mistake to believe the predominant global misperception of Africa as a hopeless continent with fewer success stories than failures, including its press. Yet, media in Africa is largely the product of colonialism. Broadcasting has continued to be a reliable instrument of propaganda, first used by colonial rulers and later by independent African governments that came to power. Newspapers have provided some exceptions.

Saarinen's Embassy Must Not Be Razed - Hugh Pearman, Wall Street Journal: Buildings acquire personality not only through their architecture, but through the events that they witness. In the case of Eero Saarinen's American Embassy in Grosvenor Square, London, the two are inextricably intertwined. Before the American flag is hauled down over Saarinen's building, it should without question be "listed" -- certainly at the relatively lowly Grade 2 classification now being sought by The Twentieth Century Society, a conservation group.

Selling Out? - Jennifer Lin, China International Business, China: Last year, the Chinese art market overtook France to become the third largest in the world, with overall sales amounting to RMB 23.7 billion (USD 3.5 billion). The scene has transitioned fluidly and seamlessly from one movement to another: from the propaganda of Social Realism to Pop, from Pop to Avant- Garde, and now to something distinctly Chinese and defiantly modern.

Obama Has a Posse: Guerrilla artist Shepard Fairey takes a giant step into the world of politics - Charleston City Paper, SC: Shepard Fairey is the man responsible for the single most iconic image of the 2008 presidential campaign: a stark-and-striking illustration of Obama looking upward. It's a piece of pop propaganda. Meghan Baum, a writer for the L.A. Times wrote, "There's an unequivocal sense of idol worship about the image, a half-artsy, half-creepy genuflection that suggests the subject is (a) a Third World dictator whose rule is enmeshed in a seductive cult of personality; (b) a controversial American figure who's been assassinated; or (c) one of those people from a Warhol silk-screen that you don't recognize but assume to be important in an abstruse way."

Propaganda: Why does nearly all propaganda take the form of art?- Lee, Froggamann’s Weblog: “Well…………………. it is more appealing to the audience. It is easier for the audience to look at an image and understand it the first time than having them read it twice to fully understand it. There are also colors which attracts the eyes better. In the art form symbols are better to understand and is easier to identify. Also, an advantage for the art form is that it can depict the exact emotions without any misunderstanding.”

FAITS DIVERS



Naked man from Spain jumps into Japan's Imperial Palace moat – boing boing