December 2

"The Zero Decade"

--How political activist Gregory Wright characterizes the George W. Bush years; cartoon by Tom Tomorrow, Salon

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Orwell Diaries; via

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Condi Plays Piano For The Queen - Wonkette

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Continuity We Can Believe In - David Brooks, New York Times: “[Secretary of Defense] Gates has told West Point cadets that more regime change is unlikely but that they may spend parts of their careers training soldiers in allied nations. He has called for more spending on the State Department, foreign aid and a revitalized U.S. Information Agency. He’s spawned a flow of think-tank reports on how to marry hard and soft pre-emption. … During the campaign, Barack Obama embraced Gates’s language. During his press conference on Monday, he used all the right code words, speaking of integrating and rebalancing the nation’s foreign policy capacities.”

New Obama cabinet picks announced - Public Radio International: “Robert Gates has expressed little doubt about what he thinks public diplomacy can accomplish. In a remarkable speech last year, Gates said America needs to invest more in soft power." On Rumsfeld/Gates and soft power, see also (a), (b).

A "Smart Power" Cabinet – Marc Ambinder, Atlantic: “Even with the Bush Administration's second-term renaissance, the Department of State is fairly demoralized, understaffed and underfunded. It will have to learn to compete with the DoD when it comes to the arenas of public diplomacy and peacebuilding. Its foreign service officers need to figure out how to use 21st century technology to communicate with the public. Clinton's primary challenge is managerial; she has to wrestle back resources, attract a new corps of diplomats, and justify State's place at the table.”

U.S. Travel Community Applauds President-Elect Obama’s Foreign Policy and National Security Team: TIA Pledges Support for Policies That Boost Economy, Strengthen U.S. Diplomatic Efforts - Press Release, Hospitality 1st: Roger Dow, president and CEO of the Travel Industry Association, issued the following statement: 'Senator Clinton, Secretary Gates and Dr. Susan Rice all recognize the need for more robust U.S. public diplomacy efforts, and people-to-people diplomacy is one of our country’s most effective tools for winning hearts and minds throughout the world. Whether it is for business, leisure or education, the travel experience is unique in its ability to shape public opinion. Studies show that those who have visited the United States are 74 percent more likely to have a favorable image of the country and its policies in the world.'” NOTE: MORE ON OBAMA CABINET IN BELOW "RELATED ITEMS."

Real Change Is Afoot: Obama Shifts Political Center with National Security Selections - James Warren, Huffington Post: “James Glassman, a former journalist now serving as Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy (the job previously held by Bush chum Karen Hughes), recently gave a speech a few blocks away from Obama's Monday personnel announcements. He talked about the need to show other societies, like Pakistan, why it's just not in their interest to harbor bad guys, or why it's not bright for their citizens to view violence as a prime means to achieve political, social and other aims. Glassman cited figures from a Pew Global Attitude Survey in which 25 percent of Jordanians think that suicide bombing is sometimes justified. There were other statistics of that sort. More importantly, the Obama once again heard Monday would surely concur with the call for 'soft' power in the speech by Glassman, whose area of the State Department is an underfunded backwater.”

A set of possible changes - Kal, The Moor Next Door: Maghreb Affairs :: Geopolitics :: International Relations - “I see Latin America as a place where Venezuela continues its crusade against the Yanqui, but relations with Brazil grow as a result, and in time relations with Cuba are normalized. There is great potential from a public diplomacy and soft power angle for Obama in Latin America, especially when his historic position is compared with other historic presidents.”

US to use Web 2.0 to win "war of ideas": US image-maker - AFP: “The United States is embracing social networks and other Web 2.0 tools to win the ‘war of ideas’ with Islamic militants and other extremist groups, a top US policy-maker said Monday. ‘In the war of ideas our core task in 2008 is to create an environment hostile to violent extremism,’ said James Glassman, the US undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs. ‘We do that in two ways -- by undermining extremist ideologies and by encouraging young people to follow productive paths that lead away from terrorism,’ Glassman said in a speech at the New America Foundation, a Washington-based think-tank. ‘The best way to achieve our goals in public diplomacy is through a new approach to communicating, an approach that is made far easier because of the emergence of Web 2.0 or social networking technologies,’ he said. ‘We call our new approach Public Diplomacy 2.0,’ said Glassman, who replaced Karen Hughes as the State Department's top image-maker after the confidante of President George W. Bush stepped down from the post late last year.”

Public Diplomacy 2.0: Presentation by Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy James Glassman - Darren Krape blog: “Today I attended the presentation 'Public Diplomacy 2.0' by the State Department’s Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy James Glassman at the New America Foundation.… As I saw it, Glassman had two main points: ... Not the technology: Public diplomacy 2.0 is not, and should not be, about the technology. Instead, public diplomacy 2.0 is a (somewhat) new process for communication and, more importantly, engagement. … Web 2.0 gives the U.S. a significant competitive advantage: This new conversational medium gives the United States a significant competitive advantage over our opponents, most specifically Al Qaeda. Glassman’s argument is that the U.S.’s fundamental message (democracy, personal freedom, etc) is more compatible with the web 2.0 world than Al Qaeda’s (war of cultures, global jihad, etc). … Glassman also highlighted the … best methods for conducting public diplomacy 2.0.”

Public Diplomacy 2.0 - Rita J. King, DIP's Dispatches from the Imagination Age: “On the same day President-Elect Obama nominated Senator Hillary Clinton to the highest diplomatic position in the country, Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs James Glassman defined, in a live speech and webcast, what we call 'Digital Diplomacy' and he calls 'Public Diplomacy 2.0.' Event host Steve Clemons of the New America Foundation calls it Facebook/Twitter Diplomacy. … Every time we think we're finished with our policy recommendations for the Understanding Islam through Virtual Worlds project, another important speech is given or we encounter another impressive and meaningful project. We've traveled to four continents and interviewed over a hundred people across the internet. Glassman, who gave his speech as we're working on final edits, will have the last word.”

American Diplomacy in the Age of Facebook: Personal Democracy Forum: Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy James Glassman is at the New America Foundation today for a discussion on what New America's Steve Clemons is calling 'Facebook/Twitter Diplomacy.' It's a provocative topic (particularly post-Mumbai), as Glassman has delved into using social networking to 'encourage young people with political grievances to find outlets for their protests other than violent extremism.' The session has wrapped, but the webcast is archived here.”

Madame Secretary - Steve Clemons, Washington Note: “James Glassman, her [Clinton’s] undersecretary of state for public diplomacy, has some ideas on how to move her agenda forward -- and she should consider using a lot of the tools that Glassman and his team are developing.”


State Department unveils social networking site - Kellie Lunney, nexygov - “The State Department has launched a social networking site to promote international exchanges and enhance the United States' image abroad, particularly among young people. ExchangesConnect, administered by the department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, includes blog postings, photos and videos from users across the world interested in trading information on culture, language and global education programs. A newly designed Web site, exchanges.state.gov, is a portal to the social network and the agency's Facebook page. ExchangesConnect is free, but requires users to fill out a brief online registration. 'It's a natural expansion of our exchange programs,' said Goli Ameri, outgoing assistant secretary of education and cultural affairs, in an interview with Government Executive. … State has tried to take advantage of technology and the rise in multimedia communications to open itself to Americans and foreigners. The department has a blog, DipNote, featuring musings from top-level officials on policies and its mission. The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs also plans to develop a program to teach the world English for free. The agency published a notice in the Nov. 17 Federal Register seeking a partner in the private sector to create the necessary technology for an online English language learning and literacy series for economically disadvantaged youths outside the United States.”

Governments, Schools Set Up Shop In Virtual Worlds - Paula Ebben, WBZ, MA : “It's estimated that 80 percent of active Internet users will live a virtual life within the next three years, and Uncle Sam is taking notice. The State Department is one of several government agencies already conducting business in these cyber communities. ‘I think it's important for government agencies to be appropriately engaged in this technology,’ said State Department official Bill May. ‘We're really looking at engaging in mutual understanding, developing understanding between American people and peoples of other countries.’ … The Chinese government has several facilities under construction in Entropia Universe. That's something May says will help the government reach out to the Chinese people. ’We will be well positioned to look at what to do in order to engage in public diplomacy with the Chinese people,’ he said.”

World Reaction to the Election: What Kind of Public Diplomacy? - Foreign Policy Association: Public Diplomacy and the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election: “The test for Obama and his team … is to take advantage of his own personal popularity at home and abroad to move forward on a challenging agenda. If the agenda is then successful, not only will Obama’s popularity be reinforced, but the general image of the United States in foreign countries will also improve. More resources for public diplomacy would be welcome, but this is likely to happen anyway with Secretary-designate Clinton at the helm of the State Department. In short, demonstratively successful policies are the first requirement of the new Administration. Successful public diplomacy will then follow.”

Before He Goes: What President Bush could accomplish in his final days in office - William Kristol, Weekly Standard: “Meanwhile, we seem to have al Qaeda mostly on the run (though not defeated). Here at home we haven’t had a second attack, and in the West generally, it’s over two years since a major attack. Bush can make the broader point that being on offense has been a successful strategy, and that the best form of public diplomacy is making it clear that joining the jihad is a losing proposition."

Crusader Rabbit – Richard Fernandez, Belmont Club: “Christian Whitton and Kristopher Harrison of the State Department make a private argument for the establishment of a government propaganda to fight ‘the ideology that underpins the global jihadist insurgency’. In an article in the WSJ they write: ‘The U.S. government needs to resurrect the nonviolent practice of ‘political warfare’ and create an agency to manage it. The Bush administration started this process by providing more resources for public diplomacy and appointing prominent officials to oversee the task. But efforts to explain America’s values and ideals to Muslims need to be supplemented with measures that confront directly the jihadist ideology. … The problem with creating a new Political Warfare Executive is not primarily bureaucratic. It is political. Western societies do not have the same uncompromising opposition to radical Islam that the wartime alliance had against Nazism. It is difficult to imagine the BBC, the State Department or PBS taking marching orders to discredit the foundations of radical Islam. Why even President Obama might object.”

Confusing the enemy by increasing the size of the U.S. bureaucracy - Kim Andrew Elliott Discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy: Comment on above-mentioned WSJ article: "How to defeat an undesirable ideology? Create a new bureaucracy. It's Washington's favorite solution. And, once again, this plan for 'political warfare' wants U.S. international broadcasting to join in the 'mission." This probably means transmitting more of this, less of that, and hammering hard on key themes. This would be an application of the bullet theory of communication, which social scientists discarded by the 1940s. Nothing like early twentieth century thinking to form the basis of twenty-first century U.S. international communication. If U.S. international broadcasting is to attract an audience, its 'mission' can only be defined by that audience. The audience is seeking news that is more reliable than the news they get from their state-controlled domestic media. Credibility is the key."

Not so much a ’silver lining’ as a backwards step - The Smarmy Liberal: “The fact that we’re seeing a rise in recruitment specifically due to economic problems suggests to me that we’re simply seeing more people prepared to give their lives out of desperation and a lack of choices, and that’s probably not what we want to be aiming for. Not only is it taking advantage of the poor, it’s bad for our military’s effort to become more competent in public diplomacy on a soldier-by-soldier level. Someone who hates what he or she is doing and is only there because it was the last choice available probably won’t wind up our one of our better on-the-ground ambassadors to the rest of the world.”

Noteworthy - Matt Armstrong, MountainRunner: A series of items pertaining to public diplomacy from a variety of sources.

Wednesday Dec. 3 Alliance of Delray Meeting - Mort Mazor, Get Local, West Delray Community Blog: “Wednesday’s December 3 meeting will feature Mr. Alvin Perlman, Retired Deputy Director Soviet Union, Eastern and Southern Europe, American Foreign Service, U.S. Information Agency. His topic: ‘The Role of the Foreign Service and Public Diplomacy in International Relations.’”

"The Neaman Document" (Draft Report): A Study on Israeli Public Diplomacy: A Joint Project of the S. Neaman Institute, Technion and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Israel - Executive Summary: “The decision to conduct a research project in order to present recommendations for Israel public diplomacy policy relies on the premise that even though there is continuous concern with the subject by government agencies and others in the field, there is from time to time a need to update contents and methods, target groups, and agents on the strategic level and in practical activity. The goal of such revisions is to help in devising a comprehensive policy that will answer the needs of Israel and its citizens; that will follow-up research findings in Israel and the world; that will be able to cope with positions, opinions, and controversial issues; with new technologies, and with the need for creativity, uniqueness, strength, and ability to infuse the message into the agenda of today's media.”

Peace initiative could benefit from PR backing - Roula Khalaf, The Peninsula, Qatar: “Marketing is also about public diplomacy, something that Arab states only pursue grudgingly.”

Honoring Colombia's plead for freedom – Adriaan Alsema, Colombia Reports, Colombia: “In one of the most clear examples of expression of public will and public diplomacy, Colombians and citizens from across the world, have spoken once again clearly against the use of kidnapping as a tactic.”

HdM-Professor Ko-Autor von internationalem Handbuch über "Public Diplomacy" - News der Hochschule der Medien: „Im jüngst erschienenen 'Handbook of Public Diplomacy' des Routledge-Verlags (New York und London) ist Professor Dr. Oliver Zöllner von der Hochschule der Medien (HdM) mit einem Beitrag über die Kulturdiplomatie der Bundesrepublik Deutschland vertreten. In seinem Aufsatz 'German Public Diplomacy: The Dialogue of Cultures' stellt Zöllner dar, welche Bedeutung der Dialog insbesondere mit der islamisch geprägten Welt hat und welche Mittel Deutschland hierbei einsetzt. Seine Analyse fällt nüchterner aus, als es viele offizielle Broschüren und Verlautbarungen erwarten lassen: Echter Dialog bleibt eine Herausforderung, die nur sehr schwer umsetzbar ist.“

RELATED ITEMS

Some States See Decline in Total U.S. Study Abroad Numbers - David Comp - International Higher Education Consulting: “I’m pleased to introduce our second guest blogger today. Chip Peterson from the Learning Abroad Center at the University of Minnesota has identified an interesting trend in the Open Doors 2008 data. Chip’s post follows: While glancing through the most recent Open Doors data I noticed a curious phenomenon. One of the tables in the report is entitled, STUDY ABROAD BY U.S. STATE, 2005/06 & 2006/07. According to that table, overall study abroad numbers increased for forty states (plus DC) and declined for ten states. Four of the latter ten are located in the Upper Midwest: Iowa (-0.2%), Minnesota (-1.5%), North Dakota (-16.7%), and Wisconsin (-0.9%)! Within the Upper Midwest only South Dakota experienced an increase (+40.8%). The remaining six states with declines were much more scattered geographically: Delaware, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Vermont. The overall national increase, for comparison, was +8.2%. What do you think is going on here?”

Pentagon Propaganda Documents Go Online - John Stauber, Australia.TO, Australia: Eight thousand pages of documents related to the Pentagon's illegal propaganda campaign, known as the Pentagon military analyst program, are now online for the world to see, although in a format that makes it impossible to easily search them and therefore difficult to read and dissect. This trove includes the documents pried out of the Pentagon by David Barstow and used as the basis for his stunning investigation that appeared in the New York Times on April 20, 2008. The Pentagon program, which clearly violated US law against covert government propaganda, embedded more than 75 retired military officers -- most of them with financial ties to war contractors -- into the TV networks as "message surrogates" for the Bush Administration. To date, every major commercial TV network has failed to report this story, covering up their complicity and keeping the existence of this scandal from their audiences.

Obama picks a well-tested team - Editorial, San Francisco Chronicle: There's a potential for soap opera theatrics as White House meetings and Cabinet sessions open up into debate sessions with winners and losers. The new president's famed cool will be strained by this combustible mix of views and egos. But, if he gets it right, he can launch the country in a new direction. Without relenting on terrorism, Obama wants a return to negotiated diplomacy, treaties and foreign aid in pursuing his goals.

Why Obama's Got "Complete Confidence" In Clinton - John Nichols, Nation: Obama is not assembling a team of rivals -- at least not with the Clinton pick. He is selecting a fellow senator who he came to respect and even to regard somewhat fondly during the course of a difficult but not particularly destructive primary campaign. More importantly, he is selected someone who agrees with him on almost every significant global issues and who he is certain will be able Secretary of State.

Strong opinions in tough times – Editorial, Boston Globe: Obama has recruited a team not so much of rivals as of strong-willed, independent spirits. America and the rest of the world have reason to cheer.

Team of Centrists: Barack Obama's national security appointees have plenty in common – Editorial, Washington Post: Mr. Obama and his appointees are heavily invested in the notion that better diplomacy can answer Iran's drive for a nuclear weapon, ease the threat of terrorism from Pakistan and maybe even solve the Arab-Israeli conflict. We hope they are right. If they are wrong, particularly about Iran, someone in this group will need to speak up.

For the U.N., a clean break: Obama's choice of Susan Rice, a liberal multilateralist, as the U.S. ambassador represents the flip side of Bush's approach to the world body – Editorial, Los Angeles Times: Analysts have been somewhat puzzled by the spectrum of political viewpoints represented by Obama's picks, but if there's one thing most of his defense and foreign policy choices have in common, it's that they tend to be "realists" -- favoring the use of "soft power" over military intervention, and multilateralism over unilateralism.

The 3 A.M. Team – Editors, National Review: We didn’t want either Clinton or Obama to become president, but now that Obama has won, and that 3 A.M. phone call is on the way, Clinton is as good a pick as could have been expected for the nation’s top foreign-policy position. The same is true of Robert Gates.

Who Can She Be Now? The stages of Hillary - Noemie Emery, National Review: Madame Secretary, Obama’s own Iron Lady, a Margaret Thatcher who will never go wobbly, but shore up his reach to the Right.

Barack Obama — Steady as She Goes: It’s as moderate as any Democrat’s national-security picks could possibly get - Rich Lowry, National Review: Perhaps Obama is simply bowing to the exigencies of American foreign policy, defined by a few ineluctable realities: We are the sole superpower in a dangerous world, full of enemies that only we have the military resources to defeat and of rival powers with interests divergent from ours.

Pinch Me, Am I Dreaming? Fantasy Cabinet with ... Obama? - Mona Charen, National Review: “If [Obama’s] economic team is centrist, the foreign-policy team (and I pinch myself as I say this) leans a little to the right. Did you notice that in introducing his choices, the president-elect used the term “defeat our enemies”?

The Obama Jolt: Is Barack a secret centrist? - Fred Barnes, Weekly Standard: If Obama wants to pursue economic and national security policies that would thrill MoveOn.org, William Ayers, and the Democratic left, he has a funny way of showing it. The only reasonable conclusion is he's spurning the left.

Travels With Hillary: Two Secretaries of State for the price of one – Review & Outlook, Wall Street Journal: Barack Obama's choice of Hillary Clinton to be his Secretary of State is either a political master stroke, or a classic illustration of the signature self-confidence that will come back to haunt him. We're inclined toward the latter view.

Success of Clinton Choice Hinges on Rapport - Michael Abramowitz and Glenn Kessler, Washington Post

So what's in this for Hillary? Taking charge of the State Department will give Clinton more power than hanging around the Senate -- even if she does have a history with her new boss - Mike Madden, Salon: Obama intends to focus on domestic policy early in his term -- and a high-profile surrogate on foreign affairs might give him the time to do it.

Obama's national security balancing act: With Clinton, Gates, and Jones, he can weigh opposing views better than Bush did - Editorial, Christian Science Monitor: Obama's team should work to reclaim US leadership (even in its weakened state, America is still the only superpower). But as other countries such as India and Brazil pick up economic power, Washington will become one player among many, having to find its place in a complex, interconnected world -- as the financial crisis illustrates. Obama has chosen three talented individuals to help him juggle these demands. But ultimately, how well it goes will be up to him.

Security priorities: There is a lot of work ahead for President-elect Obama's national security team, including recent rival Sen. Hillary Clinton, the secretary of state nominee – Editorial, Baltimore Sun: With his limited foreign policy experience, Mr. Obama is sure to benefit from having strong personalities and strong opinions around him. Facing an array of tough problems -- including war, international recession, genocide and global warming -- there is clearly a need to think beyond a one-dimensional obsession with terrorism when framing U.S. foreign policy.

A Team in Need of a Plan - Eugene Robinson, Washington Post: One of the most urgent tasks for President-elect Barack Obama's "Team of Rivals" foreign policy brain trust is coming up with a coherent intellectual framework -- and a winning battle plan -- for the globe-spanning asymmetrical conflict that George W. Bush calls the "war on terror."

The End of the Iraq Debate (For Now) - Michael Crowle, New Republic: It's quite possible -- maybe even likely -- that withdrawal will prompt a renewed and violent power struggle that could devolve into civil war. And then it will be time for another debate -- about whether to slow down the exit or say good riddance once and for all. It's possible that Obama is determined to carry out his withdrawal policy even in such a scenario. But his cabinet selections tend to suggest otherwise.

It's Obama that's changing - Kaveh L Afrasiabi, Asia Times: One wonders how Obama expects to be more successful that the Bush administration in the absence of appointees aligned with his vision of change? From the point of view of many foreign observers, this represents a false start by the Obama administration. He is apt to lose a great deal of his international aura within months, if not weeks, of assuming the presidency in January.

Change? What Change? Madam Secretary Clinton and the Middle East - Joshua Frank, Counterpunch: Barack Obama has chosen Hillary Clinton to be Secretary of State; a choice that confirms US foreign policy is not about to change significantly under the forthcoming Democratic administration. The US will continue to pander to Israel and the War on Terror will still be the rallying cry for our foreign interventions.

Confronting the Terrorist Within - Chris Hedges, Truthdig: The decision by the incoming Obama administration to embrace an undefined, amorphous “war on terror” will keep us locked in a war without end. This war has no clear definition of victory, unless victory means the death or capture of every terrorist on earth—an impossibility. It is a frightening death spiral. It feeds on itself. The concept of a “war on terror” is no less apocalyptic or world-purifying than the dreams and fantasies of terrorist groups like al-Qaida.

Robert Gates: Wrong Man for the Job - Katrina vanden Heuvel, Nation: It is troubling that Obama, a man of such good judgment, has asked Robert Gates to stay on as Secretary of Defense -- and assembled a national security team of such narrow bandwidth.

The Curious Retention of Robert Gates – David Corn, Mother Jones: Obama’s national security team--at this early stage--presents more questions than answers. His selection of Hillary Clinton to be secretary of state has been a much-chewed-over topic of pundit puzzlement. And with the Monday morning unveiling of his senior defense and foreign policy aides, Obama made official another curious decision: his retention of Robert Gates as secretary of defense.

The Enforcer: Obama’s most important national-security pick isn't Hillary—it's Gen. Jim Jones - Fred Kaplan, Slate: Everything that President-elect Barack Obama has said and done these past few weeks indicates that this is going to be an administration run from the White House. His selection of Jones as national-security adviser signals that this will very much be the case in foreign and military policy.

What should Bill Clinton do now?: Critics worry he'll get in Hillary's way. But the new secretary of state's husband is a great international ambassador for America - Joe Conason, Salon: What would not make sense, however, is to hobble Bill Clinton's role as a global citizen, which ought to be used by the Obama administration to advance its own vision of American leadership in the world. His capacity to mobilize political, corporate and civic forces on behalf of benign objectives -- and his influence over officials around the world -- exemplifies the "soft power" that is supposed to become the new paradigm of our diplomacy.

The Deadly Triangle: Obama's Foreign Crises - Deepak Tripathi, Counterpunch: America has been heavily involved in both Afghanistan and Pakistan for almost three decades. It played a role in the war. Now it needs to play a part in their reconstruction and stabilization, in the interests of all.

Get Out Now, or Get Out Later - Philip Giraldi, Antiwar.com: Wanting to draw down in Iraq and increase troop strength in Afghanistan, Obama is embracing taking one failed policy and transferring it somewhere else in hopes that it will succeed. The fact is that Barack Obama's foreign policy is just Bush-lite: it embraces the principle that the judicious use of force is a good thing and that Washington should properly be the world's policeman.

The Sovereignty Dodge: What Pakistan Won't Do, the World Should - Robert Kagan, Washington Post: It would be useful for the United States, Europe and other nations to begin establishing the principle that Pakistan and other states that harbor terrorists should not take their sovereignty for granted.

Pakistan's Task: Peace in South Asia requires a crackdown on terrorists – Editorial, Washington Post: The best way to salvage Pakistani democracy, and to prevent a slide toward war between two nuclear powers, is for Islamabad to shut down Lashkar-i-Taiba and similar organizations, swiftly, permanently and verifiably. Pakistan should enjoy U.S. support, both from this administration and the next, to the extent that it presents not only credible plans for accomplishing this goal -- but also tangible results.

Mumbai and Obama: Lessons in security and diplomacy - Review & Outlook, Wall Street Journal: The best outcome would be for Islamabad itself to take action against the terrorists who use Pakistan as a training ground and staging point for attacks on India. Failing that, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will be under pressure to take the same kind of military action that Candidate Obama endorsed for the U.S.

Strange storm brews in South Asia - M K Bhadrakumar, Asia Times: Washington's prime task will be to cool tempers and avoid an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation between the two South Asian nuclear adversaries, India and Pakistan.

Iraq Pact Challenges Antiwar Movement - Tom Hayden, Nation: The antiwar movement could include the Iraq withdrawal and diplomatic solutions in Afghanistan and Pakistan within a new progressive agenda demanding a turn away from policing a world of quagmires to addressing our spiralling economic, trade, healthcare and energy crises.

Problems with the SOFA – Editorial, Washington Times: The new U.S.-Iraq security agreement ratified last week by the Iraqi Parliament is a mixed bag. At one level, it ratifies a new and positive strategic reality - specifically, the success of the U.S. troop surge and the defeat of terror networks inside Iraq. But it contains some objectionable provisions, including an end to legal immunity for Defense contractors.

Obama's collision course with China - Benjamin A Shobert, Asia Times: While China may not be one of the president-elect's most pressing concerns, a host of China related issues are interwoven within the challenges of the next four years.

The Cost of Hegemony Is Beyond Reach - Paul Craig Roberts, Antiwar.com: Undeterred by massive budget deficits from wars, a falling economy, and financial bailouts, the U.S. government has managed to start a new cold war with Russia. Now that the Great Hegemon is bankrupt and its economy is collapsing, thanks to unbridled greed, American influence is waning.

War, Propaganda and the Media - Anup Shah, Global Issues: Content: Elements of Propaganda; Propaganda and War; Propaganda when Preparing or Justifying War; Military Control of Information; Information Operations; Embedded Journalists: An Advantage for the Military; Dilemma of Journalists and Wartime Coverage; Wider Propaganda; Propaganda in Democracies; Why Does So Much Propaganda Work?; Wanting to believe the best of ourselves; Fear-mongering and distorting facts; Media management and public relations is very professional ; Disseminating prepackaged, even fake news ;Smear tactics are increasing in sophistication;
Narrowing the Range of Debate; Some Detailed Examples.

The Genesis of Napoleonic Propaganda, 1796-1799 - Asiaing.com: Wayne Hanley's The Genesis of Napoleonic Propaganda, 1796 to 1799 makes clever use of images as well as text to show the artful self-crafting on the part of a young provincial on the make. Using a term actually invented at or near the Revolution, the book makes propaganda into a key element in the rise of Napoleon. With a solid interfacing of cultural and political history, Hanley's novel approach meshes with recent works on the Revolution by Lynn Hunt, Carla Hesse, and others.

India is Burning, but OMG, Look! Condi Got to Meet the Queen!! - Princess Sparkle Pony's Photo Blog I keep track of Condoleezza's hairdo so you don't have to: BELOW PHOTO: Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, left, shakes hands with Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, as Louise Miliband, right, the wife of the British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, reacts, prior to a private musical concert with members of the London Symphony Orchestra, at Buckingham Palace in London, England, Monday, Dec. 1, 2008. (AP Photo/John Stillwell, PA). COMMENT: “As a special bonus, it looks like the Royal Person was totally dusted with flour for the occasion. So fancy! Don't sneeze, Condi! And I guess it was some sort of theme night because Condi's wearing... a bathrobe? I don't understand royal protocol.”