December 20

"90% of this war is propaganda war.... Therefore those of us who are not in the real Jihad need to engage in this propaganda war."

-- "AboLbaraa Alshamy .... one Fursan Ghazawat Alnusra founding member." PHOTO: Christopher Plummer, from The International Herald Tribune

“In Spite of Myself: A Memoir"

--Actor Christopher Plummer

“we live in the best time in the history of the world to have a worst time.”

--New media guru Cory Doctorow

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

USIP: Iraq in the Obama Administration - Marc Lynch, Abu Aardvark: “Let me put on my public diplomacy hat for a moment. Right now, in the absence of clear statements from a President-elect wisely determined to adhere to the 'one President at a time' rule, anxious Iraqis and Arabs, the American media, and those hoping to pre-emptively shape the new administration's policy are filling the void with a wild range of theories, projections, and suspicions. …
I believe that there is very little basis for most of what's circulating (in the U.S. or in Iraq) but in a sense that's the point -- that's what happens in the absence of good information. This is a good example of where public diplomacy and foreign policy come together -- by listening to what Iraqis are saying, and moving quickly and judiciously to respond to those concerns, the administration might be able to pre-empt the emergence of unnecessary problems.” PHOTO: Marc Lynch.

Re-examining Smith-Mundt. But to what end? - Kim Andrew Elliott Discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy: “At Matt's [Matt Armstrong] symposium on public diplomacy, to be held 13 January (see previous post), I'll be interested to know what parts of Smith-Mundt need to be resurrected. The Smith-Mundt Act has largely been superceded by subsequent legislation, most recently the International Broadcasting Act of 1994 and the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998. …

Any re-absorption of international broadcasting into U.S. public diplomacy, now advocated by many public diplomacy experts, would result in the failure of U.S. international broadcasting.”

Myths of domestic dissemination - Kim Andrew Elliott Discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy: “State Department officials don't hesitate to defend U.S. policies domestically…. Now, if the State Department or White House, sometime before 20 January, purchases full page ads in the New York Times and Washington Post defending Bush Administration policies in the Middle East, that might actually rouse the ghosts of Smith and Mundt.”

Newsletter: Public Diplomacy in Europe, October 2008

– U.S. Department of State

Helping forge a path of hope: KDOT liaison, back home in Kan., used skills for role in Iraq rebuilding project - Amy Bickel - The Hutchinson News – “[Martin] Miller returned to Kansas on his 52nd birthday, the day before Thanksgiving. And he's already back to his old job as a liaison to residents on Kansas road construction and road conditions in south-central Kansas. But for one year, he served a similar duty in Kirkuk, Iraq's fourth-largest city with a population of about 700,000. For one year, Miller served as a public diplomacy officer as part of the U.S. State Department's Provincial Reconstruction Teams. PRTs are the civilian component of the U.S. surge strategy, designed to support and reconstruct Iraqi neighborhoods, according to the State Department.”

Building International Relationships: Muslim youth spending year with family in Kaukauna - Sharon Hanuszczak- Froberg, Post-Crescent East: “[Seventeen-year-old Ary] Agustanti arrived in Kaukauna on Aug. 17 as part of Youth Exchange and Study (YES), a high school student exchange program funded by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The public diplomacy initiative, authorized by Congress in the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, aims to improve relationships between Americans and people in countries with significant Muslim populations.”

How To: Win Friends and Twinfluence People - SoftRatty: “People use social media for many reasons, some more serious than others. But no one is immune from enjoying themselves.

If all you do is post links to your latest influential blog, or link to current news stories you’re reading, you may be adding value, but you may also be boring everyone who follows you. Toss in an unexpected joke, complain about your dog, announce your engagement. Colleen Graffy, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy, has a serious job – but that doesn’t stop her from showing her funny side. If you are enjoying yourself it will rub off on others.”

A whole new world - KSWO, Lawton, OK-Wichita Falls, TX: “It is estimated that 80% of active internet users will live a virtual life within the next three years. Virtual worlds are not only for kids who play video games - the future is here. Our government and universities already are moving into these universes. … ‘I think it's important for government agencies to be appropriately engaged in this technology,’ said Bill May with the US Department of State, Public Diplomacy IT Office. … Whether it's education, public diplomacy, or social gatherings, many professionals see the value of the virtual world.”

RELATED ITEMS

Allison Barber's Many "No-Nos": The Pentagon's PR Slush Fund - Diane Farsetta, CounterPunch: Among the Inspector General's report's major findings are that America Supports You (ASY), a Pentagon program launched in 2004, ostensibly to boost troop morale, was run in a "questionable and unregulated manner ... not consistent with the program's primary objective"; that Susan Davis International, the PR firm that was paid $8.8 million "to promote or 'brand' the ASY program," used taxpayer money inappropriately; that $9.2 million in ASY funding was funneled through the military newspaper Stars and Stripes, against Pentagon rules and with such inadequate oversight that officials "lost visibility of about $4.1 million"; and that a private non-profit established under the ASY name "creat[es] confusion" between it and the Defense Department program, implying government endorsement and "presenting additional liability for any misuse of donations" by the private group.

U.S. Training in Africa Aims to Deter Extremists
- Eric Schmitt, New York Times: Thousands of miles from the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan, another side of America’s fight against terrorism is unfolding in this remote corner of West Africa. A recent exercise by the United States military here was part of a wide-ranging plan, developed after the Sept. 11 attacks, to take counterterrorism training and assistance to places outside the Middle East, like the Philippines and Indonesia. In Africa, a five-year, $500 million partnership between the State and Defense Departments includes Algeria, Chad, Mauritania, Mali, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Tunisia, and Libya is on the verge of joining.

Human rights and state power – Editorial, Boston Globe: “We hope Obama will stretch the definition of the national interest to include a panoply of actions, short of war, to defend universal human rights.”

Shoehorning the Bush Legacy - Ivan Eland, Antiwar.com: Bush's presidency has tracked mud all over the American reputation abroad and driven a stiletto into the heart of the American republic at home.

Judge: Iraqi Shoeman Beaten - TruthDig (from the Guardian): The Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at George Bush was beaten afterwards and had bruises on his face, the investigating judge in the case said today, as a senior cleric in Iran urged others to wage a “shoe intifada” against the US. The reporter, Muntazer al-Zaidi, had bruises on his face and around his eyes, said the judge, Dhia al-Kinani said. Zaidi was wrestled to the ground after throwing the shoes during a Sunday press conference by Bush and the Iraqi prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki. He remains in custody and is expected to face charges of insulting a foreign leader.