December 7

“condilences”

--What the US Secretary of State should express, according to a reader of Princess Sparkle Pony's Photo Blog

"I find that Arabic calligraphy is beautiful.”

--An American student of the Middle East, in an e-mail to this blog's compiler

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Public diplomacy: measuring the movement of the needle - Kim Andrew Elliott Discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy: "In contrast to public diplomacy, the role of international broadcasting is informing rather than persuading its audiences. The communication process of international broadcasting is subtle and takes place over the long term. Because the content focuses on news and current affairs rather than entertainment, it will not typically have mass appeal.”

Holmes: Hard-liners embracing soft power - Rick Holmes, Daily News Tribune, MA: “By Bush's second term, generals were stressing that no amount of soldiers or weaponry could pacify Iraq unless there was progress on the political front. Those on the front lines of the war on terror started noting that you don't win a war of ideas by killing people. Now it's the hard-liners who are talking loudest about soft power. ‘Arguing for the soft-power piece is a little bit running against type,’ Michael Chertoff, director of Homeland Security told the Wall Street Journal last week, but ‘I think when you are in this job, you see that you want to use all of the elements of power.’ ‘We can't kill or capture our way to victory,’ James Glassman



, a veteran of conservative think tanks who now serves as undersecretary of state for public diplomacy told columnist Mort Kondracke. ‘So what we do is fight this war with 'soft power,' with ideas, images, words and deeds.’"

America’s Failures in the fight for hearts and minds of the Islamic world - Homeland Security Blogwatch: "Public Diplomacy, the communication of the nation’s values and policies, was a critical weapon during the Cold War. But today, the US might as well be shooting blanks in the battle for hearts and minds in the Muslim world. Seven years after the Towers fell, American public diplomacy is still short on vision, and cash. The result is that terrorists hiding in the mountains of Afghanistan are running a more focused public relations campaign than the US. Today, anti-Americanism is at an all-time high, as the U.S. government struggles to get its message out to the world. But the U.S. does have a history of successful public diplomacy — when the chips are down, the U.S. has been able to explain itself and its policy to foreign audiences."


The diplomatic marathon runner - Slovak Spectator, Slovakia: South Korean Ambassador Park Young-Kyu: “I love the Slovak nature, especially the Tatra mountains, as the Slovak landscape is very similar to Korea’s. I also try to promote mutual understanding by talking to the Slovak people, especially university students, about Korea and Slovak–Korean relations. This kind of public diplomacy is very important part of my job. Obviously, my first priority is to expand and further facilitate our economic relations. Without the Korean companies coming to Slovakia, we would not have an embassy here.”

מהם האתגרים בניהול שיווק מדיני - Mention of Public Diplomacy.


The gipper - Paul Rockower, Levantine: “I went out to the Reagan Library with my friend Dr. Kenya to do some research on my ‘Let Poland’ paper. I had to stop by the Center for Public Diplomacy to pick up a book, then I figured I could catch the campus shuttle down to Union Station.”