October 31

“I have been always fascinated by the cleverness of the American propaganda techniques, in that very case I find it amazing that they actually announce it.”

--Russian blogger axinia

"Very strange story out of Washington. . . . The Secret Service, they arrested a man who climbed over the White House fence. True story. Yeah. The Secret Service told the man: 'Get back here, Mr. President, you have two more months.'"

--Talk show host Conan O'Brien

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Petraeus Proposed Visiting Syria: VP Refused him Permission – Josh, Syria Comment: Blog quotes a report by James Denselow, Guardian, Thursday October 30: “The bad cop decision to conduct a special forces raid into Syria appears to be rapidly backfiring. Indeed the decision by Washington to offer no public diplomacy has allowed the Syrians, perhaps the least media friendly of all Middle Eastern states, to control the agenda.”

Syria files UN Security Council complaint after US raid - Men's News Daily, CA: “In a press briefing on Tuesday, James K. Glassman, the Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, refused to comment on the raid. The United States Department of State (DoS) has issued no official comment.”

US-Lebanon relations 'robust' and 'growing' – [United States ambassador to Lebanon, Michele] Sison: Ambassador describes America's efforts to help build this country's institutions - Nicholas Kimbrell, Daily Star: “Q: Going back to non-military aid, are there any programs that you would like to highlight? A: In the last two years there's now been, we're talking about $1.3 billion. So about 40 percent of that is on the security side, which means that the other 60 percent is in economic growth, education, support for civil society, support to women's groups, scholarship programs, exchange programs ...These are the enduring people-to-people ties that knit this relationship together and this is really the bread and butter of what a large part of the team here is involved in through the Middle East Partnership Initiative exchanges and programs, through a variety of democracy and humans rights funded programs, through the public diplomacy program. Q: I'm interested by the State Department's interest in a free and independent media in Lebanon. Are there any specific programs? A: There've been a number of journalist training programs as well as exchanges where journalists go to the United States ...”

McComack statement: US playing with people's minds - Peter Chimutsa, Zimbawe Guardian: “Dear Editor: I was shocked to read the latest statement by Sean McComack of the US Department of State with regards to Zimbabwe. This public diplomatic approach of the US is now getting ridiculous. How can a country that has imposed sanctions on a country be concerned about the suffering people? What rank hypocrisy!”

Attaching real purpose to US foreign aid - Steven W. Barnes, Daily Star, Lebanon: “In its waning months, the Bush administration has mapped out a communications and outreach strategy designed to win the so-called 'war of ideas' against Al-Qaeda and related groups, and the candidates, their advisers, and independent analysts have outlined plans, proffered advice, and published reports detailing how to more broadly improve US public diplomacy efforts. But what has been missing - or, more accurately, under-emphasized - on the road to November 4 is the role America's economic and political development programs may play in forging stronger ties between foreign publics and the US. Lawrence Gostin, a professor of global health law at Georgetown University, pointed out in a recent paper, ‘International Development Assistance for Health: Ten Priorities for the Next President,’ that the World Health Organization estimates that tens of millions of lives would be saved worldwide with moderate increases in foreign aid.”

America Defends Itself on the Internet – Kommersant: "A briefing was held in Washington on Tuesday on 'U.S. Public Diplomacy and the War of Ideas.' Under Secretary of State James Glassman spoke about the work of 'digital outreach teams' that will work to improve the image of the United States and fight extremist propaganda on the Internet. Those teams may begin activity on the Russian-language segment of the Internet. They were set up a few years ago to combat myths and disinformation on Arabic-language blogs and ‘talk about American policy, correct mistakes that are being made, and refer people back to factual documents’ . … The digital teams work in Arabic, Farsi and Urdu now, but Glassman said the hiring of Russian-language specialists is under consideration. Russian officials have not officially reacted to that possibility. Russian bloggers are discussing it very actively, however.”

US starts the “war of ideas” on Russian Internet - axinia, 1000petals…Open a new petal every day!: “And now they are focusing on Russia. After the terror-suspected Arabic, Persian, and Urdu-speaking nations, US Department of State has officially launched the 'war of ideas' on Russian Internet. … extremism. How does it exactly work? The members of the Digital Outreach Team enter into digital conversations online either on other people’s blogs or other websites. Apparently they identify themselves as working for the United States Government and they are participating in the conversation. (I wonder if they will always do that!?). Russian bloggers notice that the 'agents' not merely discuss the American policy, but express their keen interest in the bloggers themselves, their connections, their mood… Basically being very ‘caring guys.’"

Знак предсказанной неуправляемости - "война идей" / A sign of predicted mismanagement - "the war of ideas" - Nikolay Kryachkov, KnowledgePerson.com blog - ”In 2002 I said about text viruses as the method of war in intellectual (knowledge based) socioeconomic type where subject of work is human being (thinking), result of work is behavior (actions), object of capital's competition is educational programmes (health, knowledge). … James K. Glassman speaks about the 'universal values such as tolerance'. But how to connect tolerance and war? It looks like spreading text viruses (contradictive activity).”

Somalia: Why VOA Re-established its service in Somalia - Abdullahi Mohamed, Geeska Afrika, Somalia: "Former US Ambassador to Ethiopia David Shinn, speaking 'Islam and Conflict in the Horn of Africa,' said it is vital to reorient US approaches to the region. He called for greater public diplomacy (people-to-people) efforts and radio broadcasts in more languages that will reach a wider audience. With Arabic the principal language in Sudan and spoken widely along the Red Sea and Indian Ocean coasts, Shinn said, 'it is inexplicable' that the US government's principal overseas radio broadcaster, the Voice of America (VOA), no longer broadcasts in the language. Instead, VOA's Arabic language service has been supplanted by 'Radio Sawa,' a VOA commercial enterprise that 'focuses on the Middle East and reportedly does not even reach the Horn of Africa,' she explained. Given the interests of the United States in dealing with terrorism in the region, Shinn said, 'it is equally inexplicable that the Voice of America has not yet established a service in Somali, a language spoken throughout Somalia/Somaliland and parts of Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti.'"

The Great Pumpkin — A Halloween Look At U.S. Public Diplomacy and International Broadcasting – QuoVadis, FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog: “If, as the polls indicate, Senator Biden becomes our next vice-president, election eve, particularly for international broadcasters yet employed by the U.S. government, could conjure up some mighty frightening figures and events from the past. Although known more for his verbal gaffes, Senator Biden has a foreign policy gaffe or two in his portfolio, most prominently, responsibility for the dissolution of the U.S. Information Agency in the late ’90’s and the ‘reorganization’ of international broadcasting after the Cold War with the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act.”

How We Almost Killed Public Diplomacy – Broadnax, World-Wide-Matel: “The golden age of public diplomacy came during the Cold War. Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty were effective alternative media for those countries trapped behind the Iron Curtain. The government also created the United States Information Agency (USIA) to carry out a broad range of information programs. Republican and Democratic Administrations supported this. … When 9/11 happened … we found that we no longer had enough wing tips on the ground overseas and a decade of neglect had allowed our network of contacts to atrophy. … Rebuilding American diplomatic capacity began soon after 9/11. … It will be a good time to look for a job in the Foreign Service, but our government will be paying for mistakes of the 1990s for the next ten years.”

Making Diplomacy Public – Matt Armstrong, MountainRunner: “It is essential the public, both foreign and domestic, be realized as central to the enduring psychological struggle of minds and wills. They are not only the target the persuasion from information activities to cultural and educational exchanges, but the agents of influence themselves.”

Two Public diplomacy reports you probably haven’t read - Matt Armstrong, MountainRunner:“Two reports I wanted to throw out into the wild for discussion. I’ll discuss more later post. Brand Sweden: The road to an updated image of Sweden abroad. … The Public Diplomacy Of Other Countries:Implications For The United States [1979].”

Marketing Uncle Sam - Nina, Nina in Washington „Das Image der USA im Ausland ist – um es glimpflich auszudrücken – am Boden. George W. Bush hat seinen erheblichen Teil dazu beigetragen. Die Lösung des Problems heißt Public Diplomacy. Bei einer Buchvorstellung samt Panel Diskussion versuchten Public Diplomacy Experten darzulegen, wie das Image im Ausland auf Vordermann gebracht werden kann, und (dank meinem Beitrag zur Diskussion) welche Auswirkungen das Ergebnis der Präsidentschaftswahl auf das Image hat.“

花薄ビルを囲みて揺れにけり- maple 217, ニューヨー句: Mention of public diplomacy.

ACLU names diplomat S.C. executive director – State, SC: “The American Civil Liberties Union today announced the appointment of Victoria Middleton, a career U.S. diplomat, as the new executive director of its South Carolina office. … Middleton, a graduate of Pennsylvania’s Bryn Mawr College and the University of California at Berkeley, spent 21 years as a public diplomacy officer for the State Department. In that role, she worked to advance U.S. policies and promote mutual understanding in the Philippines, India, Estonia, the Czech Republic and Finland.”

ABOVE MURALS FROM: Digital Art Brings Back WWII Propaganda -- With a Twist: St. Louis artist Mark Florida re-imagines World War II propaganda through a modern lens in a photography and digital media exhibit at phd, a gallery at 2300 Cherokee Street by Philip Hitchcock.

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Could an Obama Win Restore America's Global Image? Obama Candidacy Helps Revive America's Sagging Image Abroad - Lara Setrakian, ABC News: If the world could vote, Barack Obama would win by a landslide. Via

Security Should Be the Deciding Issue - Frederick W. Kagan, Wall Street Journal: "The next president will not break the string of fighting presidents. He will inherit two ongoing wars involving more than 180,000 troops. He will face two global enemies -- al Qaeda and Iranian terror networks, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps/Quds Force and Hezbollah. The world today offers no reason for Americans to feel safe. If we want safety, we have to be ready to fight for it.

How They Would Lead - David Von Drehle, Time: The extraordinary powers of the presidency await either Barack Obama or John McCain. So do a grim national mood and a challenging global order. McCain photo from

Making Excuses for Obama: The mythology of good intentions – Justin Raimondo, Antiwar.com: Those who are working to effect a fundamental change in American foreign policy have a duty to take Obama at his word -- hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst.

U.S. agencies wait for bin Laden message - United Press: What Happens After Election Day? Memo to Progressives for Obama - Joshua Frank, Counterpunch: “Will the antiwar movement work to force Obama to take a softer approach toward Iran? Will they stop the troop increase in Afghanistan? These are but a few of the questions I'd like progressive supporters of Obama to answer.”

U.S. agencies wait for bin Laden message - UPI: U.S. intelligence agencies expect al-Qaida to release a message from Osama bin Laden just before or after next week's presidential election, ABC News reports. Sources told ABC that intelligence analysts believe bin Laden's followers may consider him irrelevant if he is not heard from at such a critical time.

Duplicity in Damascus : The complicated relationship between Syria and al Qaeda - David Schenker, Weekly Standard: Support for terrorism appears to be intrinsic to the regime. Given this dynamic, U.S. diplomacy with Damascus stands little chance of success.

New tack with the Taliban - Editorial, Boston Globe: The best way of reducing the Taliban threat to manageable proportions is to divide and conquer: Pull independent local commanders away from the fanatical true believers of the Taliban, and subtract as many tribal groups as possible from the orbit of Al Qaeda. If successful, this is the strategy most likely to accommodate the interests not only of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the United States, but also of more indirectly concerned countries such as India, Russia, and Iran.

Expanding War, Contracting Meaning: The Next President and the Global War on Terror - Andrew J. Bacevich, TomDispatch:
The Global War on Terror has effectively ceased to exist. When it comes to national security strategy, we need to start over from scratch.

Presidential Candidates Inspire Wave Of Pop Art – NPR: No other presidential election cycle has matched this year in terms of visual propaganda and paraphernalia. The use of political images can shape not only elections but an entire cultural sensibility. For analysis, Farai Chideya speaks with two experts on the subject: Deborah Willis -- professor of photography and imaging at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts -- and Steven Seidman, chair of the Department of Strategic Communication at Ithaca College in New York. video, "From Hope to Hero: Political Art In Election 2008."

Top 10 Propaganda Videos - Jimmy, Comments for The List Universe

Name the Propaganda – Nathaniel Bluedorn, The Fallacy Detective News - Here are three videos featuring three propaganda techniques. Can you name them? 1. “Yes We Can” Music Video 2. Vote Different 3. Dear Mr. Obama

Are Americans getting dumber? – Joel Stein, Los Angeles Times: So what if people no longer know state capitals and water boilin'? The age of a finite set of information to master is long over. Instead, we know how to problem-solve and filter information better than our grandparents ever did.

ONE MORE QUOTATION FOR THE DAY

“Finally -- skipping past the wars-in-waiting, which are Syria and Iran -- there is Condi's war. This clash, which does not directly involve U.S. forces, may actually be the most important of all. The war that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has made her own is the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Having for years dismissed the insistence of Muslims, Arabs and non-Arabs alike, that the plight of the Palestinians constitutes a problem of paramount importance, Rice now embraces that view. With the fervor of a convert, she has vowed to broker an end to that conflict prior to leaving office in January 2009.

Given that Rice brings little -- perhaps nothing -- to the effort in the way of fresh ideas, her prospects of making good as a peacemaker appear slight. Yet, as with Bush and Iraq, so too with Rice and the Palestinian problem: she has a lot riding on the effort. If she flops, history will remember her as America's least effective secretary of state since Cordell Hull spent World War II being ignored, bypassed, and humiliated by Franklin Roosevelt. She will depart Foggy Bottom having accomplished nothing."

--Andrew J. Bacevich; See also: John Brown, "'10 Percent Intellectual': The Mind of Condoleezza Rice," PR Watch.org, Center for Media and Democracy; "Condoleezza Rice: Biographies by Bumiller and Mabry," American Diplomacy

October 30

"[America] is renewal, the place where impossible stories get written. It is the overcoming of history, the leaving behind of war and barriers, in the name of a future freed from the cruel gyre of memory. It is reinvention, the absorption of one identity in something larger -- the notion that 'out of many, we are truly one.'”

--Commentator Roger Cohen; photo: Madonna on her Reinvention World Tour

“I do not reinvent myself at every turn.”

--George W. Bush, 1980, at the Republican National Convention

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Transcript of Blogger Roundtable with Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Jim Glassman 28 Oct 2008 - U.S. State Department: James Glassman: "And today as the administration prepares to leave office, there's a strategy, there's a platform, there's a new way of doing business in place that are ready for the next administration. And I think an important question is what are the vulnerabilities of … strategy, platform and program. And I think there are really two. One is that there is a need for a scaling up of resources in public diplomacy and certainly in the war of ideas part of public diplomacy. … The second topic is Columbia. I just came back from Columbia. ... And the reason that I went was I felt that Columbia had a good deal to teach us in our war of ideas efforts in other parts of the world.” Transcript via

Alberto Fernandez on US public diplomacy to Sudan - Kim Andrew Elliott Discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy. Islam on Line interview with Alberto Fernandez, the American charge d’affaires in Sudan, "one of the few who speak fluent Arabic at the State Department": "Islam on Line: What role has public diplomacy played in attempts to normalize relations between the US and Sudan? Fernandez: That is a better question I think for the Sudanese rather than for me. I think we are very active in public diplomacy in Sudan. We are being very aggressive about speaking with the press in Arabic and we make ourselves available. I certainly make myself available, sometimes I think more than I would like to the Sudanese press so they certainly have opportunities to ask me all kind of questions, negative questions and hostile questions, whatever they want, and we try to answer them as seriously and respectfully as possible. We also try to do as much outreach as we can in the public diplomacy field with the Sudanese people, for example, we are renovating the Ali Dinar museum in El-Fisher in Darfur which was the palace of the last sultan of Darfur and is a very lovely little museum there. We are doing other things as well. I am still frustrated that we haven’t re-established education exchange programs with Sudan."

Defining Public Diplomacy: Preparing for a new Administration - Matt Armstrong, MountainRunner: “[S]trategic communication targets both US and non-US audiences while public diplomacy targets only non-US audiences. Of course the bifurcation of global engagement by the U.S. is artificial, uniquely American, quaint, and ultimately not based on historical realities or modern requirements. … Rebuilding the arsenal of persuasion is difficult, but it is even more so when people can’t 'hang their hat' on an idea. We need an organizing principle and an organizing principal.”

Leadership & Vision (Seminar Day 6) – Broadnax, World-Wide-Matel: “One of my colleagues speculated about how the events around the Iraq war might have unfolded differently if we had sufficient diplomatic infrastructure on the ground in Germany & France to carry out strong public relations and diplomatic programs. … I am convinced that we had significant problems with public diplomacy after 9/11 because our public diplomacy infrastructure was so decimated in the 1990s and spread too thin.“

United States Experiments with African Command - Chris Janiec, Policy Innovations: “The Pentagon's newfound attention to Africa has been greeted with skepticism, both at home and in Africa, as the search for a country willing to host AFRICOM headquarters dominated initial discussions. Given the sheer size of Africa and the operational value of having personnel on the continent, a headquarters in Africa would have been preferable, but the legacy of colonialism and a lackluster public diplomacy campaign hampered the search process. As a result, the command will be based in Germany for the foreseeable future.” PHOTO: AFRICOM Commander William Ward inspects Ghanaian troops.

The arts of politics: Cultural groups say a lot is riding on presidential, Senate races - Rich Copley, Herald-Leader: "Americans for the Arts Action Fund, a bipartisan arts advocacy group, tried to take the artistic temperatures of the major-party presidential candidates, Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona and Democratic Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois. The fund's ArtsVote report detailed the candidates' positions on the arts … The Obama statement includes plans to reinvest in arts education to 'reinvigorate the kind of creativity and innovation that has made this country great,' promote 'cultural diplomacy' through artist exchanges with other countries, streamline visa requirements for artists and arts students visiting from other countries, provide health care and tax relief for artists, and support increased funding for the National Endowment for the Arts."

Baseball Great Cal Ripken, Jr. to Travel to Nicaragua - harpBlaster.com News Wire: “The US State Department says baseball great Cal Ripken, Jr., will visit Nicaragua in mid-November in his role as an American public diplomacy envoy. A statement issued Wednesday says Ripken will make the five-day trip with Nicaraguan native Dennis Martinez, who played with Ripken for the Baltimore Orioles.”

Joe Lieberman - What Would A McCain Presidency Do? - FORA.tv: “Lieberman and his fellow panelists focus on how McCain would approach public diplomacy, trade, energy independence, and confronting America's adversaries. Date: Wed, 03 Sep 2008.”

Kinderkrankheiten chinesischer Public Diplomacy - mrpresident, Hotel Villa de Art: Infidel’s Premium Choice

India's Flawed Regional Diplomacy at work in Sri Lanka - Madhavi Bhasin, American Chronicle: Madhavi Bhasin is a Doctoral Researcher at the Jadavpur University, India. Currently based in California and working on Indo-U.S. Missile Defense Cooperation and India's Public Diplomacy Strategy.

Beyond the Museum: Asmat bisj-poles gain new meaning in a Papuan refugee protest in Melbourne - Kipley Nink, Inside Indonesia, Indonesia: “Among the most spectacular exhibits in the [Michael Rockefeller] collection is a wall of nine bisj-poles, traditionally carved from the buttress of a mangrove tree to honour recently killed warriors in some Asmat communities. … The Rockefeller exhibition is just one example of the way in which bisj-poles have become divorced from their original context and meaning. More recently, they have been reproduced by non-Asmat people to represent West Papuan and Indonesian art, appearing on T-shirts and key rings and in carvings at significant sites such as Jakarta’s Sukarno-Hatta airport. They have also been used outside Indonesia to promote tourism and cultural diplomacy.“

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Still No. 1 - Robert Kagan, Washington Post: The evidence of American decline is weak. America's image is certainly damaged, as measured by global polls, but the practical effects of this are far from clear.

Virtual JFK: The 44th President’s Foreign Policy Challenge - James G. Blight and janet M. Lang, Truthdig: If Americans elect the candidate whose bottom line is avoiding a military defeat, as it was for LBJ and as it is for John McCain, they will probably raise the odds of enduring many more military defeats. If, on the other hand, they elect the candidate whose bottom line is avoiding disastrous war, as it was for JFK and as it is for Barack Obama, they will probably increase the odds of meaningful victory -- a “victory,” that is, in Niebuhr’s sense, meaning having not made matters worse, and perhaps having made them a little better.

Bush's booby traps for Obama: The Bush administration is leaving behind foreign policy tripwires that could blow up on the next president - Rosa Brooks, Los Angeles Times: Tripwires in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan.

Fork in the Road: Where Obama will lead if he goes left on foreign policy - Clifford D. May, National Review: With only a few exceptions (e.g. paleo-conservative Pat Buchanan and libertarian Ron Paul), going right has come to mean grasping that the West is engaged in a conflict as consequential as those that were fought against Nazism and Communism. If Obama is the next president and if, as Peggy Noonan suggests he is more likely to “go left in foreign relations,” we should at least understand where that will lead us.

America’s Military Attack in Syria -- Possible Reasons and Likely Costs: Daniel Levy, Prospects for Peace: A general effort seems to be afoot, now extended from the Afghan-Pakistan border region to the Iraq-Syria border with regard to U.S. military freedom of action in cross border missions. The Bush Administration has probably managed to yet further complicate the work of its successor in the Middle East with this latest act.

Syrian haven for killers, then and now - Rafael Medoff , Jerusalem Post: While the Bush administration has designated Syria a sponsor of terrorism and imposed the requisite sanctions, Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and her aides recently met with Syrian officials to seek a "thaw" in relations. Does this week's US air raid demonstrate a rejection of the "thaw" approach or does it simply reflect the latest bump in an ongoing tug of war within the administration over how to deal with Syria?

Iraq Condemns US Raid on Syrian Village: American troops used Iraqi territory as 'staging ground' for attack - Patrick Cockburn, Independent/Common Dreams

US Cutoff Threat Unlikely to Save Iraq Troop Pact - Gareth Porter, Antiwar.com: Shaping the Iraqi political response to the US-Iraq status of forces agreement is the perception that the proposed agreement is the same type of unequal military relationship that Iraq had with the British for decades.

Auditors: Private security in Iraq cost over $6B - Associated Press, International Herald Tribune: No one knows for sure, but auditors think the United States has paid well over $6 billion to private security companies who have been guarding diplomats, troops, Iraqi officials and reconstruction workers in Iraq.

Nothing else matters: Iraqi heavy metal returns - Charles Levinson, USA TODAY: 250 Iraqi fans of heavy metal music fearlessly donned eye shadow, anarchist pendants and black T-shirts and came out of hiding to attend Iraq's first metal concert in five years.

Iraqi Party Comes to the United States – Spin of the Day, Center for Media and Democracy: The Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq is launching a public campaign in the United States, "to educate and raise awareness of the goals of the leading Shiite political party that opposes Muqtada al-Sadr's group." The Council will spend an estimated $20,000 per month, to educate U.S. policymakers and the general public on "Iraqi Islamic culture."

Who's Behind the Council for a Democratic Iran? Who's Behind the Council for a Democratic Iran?: - Spin of the Day, Center for Media and Democracy: “The Virginia-based Council for a Democratic Iran (CDI) … [has] a major new contract with the Livingston Group lobbying and PR firm … CDI's founder, Dr. Behrooz Behbudi, ‘seems to be aligned with military hawks.’ In 2007, he ‘bought $250,000 worth of ads in major North American newspapers denouncing Iran's Muslims leaders and 'terrorists' and 'fascists' and warning they are a direct threat to the U.S. and Canada.’"

Lovely Obama Musical Propaganda - Petite Maoiste

More Fun with Obama Propaganda – Federal Review: A little something you can use on your own, homemade armband.

Viva la Propaganda: Political Art, October 18 - November 22, 2008 – Bear And Bird Boutique+Gallery: Our current exhibition is called "Viva la Propaganda" and features all different kinds of political artwork by South Florida artists.

October 29

"QUESTION: Just quickly, how much money are you spending? How much money is this, like, initiative of the war of ideas? Can you quantify it?

UNDER SECRETARY GLASSMAN: It’s not much. I will say that much."

--Briefing on U.S. Public Diplomacy and the War of Ideas by James K. Glassman, Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. LEFT: Book by Mr. Glassman (French translation)

"Earn it, Doc!"

--Tommy the Tank, Dr. Condoleezza Rice's fitness trainer

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Analysts Question Timing of Syria Raid - Ali Gharib, Antiwar.com: "A cross-border raid into Syria by U.S. forces in Iraq and subsequent stonewalling by U.S. officials unwilling to divulge details have led to rampant speculation among U.S. analysts about the origins and meaning of the attack. In retaliation, Syria shut down a U.S. school and cultural center in Damascus."

U.S. Embassy in Damascus may close - Reuters, International Herald Tribune

Briefing on U.S. Public Diplomacy and the War of Ideas - James K. Glassman, Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, U.S. Department of State: ”In the war of ideas, our core task is not to fix foreigners’ perceptions of the United States, but to isolate and reduce the threat of violent extremism, not with bombs and bullets, of course, but with words, images, and deeds. And as I said, it’s about them, not about us.”

The War of Ideas and a CSM Op-Ed – GlobalPerspective, Reinventing Public Diplomacy: "In James Glassman's briefing on the War of Ideas, the State Department provided an update on its vision for public diplomacy and its engagement strategy. … While I agree with the premise of Glassman's vision, I find the characterization of a black and white world of ‘us’ and ‘them’ concerning. How can it only be about ‘them’ if it's ‘their’ perception of ‘us’ that we need to change in order to take away ‘their’ motivation and capability to do us harm? How can it only be about ‘them,’ if the United States seeks to draw on universal values and norms to bolster the ‘us’ position among international partners?”

Strategic Communication vs. Public Diplomacy vs. Dialogue - Bud Goodall, COMOPS Journal: “I applaud Under Secretary Glassman’s willingness to share his ideas about the relationship of strategic communication to public diplomacy. But I worry that viewing SC as a subset of PD, and that tying all forms and practices of SC to dialogue reifies an outdated way of thinking about communication. Strategic communication operates in a 'rugged landscape' that is more complex than a conversation or dialogue. Continuing to think of SC in those terms is both theoretically muddled and pragmatically too simplistic.”

Obama's victory a "great thing": Glassman – Press Trust of India: “The victory of Democrat nominee Barack Obama in the US Presidential elections would be a "great thing" for the country, a senior state department official said. ‘... I'm not endorsing a particular candidate here... But I think it would be a 'great thing' for the US to elect an African-American,’ Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy, James Glassman said. But for that matter Glassman also emphasis that it would be great to have a woman as President or vice President.” See also.

US opens media facility in Brussels - Vanessa Macdonald, di-ve.com: “The US has opened a media facility in Brussels, offering the 12,000 journalists working there the chance to organise interviews with the many senior officials passing through this busy capital city. The facility is one of the latest initiatives by the Secretary of State, which has given public diplomacy a much higher profile during George Bush’s second term. … Another initiative is green diplomacy, which Dr [Colleen] Graffy [deputy assistant for public diplomacy at the Secretary of State] described in a recent webchat as ‘our effort to engage on environmental issues with the people of other countries in a way that communicates our values, culture and policies.’” Colleen Graffy, March 22, 2006:
“I came to London on a 'detainee propaganda defensive'. Before I went to Guantánamo, I had been on Radio 4's Today programme following the ‘interview’ of current detainee Fawzi al-Odah. He described being internally fed ‘using a thicker tube with a metal edge’. The ‘metal edge’ is not exposed metal, as he would want us to believe, but the hospital standard, which is sheathed. It was for this reason that I brought a sample on to Jeremy Vine's Radio 2 programme.” PHOTO: Colleen Graffy

Bush 41 Grownup Repudiates Bush 43 Foreign Policy - Spencer Ackerman, Washington Independent: “Edward Djerejian is a longtime diplomat and confidant of James A. Baker III, the former secretary of state and consigliere to George H.W. Bush. Djerejian was an outsized figure in GOP foreign-policy circles in its pre-neocon days, having been the only U.S. diplomat to serve as ambassador to both Syria and Israel. After leaving government service in the Clinton administration, he became the founding director of Baker’s institute at Rice University, and Colin Powell briefly recalled him to chair a State Dept. panel on public diplomacy during George W. Bush’s first term. In other words, he’s a grownup.”

Two Parties, One Imperial Mission: The US Empire will Survive Bush - Arno Mayer, Counterpunch: “Taking the USAID (United States Agency for International Development), Fulbright Programme and Congress for Cultural Freedom of the anti-Communist cold war as their model, the stalwarts of the new global war on terror have created equivalents in the State Department's Millenni[ium] Challenge and Middle East Partnership Initiative. The defense department enlists universities through Project Minerva to help with the new model counterinsurgency warfare and unconventional military state-building operations. … The [American] empire has extraordinary reserves of hard and soft power for persisting in its interventionism." PHOTO: Arno Mayer, Professor emeritus, Princeton University.

In Georgia, war tanks turn to culture - Dan Catchpole, Washington Times: “Georgia's five-day war with Russia in August proved the futility of fighting Moscow's forces on the battlefield but opened a cultural war for sympathy being waged by combatants on both sides. Mr. [David] Sakvarelidze [38-year-old director of the Tbilisi Opera and Ballet Theater] said he wants to make Tbilisi a jewel of the international arts community, and in doing so strengthen the West's personal connections with his small country. He and other Georgian artists are trying to defend their country with arias, paintbrushes and clay creations. ‘Art is our weapon,’ Mr. Sakvarelidze said. ‘We have nothing else here.’ Cultural warfare has a long history in the region. During the Cold War, the Voice of America broadcast jazz behind the Iron Curtain." VIA

Foreign and Security Policy in 2009: Expectations, Challenges, Opportunities - Von Klaus-Dieter Frankenberger, Frankfurter Allgemeine faz.net,“My country [Germany] will not be too keen to tighten sanctions [against Iran], in whatever institutional format, and then face again the wrath of major German companies that do business in Iran. Again, it may be possible to do so, but it needs careful preparation and improved public diplomacy.”

Poland: Public and Cultural Diplomacy Conference - ISRIA: “On 27-30 October 2008 in Warsaw, the Public and Cultural Diplomacy Conference is taking place in which directors of Polish Institutes are taking part as well as cultural, scientific and press attachés from Polish foreign missions.”

RELATED ITEMS

In Syria, a short-sighted attack – Editorial, Boston Globe: The timing of the cross-border assault could not have been worse. And the justification given - that Syria sacrificed the inviolability of its territory by failing to eliminate the infiltration of would-be fighters and suicide bombers - exhibits disdain for the principles of international law. The next president will have to bring US policy back in compliance with those norms and restore a diplomacy that balances the interests of different powers in the region.

Twilight Struggle: In its closing days, the Bush administration escalates the war on terror - Eli Lake, New Republic: With the clock winding down on the administration, it has a greater appetite for racking up victories against al Qaeda. Obama has said nothing about Sunday's strikes in Syria (a silence that has rightly earned him taunting from the McCain campaign). On one level, this new policy conflicts with Obama's stated desire for opening up diplomatic channels to places like Tehran and Damascus. On the other hand, this is precisely the type of policy that he has repeatedly promised at least for Pakistan.

The World From Berlin: 'Bush's Way of Waving Goodbye to Syria?' – Spiegel: The US says its cross-border raid into Syria killed a top terrorist. Still, international reaction has been intense and critical. While the German government has kept silent, media commentators haven't been shy about lambasting the US.

An Empty Trial at Guantánamo - Andy Worthington, Antiwar.com: Now here's a problem that anyone with half a brain could have seen coming. On Monday the second trial by military commission at Guantánamo -- in other words, the second U.S. "war crimes" trial since the Second World War, following the underwhelming trial of Salim Hamdan this summer -- opened not with a bang, nor even with a whimper, but with complete silence.

Sleepless in Tehran - Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times: “If America wants to get out of Iraq and leave behind a decent outcome, plus break the deadlocks in Lebanon and Israel-Palestine, it needs to end the cold war with Iran. Possible? I don’t know, but the collapse of oil prices should give us a shot.”

Sleepy in Washington - Hooman Majd, Huffington Post: Assuming that one Iranian administration's economic mismanagement will force the Islamic regime to reconsider all of its long-term goals would be a fatal mistake, Mr. Obama, should he become president, would be wise to try to understand Iranians, beyond conventional wisdom and what the "experts" in Washington say.

Yes, We Really Must Talk With Iran - Charles Knight and Chris Toensing, Common Dreams

Washington's new policy towards Iran - Hasan Abu Nimah, Electronic Intifada: Anti-Iranian propaganda in the US and from Israel has played up and often distorted Ahmadinejad's statements about Israel (as well as his statements questioning the veracity of the Holocaust) to stoke fears that Iran intends to attack Israel. The US-led efforts to weaken the "extremists" appear, if anything, to have achieved the opposite. American credibility and prestige have been severely damaged by its failed military adventures in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Israel's in Gaza and Lebanon, while Iran has gained in stature.

'We're not going to win this war' - China Hand, Asia Times: The trends both in the NATO countries and in the key South Asian countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan all point to a consolidation of expert consensus in favor of an Afghanistan change of course and a concurrent media campaign to enlighten and guide the befuddled populace in support of the new policy, all under military direction.

Angry Pakistan Tells America: 'Stop Launching Missile Strikes Over Our Territory' as 20 More Die: Frustrated Pakistani officials have ordered the U.S. to stop firing pilotless missiles over their territory: Daily Mail/UK, Common Dreams

The useless Cuba embargo: America's economic sanctions on Cuba, now 50 years old, are a failure – Editorial, Los Angeles Times: McCain favors business as usual with Cuba, but Barack Obama believes that Cuban Americans should have unrestricted rights to travel to the island and send remittances. Obama's proposals don't go far enough, but they're a good start.

Bush's foreign policy For the next commander in chief - Helle Dale, Washington Times: Time is closing in on the end of the Bush foreign-policy record. When all is said and done, his most important achievement, his essential legacy, was to keep the United States safe from any further terrorist attacks after September 11, despite the terrorists' determined efforts.

Why I support Barack Obama for president - Stuart E. Eizenstat, Jerusalem Post: “I have spent much of my adult life serving in our government to promote America's interests at home and abroad; I have made it a special calling to help Jews around the world, including Holocaust victims, and to strengthen the US-Israel relationship. It is with great pride that I support Senator Barack Obama to be our next president. … His life growing up with a single mother, for a time even on food stamps, embodies the values embodied in the Jewish concept of Tikkun Olam, the obligation to repair the world; to pursue, in the words of our prophets, ‘Justice, Justice; and to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and let the oppressed go free.'”

Al Qaeda in Iraq's Deadly Diaspora: Are Iraq's battle-hardened jihadis exporting their tactics to new fronts? - Bruce Falconer, Mother Jones: In recent months, as politicians, pundits, and military officials have debated the causes of the precipitous decline in violence in Iraq, some prominent terrorism experts (including Peter Bergen and Paul Cruickshank in the March/April 2007 issue of Mother Jones) have begun warning that the relative calm may be giving way to a new threat -- a fresh generation of Al Qaeda, battle-hardened in Iraq and bent on exporting what they've learned to new fronts.

Iraq's blast walls become canvases: 'We want to create a sense of beauty amid this violence,' says Asad Sagheer of Baghdad University's College of Fine Arts. So the gray safety barriers are taking on a colorful life of their own - Jeffrey Fleishman, Los Angeles Times: Painters dispatched by Baghdad University's College of Fine Arts, commissioned by the government to decorate the walls, have in the last 20 months turned them into vast canvases for landscapes, portraits, abstracts, images from ancient Babylonia.

Who Killed Anna Politkovskaya? – Amy Knight, New York Review of Books: Russian journalists have been under more pressure than ever to follow the official line.

Despite Ranking, Tajik Media Freedom More Relative Than Real - Salimjon Aioubov, RFE/RL: it is becoming progressively more difficult to evaluate objectively the media situation across the former Soviet Union, given that the governments in question have had 16 years in which to perfect the art of creating a democratic image that does not reflect reality.

America must lead a rescue of emerging economies - George Soros, Financial Times

Lifting the Shadow: Can Condoleezza Rice Emancipate Herself from Bush? - Marc Hujer, Spiegel: As the disastrous Bush administration drags down its members, only one of them, Condoleezza Rice, has what it takes to survive politically. Ironically, the president's close confidante, who bears part of the responsibility for all of the administration's crises, is the only one who stands a chance of scoring a comeback.

Propaganda Alert: Vikings were not metrosexuals! - Mark A. Rayner, The Skwib: “As the leader of the Noodly Norseman, I feel it is my duty to alert you all that a terrible lie is being spread by the Daily Telegraph (in the UK) that the Vikings were metrosexuals. … As is the case with all effective propaganda, the story is littered with truthful elements. It is true that Vikings washed on a regular basis. It is true that Vikings did not wear horned or winged helmets. It is even true that many Norsemen spent a large part of their time in ‘peaceful activities such as farming, building, writing and illustrating.’ However, it is the big lie, you have to watch out for: … that Norsemen were also stylish trend-setters.’”

IMAGE


Bat-Manga: the lost Japanese Batman comics of 1966 - Boing Boing

October 28

“Yesterday, you made note of my -- the lack of my talent when it came to dancing. But nevertheless, I want you to know I danced with joy. And no question Liberia has gone through very difficult times."

--President George W. Bush, Speaking with the president of Liberia, Washington, D.C., Oct. 22, 2008

"God looks after drunks, little children and the United States of America."

--Bismarck, as quoted by Gore Vidal

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

The State Department, not the Pentagon, should lead America's public diplomacy efforts: Why is the Department of Defense getting so much money and personnel to carry out the mission? - Kristin M. Lord, Christian Science Monitor: “The Pentagon should play an important role in public diplomacy, but as a partner – not the principal. For its part, the Congress should give public diplomats the tools they need to do their jobs, and then hold them accountable.”

Middle East Digest - October 27, 2008 - US Department of State, DC: “QUESTION: Does it not create, at a minimum, a public diplomacy problem for the U.S. Government that there are reports -- multiple in the case of Pakistan -- of U.S. military activities not at least publicly sanctioned and, in fact, publicly rejected and protested against by the Pakistani authorities -- U.S. military actions inside Pakistani territory? Here you have a series of reports which you do not appear to be in a position to deny, suggesting U.S. military activity again inside the territory of the sovereign, you know, country. At a minimum, surely, this is not helpful from the point of view of American public diplomacy in the Arab and Muslim world for there to be reports that you don’t deny of U.S. military forces attacking inside other country’s territory. [STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN] MR. MCCORMACK: Well, look, going all the way back to 2001, the United States and its friends and allies around the world have been – had to do difficult things in the war on terror. This is a tough fight requiring responses across a variety of different areas from diplomatic, to political, to military, to security, to intelligence-sharing, and as well as public diplomacy. And we’ve learned a lot and we have made really important strides in the struggle. And I expect that that’s going to continue over the years.”

Under Secretary of State James K. Glassman to Brief on “War of Ideas” - Notice to the Press, Office of the Spokesman, U.S. State Department: “Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs James K. Glassman will brief on aspects of the ‘War of Ideas’ at 1 p.m. October 28 in the State Department Press Briefing Room (2109). The briefing will detail the background, structure, strategy, and programs used in the public diplomacy realm to combat violent extremism, reduce the threats to America, and to promote freedom across the world.”

Middle East Press Negative on US Attack on Syrian Soil – Juan Cole, Informed Comment: Thoughts on the Middle East, History, and Religion: “The USG Open Source Center surveys the Middle Eastern press reaction to the US raid on Abu al-Kamal in Syria, finding it mostly negative and based on Syrian reports. Lesson: If the US had just gotten word out about its side of the story more quickly and effectively, it might have blunted the generally negative reation in the region. It appears that Washington did no public diplomacy at all around the episode.”

U.S. Democracy Has “Come a Long Way,” State’s [Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs James] Glassman Says: International visitors get up-close look at action in battleground states - Michelle Austein, America.gov: “The 100 visitors from across the globe participating in the I-Vote program, an initiative sponsored by the Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, will get a close view of the political action. In the days leading up to and including Election Day, the participants will observe the political activity in some of the country’s most competitive swing states, including Missouri, Colorado and Ohio.”

Jihad and the Relativist Enemy within - Jeffrey Imm, Family Security Matters, NJ: “From a relativist perspective, ‘engagement’ with some Jihadist groups against other Jihadist groups offers a tactical value in 'regionalized' areas of warfare. Even in the ‘war of ideas,’ James K. Glassman, the U.S. undersecretary of state for public diplomacy tells the Washington Times how he is using the Al-Qaeda renunciations by Sayyed Imam Al-Sharif (aka Dr. Fadl) in a fight against ‘extremists,’ when Al-Sharif continues to call for jihad in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Israel, including the statement by Al-Sharif that 'Jihad in Afghanistan will lead to the creation of an Islamic state with the triumph of the Taliban, God willing.'"

Christopher Shays –The Hour Staff, The Hour Headlines: What are the top three issues facing your district and how would you address them? – “3) We have a national security crisis. Many have lost faith in our government's ability to affect global change, and we face a new set of threats from nuclear proliferation, global terror networks and reckless states. Our next president will have a tremendous opportunity to realign our foreign policy using ‘smart power.’ Military power (hard power) will continue to be a part of our foreign policy, but it is inadequate without simultaneous investment in soft power, which includes: … * Using public diplomacy, technology and innovation to reach global consensus on issues like energy security and climate change.”

The Transition - Charles J. Brown, Undiplomatic: “State: Joe Biden is likely to play a central role in foreign policy decision-making, and may serve as a de facto Secretary of State. … Obama will want someone who can be an effective leader with the capacity to push back against Biden (when necessary). He also should pick someone who can fix what’s wrong with the current bureaucracy, including the challenges facing existing foreign assistance and public diplomacy operations. That pretty much excludes both Kerry and Richardson, who are neither assertive nor reformers.”

London's diversity and public diplomacy – Andy Pryce, UK in USA bloggers, FCO Bloggers: Global conversations: “Are the ties that Londoners, or New Yorkers for that matter, have with other countries the type that allow influence at home? I understand that the Smith-Mundt Act prevents the US from undertaking this type of activity at domestically. But do readers see a benefit in engaging local communities with close ties to other countries? By the way, I would not agree with the definition of public diplomacy given in the Wikipedia entry on Smith-Mundt.”

Obama's childhood home in Indonesia up for sale - Robin Mcdowell, Huffington Post: "Anticipation that Barack Obama may become the next president has sent a steady stream of visitors to the colonial-era Jakarta house he lived in as a child, from potential buyers and journalists to an entrepreneur who wants to turn it into the 'Sweet Home Obama Bar.' Tata Aboe Bakar, the 78-year-old owner, is in no mood to move out. … But with a potential price tag of $3 million - and even more if Aboe Bakar can believe one broker's claims that a U.S. Embassy official is ready to pay five times the market price if Obama wins - he says he'll seriously consider it. Tristram Perry, the embassy's public diplomacy officer, was not aware of any such proposal.”

Australia is examining its international broadcasting as part of ABC review - Kim Andrew Elliott Discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy - Elliott comments: “It seems that some Australians, like some Americans, have trouble grasping the concept of international broadcasting. It should not be the role of Radio Australia and Australia Network to 'build Australia's image.'"

Mark your Calendar for Smith-Mundt Act of 1948: Past, Present, and Future - Matt Armstrong, Mountain Runner: “Mark your calendar for January 13, 2008. That is the confirmed date for ‘The Smith-Mundt Act of 1948: Past, Present, and Future’, a symposium to discuss the legislation on which America’s arsenal of persuasion is anchored. The one-day event will be hosted in Washington, D.C., with the location and co-sponsor all but confirmed. The format remains as before: four 90 minute panels structured to maximize discourse rather than monologues.”

Repairing America's Image: SIS Event Information, Project on Middle East Democracy: Public Diplomacy in the Next US Administration: “Nancy Snow, John Robert Kelley, Rhonda S. Zaharna, Sherry L. Mueller, Moderator: Craig Hayden: Details: Throughout this year's US presidential race, the candidates have made America's standing abroad a important piece of their foreign policy platforms. What changes lie ahead in the way the United States presents itself to the world? The imminent arrival of the next US president opens the possibility of dramatic changes not only in the crafting of America's image but also the receptivity to America's role from overseas. This discussion convenes four panelist-contributors to The Routledge Handbook of Public Diplomacy (Routledge 2008) on the occasion of its release. On the basis of their contributions, they will evaluate the future prospects for American public diplomacy and offer suggestions and insights for its effectiveness.”

17th Annual Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference October 30 - 31, 2008 - Charles Lenchner, Peace in the Middle East: "Transitioning the White House: Challenges and Opportunities for Arab-U.S. Relations". Participants include Ms. Dina Habib Powell - Global Head of Corporate Engagement, Goldman Sachs; former Assistant Secretary for Educational and Cultural Affairs, and Deputy Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, U.S. Department of State; former Assistant to the President for Presidential Personnel, White House.

RELATED ITEMS

The End of International Law? - Robert Dreyfuss, Nation: If it becomes a standard part of U.S. military doctrine that any country can be declared "criminal" and thus lose its sovereignty, then there is no such thing as international law anymore.

Bush's parting shots at Syria: There'll be a new president soon, and he'll inherit the fallout from a U.S. attack inside Syria - Editorial - Los Angeles Times: Bush, it appears, is conducting yet another experiment in Middle Eastern cowboy diplomacy, with the advantage (for him) that if it all blows up, someone else will have to pick up the pieces.

Getting Syrious – Editors, National Review: It must have come as a shock to Assad that, after years of dithering in the face of provocation, the United States decided it had had enough and, in a short, sharp operation, dispatched commandos from Iraq to a village a few miles into Syria.

Mr. Assad's Medicine: After sponsoring terrorism against three of its neighbors, Syria plays the victim when its own border is breached – Editorial, Washington Post: Israel has let Mr. Assad know that it is prepared to respond to his terrorism with strikes against legitimate military targets. Now that the United States has sent the same message, maybe the dictator at last will rethink his strategy.

Hitting Syria, Five Years Late: Soliciting Assad was one of Bush's biggest war mistakes – Review & Outlook, Wall Street Journal: The Syrians interpreted diplomatic accommodation in the face of their anti-American acts as a sign of weakness to exploit. Mr. Obama has promised he'll engage Syria diplomatically as part of an overall effort to end the conflict in Iraq. If he really wants to end the war faster, he'll pick up on Syria where the Bush Administration has now ended.

The strike that shattered US-Syria ties - Sami Moubayed, Asia Times

One Last Bush Doctrine - Dan Froomkin, washingtonpost.com: Belittled domestically, President Bush is flexing his last working muscle: His control over the nation's military. And in so doing, he is adding one last addendum to the ever-changing Bush Doctrine, establishing yet another de facto U.S. policy on his way out the door, and leaving his successor with yet another controversial precedent to wrestle with.

Relief Disaster: Foreign assistance to African nations hard-hit by AIDS could have been the administration's greatest success. Then ideology interfered - Joshua Kurlantzick, Mother Jones

Making America safe for the world - Yu Bin, Asia Times: A specter is haunting the world, a specter of a dangerously growing gap between the United States presidential candidates' promises to make America safer on one hand, and an increasingly poorer, more unstable and more dangerous world on the other.

Why McCain Lost Me - Anne Applebaum, Washington Post: “Barack Obama is indeed the least experienced, least tested candidate in modern presidential history. But at least if he wins, I can be sure that the mobs who cry ‘terrorist’ at the sound of Obama's name will be kept far, far away from the White House.”

Campaign on Empty - Eugene Robinson, Washington Post: On foreign policy, once the centerpiece of McCain's campaign but now mostly an afterthought, McCain promises "victory" in Iraq and Afghanistan without telling war-weary voters how much more time, money or blood he will spend.

Obama, the first-rate Republican; Is there anything the front-runner will not say to become President? No progressive – Alexander Cocokburn, Independent: Whatever drawdown of troops in Iraq that does take place in the event of Obama's victory will be a brief hiccup amid the blare and thunder of fresh "resolve." In the event of Obama's victory, the most immediate consequence overseas will most likely be brusque American imperial reassertion.

The Right Choice? - American Conservative: Traditional conservatives have no clear favorite in the November election. Is there a lesser evil? Should we vote third party? Would we be better off just staying home? TAC asked 18 conservatives, libertarians, and independent thinkers how they plan to vote and why.

Out of Iraq? Not if Bush and Maliki Can Help It - Phyllis Bennis, Antiwar.com: Although much of the nation's attention is captive to the current elections, there's an immediate need for a strong response against the latest round of negotiations that includes, among them opposing any U.S.-Iraq agreement to maintain the U.S. occupation, whether it's for one month or three years.

Between Iraq’s needs and dreams - Roula Khalaf, Financial Times: Too many mistakes committed in Iraq have been driven by an American obsession with timetables that suited US interests but not necessarily those of Baghdad.

Head of Russia Today defends her channel - Kim Andrew Elliott Discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy

Evil Under the Sun: Barack Obama and American exceptionalism - Noemie Emery, Weekly Standard: The United States was formed as the first country to be built on the idea of itself as a prime moral actor, on behalf of itself, and the world. America's heroes have always believed that evil exists, and the United States exists to confront it. How will America -- and the world -- fare with a president who rejects this tradition? We may be about to find out.

The End of the American Road: The New Neo-Con Reality - Paul Graig Roberts, Counterpunch: Looking at his defeated adversary, George W. Bush, brought down by military and economic failure, Iranian President Ahmadinejad observed: “The American empire in the world is reaching the end of its road, and its next rulers must limit their interference to their own borders.” Truer words were never spoken.

Airport security in America is a sham -- “security theater” designed to make travelers feel better and catch stupid terrorists. Smart ones can get through security with fake boarding passes and all manner of prohibited items -- as our correspondent did with ease - Jeffrey Goldberg, Atlantic: The TSA budget is almost $7 billion. That money would be better spent on the penetration of al-Qaeda social networks.

U.S. spy agencies spent $47.5 billion in fiscal 2008 – USA Today: U.S. spy agencies spent $47.5 billion in fiscal year 2008, $4 billion more than in the previous budget year, according to National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell.

"Darker Shades of Red: Official Soviet Propaganda from the Cold War" on Display at Handwerker Gallery - Cheryl Kramer, Intercom: "Darker Shades of Red: Official Soviet Propaganda from the Cold War" is currently on display at the Handwerker Gallery [at Ithaca College]. The exhibition provides an opportunity to revisit the Cold War era through an exploration of the Soviet Union's official imagery. Strikingly graphic in its socialist imagery, the collection reveals the economic, social, and political ideology of the Soviet Union from the 1940s to 1991.

October 27

“Mr. Brown, Your article about 'Public Diplomacy Goes ‘Pubic'' caught our attention here at the Consulate General of Israel in New York and we would like to offer our Consul for Media and Public Affairs, David Saranga, who spearheaded the ‘Maxim Project’ to speak and/or give a presentation on Israel's Branding Efforts … . Due to the fact that Mr. Saranga is a diplomatic, he does not charge an honorarium or speaking fee. … I look forward to hearing from you. All the best, Keren Gelfand, Senior Press Officer, Consulate General of Israel, 800 Second Ave. New York, NY 10017"

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

The Pentagon's new Iraq propaganda: The US is spending $300m to 'engage and inspire' Iraqis. That's not the way to win hearts and minds – John Brown, Guardian: “In a speech last November, [Secretary of Defense] Gates did say another agency - the state department - should get more funding for its soft-power activities, which include public diplomacy programmes like its neglected educational and cultural exchanges. Little noticed in Gates's widely acclaimed remarks, however, was his statement: 'Don't get me wrong, I'll be asking for yet more money for defence next year.' Part of the money Gates intends to spend, as the Washington Post reported recently, is for a $300m, three-year effort to 'engage and inspire' Iraq's population to support its government and US policies through a variety of programmes ranging from media products to entertainment (an additional $15m a year would be spent polling Iraqis).”

Brand America, Meanwhile, Faces Its Own Transition - Thom Forbes, MediaPost Publications: Few observers dispute that Brand America is not as highly regarded in other countries as it has been in the past. The Economist is hosting a debate Sunday afternoon in New York on the subject.

Forecasters Race to Call the Bottom to the Market - Michael M. Grynbaum, New York Times: “One of the few times that a financial strategist has been widely taken to task came in 1999, when Kevin A. Hassett and James K. Glassman published 'Dow 36,000: The New Strategy for Profiting From the Coming Rise in the Stock Market.' … According to his spokesman, Mr. Glassman prefers not to comment on the financial markets now that he has started in his new position: under secretary of state for public diplomacy in the Bush administration. Apparently, there is life after Dow 36,000. The jury is still out on life after Dow 8,378.”

Public Diplomats: Election Countdown: Collection of Commentary [on the US election] – Melinda Brouwer, Foreign Policy Association: Public Diplomacy and the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election

Election '08: The world weighs in: American students abroad are expected to be au courant with the campaign - Jennifer Ehrlich, Boston Globe: Many students said that since traveling abroad they have gained an appreciation of the global reach of US leadership and now feel a sense of responsibility about their vote.

Politics in the Age of George the Great - Eddie J Girdner, Mainstream: “George the Great even sent his old Texas advisor, Karen Hughes, around the world as his own roving Ambassador for Public Diplomacy, pointing out to the ungrateful populations that they should ‘love America’. Why keep on hating American freedom, democracy, liberties and McDonald’s fries when George the Great had done so much to help out other countries?”

Jay Rasulo, Chairman, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts to Be Inducted into TIA's Hall of Leaders - Ad-Hoc-News (Pressemitteilung), Germany: “Jay Rasulo, chairman, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, has been named the 2008 inductee into the Travel Industry Hall of Leaders. … 'Jay was the catalyst that has given us a much bigger voice in Washington,' remarked Roger Dow, TIA president and CEO. 'He invested time and energy to ensure that policymakers understand the importance of travel economically and as resource for public diplomacy. He exemplifies the leader this award was created to honor.'

Montag, 27. Oktober 2008: 12:01 AM - die Uni-Homepage bricht zusammen – Nina, Nina in Washington: “Global Perspective on Public Diplomacy : Ich musste die Fakultaet erst ueberzeugen, dass der Kurs sinnvoll fuer meinen Studiengang und meinen Schwerpunkt ist. Er wird an der School of International Service angeboten. Mein Pitch-Letter war erfolgreich, und ich konnte den Kurs als Elective belegen.”

Colombia Wants the World to Recognize Its Passion: Latin American Nation Trots Out a New Slogan, Seeking to Rehabilitate Its Brand After Years of Violence and Corruption - Matt Moffett, Wall Street Journal: “Simon Anholt, a British author and consultant, is credited with coining the phrase ‘nation brand’ in 1996. He says it summed up a simple observation that 'it's the responsibility of good governments to be, in effect, brand managers.' Now, he says, advertising and marketing entrepreneurs have so distorted the concept, that he sometimes is sorry he brought it up. ‘It's a lame dog following me the past 15 years, and I've spent that time trying to shoot the damn thing,’ says Mr. Anholt, who edits the quarterly journal Place Branding and Public Diplomacy.”

An Update: Power & Persuasion 2.0 Coming Soon – Jude C., Power and Persuasion: Where Politics Meets Communications: ”Next up: Private sector partnerships for public diplomacy -- at the request of one of our readers (Julianne from Syracuse's Newhouse School of Public Communications).”

Monday, October 27, 2008 - Khoo Kay Peng, Straight Talk: “I am heading off to the US State Department at Washington DC to talk to several election experts. Some of the people we are meeting include Mr Brad Minnick, Director at Office of International Visitors and Mr James K. Glassman, Under Secretary of Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs."

Blogging the Qur’an: Sura 60, “She Who Is Tested” – Robert, Jihad Watch: “Bush and [former Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Karen] Hughes are … reinforcing a worldview that takes for granted the legitimacy of everlasting enmity and hatred between Muslims and non-Muslims -- and doing so precisely in the context of trying to build bridges between Muslims and non-Muslims. This demonstrates once again how vitally important it is for them, and for the rest of us, to have a detailed understanding of the theological and cultural frame of reference of jihadists and Muslims in general.”

RELATED ITEMS

Blowback: America's valuable terrorism list: The government's list of state sponsors of terrorism has been an important tool in making the world safer - Michael B. Kraft, Los Angeles Times: The economic measures imposed under the terrorist list and other sanctions regimes are an important part of the efforts to dissuade Iran from developing nuclear weapons without the U.S. having to resort to military action. Throwing the list aside would not only be foolish, it would also be a reckless discarding of an important tool that should be strengthened, not abandoned.

Obama's fans in Europe are in for a big surprise - John Vinocur, International Herald Tribune: The realities of American interests, American responsibilities and the American presidency mean that all the soft power instincts and readiness for multilateral mosh-pit politicking attributed to Obama by Europeans can quickly look imaginary.

Obama for president: Our view: Sen. Barack Obama has the character, judgment and temperament to lead the nation wisely through difficult times and restore America's standing in the world – Editorial, Baltimore Sun

The Russian Obama Effect - Mark H. Teeter, Moscow Times: While Barack Obama enjoys remarkable popularity among non-Americans, including many observers here, it is likely that most Russians view the Democratic candidate with skepticism, suspicion, antipathy or all three. This is hardly surprising, as even "Russians for Obama" reminds us that "he is everything Russians stereotypically shouldn't like."

American Foreign Policy Is a Popularity Contest: Life under Obama-Biden - Anne Bayefsky, National Review: The Obama-Biden-United Nations future for America: Under this plan, who will decide what is in your best interest? Anti-Americans, for whom it is not going to be apparent -- ever -- that we’re right.

The Nixon-Obama Debates - Jonathan Chait, New Republic: You can care about both radical Islam and the traditional great power struggle, and both McCain and Obama do. But you can only have one first priority. Obama rightly considers the prospect of terrorists acquiring a nuclear weapon the highest potential threat. Thus he places more emphasis on securing Russia's cooperation in locking down fissile material and pressuring Iran to stop its nuclear program, while McCain gives more priority to confronting and isolating Russia.

An Unexpected Bright Spot: Middle East strategic landscape has never been this favorable - Alexander Benard, National Review: Amidst the many worrisome trends the next president will face when he assumes office in January, he will be able to take comfort in at least one major bright spot: The strategic landscape in the Middle East will be more favorable to the United States than at any point in recent history.

On Iraq, McCain doesn't have a clue: Despite the impasse in U.S.-Iraq negotiations, he clings to his fantasy of "victory" and America's ability to set the terms for withdrawal - Joe Conason, Salon

Tenuous Agreement on Maintaining US Troops in Iraq
- Phyllis Bennis, Foreign Policy in Focus/Common Dreams

Report finds Iraq project late, flawed and over budget - James Glanz, International Herald Tribune: A huge American-financed wastewater treatment plant in the desert city of Falluja, which U.S. troops assaulted twice to root out insurgents in 2004, was supposed to be the centerpiece of an effort to rebuild Iraq, a country smashed by war and neglect, and to bring Western standards of sanitation. Instead, the project, which has tripled in cost from original plans to $100 million and has fallen about three years behind schedule, has become an example of the failed and often oversold program to rebuild Iraqi infrastructure with U.S. dollars and skill.

Iraq: The Counterfactual Game: Was the invasion worth it? - Robert D. Kaplan, Atlantic: Might one argue that the Iraq invasion was worth it? From a purely historical perspective, perhaps. But policy is about the here and now. It’s about taking or not taking action based on a near- and middle-term cost-benefit analysis. To subsume policy-making completely to long-range historical thinking is to risk constantly getting involved in grand schemes.

Wrong Way in Pakistan - Marvin G. Weinbaum, Washington Post: By allowing American combat forces to freely conduct raids into Pakistani territory, a move that President Bush authorized in July, the United States intends to pressure Pakistani leaders to step up the fight against militants ensconced in the borderlands. But this policy threatens cooperation between the two countries, possibly to the breaking point.

Kremlin 'Soft Power' Keeping Participatory Internet In Check - Richard Solash, RFE/RL: The co-opting of prominent bloggers and leaders of online-based political movements exemplifies the Kremlin's use of "soft," or indirect power to counter the Internet's democratizing potential, says Robert Saunders, a member of russian-cyberspace.org, an online scholarly research group focusing on the Russian Internet.

Neoconservative Scholar Robert Kagan: 'America Remains Number One' – Spiegel: In an interview with SPIEGEL, American neoconservative scholar and McCain adviser Robert Kagan speaks about the legacy of the Bush-Cheney years, America's future position atop a "League of Democracies" and how China and Russia will push Europe back into America's arms.

The Trillion Dollar Tag Sale: How the Pentagon Could Help Bail Out America - Nick Turse, TomDispatch: Despite the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, the U.S. continues to sink money into costly wars fought from expensive bases overseas with no end in sight. The result is sheer waste in every sense of the word.

The Power of Propaganda and Posters - Bar Amy, Eight Things: Barack Hussein Obama, candidate for President of the United States, 2008: "The thing about people who end up as dictators, well, they have a very narcissistic view of themselves. They erect statues of themselves, they promise great change for the people, the speak to the masses eloquently -- and the masses ooh and ahhh. And always, always, always, they create propaganda posters that remind the people (indoctrinate) who the 'savior' is. History doesn't lie."

World War II, 1941: Propaganda or not? - lifeasdaddy
....a guy, his wife, and their son ... and other stuff... "Tweede Wereldoorlog, 1941, originally uploaded by Nationaal Archief. This is a photograph from the National Archives of the Netherlands.
The English translation of the caption is, 'German soldier in a tank. German soldiers are helping French farmers plough their fields.'
What do you think?"

Key West Celebrates Condi! - Princess Sparkle Pony's Photo Blog I keep track of Condoleezza's hairdo so you don't have to: PHOTO: A reveller wearing a rice sack with words referring to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice walks in the Fantasy Fest Masquerade March in Key West, Florida October 24, 2008. The 10-day Fantasy Fest festival, with the theme of "Pirates, Pundits and Political Party Animals," this year has as its highlight Saturday night's grand parade down Key West's Duval Street. Picture taken October 24.

IMAGE


Caption: A balloon loaded with propaganda leaflets is seen after being released from a boat by South Korean activists and defectors in waters near the sea border with North Korea on October 27, 2008. North and South Korea held military talks on October 27 despite worsening relations as South Korean activists floated propaganda leaflets into the communist state. AFP PHOTO/KIM JAE-HWAN

October 26

“But of course, this is a broader agreement because it will help us to include natural disasters and accidents that might occur anywhere within our (inaudible).”

"And I assured Patricia and we have talked about this among various officials that the United States considers this an important initiative and its implementation to be an urgent (inaudible).”

“We, of course, had the discussion of the complex and difficult circumstances in the global financial system at this time and the effects on the global economy of the importance of affirming the need for changing for the importance of (inaudible), but also the importance of (inaudible) …”

“I think there will be a couple of other encounters before we are (inaudible).”

--Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, “Remarks with Mexican Foreign Relations Secretary Patricia Espinosa”

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Foreign Fixation With US Election: Free Public Diplomacy, Citizen Style - Avuncular American: An expatriate view of America and the world from Europe by former diplomat Gerald Loftus: “If the reaction of Belgians to the US presidential campaign is typical of publics throughout Europe and the rest of the world - a recent multi-country poll commissioned by The Guardian and other papers shows that Belgians are among the world's most pro-Obama and anti-Bush - then the United States is enjoying a massive public diplomacy bonanza. For free. Thanks to overseas Americans. For the past several months, but especially in the last weeks leading up to November 4, the services of the Democrats Abroad Belgium (DAB) "Speakers Bureau" have been much in demand. … In the US, meanwhile, the State Department's Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy is organizing the I-VOTE program to promote foreign understanding of the immensely complex and seemingly jury-rigged US electoral system (image above from I-VOTE). ”

State Dept. Blogging One Year Later (Part 2): Themes and categories - Edward T. Palazzolo and Dawn Gilpin (with analysis support from Nick Brody, Jesse Herrera, Krista McNaughton, and Jordan Wolff), COMOPS Journal: “This post builds on the previously summarized meeting between Steve Corman and Angela Trethewey (COMOPS Faculty) and Heath Kern and Luke Forgerson (DipNote’s Editors). We reviewed roughly one year’s worth of DipNote posts and reader comments for a content analysis to identify the principle themes throughout the blog. … [W]e present some of our findings along with some conclusions drawn from the data. However, we tried to reserve suggestions for improvement and overall recommendations for the final post in this series.”

Elections should be brought to March 2009 – Juba Post: "Reminiscing on the fact that the Kiir government made a debacle out of the census process, at one point refusing to participate, at another threatening not to accept the results if any, many key Government of Southern Sudan politicians have not out-rightly embraced efforts by the presidency in Rumbek where census material data processing is taking place using the most sophisticated art of the world technology. Preliminary public diplomacy statements seen by Southerners as propagated to undermine the census process that estimated the population of Southern Sudan at no more than 8 million provoked angry confrontations between the north and South.”

What anthropological careers are related to international relations? – Trades: "[QUESTION:] Hi, I was thinking of doing a major in Anthropology and an International Relations minor…. What careers do you think will be available to me? I am hoping to be some kind of an advisor or analyst in these fields. Thank you! [REPLY:] Public Diplomacy and NGO/IO aide work. At my alma mater, there was an international affairs degree which had built in to it a large number of anthropology courses for these sorts of jobs. If you want work in that field, the IMF and World Bank hire good anthropologists for international development work. It's working 'for the man' but I'm told it pays very well.”

RELATED ITEMS

We Should Talk to our Enemies – Nicholas Burns, Newsweek: The next president needs to act more creatively and boldly to defend our interests by revalidating diplomacy as a key weapon in our national arsenal and rebuilding our understaffed and underfunded diplomatic corps.

Transformation, please – Editorial, Boston Globe: Powerful economic and political forces are reshaping a world that the United States has dominated since the end of the Cold War, and Americans need a president with the understanding and the political gifts to guide the country to peace and security in a much-altered global framework.

A World in Crisis Means A Chance for Greatness - Robert B. Zoellick, Washington Post: The next president faces a historic challenge: reintroducing the United States to the world.

The Biden Doctrine - Robert Turner, Washington Times: The conduct of our foreign relations and the command of our military are among the most important functions entrusted to the president under our Constitution, and Mr. Biden's record in these areas is abysmal. From his first year in the Senate in 1973, he was a consistent foe of the American military.

The Candidates positions on Iraq and Afghanistan;
Iran; Russia; Global Trade – New York Times

Obama support runs deep in Western Europe – John C. Freed, International Herald Tribune: Respondents in five European countries surveyed are far more likely to cite Obama's personality or his youth, while Americans are more likely to cite his approach to health care and the economy.

France 24 poll: Brits yawn at U.S. election - Kim Andrew Elliott Discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy

At the U.N., Many Hope for an Obama Win - Colum Lynch, Washington Post: "It would be hard to find anybody, I think, at the U.N. who would not believe that Obama would be a considerable improvement over any other alternative," said William H. Luers, executive director of the United Nations Association. "It's been a bad eight years, and there is a lot of bad feeling over it."

Barack Obama, Forever Sizing Up - Jodi Kantor, New York Times: Barack Obama prides himself on trying to see the world through others’ eyes. In his books, he slips into the heads of his Kenyan relatives, teenage mothers in Chicago, Reagan Democrats, bean farmers in Southern Illinois, and evangelical Christian voters.

The Endorsement From Hell - Nicholas D. Kristof, New York Times:The endorsement of Mr. McCain by a Qaeda-affiliated Web site isn’t a surprise to security specialists. Richard Clarke, the former White House counterterrorism director, and Joseph Nye, the former chairman of the National Intelligence Council, have both suggested that Al Qaeda prefers Mr. McCain and might even try to use terror attacks in the coming days to tip the election to him.

In Philippines, U.S. wages quieter kind of war on terror - Warren P. Strobel, Belleville News Democrat: Counterinsurgency takes time, and there are no quick victories such as those that President Bush claimed after the initial military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Finding our next Sputnik - Gary J. Beach, Boston Globe: America's unchallenged global leadership of the information technology age didn't end because of the lack of information, or technology. It ended because Americans lost interest in careers in science, technology, engineering, and math.

What the Next American Leader Needs to do to Deal with Global Warming - Bill McKibben, PlentyMag.com/Common Dreams: Fighting climate change is only partly about cooperating with Europe, China, India, and Japan to save the ice caps and the forests. It's also about beating them in the next great economic shift. The sun, or so the argument will go, is about to set on the American empire -- unless we can figure out how to capture its rays in a solar panel.

The Age of Triumphalism is over: Americans are no longer in the mood to chase after distant evildoers - Andrew J. Bacevich, Los Angeles Times: Having discovered that being the new Rome entails burdens as well as privileges, Americans have opted out. Although Bush's wars continue in Iraq and Afghanistan, Joe the Plumber's interest in liberating the greater Middle East or courting a showdown even with a figure as vile as Kim Jong Il is close to zero.

Young America’s Wild Side [review of Waking Giant: America in the Age of Jackson by David S. Reynolds] - Jay Winik, New York Times: The years 1815 to 1848 were a time when America increasingly established itself on the world stage. Reynolds reminds us that immigrants from Europe came in droves and the nation’s population almost tripled; that to the south the United States staked its claim with the Monroe Doctrine, and to the west sought to do the same with the Tyler Doctrine; and that John L. O’Sullivan stirred the imagination of Americans with his call for “Manifest Destiny,” which held that the spread of American culture would uplift all of humanity.

The Not-So Subliminal Obama Socialist Realism Propaganda Art - Sparks from the Anvil: “How can Obama supporters not see that there is a link between Barack Obama and socialism/communism/Marxism? … . The evidence is staring at them, plain as day. it clearly looks like socialist realism art, and that's because it is based on socialist realism art.”

bizarre propaganda - polysemic: “Americans, at least lefty Americans like me, tend to be allergic to government-sponsored propaganda. That the government would be spending money to influence opinion abroad is accepted as a necessity of foreign policy, but that the government might be explicitly advertising a certain position, using public money, is viewed with more suspicion. Not that such propaganda doesn’t happen in the US. From the fairly accepted, such as public school curricula, to the unsettlingly explicit, such as the 'Mission Accomplished' debacle, the American government sponsors forms of propaganda intended to forward a certain view of itself among the citzenry. But what the government does not do, as far as I’m aware, is buy billboard advertisements for anything other than military recruition or emergency preparedness. So it is unfamiliar for me to see government-sponsored propaganda on billboards here in Macedonia.”

World War II Propaganda: Know your Enemy – Harvey, JapanNewbie: Propaganda was used by both the Axis and Allied powers to influence the hearts and minds of every actor and observer during World War II, and America was no exception. Know Your Enemy: Japan, was put together by the Hollywood director, Frank Capra. Frank Capra had made a series of other films for World War II as well, called Why We Fight. Despite the fact that planning for the movie began immediately after Pearl Harbor, the film was not completed and released until August 9th 1945, near the end of the war, and the day Nagasaki was bombed. VIDEO of film.

October 25

“I actually think it’s because I never met anybody I wanted to marry and live with!”

--Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, volunteering, at Maria Shriver's female-empowerment conference, the answer to the unasked question about whether she was still single because she worked so hard. PHOTO from: Princess Sparkle Pony's Photo Blog I keep track of Condoleezza's hairdo so you don't have to.



"Filth and Wisdom"

--Madonna’s new film. RIGHT: Eugene Hutz in the film

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Regarding Fortresses - Captain Crispin Burke, Small Wars Journal: "The US Department of State needs to adopt a two-fold approach to re-examining its public diplomacy policies. First, it needs to stop wasting billions of dollars on embassies that are counter-productive to US foreign policy. … Secondly, the State Department needs to hire far more foreign operatives … . Engaging the local population is the key to success in public diplomacy, and should not be left entirely in the hands of the military.” See also John Brown, “They're Supersizing the Baghdad Embassy. Big Mistake” (Washington Post, July 11, 2004). PHOTO: The old bunker at Reinhardstrasse 20 built in 1942 as part of Nazi architect Albert Speer's Germania project.

Global Ethics Corner: McCain and Obama: The Public Diplomacy Dance – Carnegie Council Resources: “One view is that we have to communicate better. … Another position is that moral authority can't be built on ineffective policy. Third, maybe we need to change structure? How can the State Department be responsible for implementing and explaining administration policy and also for asserting America's moral role? … Finally, perhaps you simply have to live with some tensions?" See John Brown, "Barack Obama and Fred Astaire: What a Pair!" Notes and Essays

US international broadcasts criticized at UN meeting - Kim Andrew Elliott Discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy

Powell: PD Needed on Day One - Melinda Brouwer, Foreign Policy Association: Public Diplomacy and the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election: “Should General Powell’s preferred presidential candidate be elected, I would hope that Mr. President would follow the General’s sage advice [‘I think what the president has to do is to start using the power of the Oval Office and the power of his personality to convince the American people and to convince the world that America is solid’] and ready his public diplomacy team for the challenge that awaits it.”

Entertainment, Politics & Cultural Diplomacy - Johanna Blakley, Public Diplomacy Blog, USC Center on Public Diplomacy: Governments, industry and academia would be served well by a series of global opinion surveys that create a baseline for information about the reception of global entertainment products around the world. The results so far buttress the argument for funding cultural diplomacy programs, and they demonstrate the urgency of doing so in the United States in particular.

Soft Power, Hard Truths: Admiring Japan makes U.S. less insular - Roland Kelts, Daily Yomiuri: "The United States has become infamous in recent years for granting little respect to foreign nationals. Indeed, it is almost a point of pride for some Americans to ignore the rest of the world, as U.S. President George W. Bush has so brutally proven. But when Japanese visit the United States in the 21st century, they are often treated as icons of a superior world--a place where the American dream has actually found a taker, and one that may even be better skilled at reproducing it."

RELATED ITEMS

Ask the pilot: The American non-traveler: What's the price of staying put? Plus: When airline pilots have the opportunity to roam widely, but choose not to - Patrick Smith, Salon: The truth is that too many Americans are shamefully, even willfully uninterested in the world beyond their borders, and have at best a superficial awareness of world geography. In 2002, a National Geographic survey revealed that 85 percent of Americans between ages 18 and 24 could locate neither Afghanistan nor Iraq on a map. Sixty-nine percent could not find Great Britain.

The Obama Test: Personnel is Policy - Thomas B. Edsall, Huffington Post: “It's widely agreed that John Kerry would give up his Senate seat if offered Secretary of State, … Richard Holbrooke is a possible, but not likely, choice at State … ."Is there a role for Tony Lake?" Lake put the Obama foreign policy team together but has said that his job ends on November 4, and that he wants nothing. Could Obama make him an offer --- like CIA director -- that he can't refuse? … . [Greg] Craig, Susan Rice, Samantha Power and a number of others are considered likely candidates for National Security Adviser.”

McCain, Obama and North Korea – Editorial, Washington Times: In recent months, North Korea pushed the administration to capitulate on the subject of what conditions Pyongyang would have to meet for removal from the terror list. The deal announced earlier this month contains a number of gaping loopholes. Mr. Obama reacted favorably to the deal, calling it a "modest step forward." Mr. McCain takes a more realistic approach.

Al Jazeera's controversial coverage of the U.S. election - Kim Andrew Elliott Discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy

Bin Laden writing his memoirs - Press Trust of India: The book, being written in Arabic, will later be translated into English. Bin Laden decided to write the book to counter "propaganda" against Al Qaeda, Geo News channel reported.

Bringing Western education to Iraq's ‘lost generation' - Mark Mackinnon, Globe and Mail: The the fledgling American University in Iraq in Sulaymaniyah -- AUI-S, as it is known -- is a rapidly growing all-English university that's shattering the boundaries of what a university in Iraq can be. It's also a reminder of a time – before Sept. 11, 2001 – when the United States used “soft power” rather than military force to spread its influence around the planet. The U.S. government has contributed only $10.3-million of the university's $500-million budget – worried, Acting chancellor Joshua Mitchell said, that the AUI-S would look like an “imperial venture” because of being built while Iraq is under U.S. military occupation.

Faith-Based Surge: Whining About Winning in Iraq - Saul Landau, Counterpunch: Maliki’s sectarian Shiites and their allies in Tehran have emerged from a formerly Sunni-run state to govern, thanks to US help. McCain and Palin refer to this dreary scenario when they whine about Obama not accepting “winning.”

Bipartisan Policy: Bomb-Bomb Iran - Gordon Prather, Antiwar.com: According to a report released last month by the Grand Pooh-Bahs of The Bipartisan Policy Center it shouldn't matter whether a Republican or a Democrat becomes our next President; he'll probably have to bomb-bomb Iran. And the sooner, the better.

The Word from America's Allies: Afghanistan the Un-Winnable - Binoy Kampmark, Counterpunch

Progress in Kashmir: A trade route opens in the troubled region between Pakistan and India - Rajan Menon, Los Angeles Times: The threat posed by Islamic militancy and terrorism leaves Pakistan's newly formed democratic government with only bad choices. To please the United States, it has to deal more aggressively with both threats -- and take bigger losses in the process. But if it starts getting tougher, it not only risks alienating the public, which dislikes Pakistan's role as America's adjutant in the war on terrorism, it could cause the violence to spread.

Pakistan to Talk It Out – Truthdig: Growing anger at “America’s war” has led to massive popular protests and parliamentary action against U.S. military involvement in Pakistan. A resolution passed by Pakistan’s parliament Wednesday calls for dialogue with “extremist groups” and an end to military activity, a strategy that refocuses the country toward an “independent foreign policy.”

Propaganda tells no lies: The forgotten link between the USSR and the USA - Susannah Kroeber, Brown Spectator: “Between September 6th and October 19th, The David Winton Bell Gallery in the List Art Center and the John Hay Library Gallery have played host to a fantastically-curated arrangement of original copies of 20th century propaganda pieces, primarily from Russia but also a few notable examples from Czech artists. … Despite the staunch and sturdy messages these posters sound, the stereotypical Soviet propaganda is not what set this exhibit apart. What surprised and astonished me about the diversity of the art was two-fold: firstly how similar some of the comedic styles were to American propaganda and cartoons of that period, and secondly how amazingly accurate some of the social criticism of the United States was, even just through the presentation of an image.”

28,000 X Chromosomes Strong: Women—and Ahh-nold—flock to Maria Shriver's female-empowerment conference - Lynn Sherr, Daily Beast: At the conference Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the glass ceiling was “getting much, much thinner.” After all, she pointed out, “We haven’t had a white male secretary of state in 12 years.” Rice also volunteered the answer to the unasked question about whether she was still single because she worked so hard. “I actually think it’s because I never met anybody I wanted to marry and live with!”

New Cheesy Clips From Flynt's Paylin Outrage—With Guest Stars "Hillary" and "Condi": Forget Joe the plumber. Here comes Larry the pornographer – Daily Beast: Today, the Daily Beast cinematheque presents two previously unreleased scenes from Who’s Nailin’ Paylin?, Larry Flynt's filmic treatment of the Alaska governor. Porn star Lisa Ann plays the governor. The clip has been censored and there's no full nudity. But there is still some of naughty stuff, including shots of "the governor" canoodling with "Hillary" and "Condi," so the clip is NOT APPROPRIATE for young eyes. VIDEO.

October 24

Men at a rally in Indiana for Sarah Palin (Michael Conroy/The Associated Press)

"Please keep God No. 1. He's got great things for you, baby.”

--Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, to her fellow beauty pageant Miss Alaska contestants

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

U.S. plans to return envoys to Iran for first time since 1980 - Warren P. Strobel, McClatchy News Service, Minneapolis Star Tribune, MN: "Among other things, U.S. diplomats in Tehran would facilitate cultural exchanges, issue visas for Iranians to travel to the United States and engage in public diplomacy to present a more charitable view of the United States."

Vol. IV No.22: 10/10-10/23, 2008 - Layalina Review on Public Diplomacy and Arab Media

Wolfy’s Baaaack!: China and A New Nuclear Arms Race - Jon Rainwater, Groundswell, from Peace Action West: "Disgraced Iraq War architect Paul Wolfowitz is back after being forced to resign at the World Bank with a report that hypes a missile attack threat from China. … . The militaristic focus of ISAB’s report and its lack of recommendations for arms control and broader public diplomacy to defuse rather than continuing and deepening the competitive and mistrustful relationship between the United States and China suggest that ISAB has failed to live up to its charter.”

A World of Opportunity: Places to go and things to see before you graduate - Starlett Craig, Tri State Defender, TN: “Recent federal reports cite a language and cultural skill shortage in more than 70 agencies critical to national security, public diplomacy and economic competitiveness. It is important to prepare our undergraduates to live and work in a global society and study abroad is one of the ways in which this can be accomplished.” PHOTO: Starlett Graid

Letter From Europe: Ad blitz exhorts Italy, 'Meet the Romanians' - Elisabetta Povoledo, International Herald Tribune: “Earlier this autumn, the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs … held meet-and-greet cultural events in several Italian cities to ‘show to the Italian public opinion that Romanians and Romania mean much more than criminality,’ said Oana Marinescu, general director at the General Directorate for Communication and Public Diplomacy in Bucharest. The public diplomacy campaign will be ongoing, she said, ‘because the credibility of a country cannot be restored with a one-off action.’ One campaign ‘cannot fix things. It can only be the start of a long road to come.’"

Ukrainian First Deputy Foreign Minister Volodymyr Khandohiy met with NATO Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy Jean-Francois Bureau: The parties discussed the course of an information campaign dedicated to the Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine and its cooperation with the alliance – National Radio Company of Ukraine: “Mr Khandohiy said that an increase in public support for the idea of Ukraine's joining NATO had become the result of an active work in the information sector. He noted that the number of NATO supporters in Ukraine grew by over 10% in October 2008 compared to June 2008.”

ASEAN Regional Forum concludes - Post, Pakistan: “Three-day long 12th ASEAN Regional Forum, Heads of Defence Universities/Colleges/ Institutions Meetings (ARF HDUCIM) hosted by the National Defence University Islamabad concluded Thursday on a note of satisfaction. The meeting focused on the theme of ‘Military's growing involvement in combat and non combat military operations other than war (MOOTW) in the contemporary environment necessitating reassessment of challenges in order to formulate an effective response strategy.’ … [Delegates] focused on further improvement of decision making under complicated circumstances, international cooperation, public diplomacy and adjustment in military education.”

EMJI Speakers Discuss EU, Civil Society, and Women in the Media - Katie Adams, Oxford International Review: At the 2008 Euro-Mediterranean Journalism Institute (EMJI), Dr. Bernardino Gomes, President of the Portuguese Atlantic Commission and Advisor to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave a lecture entitled “Citizens’ Society and the Citizens’ Public Diplomacy–The Role of Atlantic NGOs” and explored the influence of NGOs in contemporary politics. PHOTO: Bernadino Gomes.

Taiwan celebration - Standard, Hong Kong: ”In cultural diplomacy, nothing could be more dynamic than communicating in the infectious sounds of percussion instruments. And the world-renowned Ju Percussion Group, pictured far right, is known for its extroverted, energetic performances with a special brand of percussion sounds - the rhythms of the marimbas, the xylophone, Chinese drums, taiko drums, cymbals and much, much more. The group is among several others that are coming as part of the Taiwan November arts festival in Hong Kong.”

Exhibition to honour art-loving diplomats - VietNamNet Bridge – “In response to the Government’s policy to promote cultural diplomacy in addition to the economic relations, an exhibition gathering many works of art made by diplomats, who are working in Vietnam, opened in Hanoi on October 23.”

RELATED ITEMS

Blue Europe and Red Asia - Dominique Moisi, Moscow Times: Whereas a majority of Europeans -- with the exception of those who for historical and geographic reasons are obsessed with the return of the "Russian bear" -- support Obama, a majority of Asians, particular among the elite, seem to support McCain. For many Europeans, a reinvention, or retransformation, of the United States is Europe's last hope.

Barack Obama for President – Editorial, New York Times: Both candidates talk about repairing America’s image in the world. But it seems clear to us that Mr. Obama is far more likely to do that -- and not just because the first black president would present a new American face to the world. Mr. Obama wants to reform the United Nations, while Mr. McCain wants to create a new entity, the League of Democracies -- a move that would incite even fiercer anti-American furies around the world.

If Only McCain's Charges Were True: Why I'm Not Voting for Obama - Todd Chretien, Counterpunch: The modest changes Obama has promised fall far short of what is needed. Ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and economic crisis will form the backdrop to Obama's first term. This calls for far more radical measures than Obama has contemplated, even in the most generous reading of his intentions. Todd Chretien was the 2006 Green Party candidate for U.S. Senate from California.

George W. Bush and pop culture’s perception: More than all his predecessors, Bush may see his legacy shaped by the barrage of new media - Stephen Humphries, Christian Science Monitor: The 43rd president’s time in office has marked a fundamental turning point in the relationship between popular culture and politics. The proliferation of new forms of media -- coupled with a democratization of communication that allows anyone with a modem to become a filmmaker, broadcaster, or pundit -- has meant that no other sitting president has had quite so many slings and arrows to suffer. Bush supporters believe that the pop-culture “record” will be trumped by a long-term vindication of Bush’s war on terror.

What the Good News from Iraq Really Means - Michael Schwartz and Tom Engelhardt, TomDispatch: Even if Washington prefers to ignore Iraqi realities, military officials working close to the ground know that the country's state of disrepair, and an inability to deal with it in any reasonably prompt way, leaves a population in steaming discontent. At any moment, this could explode in further sectarian violence or yet another violent effort to expel the US forces
from the country.

Iraq: Did the Surge Work? - George Hunsinger, Common Dreams: Resorting to Death Squads, while ignoring the humanitarian crisis and touting the Surge, seems to offer yet another instance of Solzenitsyn's bleak prognosis that violence seeks refuge in falsehood.

An orderly end to occupation of Iraq – Editorial Comment, Financial Times: This long occupation has infantilised Iraqi politics. Iraqis need to decide soon if they can reach an accord to live together.

The contributions of Iran - Lawrence J. Korb and Laura Conley, Boston Globe: Few countries were as helpful to the United States in its early involvement in Afghanistan as Iran. Yet after the fall of the Taliban, the US failed to capitalize on the possibilities of that strategic relationship.

More U.S. Troops To Afghanistan?: Before sending more brave men and women there, let's question conventional wisdom. It will take more than military might to succeed in Afghanistan - Russ Feingold, Christian Science Monitor: One of the most recent polls found that, while most Afghans support the US presence, only a minority rate it positively. Unless we push for diplomacy and a regional approach, work to root out corruption, stamp out the country's narcotics trade, and step up development and reconstruction efforts, Afghanistan will probably continue its downward trajectory. Russ Feingold is a Democratic senator from Wisconsin and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs.

Israel's Not-So-Future Perfect - Leon Hadar, Antiwar.com: In some respects, Israel's ties with the United States are starting to resemble the relationship between the old political and economic elites and the Jewish community in Europe during the nineteenth century. Then, new and angry social classes and political players turned their frustration against the group they associated with the hated status quo -- a group that was also very vulnerable. Today, a similar scenario could take place on an international scale.

Google's Earth No Longer Links to Anti-Israel Propaganda - Aryeh Haffner, Arutz Sheva: Google's Earth’s satellite map of Israel no longer links to subjective anti-Israel propaganda. After a moderate effort to bring this about, Democratic U.S. Representative Anthony Weiner of New York (Brooklyn and Queens) released a statement endorsing Google Inc.'s decision to do this. In March 2008, Gaza was still listed as “Israeli-occupied,” despite Israel’s full withdrawal in 2005 and the military takeover of Gaza by Hamas in mid-2007.

Countering Indian propaganda - Sultan M Hali, Pakistan Observer: India has realized that Pakistan cannot be defeated militarily, so it has undertaken more macabre stratagem to destroy Pakistan through sabotage, sedition, insurgency and destabilizing it. In this whole heinous scheme, propaganda plays a major role.

Little Napoleons: Is Anyone in Charge in Today's Nonpolar World? - Adam Roberts, Spiegel International: As the era of US hegemony comes to an end, great power politics is making a comeback. The world will need to figure out how to deal with a new global system in which power is dispersed and variable.

How Propaganda Works - Alia Hoyt, DailyStuff from HowStuffWorks.com: Contents: 1. Introduction to How Propaganda Works 2. Propaganda Techniques 3. Propaganda Mediums 4. Types of Propaganda 5. War Propaganda. POSTER: A USSR World War II propaganda poster shows a German soldier intimidating a mother and child.

More Hugs 'n' Cuddles 4 Condi! - Princess Sparkle Pony's Photo Blog I keep track of Condoleezza's hairdo so you don't have to: U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, left, embraces Mexico's Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa after a news conference in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, Thursday, Oct. 23, 2008. Condoleezza Rice is on a two-day official visit to Mexico. (AP Photo/Miguel Tovar) COMMENT: “Wow! Yesterday it was hugs from Maria Shriver, and today it's cuddles from Maria's maid! Ha, ha, just kidding!”

October 23

Pacemakers and Implantable Cardiac Defibrillators: Software Radio Attacks and Zero-Power Defenses

--Title of a new report, via Swedish Meatballs Confidential

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

F is for Failure: The Bush Doctrine in Ruins - Tom Engelhardt, TomDispatch: “With the help of its torture policies and its prison camp at Guantanamo for public relations, the Bush administration achieved wonders. Never has global opinion of the U.S. been lower (or anti-Americanism more rampant) than in these years -- and when the administration needed allies, they were hard to find (or expensive to buy). Result: Public diplomacy in the tank. Grade: ‘F.’"

The Future of Arab-American Relations - Tariq, Project on Middle East Democracy: The POMED Wire: “The fall 2008 issue of Arab Insight from the World Security Institute has been released, and at over 130 pages, there is much to cover. … Sadiq el-Faqih seem[s] to be speaking directly to Barack Obama … [He] offers his take on 'Improving U.S. Standing in the Arab World: Can Public Diplomacy Do the Trick?'”

Voice of America Takes A Modest Step to Restore Russian Radio Broadcasts - Ted Lipien, FreeMediaOnline.org: “Responding to criticism from Congress and media freedom organizations, the BBG [Broadcasting Board of Governors] staff has allowed VOA to start producing a 30 min. radio news program in Russian for online placement. The new program, ‘Panorama,’ is described on the VOA Russian website as a daily broadcast but it has not been updated within the last 24 hours and its future remains unclear. … One of the strongest supporters of cutting VOA radio has been the BBG’s most recent chairman, James K. Glassman, who is now the Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs.”

Examining the Republican Platform Part II: “Securing the Peace” - Morgan Wick, Da Blog: “[REPUBLICAN PLATFORM:] Public Diplomacy: Throughout the Cold War, our international broadcasting of free and impartial information promoted American values to combat tyranny. It still does, through Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Radio/TV Marti, and it remains an important instrument in promoting a modernizing alternative to the culture of radical terror. [COMMENT:] Wow. A plank of a major party platform outwardly supporting international propaganda."

US unveils Iraq culture aid – AFP: “US First Lady Laura Bush visited Baghdad's embassy in Washington on Thursday [last week] to unveil a 14-million-dollar US campaign to rebuild Iraq's cultural heritage and safeguard its treasures. … The US Embassy in Baghdad will provide nearly 13 million dollars to the project, while the US State Department's bureau of educational and cultural affairs will contribute another one million dollars.”

White House to celebrate Diwali on Friday - Lalit K Jha, NDTV.com, India: "Diwali [the festival of light] was celebrated at White House for the third time on November 1, 2005. Karen Hughes, the then Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, inaugurated the function at White House on October 19, 2006."

The Immigration and Public Diplomacy Appointments Project - Alliance for International Educational and Cultural Exchange: “This newly-founded project aims to support the next Administration in identifying top-level candidates for key positions that impact policy on immigration and public diplomacy issues. … The Immigration and Public Diplomacy Appointments Project will do all it can to press for qualified candidates to be considered by the Transition Team of the next Administration." Via Len Baldyga.

Obama the better choice: McCain would continue America's decline; Obama better for both US, Israel - Chaim Landau, ynetnews: “The next president will face a multitude of challenges … These challenges demand a president who not only is willing to try out new approaches, but a president who has a keen understanding of these issues, ranging from the economy and the environment to foreign policy and public diplomacy.”

Journey Through UNIFIL - Mark Leon Goldberg, UN Dispatch: "This video is the first installment of a ten part series that is meant to explain UNIFIL to a Lebanese audience. (The host is Lebanese actor Rafic Ali Ahmad). To an American audience the video looks a little campy, but it is an interesting example of a peacekeeping mission's efforts at 21st century public diplomacy."

All Of This Has (Not) Happened Before… - Daniel Larison, Eunomia, American Conservative: “[T]he reduction in income taxes … was obviously much more dramatic and significant under Reagan. In foreign affairs, it was truly a mixed bag, and this would be true regardless of which side of the debate you were on: nuclear arms reductions went along with needless deployments, questionable backing of guerrilla forces in various flashpoints around the globe and rather dodgy arms deals took place alongside some important public diplomacy and covert support for dissidents.”

Finally – Paul Rockower, Levantine: “My Pub D group finally won our weekly contest. … PS: Speaking of PD makeovers, apparently the McCain campaign has dropped $150K on Guv Sarah's wardrobe. Those are some pretty expensive skates, o' hockey mom. Joe-Dom Perignon approves, but that doesn't sound like frugal republican values to me.” PHOTO: The author of this blog.

RELATED ITEMS

Pentagon Flack Leaves as Investigation Continues – PR Watch.Org, Center for Media and Democracy: Allison Barber, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense who launched the America Supports You (ASY) program and was also heavily involved in the Pentagon pundit program, is resigning. Barber leaves as the Pentagon's inspector general continues to investigate ASY's financial practices. PHOTO: Allison Barber

Schools in need employ teachers from overseas - Emily Bazar, USA TODAY: A growing number of school districts are hiring teachers from foreign countries to fill shortages in math, science and special education. The trend is most evident in poor urban and rural districts, according to educators.

Guantánamo's Bleak Farce: After dropping war crimes charges against five prisoners today, the US's use of military commissions is unraveling - Andy Worthington, Guardian/Common Dreams

Confessions of a former Guantánamo prosecutor: The inside story of a military lawyer who discovered stunning injustice at the heart of the Bush administration's military commissions - Stacy Sullivan, Salon

Rebranding the U.S. With Obama - Nicholas D. Kristof, New York Times: We’re beginning to get a sense of how Barack Obama’s political success could change global perceptions of the United States, redefining the American “brand” to be less about Guantánamo and more about equality.

If Elected ...Rivals Split on U.S. Power, but Ideas Defy Easy Labels - David E. Sanger, New York Times: Both presidential candidates forged specific positions amid the realities of an election in post-Iraq, post-crash America -- where judgment sometimes collides with political expediency. Mr. McCain emphasizes hard power first. More than any previous presidential candidate, Mr. Obama has emphasized the idea of soft power -- the ability to lead by moral example and nonmilitary action.

Obama's Change Must Start With His Advisers - Edward Lozansky, Moscow Times: As for the present, Obama is clearly surrounded by people who may yet make the Kremlin feel nostalgic for the good old days of the Bush administration.

No carbon copies – Editorial, Baltimore Sun: Merely to blunt the effects of climate change and have some credibility in negotiations with the rest of the world, including critical players such as China and Russia, the U.S. would have to go substantially further than what either candidate has proposed. But of the two, Senator Obama is at least offering the more ambitious proposals.

On Al-Qaeda Web Sites, Joy Over U.S. Crisis, Support for McCain - Joby Warrick and Karen DeYoung, Washington Post: "Al-Qaeda will have to support McCain in the coming election," said a commentary posted Monday on the extremist Web site al-Hesbah, which is closely linked to the terrorist group. It said the Arizona Republican would continue the "failing march of his predecessor," President Bush. See also.

Israel's peace paradox: Olmert says Israeli settlements on the West Bank must go. So why has he allowed them to grow? – Editorial, Los Angeles Times: If the past is prologue, either President McCain or President Obama will plead with Olmert's designated successor, Tzipi Livni, to restrain settlement activity. The really difficult task -- thanks partly to Olmert's government -- will be to evacuate settlements that shouldn't have been built in the first place.

Stopping A Nuclear Tehran - Daniel R. Coats and Charles S. Robb, Washington Post: To increase our leverage over Iran and to prepare for a military strike, if one were required, the next president will need to begin building up military assets in the region from day one. Daniel R. Coats, a former Republican senator from Indiana, and Charles S. Robb, a former Democratic senator from Virginia, are co-chairmen of the Bipartisan Policy Center's national security task force on Iran.

Iran Is Job One - Roger Cohen, New York Times: Iran also has some shared interests with America. Don’t lecture to Iran. Don’t moralize. Don’t demand everything -- an end to the nuclear program and terrorism and Lebanese and Gazan interference -- without the means to back such demands. That’s been the Bush failure.

Top Countries in Global Competitiveness: Despite this year's global market turmoil, many of the same countries, including the U.S., remain atop the World Economic Forum ranking - Matt Mabe, Business Week: Of the record 134 countries surveyed this year, the majority at the top of the list remain European, while the U.S. continues to hold on to the No. 1 spot.

Keep the Internet Free: The Net was never neutral. Now's no time to change that - Andrea Renda, Wall Street Journal: Since its birth the Internet has been a vibrant source of innovation precisely because of the absence of prescriptive regulation. Now would be the wrong time to change that.

'Europeana': EU Plans Backup Copy of European Civilization - Michael Scott Moore, Spiegel: A new online encyclopedia of European culture, called "Europeana," is set to debut in November. It's a rival to the Google Library Project, but also something else -- the start of a vast digital backup copy of what's in Europe's libraries, museums and national film collections.

Meanwhile, Condi's Getting a Little Action, Too! - Princess Sparkle Pony's Photo Blog I keep track of Condoleezza's hairdo so you don't have to: PHOTO: Maria Shriver, right, greets Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as she takes the stage at The Women's Conference,Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2008, in Long Beach, Calif. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles): COMMENT: "As I write this, the conference is still going on, so who knows what Condi had to say ..."

AMERICANA

Oh What the Hell: Uh, Here’s a Video of McCain and Obama Dancing - Wonkette

IMAGE



Vintage Japanese movie-monster anatomical illustrations – Boing Boing

October 22

“I do want to thank all those who have said prayers for me and Laura during our presidency. It's meant an awful lot. Thank you all."

--President George W. Bush

“You ... never know quite what you might end up doing. But I’ve been very happy doing international politics, and it’s been really great being Secretary of State.”

--Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Riz Khan - Brand America - 21 Oct 08 - Part 2 - Stop Bush Postcards: “The Iraq war has left America’s image abroad badly damaged. Jim Glassman, the US undersecretary of state for public diplomacy, has the task of polishing America’s brand around the world. He joins the show to discuss this.”

A 'hypocrisy audit' to restore America's image abroad - Josh Weissburg, The Exchange: "Moises Naim put a clever idea forward in last month's issue of Foreign Policy that addresses both the policy and public diplomacy challenges in one stroke: the next president should call for a 'hypocrisy audit.' Naim knows that we can't hope to scrub all contradiction from U.S. foreign policy -- but doing away with a lot of it out in the open would pay huge dividends.”

A Six Point Plan for the Next President: How to "Win" in Afghanistan - Steve Breyman, Counterpunch: “[D]o not extend the war to Pakistan. As tempting as it must be for field commanders to hammer Taliban compounds across the border with drones or commando raids, it’s clear that the micro-benefits of these tactics are heavily outweighed by their macro-costs in public diplomacy.”

The Listening Project - Andy Pryce, UK in USA bloggers, Foreign Commonwealth Office: “The Listening Project is a documentary film that examines what a range of people around the world think of America - I suspect a similar vox pop on the UK would produce a range of results (I am tempted to conduct one around DC some time soon). The question for diplomats like myself is whether a mixed opinion of my country amongst the public at large overseas makes it is more difficult to project soft power. It is tempting so say yes, of course. But the public at large in a number of countries are either disassociated or not interested in all but the most crucial foreign policy decisions. Simon Anholt gave his thoughts in the Foreign Office's recent publication on public diplomacy.” DIAGRAM: from Simon Anholt, "The importance of national reputation."

Mbeki leaves a great legacy for SA - Independent Online, SA: “South Africa's two-year tenure as a non-permanent member of the Security Council was sullied by a contentious voting record with regard to delicate matters of Myanmar, Sudan and Zimbabwe. Defending principle is important where big powers are seen to abuse the UN Charter, but the lesson to be learnt here is the importance of public diplomacy in explaining the positions adopted.”

JFK, Cuba and McCaine - Post from ted thomas's Blog: Community Blogs, Obama/Biden: “It is, admittedly a highly subjective conclusion, but the last thing we needed in the White House back then was a President quick to draw lines in the sand, and enamored of the symbolism required to defend them. As one reads these minute by minute accounts of complex backroom negotiations, contingency planning, and public diplomacy, all occurring simultaneously, it's hard to place John McCain in the role that JFK actually played in leading us through this near-miss with nuclear war.”

RELATED ITEMS

Barack Obama for president - Aspen Daily News Endorsement: President Bush's leadership has been so dismal that it isn't only Americans who have lost some faith in the red, white and blue. The United States has lost the respect of the world. OBAMA POSTER: New York Times

The War Party Embraces Obama -- Just remember: you've been warned… - Justin Raimondo, Antiwar.com: Obama wants to invade Pakistan and flood Afghanistan with yet more U.S. troops, and he will likely let two spies who funneled top secret intelligence to Israel off scot-free. Why wouldn't the War Party be perfectly satisfied with the election?

Right You Are, Joe: America's enemies will see Obama as weak - Pete Hegseth, National Review: America’s aggressive posture in defense of liberty, interpreted clearly by our adversaries after 9/11, has kept our nation free from another attack for the past seven years. Most of us on 9/12 thought another terrorist strike would be inevitable -- but it hasn’t happened. Why, now, would we want to elect a ticket which freely admits that its own presence in the Oval Office would invite another such attack?

American Gun Owner = Trained Jihadist - Andrew C. McCarthy, National Review: The Uighurs at Guantanamo are Chinese Muslims captured by coalition forces after the American invasion of Afghanistan. The men are jihadist trainees, all of whom received instruction in the paramilitary camps of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement. The Uighur legal saga provides a window on Obama-style counterterrorism: Sure, the Uighurs may move in next door to you. But not to worry: Obama promises you’ll have the enormous satisfaction of knowing your reputation in the international community -- in places like Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan -- is now markedly improved.

Next President Will Inherit Guantanamo Dilemma - William Fisher, Antiwar.com: The administration of President George W. Bush has decided not to close the iconic prison at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Elusive consensus on Iran - Kaveh L Afrasiabi, Asia Times: The trouble is that with US presidential politics going through a transition period, there is no longer a set US policy, for example on Iran, and this explains the extra efforts of US neo-cons to marshal support, even by enlisting some former diplomats from the graveyard of US diplomacy. The groups hope to erect tall barriers against any potential initiative by the next US president to steer Washington's Iran policy in a drastically new direction.

Iran's Preconditions: So much for Obama's diplomacy - Review & Outlook, Wall Street Journal: Iran is one of the toughest and most urgent foreign policy problems the new U.S. Administration will face. If Mr. Obama ends up in the Oval Office on January 20, he may find that solving it will take more than walking into a room and talking to Iranians "without preconditions."

A Critical Stage in Iraq - David Ignatius, Washington Post: The negotiations to complete a new status-of-forces agreement for U.S. troops are deadlocked. If Obama does indeed win, he could make an early show of leadership by telling Baghdad not to expect any sweetheart concessions.

Serving two masters in Iraq – Editorial, Boston Globe: The Iraq policy of the next American president will have to be rooted in a realization that Bush has opened Iraq to Iranian influence. The soundest way to counter that influence is to cease being an occupying power as quickly as possible and to strengthen ties with Iraqi factions that truly want a pluralist, independent future.

Iraq Moves Closer to Obama-Type Plan for early US Withdrawal; Cabinet rejects Security Agreement - Juan Cole, Informed Comment: Thoughts on the Middle East, History, and Religion.

Troubled Apologies Among Japan, Korea, and the U.S. - Press Release, Asians in U.S. Magazine: In international relations, formal, public apologies from one nation to another for historical injustices are supposed to be a prerequisite for healing the rift between aggressor and victim countries. Yet, even when the apologies are delivered, they rarely seem to achieve their goal

Hit and miss with Afghan air strikes - Gareth Porter, Asia Times: US air strikes have generated a rapidly rising rate of civilian casualties, creating a political climate marked by increased anger toward the US and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) military presence, according to many Afghan and foreign observers.

Mexico's spreading drug violence: The U.S. must help Mexico deal with rising drug violence before security problems spread - Pamela Starr, Los Angeles Times: The United States is enabling the bloodshed in Mexico. We have a moral responsibility to stop arming the murderers and kidnappers -- our national security demands it. Pamela Starr is a senior lecturer in international relations and public diplomacy at USC, an adjunct fellow at the Pacific Council on International Policy and a senior fellow at USC's Center on Public Diplomacy.

Russia’s Resentment of the West Began with a Broken Promise - William Pfaff, Truthdig: It did not take the clash between Russia and Georgia to reveal that relations between Russia and the West have taken a bad turn. They have been deteriorating since the mid-1990s, when the decision was taken to expand NATO to include the former Warsaw Pact states. As a result of American blundering in the Middle East, and of increasing trouble in Pakistan, the U.S. has been forced to ask Russia to permit the major supply route for the Afghanistan war to pass by way of Russia.

Challenging US Global Dominance - Herbert Bix, Antiwar.com: America's future leaders need a new approach to Russia and to the rest of the world. As they consider how to rebuild at home and regain trust abroad, they should work with Moscow on all aspects of their relationship.

U.S. Defense Official Outlines Lessons Learned In War On Terrorism - RFE/RL: U.S. Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Eric Edelman spoke with RFE/RL senior correspondent Ron Synovitz about the changing dynamics of the war on terrorism and the lessons the U.S. military has learned from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Image from Boing Boing

The End of American Exceptionalism? Empire and White Supremacy - Corey D.B. Walker, Counterpunch: After eight years of the Bush-Cheney regime, the United States confronts these questions in light of a deep and profound crisis of legitimacy. The current crisis is intimately shaped by the demands of 21st century American imperialism and is reflected in the (un)spoken language of white supremacy.

If McCain wins, should we all move to Scandinavia? Imagine a land where presidents don't sprinkle holy water on wars, citizens have good healthcare and governments care about the environment - Louis Bayard, Salon: Despite the religious skepticism of our Founding Fathers, the exceptionalism that has marked America's character from the start has always demanded divine corroboration. Take away God, and our destiny doesn't look quite so manifest. The shining city on a hill becomes just another city, just another hill.

A manga adventure through the world of wine - Norimitsu Onishi, International Herald Tribune: A Japanese manga series, "The Drops of the Gods” was created and written by a middle-aged Japanese sister-and-brother team. The comic -- which appears every Thursday in Japan in a magazine called the "Weekly Morning" and has been compiled in 17 books so far -- rapidly became a hit in East Asia, where people are still learning to drink wine and may feel insecure about it.

Letter From America: The moral dilemma of turning Maoist propaganda into camp décor – Richard Bernstein, International Herald Tribune: “[Y]es, By all means, collect [Maoist posters], as I have done. They might even be good investments, but don't forget the truths that they conceal.”

Russian B-Boys lead world – Reuters, News24, South Africa - Russia and Korea confirmed themselves as some of the most stylish break-dancers in the world by coming first and second in the coveted B-Boy world championships in London this month. Russia has been developing its style since the early 1980s when break-dancers were arrested for anti-Soviet propaganda and encouraging American culture.

Propaganda - Sabrina, sabrinaris2012 : “Propagandas are the main aspect of the Russian Revolution. Colorful posters printed with small captions of messages given to the citizens; sets off their minds and urged the whole nation to move toward nationalism.”

Hitler planned 'Big Brother' style television - Will Stewart, Daily Mail: Adolf Hitler was on the verge of creating an Orwellian-style cable TV system to broadcast Nazi propaganda around Germany. Screens would have been set up in public places, including in laundries so housewives could tune in, according to a documentary based on papers and tapes found in his bunker.

Britain at War: The Blitz and the Home Front - Andrew Roberts, Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom: Despite the tragic deaths of over fifty thousand civilians during the Blitz -- and more were to die during the V-1 doodlebug and V-2 rocket attacks later in the war -- British morale did not break, as Hitler hoped and expected it would. Instead the determination that Germany needed to be defeated was immeasurably strengthened. To appreciate the courage and will to victory of the British people at the time, watch the contemporaneous films Mrs Miniver and Went the Day Well, which, although they were of course made as morale-boosting propaganda movies, nevertheless depicted an underlying truth about Britain in 1940.

War, Propaganda, Psychology – Colleen, Laughing off the Zeitgeist: “I do wonder if I'll ever get past this sense of shock and amazement I have towards mass mythology in action, which seems strange because I used to be programmed by that very same propaganda. It is poignant, frightening, and amazing when you start to examine statements philosophically and realize how many ridiculous lies, distortions, and outright contradictions can slip by people completely unnoticed.”

The Propaganda Of Starship Troopers, Fr. Philip Nerie Powell, Domine, da mihi hanc aquam…: "Unfortunately, it looks like the new Starship Troopers movie is going to be one long campaign ad against the war in Iraq. Youtube has a number of short clips up and most of them show the movie mocking the military, religious believers, patriots, etc. and trying to present those opposed to the war in the movie as heroes and victims of a fascistic state. Too bad. I really liked the first two movies."

Condi on Top - Princess Sparkle Pony's Photo Blog I keep track of Condoleezza's hairdo so you don't have to: "Condi did the most adorable interview of her entire career recently, with Girl Scout Magazine, and it was just posted on the State Dept. web site for all of us to enjoy. I believe that Cat Fancy is now the only periodical who has yet to interview her. It's cute: be true to yourself, blah blah blah, study hard, etc., etc."

AMERICANA

McCain Is a Ford, Obama Is a BMW: Brand Study: Voters Find Both Candidates Resemble Starbucks - Michael Bush, Advertising Age: Voters associated Mr. Obama with BMW, Google and Target, while Mr. McCain was compared to Ford, Wal-Mart and AOL. PHOTO: John McCain Looks Inside Ford Plant.

PLATON PHOTO FROM THE NEW YORKER

SPC Bobby Russell of the First Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, from Ft. Wainwright, Alaska.

October 21

“If he looks like me, I bet he can sell me."

--Political strategist David Axelrod (left), according to Dennis Archer, a Detroit mayor.

“If we are sensible people, we shall see that the question is not so much whether they are guilty as whether we are making the right decision for ourselves."

--Diodotus, who opposed the proposal of Cleon in 427 BC to kill all adult Mytilenean males and to enslave their women and children after the defeat of Mytilene

VIDEO: Russian-American relations

“vlad and friend boris presents 'Song for Sarah' for mrs. Palin.”

Courtesy Mitch Polman

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Foreign poll favours Democrat but shows hostility to US - Julian Glover, Guardian: "People around the world are pinning their hopes on Barack Obama in next month's presidential election, according to an international survey published today. It shows that America can no longer count on the friendship even of its closest neighbours and allies after eight years of the Bush presidency. Only a minority in the countries surveyed describe relations with the US as friendly."

STATE DEPARTMENT, Public Law 402 80th Congress (VOICE OF AMERICA) – Matt Armstrong, MountainRunner: "Today, we are far removed understanding the importance of information as a tool of national security. We forgot the first decades of the Cold War and have become too reliant on 'hard power' as a result of the last forty years of the Cold War."

Public Diplomacy in Europe - Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, U.S. State Department (July 2008 [evidently latest edition]). Cited at

Obama's presidential staff if elected – Hosseleini, Politics 3311: On national security, Obama has sought out advisors who, like him, believe in robust public diplomacy.

They are listening to what he said – Wing Tips on the Ground Blog: “It would be impolitic of me, as a career member of the U.S. Foreign Service, to express support for either candidate in this blog. Iraqis have often asked me how I will vote — even once when the cameras were rolling — and I have always politely declined to answer. However, I often tell my Iraqi friends and counterparts how excited I am to participate in the democratic process, and that voting will be the most important thing I do this year. I say that as a Public Diplomacy Officer, but more so, because it's true.”

UN had not observed justice regarding Iran, Zarif - Mathaba.Net, UK: Former ambassador of Iran to United Nations and International relations professor at the International Relations College of the IRI Ministry of Foreign Affairs Javad Zarif referred to the significance of public diplomacy as the most beneficial topic at academic centers, arguing, "The significance of mastering public diplomacy is so high that a US soldier, parallel to learning military skills, needs to learn the mother language of the country where he fights."

VSO makes music - and history - in China - Aileen McCabe, Canwest News Service, Vancouver Sun: “Thirty years after the last Canadian orchestra performed in China, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra delighted and moved a sold-out audience at the prestigious Beijing Music Festival Friday night. … [C]onductor Bramwell Tovey … [said] ‘[i]t's through cultural organizations, whether it is orchestras, operas, ballets, theatre, or whatever, that we can shake hands across the Pacific Ocean.’… To press home his point, he used the example of how far U.S. relations with North Korea have progressed since the New York Philharmonic's breakthrough concert in Pyongyang in February."

KMU hits ‘citation’ of Dole Phils for corporate excellence - GMA news.tv, Philippines: Chris Agosto, executive director of Mindanao Workers Resource Center: "There are no positive changes or 'innovations' in Dole Philippines policy towards workers rights, unless one considers the donation of recycled classroom chairs and the annual town fiesta jogging with Manager Mr. Kevin Davis as the epitome of glorified Corporate Social Responsibility. Where is their 'public diplomacy and community long-term investment' when they could not even find an innovative ecological way to neutralize the daily stench of their far-reaching foul-smelling waste catch basin.”

RELATED ITEMS

Bush Decides to Keep Guantánamo Open - Steven Lee Myers, New York Times: Despite his stated desire to close the American prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, President Bush has decided not to do so, and never considered proposals drafted in the State Department and the Pentagon that outlined options for transferring the detainees elsewhere, according to senior administration officials.

Jaw, Jaw or War, War: The Afghanistan Advantage - William S. Lind, Counterpunch: An Afghan coalition government that includes the Taliban could give the U.S. and NATO what they need, an opportunity to get out.

McCain on the Record: Exclusive interview: John McCain talks about the economy and the Bush administration's foreign policy failures - Stephen F. Hayes, Weekly Standard

Call to adopt a new policy - Gulf Times: The next American President should travel to the Muslim world early in his term, meeting not only with leaders, but also visiting mosques and engaging in dialogue with ordinary people, ‘The Doha Compact’ released by the Saban Center at Brookings has recommended. “Too often, anti-Americanism has been used as an excuse by weak regimes to maintain their hold on power, while postponing much needed political and economic reforms. If relations between the US and the Muslim world are to improve, this anti-American propaganda needs to stop,” the report suggests.

Bush and his 'exit strategy' – Editorial, San Francisco Chronicle: A final departure date after a disastrous war is a prize to be wished for. But a hurry-up conclusion reached by the discredited Bush team would be wrong.

Troops reportedly popping more painkillers - Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY: Narcotic pain-relief prescriptions for injured U.S. troops have jumped from 30,000 a month to 50,000 since the Iraq war began, raising concerns about the drugs' potential abuse and addiction, says a leading Army pain expert.

Ending the Free Ride - Douglas Stone, FrontPageMagazine.com: Now is the time to make real changes by demanding that our NATO allies be as aggressive in confronting Islamofascism as they have been in their anti-Americanism. Otherwise, we need to disband it and start fresh with countries that are serious about our collective security.

Clearing the path toward a nuclear renaissance - Richard K. Lester, Boston Globe: In an era of global terror, much more must be done to make the world safe for activities like nuclear power. But more should also be done to make nuclear power safe for the world, and the United States should lead the way.

Russia Steps Up to Plate As Global Crisis-Solver - Vladimir Frolov, Moscow Times: The United States and the European Union shirked their responsibility as global leaders for taking collective action to deal with the world financial crisis. The Group of Seven finance ministers, who only gathered last week in Washington, were only able to issue a toothless declaration. In a twist of fate, Russia is now emerging as a country that is ready and willing to assume the responsibilities of global leadership.

India Looks East and discovers Tokyo - Harsh V Pant, Rediff News: While the two main political parties in India remain well disposed towards Japan, their allies have often taken stridently anti-American postures largely for domestic political consumption. This reflexive anti-Americanism still retains its hold in a substantial part of Indian political establishment and can also hamper India's ties with Japan, especially if they are viewed as following too closely the pattern of Indo-US ties.

The grand illusion of American power - H.D.S. Greeway, Boston Globe: Much of the world now looks on the Bush administration's resurrection of Woodrow Wilson's ideals and the expansion of democracy as a cover for coercion and bare-knuckle dominance. As Andrew Bacevich, author of "The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism," says, Bush always confused strategy with ideology.

The Dangers of a Diminished America: In the 1930s, isolationism and protectionism spurred the rise of fascism - Aaron Friedberg and Gabriel Schoenfeld, Wall Street Journal: If America now tries to pull back from the world stage, it will leave a dangerous power vacuum. The stabilizing effects of our presence in Asia, our continuing commitment to Europe, and our position as defender of last resort for Middle East energy sources and supply lines could all be placed at risk. There is no substitute for America on the world stage. The choice we have before us is between the potentially disastrous effects of disengagement and the stiff price tag of continued American leadership.

Churchill's Wizards: The British Genius for Deception 1914-1945 by Nicholas Rankin - Max Hastings, Sunday Times: Nicholas Rankin is a former BBC correspondent who has now turned his attention to deception in the two world wars. His thesis is that the British possess a genius in this field, in which he includes camouflage, propaganda, intelligence and special forces.

Thandie Nails Condi - Patricia J. Williams, Daily Beast: “For my money, the most interesting portrayal in [the film by Oliver Stone] W. is that of Condoleezza Rice, as played by Thandie Newton. On one hand she's a pitch-perfect automaton; indeed, her longest speaking part is half a sentence in Russian. … On the other hand, Newton's interpretation of Rice embodies a subtle hinge between the vulgar and the refined, the yes and the no; she performs the threshold force between heaven and hell.”

Iraqis Stage Special Puppet Show in Honor of George 'n' Condi! - Princess Sparkle Pony's Photo Blog: I keep track of Condoleezza's hairdo so you don't have to: "Oh, hey, what's this? al-Sadr is going to stage some special show in honor of Condi? Neat! That's so totally nice! I assume they're going to totally greet Pantomime George and Pantomime Condi as liberators 'n' stuff. Uh, oh! Hey, you crazy kids, keep those things away from the fire."

Propaganda - corine, Hidden in France: “I was trying to find a fitting image and it came via Simplemente Maravillosa. She posted images of Chinese propaganda posters produced by the Chinese Communist party. They are unsettling, depicting idyllic settings, perfect little colorful worlds filled with well-fed cherubs, and smiles, lots of smiles, all to convey happiness and abundance during years of regime that had little to offer beside poverty, terror and despair.”

PLATON PHOTOGRAPH, NEW YORKER


SPC Bobby Russell of the First Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, from Ft. Wainwright, Alaska.

October 20

"I learned long ago to distrust my childhood."

--Barack Obama

"That great Cathedral space which was childhood."

--Virginia Woolf

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Diplomacy on the Cheap - Steven R. Corman, COMOPS Journal: "On Thursday the American Academy of Diplomacy released a new report on the dismal state of funding for U.S. diplomacy and public diplomacy efforts, compiled by a Task Force of 14 former senior foreign service officers. They reckon that the diplomatic capacity of the United States has been 'hollowed out' since the fall of the Berlin Wall. … They also decry the 'militarization of diplomacy.' I can verify that even people at DoD are concerned about this. One staffer told me that they have all of the budget while State has all the authority, resulting in a sub-optimal situation for everyone. … [T]he report recommends an increase in funding of over $1.8 billion for various diplomatic activities by FY 2014. Signaling the importance of the function and the direness of need, Public Diplomacy would get about a third of the total. … Some will claim that we can’t solve our public diplomacy problems by throwing money at them. I would agree: We have to throw money at them and also make changes in the policies the prevent them from working.” See also. CARTOON: Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs James Glassman.

Fortress Embassies - David Comp, International Higher Education Consulting ™: A Source for News on International Education Issues: “I just read an interesting blog entry on the Foreign Policy Association Public Diplomacy and the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election blog that I thought readers would find interesting. The blog entry entitled 'Our Backward Public Diplomacy' discusses how the traditional forms of U.S. public diplomacy efforts are decreasing/retreating and are now changing to the virtual world of the State Department website and to relocating U.S. Embassies from the center of cities to more fortified structures on the outskirts of world cities.“

Electronic (E)-Learning conference held in al Kut - Troop Scoop: Updates about our heroic troops and their successes in Iraq, and the courage of the Iraq people: “'Electronic learning is an exciting development, especially for Iraq,’ said Vanessa Beary, public diplomacy officer for the Wasit PRT [Provincial Reconstruction Team]. ‘Education is the key to the future for Iraq, the U.S., and the world.’"

Young Arab Leaders (YAL), in Partnership with Business for Diplomatic Action, Launches the Second Arab American Business Fellowship Program – Press Release, Zawya, United Arab Emirates “Young Arab Leaders (YAL), the region's foremost development platform for business, public sector and civil society leaders, has partnered with Business for Diplomatic Action, America's leading private-sector led public diplomacy initiative to organise the second Arab American Business Fellowship (AABF) program. The initiative is sponsored by Dow Chemical India, Middle East & Africa (IMEA) GmbH through its charitable arm, The Dow Chemical Company Foundation.”

Views of the Election in Indonesia – Melinda Brouwer, Foreign Policy Association: Public Diplomacy and the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election: “NPR’s ‘All Things Considered’ program ran a segment on Indonesian opinion of Barack Obama this week. Obama attended grade school in Jakarta, so one would expect Indonesia to be a bit of a ‘blue state.' … I recommend giving it a listen.” PHOTO: Obama’s third-grade classroom at Public School No. 1.

Documentary film on the History of Urdu Delhi 20th Oct 08 – O, Mumbai Ready Reckoner: “A documentary film in English ‘Urdu Hai Jiska Naam' in four parts with a total duration of around 96 minutes is being screened by INTACH at the India Islamic Culture Centre on Monday [in New Delhi] … . The Film Produced by Kaamna Prasad for the Ministry of External Affairs, Public Diplomacy Division, has been shot in Delhi, Aligarh, Lucknow, Rampur, Agra, Fatehpur Sikri, Hyderabad, Golkunda, Gulbarga, and Lahore. Shubha Mudgal and Dr. Aneesh Pradhan have composed the poetry of Quli Qutub Shah, Meer Taqi Meer, Ghalib and Faiz that has been sung by Shubha Mudgal. The Film has been anchored by Tom Alter.”

RELATED ITEMS

Propaganda offensive – Editorials, Toledo Blade: “Talk about a new American surge. Last month, four U.S. companies were awarded hefty contracts to produce news stories and entertainment programs designed to inspire Iraqis to support their government and U.S. military objectives in their country. … The contractors will work closely with the Defense Department in coordinating a disciplined message to support the war effort. The department describes the information and entertainment blitz as necessary to its counterinsurgency strategy and its mission to influence the hearts and minds of Iraqis. Using the blandest terms possible, the military refers to it as 'information/psychological operations.' A less charitable, but perhaps more accurate, description would be propaganda. … This new push to accentuate the positive goes beyond the crude schemes employed in earlier years, but it probably won't be any more effective. An ongoing war and military occupation have a way of making the occupied population skeptical.”

US national security's challenge: communication: History shows what happens when agencies don't talk - Kenneth Weinstein and Richard Weitz, Christian Science Monitor: The national security system has evolved slowly over the past 61 years. It now consists primarily of the State and Defense departments, the National Security Council, the intelligence community, the Homeland Security Department and the Homeland Security Council. Others participate when specific issues in their jurisdiction arise. The trick is getting them to work as a team rather than pursue their own bureaucratic interests as competitors or adversaries.

America's useless terrorism list: 'State sponsors of terrorism' sounds good but accomplishes little - Lionel Beehner, Los Angeles Times: The State Department's list of "state sponsors of terrorism" is one of the biggest farces of U.S. foreign policy. This blacklist exists solely to punish our enemies, not to cajole them to stop sponsoring terrorists.

Needed: new multilateralism - Robert B. Zoellick, Boston Globe: Multilateralism is a means for solving problems among countries, with the group at the table able to take constructive action together. Fate presents an opportunity wrapped in a necessity: to modernize multilateralism and markets.

Interview With Bernard-Henri Lévy: Why Europeans Love Obama - Beth Arnold, Spiegel: French provocateur Bernard-Henri Lévy on how the left is being destroyed by tolerance -- and the Europeans' fascination with Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

Obama Is Wrong About Colombia; Labor unions are much safer under Uribe - Anastasia O'Grady, Wall Street Journal: Mr. McCain missed an opportunity to ask Mr. Obama how he squares his antagonism toward Colombia -- whose president has an 80% approval rating -- with his promise to boost America's image abroad.

When the Gloves Come Off - Jonathan Schell, Nation: Isn't there a grave risk that Afghanistan will become Obama's war in the way that Iraq became Bush's war, and with a similar potential to destroy Obama's presidency? The United States seems likely to remain a country of immense strengths -- economic, political, even military --that will survive the collapse of its imperial delusions.

Afghanistan: Penetrating the Propaganda - Allan Millard, Orillia Packet & Times, Canada: While “GWOT” is clever word-smithing, the over-arching myth of the GWOT propaganda is that we are experiencing a clash of civilizations, or that there are religious extremists “out there” who envy our freedom or way of life and who spend every waking minute devising nefarious plans to cause us harm. Thus, our security is threatened and we have to fight them “over there” so that we don’t have to fight them “over here.” Check your brains and your civil rights at the door.

Afghanistan's emerging antiwar movement:Afghan NGOs are teaching human rights and Islamic law along with calls to end the war with a national peace jirga - Anand Gopal, Christian Science Monitor

Pakistan steps up antiterror fight - Morton Kondracke, Washington Times: The next president certainly will put more forces into Afghanistan. But as long as Congress is spending zillions on bailouts and stimuli, it ought to be able to come up with a billion for strategic Pakistan.

First person -- The missing ingredient for an Iraq recovery: trust: Sectarian violence may be down, but Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds remain wary of the future and one another - Tina Susman, Los Angeles Times

U.S. security pact hits impasse in Iraq: Al-Maliki's Shiite coalition denies support for deal that would maintain troops for 3 more years - Associated Press, Baltimore Sun

Their Own Worst Enemy - James Fallow, Atlantic: Most Americans are parochial, but (surprise!) most Chinese and their leaders are more so. The closer Chinese officials are to centers of political power, the less they know what they don’t know about the world.

Russia Unromanticized - John R. Bolton, Washington Post: U.S. opposition to Russia's recent behavior should not rest on a desire to "punish" Russia but on the critical need to brace Moscow before its behavior becomes even more unacceptable.

First justice, then peace in Sudan: An international warrant for Omar al-Bashir, accused of genocide in Darfur, could speed his political demise - Ana Uzelac, Christian Science Monitor: The Sudanese president may have been moderately cooperative on the war on terror, but the price has been allowing him to terrorize others. His country and the millions of its war-tired citizens deserve a different future. And the US deserves a better ally.

Turmoil in Southern Africa: The world has a big stake in not letting Zimbabwe and South Africa slide into chaos – Editorial, Baltimore Sun: It's in no one's interest to allow either Zimbabwe or South Africa to devolve into failed states like Somalia and Sudan that threaten not only their neighbors but the entire world community.

AMERICANA


Museum of propaganda: Do your shopping now

October 19

“Our friendship arcs across the sky like a rainbow. The Soviet Union and our country will be together for ever and ever. Our friendship towers over us like a rocky peak above the waves. The warmongers will crack their skulls against that rock.”

--Words of a song written by Czech author Milan Kundera in his youth

“Mr. President, can you tell him I am a C.I.A. officer? Maybe he will take me more seriously.”

--Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili to George W. Bush, regarding Russian PM Putin

AMERICANA

Barack Obama and Fred Astaire: What a Pair! – John Brown, Notes and Essays

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Sending the wrong message to the rest of the world – Robert Campbell, Architectural Record: “[T]o most people, including me, the [US Berlin] embassy looks like a lonely fortress, withdrawn from the city behind wide swaths of what I can only call no-man’s-land, which isolate it like a noxious germ on a microscope slide. Sometimes the strip of no-man’s-land is filled with a hideous forest of black bollards; at other times, it’s hidden behind a fence of fierce, tall steel palings. … Any building, of course, must possess two basic qualities: It must function for its users, and it must express some meaning to the world outside. ‘It’s an office function, not a museum,’ we were told by the American ambassador, William Timkin. But a building cannot help being a bearer of messages. And if it there were no desire to broadcast a message, why would we build the embassy in such an internationally prominent location? At Berlin, alas, the message is clear: We hate and fear the world around us, so we’ve retired behind a moat of defendable space.” VIA Bill Middleton.

Young Tribal Voices: Radio Theater In Pakistan – Hal, EARS Inc. Blog: “Educational Arts Resource Services, Inc., a company founded and run by Hal Ryder (Faculty, Theater Department), was invited to do a project in Peshawar, Pakistan this past summer, entitled Young Tribal Voices. Professor Ryder and Cornish alumna and Theater Department Faculty, Kerry Skalsky (Theater ’89), spent five weeks working with students from the University of Peshawar and Kohat to create and present radio plays dealing with social issues, intended for broadcast into the tribal areas in NW Pakistan. The workshop culminated with a live radio broadcast in Pashto, that included four plays written and performed by the students, a professional radio MC, and live music in front of a live audience. After the project, James K. Glassman, the new undersecretary of state for public diplomacy, mentioned the project as an initiative in the war of ideas. The project has been funded for the students to write 52 more plays and broadcast them in the next year. Hal Ryder spent a week this month in Washington D.C. debriefing the project with Department of State officials and discussing future options. “

US-China Cold War - Speedy Gonzalez, Es De La Dea: “After planning the war against Iraq, former Assistant Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz now heads the State Department’s International Security Advisory Board that recommends a Cold War against China. … The Secretary [of State]’s hope has been for ISAB to provide ‘independent insight, advice, and innovation,’ and serve as ‘a single advisory board, dealing with scientific, military, diplomatic, political, and public diplomacy aspects of arms control, disarmament, international security, and nonproliferation … ’”

Turkey needs a Präsenz Schweiz – Kerim Balci, Today’s Zaman: A recent Turkish media delegation visit to Switzerland organized by the country's official public diplomacy agency has revealed Turkey's urgent need for a similar agency. Präsenz Schweiz (Presence Switzerland) invited a group of Turkish journalists for a three-day visit to Zurich, Bern and Lausanne in order to introduce the Turkish media to the Swiss democratic system and economy ahead of the first ever Swiss presidential visit to Turkey.

New approaches to halt Iran's nuclear program - Bennett Ramberg, Jerusalem Post: “For the mullahs, one value dominates - preservation of the theocratic regime. In this view a nuclear Iran provides security, international influence, self-confidence, prestige, scientific infrastructure, economic modernization and energy diversity while buttressing popular support. Iran's values, however, can become the West's sword. Consider a kaleidoscope of alternatives [among them] … Sow nuclear fear. Iran, obviously, resides in a dangerous neighborhood. Use public diplomacy to cultivate popular fear that nuclear plants are radiological hostages to terrorist malevolence, military attacks and accidents. Reiterate this question: Do nuclear values outweigh multiple nuclear risks and economic costs for a country with abundant oil, natural gas and solar energy resources?”

Israel expects U.S.-Iran talks under Obama - Barak Ravid, Haaretz: “[O]ver the past two months the Foreign Ministry has put together a four-pronged plan for a new diplomatic campaign against Iran. … A fourth team will deal with issues of public diplomacy - writing articles in leading newspapers around the world, conducting press briefings, engaging in public relations efforts against the Iranian regime on university campuses, and disseminating intelligence against Iran in the media.”

Sobre El Mundo Mundial - José María, Sobre el mundo mundial:“Es lo que el Departamento de Estado llama ‘public diplomacy’, la diplomacia de su gobierno dirigida no a otro gobierno sino a la población de otro país. No se llama propaganda, ni intoxicación, ni agitación política, ni engaño sino "diplomacia pública" y lo dicen con toda claridad. Y obsérvese que en esta diplomacia se incluyen los programas de entretenimiento (si no ‘panem’, por lo menos ‘circenses’) y no se excluyen los spots publicitarios puros y duros.”

The Block Leave Round-Up - Confessions of a PowerPoint Ranger: "And two weeks of pre-deployment block leave comes to a close. Strangely enough, my leave periods are often more hectic and activity-filled than my time at work (if that were possible). The highlights: … Started another book over this last weekend: Practicing Public Diplomacy, by Yale Richmond, in which the author discusses how American embassies spread American culture and values throughout the Iron Curtain during the Cold War. It's an incredible lesson for today, when the US faces even greater hostility abroad, and designs its embassies more like fortresses than as showcases for American values. In fact, I'm submitting an article to Small Wars Journal about this very topic.“

FBI investigated LDS President Hinckley to see if he was a spy - Nate Carlisle - Salt Lake Tribune: “Four decades before he became president of the LDS Church, the U.S. government investigated whether Gordon B. Hinckley was a foreign spy. The answer appears to be no, according to an FBI file released last week. The file shows that in 1951 the FBI conducted a background check on Hinckley in anticipation of him receiving a government job. The job would have been with Voice of America … Matthew Armstrong, a public diplomacy consultant who has studied American propaganda, said anyone applying for Voice of America was scrutinized in those days. Only people applying to work in the atomic weapons program received a more-thorough background check, Armstrong said. ‘There's just great concern the State Department folks that were going to be involved in [Voice of America] were going to be sympathetic to the Communists,"’Armstrong explained.

Maris Pasquale, Peter Pachios – Weddings/celebration, New York Times: “Maris Pasquale, a daughter of Pamela B. Pasquale and Michael F. Pasquale of New York, was married Saturday to Peter Louis Pachios, a son of Luanne D. Pachios of Scarborough, Me., and Harold C. Pachios of Cape Elizabeth, Me., and the stepson of Claudia C. Pachios. … His father is a partner in Preti Flaherty Beliveau & Pachios, a law firm in Portland, Me. From 1999 to 2002, the bridegroom’s father was the chairman of the United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy.”

RELATED ITEMS

Translation Is Foreign to U.S. Publishers - Motoko Rich, New York Times: It is a commonly held assumption that Americans don’t like to read authors who write in languages they don’t understand. To help spur more translations, government-sponsored cultural agencies in Europe and elsewhere subsidize -- or fully cover -- the cost of translating books into English.

The Torture Time Bomb: The Bush administration's approval of the abuse of detainees is a toxic legacy for the next US president - Philippe Sands, Guardian/Common Dreams

Economic Puzzles: Suddenly, Europe Looks Pretty Smart - Nelson D. Schwartz, New York Times: During the last 10 days Europeans have proved more nimble than Americans at getting to the root of the global financial crisis, whatever they may have lacked as innovators.

U.S. Loses Its Grip on Europe - William Pfaff, Truthdig: Some Europeans seem to have decided that the postwar era of American leadership is over.

Will Transplanting the Strategy in Iraq to Afghanistan Save the Day? – Ivan Eland, Antiwar.com: Paying off the Taliban not to fight probably won't work, and the Afghan war likely cannot be salvaged. The US should withdraw its forces from Afghanistan and concentrate on pressuring the Pakistani government into finding and turning over bin Laden.

Moving Towards a 'Grand Bargain' in Afghanistan - Jim Lobe, Antiwar.com: Increasingly frustrated by the "downward spiral" that the U.S. intelligence community sees in Afghanistan, the Pentagon appears to be moving in support of engaging leaders of the resurgent Taliban who are prepared to disassociate themselves from al Qaeda.

October 18

“Silence Is Powerful.”

--Rule no. 5 of the Cheney Rules, according to Barton Gellman, author of "Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency."


“What self-respecting nation would reduce itself to a ‘brand?’"

--Kim Andrew Elliott

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Letter: Use force, not speech, to deal with terrorists, 10-18-08 - Linda Rapoza, Herald News: “In their recent Guest Opinion in The Herald News, state Sens. Joan Menard and Rick Rendon make the impression that the only way to deal with terrorists going forward is to use ‘public diplomacy.’ Never mind that we haven’t had an attack on our own soil in over seven years. According to them, what our military has been doing in order to keep the crazies away from our own doorstep should be discarded and replaced with a softer, friendlier approach. … Cultural and educational exchanges are marvelous ideas for schoolchildren to advance on their own time, but not at the risk of the safety of the American people. The individuals who man those F-16 fighters, nuclear aircraft carriers and M1 Abram tanks are doing a heck of a lot more to keep us safe than any politician warming a seat in Washington (or Boston). Using carrots to replace sticks may work with horses, but they’re poor substitutes for keeping the American people from getting blown up.” Linda Rapoza is chairwoman of the Fall River Republican City Committee and a Republican state committeewoman.

Arming for the Second War of Ideas: the Department of Global Affairs – Matt Armstrong, MountainRunner: “Some suggest the War of Ideas is simply between us and ‘violent extremists’, ‘Islamists’, or some other derivative label for Al-Qaeda, Taliban, and associated movements from the Middle East to South Asia and eastward. There is even proposed legislation that places boundaries on who are adversaries are. However, while some of our policy makers continue to ignore or even reject the importance of information and persuasion in international relations from economics to war, our major competitors do not. … The U.S. is still not armed for the Second War of Ideas, a war we’re already 7-10 years into. To be effective, we need a Department of Non-State, functionally if not bureaucratically, armed with the appropriate tools and comprehensive collaboration across agencies and countries and organizations.“

The Diplomatic Surge - Andrew Curry, Foreign Policy: “Setting aside the question of how nailing six or seven multiple-choice questions [on the Foreign Service exam] proves I’m ready to manage employees, should diplomats be selected for their management skills, or for their ability to craft and implement effective foreign policy? Does it make sense to use the same test to hire managers as public diplomacy officers?” See also.

Credibility and the World Service – Andy Pryce, UK in USA bloggers, FCO bloggers: “Public Affairs Officers or Diplomats like myself can no more tell the [BBC] World Service what to report than we could tell Al Jazeera to spike a story on civilian casualties. The Arab ‘street’ or Soweto slums have become more and more media savvy. It would be a waste of money for the UK to pay for and serve up lukewarm propaganda. … There is a wide ranging debate underway in Washington on how the US Government should go about influencing overseas. There seems to be a wide range of suggested approaches. Some in Congress had expressed concern about the reporting of Voice of America. Some seem to want more independent public diplomacy initiatives, others do not. The Department of Defence recently signed a $300 million a year contract for the production of supportive media in Iraq. What do readers think that the UK and US can learn from each other approach and ideas?”

South Africa: Diversity Rocks - Phillip Kurata, America.gov: "Seven Los Angeles musicians who call their group Ozomatli played their blend of rock, hip-hop, jazz, reggae, cumbia, salsa and other musical strains October 3 to a mainly black crowd of young people in the city that was once the bastion of apartheid. Ozomatli's three-city tour of South Africa and a subsequent visit planned for Madagascar were organized by the U.S. government as part of its cultural diplomacy program." PHOTO: Ozomatli.

Breaking the mould – The National, United Arab Emirates: “Cynthia Schneider is one of the last people you would expect to show up in Hollywood. The former US ambassador to the Netherlands and a professor of diplomacy at Georgetown University has a CV that seems more UN Security Council than Sunset Boulevard. Still, Hollywood is exactly where she has concentrated her efforts of late, for one reason. ‘Popular entertainment wields tremendous influence,’ she says. Last year, that belief led Schneider, an expert in so-called cultural diplomacy, to form Muslims on Screen and Television (Most), a partnership between the Brookings Institution, the Washington, DC, think tank where Schneider is a non-resident fellow, and Unity Productions Foundation, a non-profit film company based in California. … The group’s primary objective is to connect content creators in Hollywood with experts and data on Islam and the countries where it is practised.”

International conference about Silk road at KU - Etalaat News Service: “Governor N N Vohra inaugurated the 4-day International Conference titled 'Dynamics and Revival of Silk-route: Perspective, Challenges and Opportunities' at Kashmir University on Tuesday. … Prof [Mansoora Haider—former chairperson of department of History at the Aligrah Muslim University] said that the most interesting feature of the Silk Route was the cultural diplomacy and international relations. 'All along the silk route, material, moral and artistic culture of Indian lies buried and its study can be rewarding is bringing to light Indian share in he glories of global culture,' she said."

ICD’s Afterhours: music and dance as cultural diplomacy - Tuuli Reissaar, Cultural Diplomacy News: “More than 70 people gathered on Tuesday evening at the restaurant En Passant at Savignyplatz in order to enjoy an evening filled with good music, food, wine, and most importantly, great company. In the words of ICD’s Director, Mark Donfried, 'Sherehe ya Afrika: A Celebration of Africa was organized for the purpose of making new friends and building connections.' The formation of these friendships and connections make it possible to transcend borders and build sustainable bridges between cultures and societies while music enhances cross-cultural interaction that cuts across various barriers such as language, ethnicity and religion.” PHOTO: Mark Donfried.

An Interview with writer, director of David & Layla Jay Jonroy - Kurdishaspect.com: Kurdish Aspect: “Your film David & Layla has received great reviews from the New York Times and the Washington Post. The American and Jewish communities have raved about your movie yet you have not received the notoriety you deserve in the Kurdish Community why do you think that is? … What would you like to see from the Kurdish community, and KRG in particular, to help promote the advancement of the Kurdish culture and theater? [Mr. Jonroy]: Every nation uses Cultural Diplomacy coupled with Political Diplomacy to advance their causes. Again, except Kurds. Kurdish activists need to appreciate that artists do not live on air. They need moral and financial support.”

Ministry stresses culture as backbone of new diplomacy – Viet Nam News: “The foreign affairs sector would continue its efforts to integrate cultural diplomacy with other diplomatic strategies, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Pham Gia Khiem, said here yesterday. The Deputy PM was speaking at a two-day national forum about cultural diplomacy, held by MoFA’s External Culture and UNESCO Departmen. It was attended by 150 guests including statesmen, diplomats, scholars and entrepreneurs. ‘Realising the importance of cultural diplomacy, after our sector’s meeting in 2006, the ministry has implemented a series of solutions to make cultural diplomacy one of the three main foundations of Viet Nam’s diplomacy, alongside the political and economic,' Khiem said." See also.

Conference exploring Vietnam’s cultural diplomacy opens in Hanoi: Thanh Nien Daily, Vietnam: A national conference on strengthening cultural diplomacy to promote Vietnamese identity towards peace, integration and sustainable development opened in Hanoi Wednesday.

Avoiding Another Cold War Through Cultural Diplomacy Art and Cultural Diplomacy at the Forefront of Foreign Policy - Wang Guangyi, PRNewswire via COMTEX - “The Louise Blouin Institute is honoured to feature the first major solo exhibition in the United Kingdom of the renowned contemporary Chinese artist Wang Guangyi. The exhibition will take place from 17 October to 1 March 2009 and is part of the Louise Blouin Institute's 'Culture Beyond Borders' series, aimed at encouraging cultural dialogue.” PHOTO: Louise Blouin Institute.

Intellectuals rule Turkey's self-image at fair - Monsters and Critics.com: “Every year a new nation is chosen as special guest at the [Frankfurt] Book Fair, where most publishers put in long days of negotiating and selling and usually have little free time for cultural events. The cultural diplomacy opportunity is highly sought after, since it guarantees a short but intense bout of attention from the German media and the German reading public.”

Sale Of 'Stolen' Antiquities Halted: London auction house pulls items from Symes collection – ANSA.it: “Former Italian culture minister Francesco Rutelli … hit out at his successor, Sandro Bondi, for 'not taking sufficient action' to safeguard … artefacts. … Bondi said he did not wish to enter into ‘petty squabbles' with Rutelli, but underlined that Italian cultural diplomacy 'was not on hold.’''

The Sunshine Awards Special Honorees from Africa, the Caribbean And South America - TropicalFete.com, NY: “Habib Kagimu was born in the Republic of Uganda. He is an entrepreneur extraordinaire and business executive with extensive business background in international and multicultural relations. … Mr. Kagimu, as a philanthropist, supports many needy causes both at the personal and corporate levels and is a staunch advocate of cultural diplomacy. He played a central role in funding the visit of twenty children and three officials from the Save Our Souls Children's Home for orphans from Uganda on a one month Diplomatic Student Exchange Programme with orphans from Trinidad and Tobago.” PHOTO: Habib Kagimu.

RELATED ITEMS

Restoring America's reputation: The next president must make the U.S. a force for good again - Editorial, Los Angeles Times: A strong America, one worthy of respect at home and abroad, is one that grants those in its custody their rights, that declines to spy on citizens without warrants. It requires a president willing to share power with Congress and the courts and to subject himself to public scrutiny and accountability. Fervently we ask that the next administration lead us back to a position of honor in the world.

Barack Obama for president - Editorial, Los Angeles Times: In George W. Bush, the executive branch turned its back on an adult role in the nation and the world and retreated into self-absorbed unilateralism.

Our Military Propaganda Marches On... – C Tuttle, Main and Central: “We need to have serious Congressional investigations ASAP, and, appropriate actions taken to stop this [Pentagon] propaganda b*llshit and stop the further fleecing of the taxpayers...”

Open Editorialization = Propaganda – William "Papa" Meloney, Pa^2 Patois: Re the article, Private Military Contractors Writing the News? The Pentagon's Propaganda at Its Worst by Liliana Segura, AlterNet: "Where can I get a piece of the THREE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLAR pork pie? For writing 'feel-good' rhetoric to convince the Iraqi's that they are doing well??? … Wouldn't we be better served by supporting American social programs that have recently been gutted by our OUR economic downturn???” Segura article also cited at (a) (b) .

Priming the Propaganda Pumps: Four More Sales Pitches for the Spreading Human Terrain System (2.0) - Maximilian Forte, Open Anthropology: “What I think the Human Terrain System is meant to do … is to serve as a domestic propaganda effort and a deodorant for reducing the stench of increasingly unpopular wars. The aim is domestic stabilization, getting voters to better adjust themselves to corporatist war efforts by believing that these are ‘smart’” wars, fought by Ph.Ds, less lethal, more humane, winning friends and not just killing enemies. … The other aim of HTS is domestic intellectual counterinsurgency, shutting up critics, academics especially.”

McCain's plan for militaristic propaganda - adam ricketson’s blog: During the [recent presidential] debate, McCain suggested that the government has a special interest in getting retired soldiers into teaching positions … All together, this strikes me as plan for systematically introducing militaristic indoctrination into our schools.”

Al Jazeera Propaganda - Kansas Bob: Inane, Insane & Inspirational Intuitions: Re an Al Jazeera program: “I found this video to be a pitiful excuse for journalism from an Arab news channel. It presents a skewed view of Americans and is pure propaganda. The vast majority of US citizens do not hold the ignorant and biased views that are portrayed in this video. Sad that this is the view that is being presented in other parts of the globe.

Al-Jazeera issue off city ballot - John Briggs, Burlington Free Press: In the aftermath of their unsuccessful fight to have the 24-hour news channel Al-Jazeera English removed from Burlington Telecom’s programming, The Defenders Council of Vermont vowed to mount a petition drive and take the issue directly to voters in November. That won’t happen. VIA

Al-Qaeda Web Forums Abruptly Taken Offline: Separately, Sunnis and Shiites Wage Online War - Ellen Knickmeyer, Washington Post: Four of the five main online forums that al-Qaeda's media wing uses to distribute statements by Osama bin Laden and other extremists have been disabled since mid-September, monitors of the Web sites say.

A War for Empire: Afghanistan: Not a Good War Gone Bad - Larry Everest, Counterpunch: The war in Afghanistan is not the proverbial "good war," now gone bad. It was an unjust, imperialist war of conquest and empire from the start. And it continues to be an unjust, imperialist war of empire today

Attack on Iran Off the Table? - Ray McGovern, Common Dreams: “But attacking Iran would be crazy, you say. Not for nothing have many of the folks around Bush and Cheney been referred to as ‘the crazies’ since the early Eighties. Some are still there; and they do things.”

Poland excluded from visa-waiver list: Omission angers U.S. ally; S. Korea among newcomers – Nicholas Kralev, Washington Times: At a Rose Garden ceremony, Mr. Bush announced rescinding visa requirements for six other former communist countries -- Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia -- as well as South Korea, effective in about a month. But Poland, the Bush administration's strongest ally in Central and Eastern Europe, which was the most vocal supporter of the Iraq war and sent troops early on, was absent from the ceremony.

Going Global - Harold Meyerson, Washington Post: It took the collapse of finance to force governments to confront the limits of national power.

Kundera At Heart Of Novelistic Intrigue – Yefim Fishtein, RFE/RL: A report by a Czechoslovak state security official emerged from 60 years of oblivion, dryly summarizing the testimony of the young Kundera, a student, against a spy for the West -- a former military pilot -- who had just returned to Czechoslovakia.

IMAGE


Russian Propaganda Style Kermit the Frog - Super Punch

Joe the Plumber

Joe

John Brown

I realize I'm very late getting into the “Joe the Plumber” tempest-in-a-teapot presidential debate controversy.

But let me tell you one thing straight away -- I’m envious of plumbers.

I plead guilty of high crimes: I got a Ph.D from Princeton, as “elitist” a place as you can get. Never mind that a scholarship got me through the program.

Let's face it: It’s very hard to “make it” financially in the USA on an academic degree, except if you “outsource” your talents to corporations/think tanks/Pentagon.

Just ask any teacher or prof tightening her belt in these hard times.

A journeyman plumber makes an average of $42,000 a year.

Meanwhile, a UC Berkeley Graduate Student Researcher's
"Salary/Bonus/Other" adds up to $27,200.

Reverse class warfare?

No, that’s the last thing we need.

But of course that’s what the Republican fat cats want.

Keep 'em “thinking classes” down.

If not, they could make real trouble.

Nothing more dangerous that a plumprof alliance.

P.S. Funny that McCain should bring up plumbers, given what the White House plumbers did during the Nixon years.

***

THE "NIXON" PLUMBERS, ARRESTED ON THE SCENE

October 17

"Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful.”

--Investor Warren Buffett


“For bloggers, the deadline is always now.”

--Commentator Andrew Sullivan


PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

The Next U.S. President's Communication with Foreign Audiences - Amy Zalman, About.com Guide to Terrorism Issues: “Public diplomacy--U.S. government communication with foreign audiences--has been an issue in the U.S. war on terrorism from its beginnings. … If the specific link between public diplomacy and counterterrorism doesn't seem immediately clear, it may help to understand what the global demographic looks like through the lens of the terror war. Through that lens, the world is divided into three demographics: people who are 'with us,' people who are 'against us,' and people who are undecided. In some versions of this continuum, those who are 'with us' are consonant with 'Muslim moderates,' while those who are against are radicalized extremists. Communications are aimed at swaying the 'in-betweens' or ‘undecideds’ to the proper side.”

Brand China's Trial - Jayshree Bajoria, Daily Analysis, Council on Foreign Relations: “As China has risen on the world stage, it has developed what some experts call a brand of authoritarian capitalism, and is now competing with U.S. and European liberal democratic models. … . At a CFR meeting in June, James K. Glassman, U.S. undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs, said the China model is attractive in places like Africa, and countries like Vietnam, ‘because it allows people in power to stay in power by making people happy on the economic side, and yet keeping a lid on the freedom side.’"

Korea Lacks in Strong Identity in Brand Positioning - Thomas Cromwell, Korea Times: “[T]he goal should be to get every Korean embassy to serve as a marketing outpost for Brand Korea, and for every Korean person, institution and company to become an ambassador for Brand Korea. Public diplomacy is an important tool for governments in today's connected world, and a good brand for Korea will supply much of the substance needed to shape effective public diplomacy efforts. But branding Korea should not be thought of as a one-time effort. Brand Korea will need continuous management, continuous monitoring and research, continuous adjusting of messaging.”

RELATED ITEMS

Private Military Contractors Writing the News? The Pentagon's Propaganda at Its Worst - Liliana Segura, AlterNet: Months after the Pentagon pundits flap, the Department of Defense continues to hand down contracts for propaganda in Iraq and beyond.

The Coming Military Spending Surge - Matthew Yglesias, American Prospect: Though the United States faces some real national security challenges, insufficient military spending is not the source of any of those challenges.

The NATO Alliance: Dangerous Anachronism – Doug Bandow, Antiwar.com: Leave NATO to the Europeans and pull America's forces out of Europe.

Financial Architecture: The EU wants to construct a new world order for the global economy - Irwin M. Stelzer, Weekly Standard: Gordon Brown, free trader, and Nicolas Sarkozy, arch-protectionist, along with their EU partners, believe that now is the time to put the former hegemon in its place.

Dispatches From America: How to manage an imperial decline - Aziz Huq, Asia Times: In the coming years, a new president will have to deal with a growing disparity between the historically hegemonic role of this country on the world stage and its diminishing capacity. Diminishing US economic and military influence only underscores the wilting of America's "soft power."

Barack Obama for President - Editorial, Washington Post: Mr. Obama, as anyone who reads his books can tell, has a sophisticated understanding of the world and America's place in it. We hope he would navigate between the amoral realism of some in his party and the counterproductive cocksureness of the current administration, especially in its first term.

A Fateful Election - Timothy Garton Ash, New York Review of Books: Many Americans still suffer from a touching delusion that this is their election. How curious. Don't they understand? This is our election. The world's election. Our future depends on it, and we live it as intensely as Americans do. All we lack is the vote.

A Fateful Election - Ronald Dworkin, New York Review of Books: Obama alone among prominent politicians has the experience that counts most in a threatening and densely interdependent world: the crucial experience of empathy. He has lived, and been poor, in both domestic and foreign worlds that few national politicians can even imagine. McCain embodies the national illusion of self-sufficient go-it-alone power.

A Fateful Election - Thomas Powers, New York Review of Books: The biggest legacy of the Bush years is not debt. It is the idea that the United States must, and can, control the political landscape of Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran.

The Man Who Stayed - Michael Gerson, Washington Post: The war in Iraq proved it is possible -- with adequate will and resources -- to fight an insurgency by securing the population, gaining trust and intelligence, and turning local leaders against the radicals. But in Pakistan, America must encourage a counterinsurgency campaign at arm's length, through an unreliable partner who considers us unreliable as well.

Five years too late, Iraq faces the future: It was supposed to happen at the end of the war. But at last Baghdad is controlling its own destiny - Richard Beeston, Times (London): In the coming weeks, the Americans will move into a mortar- proof new embassy compound and hand Mr al-Maliki the keys to Saddam's Palace, a turning point in postwar Iraq. The move is likely to indicate the end of the green zone and the first serious attempt at recognising Iraqi sovereignty.

How We Lost the War We Won: A Journey Into Taliban-Controlled Afghanistan - Nir Rosen, Rolling Stone: Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan "are all theaters in the same overall struggle," the president declared, linking his administration's three greatest foreign-policy disasters in one broad vision. In the end, Bush said, we must have "faith in the power of freedom." But the Taliban have their own faith, and so far, they are winning.

Pakistan does some US dirty work - Syed Saleem Shahzad, Asia Times: Increasingly frequent raids by US special forces into Pakistan from Afghanistan and the use of Predator drones to target militants has angered many in Pakistan, and even caused dissent within the ranks of the armed forces.

Three Rivals - Editorial, New York Times: Ukrainians must be allowed to sort out their own problems. Russia’s meddling in the name of a specious sphere of influence is unacceptable. Countering it with American pressures to join NATO will only stoke internal divisions, so long as Ukrainians are far from agreed about the alliance.

Election by sound bite: Obsessed by "lipstick on a pig," economic "free fall" and other "great stories," America has failed to see the real challenges it faces - Joan Didion, Salon: “The prospect for any given figure had been evaluated, now as before, by his or her ‘story.’ She has ‘a wonderful story’ we had heard about Condoleezza Rice during her 2005 confirmation hearings. … Now as then, the ‘story’ worked to ‘humanize’ the figure under discussion, which is to say to downplay his or her potential for trouble. Condoleezza Rice's ‘story,’ for example, had come down to her ‘doing an excellent job as provost of Stanford’ (this had kept getting mentioned, as if everyone at Fox News had come straight off the provost beat) and being ‘an accomplished concert pianist.’"

Oliver Stone’s Vision Thing: Bush, the Family - Manohla Dargis, New York Times: “In ‘W.’ [director] Oliver Stone doesn’t need to haul out the dead or excavate the depths to keep us hooked: he just needs to show Condoleezza Rice (Thandie Newton) tightly smiling while Bush rants.”

Why I Blog – Andrew Sullivan, Atlantic: The blogosphere has added a whole new idiom to the act of writing and has introduced an entirely new generation to nonfiction. It has enabled writers to write out loud in ways never seen or understood before. And yet it has exposed a hunger and need for traditional writing that, in the age of television’s dominance, had seemed on the wane.

FAITS DIVERS

Putin tries satellite navigation device on his dog - Associated Press, Los Angeles Times: Russia's satellite navigation system isn't fully operational yet, but it seems to work on Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's dog. Putin listened today as his deputy, Sergei Ivanov, briefed him on the progress of the Global Navigation Satellite System. Then footage broadcast on Russian TV showed them try a collar containing satellite-guided positioning equipment on the prime minister's black Labrador Koni.

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

October 15

"This is my last meeting with you as secretary, and thank you for not applauding that fact."

--Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, speaking to the State Department’s department's Advisory Committee on Democracy Promotion; cited also in Princess Sparkle Pony's Photoblog, from which the photo on the left is taken.

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Improving America's Reputation -- McCain Would Lecture, Obama Would Listen - Amy Zalman, Huffington Post: “McCain advocates making sure the American message, and our ‘positive image’ gets to foreign publics; Obama advocates forging a dialogue with foreign publics to create a joint narrative about a shared future. McCain believes the United States leads by moral fiat based on its intrinsic leadership role; Obama believes the United States should lead by the example of its own behavior. … McCain believes that the 1998 decision to close USIA was wrong, and has promised to ‘work with Congress to create a new independent agency with the sole purpose of getting America's message to the world -- a critical element in combating Islamic extremism and restoring the positive image of our country abroad.’ Obama believes that efforts at public diplomacy in the Bush administrations State Department have been misguided and has promised to reignite public diplomacy efforts that recall the activities of USIA.”

One Ring To Rule Them All - Lawrence Dietz, Psyop Regimental Blog: "Public Diplomacy and helping other nations rebuild their infrastructure is the responsibility of the Department of State. Their diplomats along with seconded representatives of other Cabinet Level Departments should be driving the nation building, not the Department of Defense. … If the quote attributed to Senator James Webb (D-VA) that 'At a time when this country is facing such a grave economic crisis . . . it makes little sense for the Department of Defense to be spending hundreds of millions of dollars to propagandize the Iraqi people,' is true, it is clear that Senator Webb hasn’t the faintest idea as to the importance of strategic communications and likely has no clue as to why effective strategic communications and information engagement are needed to stab at the heart of what fuels the success of terrorists and insurgents."

Will Military Rule Return to Pakistan—and Afghanistan—in a Year? - China Hand, China Matters: "[Re] the Pakistan Policy Working Group paper [:] … The general drift of the report is that Pakistan’s fragile democracy must be coddled, spared the embarrassment of appearing as America’s lap dog, and showered with financial goodies to get Pakistan hearts, minds, and other useful organs on board the democracy-loving anti-extremist express. Add public diplomacy, NGOs, textile exports etc. etc. In general, one must say that joint operations are better than unilateral incursions."

And a warm welcome to all our friends overseas - Alex Evans, Global Dashboard: “As regular readers will be aware, I’ve long admired the courageous approach to public diplomacy taken by the US Department of Homeland Security, particularly in the fantastically Byzantine process that is immigration at New York’s John F Kennedy airport. Now, DHS are raising their game to a whole new level. As frequent travellers will know, in order to qualify for the US visa waiver program, visitors from overseas now have to apply for special authorisation to do so."

DOW 36,000, Tuesday, October 14, 2008 - Chattering Lass, From the Exurbs: “Let's look back 9 years, to 1999, when James K. Glassman wrote his remarkable book DOW 36,000, suggesting that the stock market was significantly undervalued and would triple its value over 3 to 5 years. By the way: in June 2008, Glassman became Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs in the Bush administration. And these are the guys who want to privatize social security. Nice, huh?”

U.S. Department of State and Avon Foundation Co-Host 2008 Breast Cancer Global Congress – Notice to the Press, Office of the Spokesman, U.S. Department of State: Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs James K. Glassman will address the 2008 Breast Cancer Global Congress, on Wednesday, October 15, 2008, at 10:00 a.m. Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs Goli Ameri and Director of the Avon Foundation Breast Cancer Crusade Dr. Mark Hurlbert will open the event that morning in the George C. Marshall Conference Center at the U.S. Department of State.

Obama: ‘Unshakable Commitment to the Security of Israel’ - Neurotic Democrat: Barack Obama, as quoted by Neurotic Democrat: “And it is my strong belief that that is the battlefield that we have to worry about, and that is where we have been losing badly over the last seven years. That is where Iraq has been a disaster. That is where the lack of effective public diplomacy has been a disaster. That is where our failure to challenge seriously human rights violations by countries like Saudi Arabia that are our allies has been a disaster. And so what we have to do is to speak to that broader Muslim world in a way that says we will consistently support human rights, women’s rights.”

The Cold War and the United States Information Agency: Book Discussion with Nicholas Cull – USC Center on Public Diplomacy: Tuesday, October 21, 2008, 12:00pm-1:00pm. The Center on Public Diplomacy is proud to host a roundtable book discussion with CPD faculty fellow Nicholas Cull about his most recent publication, "The Cold War and the United States Information Agency: American Propaganda and Public Diplomacy, 1945-1989." PHOTO: Nicholas Cull.

Credibility and the World Service - Andy Pryce, First Secretary Public Affairs Washington, FCO Bloggers: Global conversations: “There is a wide ranging debate underway in Washington on how the US Government should go about influencing overseas. There seems to be a wide range of suggested approaches. Some in Congress had expressed concern about the reporting of Voice of America. Some seem to want more independent public diplomacy initiatives, others do not. The Department of Defence recently signed a $300 million a year contract for the production of supportive media in Iraq. What do readers think that the UK and US can learn from each other approach and ideas?” PHOTO: Andy Pryce.

VOTE For ARTS - Who Says What - Darrell Markewitz, Hammered Out Bits: “A Liberal government will provide income averaging for artists, an important tool for helping this country’s writers, artists and musicians continue to excel. The Liberals have been promising to restore the cuts to Public Diplomacy Programs ... since the first cuts were made to that program in 2006 ... . In addition, they commit to increasing funding for international arts promotion and the Museums Assistance Program, and the creation of a Canadian Digital Media Strategy. "

RELATED ITEMS

Unlocking Gitmo – Editorial, San Francisco Chronicle: It's time to shut down a twilight zone exception to American norms.

Uighurs without a country - Editorial, Boston Globe: Every additional day the 17 Uighurs -- Muslims from a western province of China that has long sought greater autonomy from Beijing -- spend at Guantanamo makes a mockery of the rule of law in the United States. PHOTO: Nury Turkel, a leader in the Uighur-American community, is photographed in his office on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2008, in Washington. With no Dalai Lama to promote their cause, Chinese Muslims known as Uighurs have waged a largely anonymous bid for autonomy and cultural survival in their Central Asian homeland north of Tibet.

Some Afghans live under Taliban rule – and prefer it: In provinces just south of Kabul, the insurgents have a shadow government that polices roads and runs courts - Anand Gopal, Christian Science Monitor

Downward Spiral - Editorial, New York Times: the next president must plot a swift, orderly exit from Iraq and begin a swift and serious buildup of troops and aid in Afghanistan -- the real frontline in the war on terror.

The reality of war in Afghanistan - Stephen Kinzer, Boston Globe: Deploying more US troops in Afghanistan will intensify this highly dangerous conflict, not calm it.

NIE: Pakistan on Brink - Juan Cole, Informed Comment: Thoughts on the Middle East, History, and Religion: The new National Intelligence Estimate on Pakistan will apparently depict that country as "on the edge," with "no money, no energy, no government." The fear is expressed that an unstable Pakistan will become a center for al-Qaeda plotting against the US.

Pentagon Challenge: Ask Iraqis How Many Have Died - Robert Naiman, Common Dreams: The U.S. military is planning a large polling operation in Iraq over the next three years to help "build robust and positive relations with the people of Iraq and to assist the Iraqi people in forming a new government," Walter Pincus reports in the Washington Post. This provides an excellent opportunity to revisit an important question: How many Iraqis have died since the U.S. invasion?

Understanding the US-Iran Crisis - Phyllis Bennis, Antiwar.com: Any serious effort to minimize tensions and normalize relations between the United States and Iran must recognize that negotiations and diplomacy, not sanctions, military threats, or military attacks, must be the basis of the U.S. posture toward Iran.

Settling With North Korea - Editorial, Washington Post: The best argument for the Bush administration's latest deal with North Korea comes from those U.S. officials who don't try to pretend it represents a positive step toward the nuclear disarmament of that Stalinist state.

The Nuances of Diplomacy - Peter Rutland, Moscow Times: It's one thing when McCain and Obama discuss whether Russia is an "evil empire" based on their own analyses and interpretations of the country's actions. But we should not put words into Russian leaders' mouths based on our own preconceptions of their intentions.

Next Stop, Ukraine?: What McCain's interest in Crimea suggests about his worldview - Joshua A. Tucker, New Republic: Despite some of his claims to want to foster cooperation with Russia, McCaine will most likely approach future interactions with Russia through a world-view that stresses the importance of standing up to Russia, which in many cases may mean conflict.

Don't Laugh at the Bear : But don't make him bigger than he is - Stuart Koehl, Weekly Standard: Russia can cause mischief, and maybe even seriously interfere with U.S. foreign policy -- but it is not now and will not reemerge as an existential threat to our country, or even to the West as a whole, because it is and will remain militarily weak.

The West must not push Russia away – again: After so many broken promises, integration is key - Alfred Kokh, Christian Science Monitor: Alfred Kokh is the author of the upcoming book, "A Crate of Vodka: An Insider View On The 20 Years That Shaped Modern Russia." He served as a deputy prime minister under Boris Yeltsin.

Bush Doctrine Becomes DoD Dogma – William Pfaff, TruthDig: By now the “Long War,” realistic or not, will have become orthodoxy for most of the Washington defense and strategic studies community.

Beware of Big Ideas - Leon Hadar, Antiwar.com: In fact, there was never an American Empire in either a political-military or an economic sense. Instead, what happened was that U.S. leaders and American investors, acting in a very opportunistic way, exploited the sources of power -- military and financial advantages -- the U.S. seemed to be enjoying since the end of the Cold War. Photo from Wonkette.

Uncle Sam: Too Fat to Fail? The financial meltdown means government needs a crash diet - Daniel Henninger, Wall Street Journal: Even before this crisis, intellectuals and pundits were writing off America as certain to be overtaken -- politically and economically -- by the likes of China and India. What's needed is a crash diet. America isn't in decline, but its too-big-to-fail fatsos are pulling it down.

Is Condi an Absentee Landlord? - Princess Sparkle Pony's Photo Blog: I keep track of Condoleezza's hairdo so you don't have to:“OK, so I was just reading the latest Federal Diary by Joe Davidson buried within the Washington Post's business section. It's all about trouble at the State Department, so I was of course thinking, 'Ooh, Condi dirt' … So! The article is all about how nobody wants to work at the State Department anymore, personel levels are so low that tumbleweeds are bouncing down the halls, points are made about diplomacy being coopted by the DOD, and about how State doesn't train anybody to do anything so nothing is happening, etc., etc. People gripe and moan and wring their smooth, manicured hands. Tiny (yet perfectly formed) Robert Gates is interviewed and quoted at length. ’What can I do,’ he moans, ‘when it's not technically my department?' OMG, it's really boring.”

October 14

“Value art for art’s sake …”

-- Cynthia P. Schneider, Kristina Nelson, Mightier than the Sword: Arts and Culture in the U.S.-Muslim World Relationship. PHOTO: Ambassador Cynthia Schneider.

“you can’t ask culture to solve all of Naples’s problems.”

--Lorenzo Scotto di Luzio, a 36-year-old Neapolitan artist, who moved to Berlin recently. PHOTO: In the apse of a disused church now part of the Madre Museum for contemporary art in Naples, an exhibition examines the garbage crisis and civic identity.

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Personnel Shortfall Slows State Department - Joe Davidson, Washington Post: “The study, ‘A Foreign Affairs Budget for the Future,’ [by the American Academy of Diplomacy, states that] "[t]he 'militarization of diplomacy' is noticeably expanding as DOD personnel assume public diplomacy and assistance responsibilities that the civilian agencies do not have the trained staff to fill … Reduced budget and staff have made selling the U.S. abroad -- an important part of State's mission -- tough work these days."

A Foreign Affairs Budget for the Future: Fixing the Crisis in Diplomatic Readiness - Internet Article Reviews, American Diplomacy: “The next U.S. President needs nearly 50 percent more diplomats in order to implement a successful foreign policy, according to a landmark study ["A Foreign Affairs Budget of the Future"] issued October 6 by the American Academy of Diplomacy and the Stimson Center. [Among its recommendations is] [g]reatly expanding public diplomacy activities, especially educational and cultural exchanges to achieve a more positive global attitude toward the United States.” See also: Melinda Brouwer, “Fixing a Hollow Service."

U.S.-Muslim Engagement Project – Melinda Brouwer, Foreign Policy Association: Public Diplomacy and the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election: “The Washington-based non-profits Search for Common Ground and the Consensus Building Institute have produced a major new leadership group report on improving U.S. relations with the Muslim world. Titled “Changing Course: A New Direction for U.S. Relations with the Muslim World,” the two groups released the report last month to a packed house at the National Press club. From the Executive Summary: … Use public diplomacy to reinforce changes in policies and actions … Invest in cultural diplomacy through arts and entertainment programs, to deepen mutual understanding and challenge stereotypes.”

Mightier than the Sword: Arts and Culture in the U.S.-Muslim World Relationship – Cynthia P. Schneider, Kristina Nelson, Brookings Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World: “Although there exists a plethora of Bridging the Divide Initiatives and studies of public diplomacy, the United States lags behind European donors and governments … . The deepening divide between the United States and the global Muslim community is a cultural problem that could be responsive to cultural solutions.” See also: John Brown, “Arts Diplomacy: The Neglected Aspect of Cultural Diplomacy,” and “Review - The Arts of Democracy: Art, Public Culture, and the State”

Monday, October 13, 2008 - As'ad, Angry Arab News Service/وكالة أنباء العربي الغاضب: A source on politics, war, the Middle East, Arabic poetry, and art: “You see: George W. Bush was greatly successful in winning hearts and minds of the Arab people through skillful campaigns of 'public diplomacy.' Here, Henry Kissinger (a close adviser to John McCain) provides advice on how to win hearts and minds of the Iranian people: 'So the challenge for us is this: If one were to talk to an Iranian who is not seduced by visions of Islamic universality, one could say, you criticize us for our relations with the shah, but you misunderstand what that relationship was. That was a tribute to Iran.'"

Greece: High-Ranking US Diplomat on Environmental Policy, US Public Image – ANA, GreekNews, Greek-American Weekly Newspaper: “US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy in Europe Colleen Graffy briefed local journalists on Thursday over the Bush administration's oft-maligned global environmental policy as well as America's public image in the world. The meeting, held the US embassy in Athens, touched on Washington's need to listen to voices outside the United States, as well as to encourage communication between Europe and America on important global issues, like climate change.”

U.S. Public Diplomacy Envoy Fran Drescher Raises Awareness of Women’s Cancer - Source: U.S. Embassy, Hungary, XpatLoop.com/Hungary - "U.S. Public Diplomacy Envoy Fran Drescher successfully reached out to thousands of Hungarians on the important theme of cancer awareness and prevention during her recent visit to Budapest."

PHOTO: Fran Drescher (front row, third from left)

Handbook of Public Diplomacy – Matt Armstrong, MountainRunner: “The Routledge Handbook of Public Diplomacy was published today. I won’t say how many months late it is, but it’s out and discounted 8% at Amazon so get a jump on your Christmas shopping while they’re a bargain at $161.81 each. … The book is edited by Nancy Snow and Phil Taylor. Nancy is Associate Professor of Public Diplomacy in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. She is Senior Research Fellow in the USC Center on Public Diplomacy. Phil is Professor of International Communications at the University of Leeds and acknowledged as one of the foremost authorities in propaganda history and public diplomacy. Seriously though, get or borrow a copy of this 400-page doorstop, there is some seriously good writing in it (mine excepted of course ;).”

Calendars Show Gov Palin’s Foreign Policy Experience: About 20 meetings for about 12 hours - David Corn, Mother Jones. Among them: “March 19, 2007: Palin meets with 10 exchange students.”

Joint Georgian - Russian Commission Formed in Baku – Daily Georgian Times, Georgia: “With the mediation by the Azeri non-governmental sector, a permanent Georgian-Russian commission was set up in Baku last week. The latest developments in Georgia provoked bitter diplomatic crisis between politicians. So, the founders of the commission believe public diplomacy could be engaged, and say that people themselves should settle Georgia-Russia relations.”

Арктический мост" Канады и России - oondodz, live journal: "Народная дипломатия-Public diplomacy: “В Москве прошла конференция по созданию транспортного коридодора между портом Черчилль в Канаде и портом Мурмаенск в России. Вот это дело по для России полезное в экономическом и политическом плане.”

TEKNISK: Kontaktpersoner, Benjamin og Halvard, - INTER1000 Diplomacy: “Meningen med kontaktpersoner er for det første at Gamemaster bare vil forholde seg til en representant og en innbytter fra hver stat. For det andre kan det jo være en fordel for dere å ha enkle kontaktpersoner i forhandlinger, en capo og en consiglieri. Men for all del - noen vil kanskje foretrekke parlamentariske forhandlingsdelegasjoner, andre vil legge diktatorisk makt i en enkeltpersons hender og atter andre vil satse på public diplomacy, spionasje og kontraspionasje.”

RELATED ITEMS

Preventing the Other Meltdown - James Carroll, Boston Globe/Common Dreams: Over the signatures of Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates and Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman, the government released the statement "National Security and Nuclear Weapons in the 21st Century." Obviously, the Bush administration will not succeed in getting a new nuclear weapon approved by Congress. What Gates and Bodman are doing here, at the behest of the diehard nuclear establishment, is putting an item at the very top of the next president's agenda.

The Latest North Korea Deal – Editorial, New York Times: President Bush finally removed North Korea from the terrorism blacklist after Pyongyang agreed to a compromise plan to let American and other inspectors verify that it is shutting down its weapons program. The next president will have to demonstrate persistence, vigilance and flexibility to try to move this deal ahead.

In Korea, Rituals of Absurdity - Anne Applebaum, Washington Post: In the week in which the Bush administration announced its decision to remove North Korea from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, it's worth focusing again on the strange, ritualistic nature of the relationship between North Korea and the outside world: In its way, after all, that announcement was strange and ritualistic, too.

Diplomat Says U.S. Not Aiming For 'Military Victory' In Afghanistan – RFE/RL: RFE/RL correspondent Heather Maher spoke with U.S. Assistant Deputy Secretary for Southeast Asian Affairs Pat Moon on October 9. Moon: “Well, as I said, we're not there to win a military victory -- [we're there] to provide the appropriate security conditions so that we can provide the government services and the development assistance to the people of Afghanistan.”

Afghan War is Unwinnable – Gwynne Dyer, Japan Times: If victory is not possible, then in the end the Afghan government will have to talk to the Taliban and negotiate a peace settlement.

‘Collateral Damage’ Not Much Different From Targeted Killing - Robert Fisk, TruthDig: “But now I ask a question. When US troops massacre Iraqi civilians in Haditha because their buddy has been murdered, what is the difference between their revenge and that of Saddam? When a Taliban attack on Nato forces in Afghanistan provokes a US air strike on a village and leaves women and children torn to pieces in the ruins -- this now seems the inevitable result -- what is the difference between those innocent deaths and the destruction of the families of Abdullah’s grandchildren in Dujail?” PHOTO: An Afghan woman weeps as she holds photos of family members killed in a U.S. airstrike on Azizabad, a village in Herat province west of Kabul, in August. The U.N. reported as many as 90 civilians, many of them children, were killed in the attack.

Iraq opens bidding on oil contracts - Mary Beth Sheridan, Financial Times: US officials believe foreign involvement in the industry is essential since most of the American money to rebuild Iraq’s oil industry has now been spent, and this country’s own investments in the sector have been slowed by a sclerotic bureaucracy, the violence, and a lack of know-how and legal guarantees.

U.S. Proposal Yet to Reach Iran: Tehran Hints It Would Respond Favorably to Interests Section - Thomas Erdbrink, Washington Post: Iran has yet to receive a request from the United States to open an interests section here, officials said Monday, but analysts added that such a proposal would probably get a positive response.

Iran's 'world without America' – Clifford D. May and James Jay Carafano, Washington Times: No one disputes that Iran is developing a robust long-range missile force. Few question that Mr. Ahmadinejad's regime is working on nuclear weapons development. Less well-known is that Iran has conducted missile tests from sea-based platforms, detonating warheads at the high-point of the missile trajectory, rather at the aim point over the target.

Condi's coded message – Editorial, Boston Globe: Rice was quite properly telling Kazakhstan's autocratic President Nursultan Nazarbayev that the United States accepts his commercial and military ties to the Kremlin. At the same time, she was signaling to the Kremlin that Washington is not trying to displace Russia as an ally and client of Kazakhstan. But to undo unnecessary tensions, the next president will need to be even more agile than Rice.

Turning Russia Into a Global Citizen - Aleh Tsyvinski, Moscow Times: Russia's foreign investment helps the country become a global citizen. Consider Russia's elites, who buy houses in London, ski in the Alps and educate their children in Switzerland. They have too much to lose from a worsening political climate between Russia and the West. It is time to make the country's big business -- and its government -- stakeholders in the world economy. RIGHT PHOTO: Daniel Graig, star of James Bond movies.

The cold guard - Henry Hamman, Financial Times: Now is the time for Russia and the US to write the definitions needed to put a final end to the cold war.

America Will Remain the Superpower: When the tide laps at Gulliver's waistline, it usually means the Lilliputians are already 10 feet under – Global View, Wall Street Journal: It's a safe bet that the era of American dominance will not be brought to a close by credit default swaps, mark-to-market accounting or (even) Barney Frank.

The damage to Brand USA needs urgent repair: The twin pillars of US policy - deregulation and spreading democracy - have had their day. New ideas must replace them - Francis Fukuyama, Times (London): The ultimate test for the US model will be its capacity to reinvent itself.

The Empire Strikes Out, Interview: Soldier-scholar Andrew Bacevich talks about his hot new foreign policy book, a less-costly Afghanistan strategy, and why he's disappointed with both McCain and Obama - Mother Jones: Bacevich: “this theme of American exceptionalism, of America possessing a special mission, is really a thread that runs throughout our history. It has come to be part of our mainstream foreign policy consensus that we are called upon to spread freedom and eliminate tyranny.”

Why Is America So Content With Mediocrity? - Alan Cumming, Huffington Post: Although the notion of America being a force for good is noble and beautiful, the reality of how the world sees America is very different: America is an imperialist power that invades oil and mineral rich countries on little or flimsy evidence, and at the same time turns a blind eye to blatant genocide taking place in other parts of the globe.

Liquidating the Empire - Patrick J. Buchanan, Antiwar.com: We no longer live in Eisenhower or Reagan's America. Even the post-Cold War world of George H. W. Bush, where America was a global hegemon, is history. In both relative and real terms, the U.S.A. is a diminished power. America needs a bottom-up review of all strategic commitments dating to a Cold War now over for 20 years.

America’s Political Cannibalism - Chris Hedges, TruthDig/Common Dreams: “An economic collapse does not only mean the degradation of trade and commerce, food shortages, bankruptcies and unemployment; it means the systematic dynamiting of the foundations of a society. I watched this happen in Yugoslavia. I fear I am watching it happen here in the United States.”
PAINTING: The opening of the Fifth Seal of the Apocalypse (El Greco)

Living in the Ruins – Tom Engelhardt, TomDispatch: In September 2001, the real damage was largely confined to a number of square blocks of downtown Manhattan, including the shut-down Stock Exchange on Wall Street, as well as part of a single building in Washington DC and a field in Pennsylvania. This, we were told, was "the Pearl Harbor of the twenty-first century." And soon enough, with a helping hand from the Bush administration, Americans from Akron to El Paso were officially -- and mistakenly -- terrified for their lives and for their country. In the next seven years, the Bush administration managed to turn that misplaced fear into something like prophecy and bring down the house.

Coca Cola: Building a Better Design Machine? Its Web-based design tool lets the beverage giant customize marketing for hundreds of brands globally while slashing the time it takes to reach consumers - Jessie Scanlon, Business Week: The mega-challenge faced by all global companies: How do you retain control of the brand -- or, in Coke's case, 450 brands -- and ensure that its image in markets around the world reflects the core strategy? And how do you do that while making the brand management system flexible enough to adapt to local market needs?

Amerikkkan Propaganda Posters - The Red Son, The Revolution Script: While many of them were blatantly racist and nationalist, there were some U.S. World War Two propaganda posters that gave good advice that is still relevant today. So these posters are OK but nothing compared to the poster art created in "communist" countries such as Cuba, the Soviet Union and particularly Maoist China.

Boing Boing Gadgets explains: "Just How The Hell Did I End Up In Infomercia?" – Boing Boing: Welcome to Infomercia, a massive super-conglomerate turned government on an alternate Earth in which indiscriminate technological consumerism and promiscuous corporate partnerships have become the backbone of an oppressive, Orwellian dystopia. In Informercia, propaganda-driven consumerism is the method by which the masses are mollified, kept swollen and subdued by the government's encouragement of the blind pursuit of incrementally improved technology and the accumulation of crapgadgets.

AMERICANA


Photos of trash cars – Boing Boing

CREDIT CRUNCH HITS BRITAIN

October 13

“When they incorporated the town, they tried a few names, but those already existed, and somebody wrote back saying we should try something more ‘peculiar.’ And, son, we did.”

--A citizen of Peculiar, Missouri.

PHOTO: A Peculiar street

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

New Book: Routledge Handbook of Public Diplomacy
Edited by Nancy Snow, Philip M. Taylor

Attributing magical powers to public diplomacy -- and to old bureaucracies - Kim Andrew Elliott Discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy: “With a budget of over $300 million, the State Department's public diplomacy section is hardly an 'afterthought.' The re-creation of USIA, or something like it, with not magically turn around the U.S. public diplomacy effort. And whatever we think of U.S. policies, many of them are unpopular abroad, and public diplomacy will not make them popular.”

A Message for the New President: Getting Diplomacy Right - Patricia H. Kushlis, Whirled View: “The next president will, in reality, have only one foreign policy option. This is the imperative to rely far more on traditional diplomacy, public diplomacy and foreign aid delivered through civilian means to begin to repair America’s face and effectively conduct its business abroad. The military first 'solution' has proven to be no solution.”

Uzbekistan: reporter for RFE/RL, VOA gets ten-year sentence - Kim Andrew Elliott Discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy

Bridging the Digital Divide - Multiple Reality Disorder: “Yesterday, we went to the American Library at the U.S. Embassy up the road, a sprawling campus of Americana. I had never been inside a U.S. embassy, and I was curious to see for myself what these much-talked about libraries were all about, a staple of American public diplomacy during the Cold War. The State Department has been criticized for cutting back on them since, and some suggest the American Library system should be retooled to focus on the Middle East and Central Asia. Sure enough, it looked just like a library, with a very American theme, of course. (No ethnic cleansing here, just Manifest Destiny.) We met with about 15 Liberian journalists … to teach about blogging, a tough thing to maintain in a country lacking ready Internet access. … If only one of those Liberian journalists actually maintains his blog, it will be one more blogger Liberia has to tell its unique story to the world. And in Liberia's case, it might be the only local blogger the country has.”

RELATED ITEMS

On crisis, Europe to US: 'I told you so': Europeans blame economic mess on US 'anything goes' capitalism as Iceland faces a full meltdown - Jeffrey White, Christian Science Monitor: Instances of schadenfreude and we-told-you-so have tapered off lately as Europe, seeing many of its own financial institutions fail in the past week, has been unable to hold up its financial systems as better prepared to mitigate an economic meltdown. But they underscore the fundamentally different philosophies of the US and EU toward market economics.

Moving Beyond Empire – Alan Bock, Antiwar.com: The way out of the current financial crisis should involve giving up our foolish dreams of empire and vowing to create productive economic partnerships that work because they benefit both sides, not because the U.S. has the power to enforce its will.

Big Think: "I hope that we can restore our image" – Video Dog, Salon: "My Guantánamo Diary" author Mahvish Khan discusses visiting the U.S. prison and whether she still believes in American justice.

For president, a generational conflict: It's the key to viewing McCain versus Obama - Russell Baker, Los Angeles Times: The new century has opened with a pervasive sense of American decline, and for good reason. The history of the Bush years is anything but a tonic for the spirit: the nation deceived by official lies into endless Middle Eastern warfare, loss of America's good reputation around the world, erosion of the middle class, astounding budget deficits, growing financial dependence on China, that sinister power-grabbing operation in the vice president's office, torture.

The World Vote: Barack Obama is almost universally favored over John McCain outside the United States. Should that matter to Americans? – Editorial, Washington Post: On the intangible but critical question of American prestige and the willingness to accept U.S. leadership that comes with it, Mr. Obama has more to offer.

Make Love not War: Anti-Americanism and the American Election – Michael Radu, Foreign Policy Research Institute: Anti-Americanism is both a real and a global phenomenon. It has to be dealt with, in the long term, by engaging in realistic policies and attracting allies, not by masochistic exercises, public relations gimmicks, or unilateral concessions. The Michael Moore/Sean Penn/Noam Chomskys in this country are just an irritation here and abroad; to actively seek an accommodation with various foreign anti-American forces in order to make the United States “loved” would be a disaster. Via Len Baldyga.

World weighs McCain and Obama’s global views - Daniel Dombey, Financial Times: No matter who wins next month’s presidential election, some of the fundamental challenges facing US foreign policy will remain the same.

A modern-day Hitler: Ahmadinejad targets Jews - Abraham Cooper and Yitzchok Adlerstein, Washington Times: Job one for our next president is to signal pro-American young Iranians they are not forgotten and oppressed minorities they are not forsaken. Any potential meeting with Tehran's evil theocrats must be linked to real and verifiable policy changes on the ground. Anything less could lead America down the road to appeasement or war.

Obama Is Right About Talking to Iran: U.S. diplomacy can turn Tehran against Russia - Vali Nasr, Wall Street Journal

Russia rules – Editorial, Washington Times: Mr. Putin and Mr. Medvedev have demonstrated that the West is powerless to protect Russia's neighbors.

A Collapse, by Any Other Name ... - Michele A. Berdy, Moscow Times: Russia's leaders have avoided image-producing and anxiety-inducing words by simply not mentioning their own financial meltdown on television. The picture is different in the print media. If neutrality reigned in describing the U.S. plan, expressiveness ruled for the global meltdown.

Watching Ukraine Just like John McCain told me to… - Justin Raimondo, Antiwar.com: With socialism defeated in the lands of the former Soviet Union but now triumphant on Wall Street and Washington, a new cold war is just what the doctor ordered to get the war economy moving, as everything else comes to a grinding halt, and to divert peoples' attention away from their own increasing misery.

New and Unnecessary – Editorial, New York Times: With the Bush administration, no bad idea ever dies. So it should be no surprise that the Pentagon and the Department of Energy have released a new policy paper -- pitched to the next president -- arguing the case for a new nuclear warhead.

Trusting North Korea: Washington removes Pyongyang from the list of terror-sponsoring regimes - Stephen F. Hayes, Weekly Standard: Barack Obama will inherit a North Korea policy that looks a lot like the one he has proposed throughout his campaign.

Bush's North Korea Surrender Will Have Lasting Consequences: Nuclear proliferators have a new model to follow - John R. Bolton, Wall Street Journal: North Korea has now achieved one of its most-prized objectives: removal from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism. In exchange, the U.S. has received "promises" on verification that are vague and amount to an agreement to negotiate the critical points later. In the Bush administration's waning days, this is what passes for diplomatic "success." It is in fact the final crash and burn of a once-inspiring global effort to confront and reverse nuclear proliferation, thereby protecting America and its friends.

N. Korean Propaganda = Approx. 86% Art - Ayang047’s Weblog: “I don’t think it’s very surprising that most of North Korean propaganda takes on the form of art. I think it’s because art is everywhere; it’s so accessible. Sometimes it’s even forced upon people without their knowing. Also, art has so many forms that it can be applied to our multiple senses. I’ve been brainwashed myself!”

Confessions of a Propaganda Hitman - Zhang Yanlong, Economic Observer online: As a propaganda "hitman," Yu Menghong is hired by Xi'an provincial government officials to churn out polished propaganda pieces lauding their achievements. His stories, crafted with materials provided by his clients, are published in major local newspapers as advertorials.

Shiny Mao Portraits Offer Look at Dismal Propaganda Art: Review - Linda Yablonsky, Bloomberg: At New York's Asia Society, where "Art and China's Revolution'' gathers so many bright and shiny pictures of a smiling, avuncular Chairman Mao in such small spaces it could drive a sane person mad.

Radio propaganda and 1938: Chequered airwaves [review of Battle for the Airwaves: radio and the 1938 Munich crisis by David Vaughan] - The Economist: Radio created the Third Reich’s ethnic battering ram: the Sudeten Germans, stranded in Czechoslovakia under the Versailles treaty. As David Vaughan recounts in his meticulous and poignant study of the war on the airwaves, Czechoslovakia’s own German-language programmes were hopelessly outgunned by the quantity, quality and audibility of the Nazi propaganda effort. What Prague did offer was sometimes magnificently erudite (Thomas Mann, the exiled German literary giant, was a contributor) but had little appeal to skint, resentful German-speaking workers: they were easy prey for made-up stories of atrocities, discrimination, and conspiracies.

October 12

"Nazi articles of faith amounted to grotesque fantasies about how the New Order would function, and they couldn't possibly survive prolonged, or even relatively short, clashes with reality.”

--Andrew Nagorski, reviewing Hitler's Empire: How the Nazis Ruled Europe by Mark Mazower

"That's not the way the world really works anymore. We're an empire now, and when we act we create our own reality."

--A senior adviser to George W. Bush (2002) as quoted by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ron Suskind, who met with the adviser in the summer of 2002, after, in Suskind’s words, “I had written an article in Esquire that the White House didn't like about Bush's former communications director, Karen Hughes”

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Senator Jim Webb reads blogs? - Shawn Powers, Intermap: "[Senator Webb] did register his strong disapproval of the DOD’s decision to enlist an additional $300 million of support for 'media services' (formerly known as information and psychological operations) from four U.S. private contractors. Criticisms of the plan were logged here at Intermap, on Matt Armstrong’s MountainRunner, and at Marc Lynch’s Abu Aardvark. Simply put, some of the smartest minds in PD noted this to be one in a long line of bad decisions to move US PD efforts back into a Cold War mentality of communications that will simply not work in today’s increasingly networked and transparent society. ... Simply changing the name of propaganda from information and psychological operations to media services makes not a fooled Arab citizenry. Credibility is a prerequisite to any effective public diplomacy initiative, and the DOD’s communications work in Iraq is part and parcel of why US PD efforts more broadly lack credibility in the region."

Webb Urges Halt To U.S. Propaganda In Iraq – Bog Geiger, BobGeiger.com: “Webb has previously raised the issue [of DOD contracts that would pay civilian defense contractors $300 million to produce pro-American news stories, entertainment programs and public service advertisements inside Iraq] to both Gates and Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, about the Department of Defense (DoD) using ‘general appropriations accounts’ for such efforts because they avoid routine congressional scrutiny and award lucrative contracts to companies performing quasi-military functions such as Blackwater. … Webb, who … sits on the Armed Services Committee, has [also] sent a … letter to [Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl] Levin requesting hearings at the start of the new Congress to discuss the entire issue of the DoD's ‘strategic communications programs’ and the civilian contractors used to support them.”

U.S. Military Plans Polls and Focus Groups in Iraq: Helping Iraqis Rebuild Is a Goal - Walter Pincus, Washington Post: “The U.S. military is planning a large polling and focus-group operation in Iraq over the next three years to help ‘build robust and positive relations with the people of Iraq and to assist the Iraqi people in forming a new government,’ according to a proposal seeking private contractors for the program. The $15 million-a-year initiative will supplement the military's $100 million-a-year strategic communications operation, which aims to produce content for Iraqi media that will ‘engage and inspire’ the population.”

Yes, Its Important – Rob, Arab Media Shack: “Nobody likes a used-car salesman, but that’s how US public diplomacy is perceived on the 'Arab street,' as long as the Government and the think-tank crowd refuses to acknowledge that the Palestinian cause is actually something important. … I’d go as far to say that Public Diplomacy is a waste of time unless the diplomats have something new to preach to the Arab street. As long as policy stays the same, the most sophisticated campaigns are destined to fail and public opinion polls will register wide dislike of the US. By contrast, if the policies changed, you could have a four-toothed redneck from rural Mississippi running Public Diplomacy and it would be a success.”

Al Qaeda killing more Muslims than ‘infidels’ Khalid Hasan - Daily Times, Pakistan: “[A]t a one-day conference on Al Qaeda organised by the Foundation and the New York University Centre for Law and Security … Lawrence Wright of New Yorker magazine … said the US needs better public diplomacy in the world of Islam and it needs to become culturally sensitive to Islam and Muslims. He noted that the US has made little effort to reach out to moderate Muslims. He said US embassies in Muslim countries are like prisons and those who work there have little contact with the people who live in those countries. He also called for the closure of Guantanamo. ‘The United States should not be at war with Islam,’ Wright said. ‘We have made a terrible job of defining America to the Muslim world,’ he added.”

Iran’s letter to Solana shows dissatisfaction with 5+1 - Tehran Times Political Desk: “Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, in a letter to EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana on October 6 accused the six major powers of 'unreasonable behavior' over Tehran’s nuclear program. … Professor Alireza Davari said he believes it was the wrong time to send such a letter and it should have been written during the Caucasus crisis. ‘Undoubtedly, sending such letters is potentially positive and can be assessed within the framework of public diplomacy. However, I believe, the time for sending and publishing this letter was not correct. This move should have been made during the Caucasus crisis.’”

Israel and the Palestinians: Ending the Stalemate - Caroline B. Glick, posted on Doc's Talk: An attempt is made to tell the truth, present corroborated facts and mix in a bit of opinion from time to time based upon sound analysis: “The U.S. likewise must stop falsely proclaiming the moderation and anti-terror credentials of senior Fatah officials. Such statements, which are contradicted in both the statements and actions of men like Palestinian President and Fatah chief Mahmoud Abbas and Palestinian Prime Minister and former Hamas finance minister Salaam Fayyad, undermine U.S. efforts to wage a credible public diplomacy campaign against terrorism. They send a counterproductive message that there is such a thing as ‘good terrorism’ which contrasts with ‘bad terrorism.’

America’s Cultural Heritage and Green Diplomacy – ELIAMEP: "ELIAMEP and ELLINIKI ETAIRIA, Society for the Environment and Cultural Heritage organized a lecture followed by discussion delivered by Ms. Colleen Graffy, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy on 'America’s Cultural Heritage and Green Diplomacy.'

Our Historical Tasks at the Primary Stage of Socialism and Several Issues Concerning China’s Foreign Policy - Wen Jiabao, posted on Chinese Premier, Russia - Premier: Building prosperous China: Wen Jiabao -- “We should conduct public diplomacy in a more effective way. We should inform the outside world of the achievements we have made in reform, opening-up and modernization in a comprehensive, accurate and timely manner. At the same time, we should be frank about the problems we have. We should be good at using flexible and diversified ways in conducting public diplomacy programs. We should use persuasive ways to communicate with the international community to ensure that our message is effectively put across.”

Obama Menangkan ‘Pemilu’ di Kedubes AS - Augusta B Sirait, Twilight Shines: Mention of public diplomacy.

October 2, 2008 - On the Register! - Stephanie K., The Year of Living Unpredictably: “Law degree. Check. Bar exam. Check. Cross-country move. Done. After that? Life is a blank canvas - I'm in Limbo Land while I wait for the Foreign Service to go through its long, tortuous screening process and (hopefully) hire me and send me to farflung embassies around the globe. That process could take a year (give or take a few months). Today, my name officially went on the State Department's candidate register. So the countdown begins. I have 18 months to get off this list and into an A-100 training class. A new class starts every two months, and usually accepts 70-90 people. The register is sort of like a waiting list, except that your rank doesn't depend only on when you join the list. It also depends on your Oral Assessment score, and how it compares to other people in your cone. [There are five cones: Political, Economic, Public Diplomacy, Consular, and Management.]”

RELATED ITEMS

The shadow of Gitmo: The next president must act to help America reclaim its principles – Editorial, Los Angeles Times: Guantanamo has eroded America's reputation, embarrassed its allies and embittered its enemies. Everyone remaining at Guantanamo should be either released or put on trial with the assurance that an acquittal will not be followed by a return to confinement.

The Rule of Law in Guantánamo – Editorial, New York Times: A federal judge in Washington has struck an important blow for the rule of law by ordering that 17 detainees be freed from Guantánamo Bay. But the Bush administration is fighting the ruling to avoid having the case become an open window into the outlaw world of President Bush’s detention camps. They are not enemy combatants, legal or illegal, nor are they terrorists. Their detention -- along with the detention of others held at Guantánamo without charges or real hearings -- has gravely injured the nation’s tradition of due process and its international standing.

Bush's Crucial Handoffs - David Ignatius, Washington Post: The Bush administration (remember them?) has an opportunity to build some bridges in foreign policy that could help the next administration, whoever is elected. Its goal shouldn't be to bind its successors but to preserve options -- and to prevent deterioration of America's position during the interregnum.

The ‘New Multilateralism’ - William Pfaff, Truthdig: French president Sarkozy argued for a summit called by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to create new security institutions “from Vladivostok to Vancouver,” replacing those of the Cold War with what he called a “new multilateralism.” The formula is sure to enrage today’s Washington establishment, but possibly would be of interest to Barack Obama. PHOTO: William Pfaff

Kosovo blunder goes to court – Editorial, Boston Globe: Much of the resentment President Bush brought upon America can be traced to his contempt for international institutions and the legitimacy they may confer. International institutions have reason to feel the same way about Bush's decisions. On Wednesday, the United Nations General Assembly agreed to Serbia's request to have the International Court of Justice in the Hague determine whether Kosovo's secession from Serbia is legal. Seventy-seven countries voted in favor of the request. The United States was among only six countries that voted against it.

Danger Ahead for the Most Dangerous Place in the World - Sumit Ganguly, Washington Post: We need a stern, serious international effort -- led by the United States -- to put Pakistan back together again, reform its institutions and reorder its priorities.

Delisting North Korea - Victor Cha, Washington Post: In return for being taken off the blacklist, the North has apparently agreed to immediately resume disablement of its bomb-making facilities (rather than reversal). If North Korea keeps its word, John McCain or Barack Obama should inherit a situation in which U.S. and international nuclear experts are on the ground in North Korea learning more about Kim Jong Il's nuclear secrets while slowly disabling and degrading his nuclear capabilities. In this regard, Bush's decision was not a Hail Mary -- it was another yard gained in a slow ground game.

The Next Threat To Israel On U.S. Campuses – Moshe Phillips, Israel e News: “Pro-Israel campus activists in the U.S. will soon face a tough new front on the battlefield of ideas. A controversial Left-wing think tank is now planning a far reaching effort to equate campus activism against Jihadism to anti-Semitism and to blame Israel for Jew hatred. As if life for Zionist student activists in America weren't challenging enough already … The Boston, Massachusetts based Political Research Associates (PRA) advertised a help wanted posting nationally last month for a ‘Campus Antisemitism & Islamophobia Project Lead Investigator.’”

Repression In Uzbekistan: The EU ticks a box - Galima Bukharbaeva, International Herald Tribune: The European Union held a seminar on media freedom in Uzbekistan at the beginning of this month. The propaganda machines in Tashkent and Brussels might try to spin this media freedom seminar as a sign of real regime improvement. But any journalist living in freedom would report it differently.

Le Clezio -- who's he? This year's Nobel laureate for literature is little-known in the States. Perhaps this is evidence of our bias. Or maybe it's a product of the Swedish Academy's willful dismissal of U.S. writers - David L. Ulin, Los Angeles Times: Le Clezio does seem intriguing; an "irregular" resident of Albuquerque -- he has taught, on and off, at the University of New Mexico -- he is fascinated by the notion of borders, both real and metaphorical, and has written nonfiction about the American Southwest and Mexico.

Not Quite Ready To Dump America - Jim Hoagland, Washington Post: What the world seems to await is better American leadership, not its elimination.

Are We Rome? Tu Betchus! - Maureen Dowd, New York Times: The decline and fall of the American Empire echoes the experience of the Romans, who also tumbled into the trap of becoming overleveraged empire hussies.

October 11

"Why didn't you actually have George W. Bush do the part?"

--TV host Stephen Colbert interviewing director Oliver Stone about his new Bush movie, "W"

“I had a guy who would tell me when I was off base, he would tell me when I had no clothes on, figuratively, that is, and would tell me when I was right and go for it.”

--Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, regarding Alaska Senator Ted Stevens; via

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

It's the carrot, not the stick, 10-11-08 - Joan Menard and Rick Rendon, Herald News: “There is an alternative to the death, destruction, mistrust and misperceptions that our military actions have and continue to generate. … It is called public diplomacy. Public diplomacy is best defined as the communication and presentation of America’s interests, culture and policies to foreign populations in a fashion that generates good will, respect and support. … America’s best weapon against violent extremism is that of our people and our culture. Through vibrant public diplomacy programs and increased dialogue and communication between peoples, we will best be able to build bridges of understanding and support to the Arab and Muslim world.”

Iran President Says UN Resolution "Desperate Lashing Out of Hegemonic Powers" - redOrbit: Morad Enadi [anchor for the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting Enadi]: "No, we are not in a hurry, but in our foreign policy the issue of America is highly significant." [Iranian President Mahmud] Ahmadinezhad: "In my opinion, this major transformation has already taken place. You mentioned this yourself. You said that the topic of public diplomacy amounts to having a relationship with the people. I think that our relationship with the people of America has been established to a large extent.“

Congressional Advisor: Iran is Not Suicidal - Mohammed Shabani, Payvand's Iran News: “Congressional foreign policy advisor Gregory Aftandilian … discussed U.S. security commitments in the Middle East as part of the Center for National Policy's event yesterday titled 'A Nuclear Middle East.' … If a ban on sales of refined petroleum would be imposed on Iran, Aftandilian maintained that it has to be in tandem with a ‘rigorous U.S. public diplomacy campaign that recognizes Iran's right to nuclear energy but insist on that it has to follow IAEA guidelines.’"

Senator Brownback wants VOA, etc., to be "state-run" -- Kim Andrew Elliott Discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy: "The text of S.3546, The Strategic Communications Act of 2008, introduced 23 September by Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS), is now available. … The bill enshrines the existing structure of U.S. international broadcasting, mentioning specifically Voice of America, ‘surrogate broadcast programs,’ RFE/RL, RFA, the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, and (even though it no longer exists) Worldnet. Significantly, Alhurra, Radio Sawa, and Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN) Inc. are not mentioned. A main reason that U.S. international broadcasting has less audience than British international broadcasting, even though the former has a larger budget than the latter, is because the former consists of these entities that fragment scarce resources, compete with each other, and force audiences to tune to two stations to get a complete newscast. Fiscally conservative S.3546 is not. See previous post about same subject.”

BBC Russian reprioritizes: less radio, more internet - Kim Andrew Elliott Discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy: “KimAndrewElliott.com president Kim Andrew Elliott (I just promoted myself to ‘president’) says that to emulate the BBC's new multimedia approach to Russian, with its enhanced news reporting, U.S. international broadcasting can no longer afford to have two Russian services, RFE/RL and VOA, fragmenting scarce resources, competing with each other, and forcing audiences to tune to two stations to get a complete newscast.”

Serbian group touring county - Eric Quade, Barron News Shield, WI: "The Community Connections program, administered by World Learning, is designed to promote public diplomacy through the exchange of cultural ideas and values among participants, U.S. families and local community host organizations. Visitors stay with host families, exposing them to American family life, as well as to the roles of their counterparts in the United States. The visitors experience local cultural and recreational attractions with their host families."

Second Life Event on “Education without Boundaries” - Digital Digest: "The U.S. Department of State Bureau of International Information Programs co-hosted the 'Education without Boundaries' panel event in Second Life with USC and Cambridge Education. The five panelists represented various educational institutions with interests in Second Life. ... The invitation-only event attracted over 40 Second Life and Real World participants."

Public Diplomacy In Action At Wilton Park - Nicholas J. Cull, Public Diplomacy Blog, University of Southern Center on Public Diplomacy: “Today was the final day of the third Wilton Park conference on public diplomacy in the UK. Those in attendance included a mix of practitioners and academics from large and small nations, including several people associated with the CPD blog – Ashraf Haidari (who spoke brilliantly for Afghanistan), Ali Fisher, Simon Anholt, and myself. Countries represented included Romania, Mozambique, Vietnam, British Virgin Islands, Liechenstein, and Mexico. Nations with teams present included Canada, Denmark, and the USA.”

Modern History of Greece con'f - Athens News Agency, Greece: "A conference titled 'The Study of the Modern History of Greece: An Oxford Perspective' ... was held at the Old Parliament building in central Athens. The conference is organized by the Greek foreign ministry's Department of Information and Public Diplomacy, in association with the department of South East European Studies at Oxford (SEESOX), St. Antony's College, University of Oxford and the British Embassy in Athens."

International Conference & Cultural Event of Aceh - UH Manoa Campus Events Calendar: "The Autonomous Territory of Aceh on the northern tip of Indonesia’s Sumatra island is today considered a remarkable recovery story after coming though decades of political strife and the devastation of the 2004 earthquake and tsunami. The rich history and contemporary challenges of this extraordinary region will be the focus of an international conference and cultural event October 21 to 23 at the Hawaii Imin International Conference Center. ... Conference presenters include specialists from the East-West Center, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Indonesian General Director of Information and Public Diplomacy and the Provincial Government of Aceh, along with other international professionals, students, faculty, government officials and representatives of nongovernmental organizations from Asia, Europe, Africa, Australia, and United States."

George Soros - Everything you want to know about him - Heather Coffin (2003), History Of Macedonia: “Massaging of numbers to provoke a response was a major part of a Council on Foreign Relations campaign after September 11,2001. This time it was the 2,801 killed in the World Trade Center. The CFR met on November 6, 2001, to plan a ‘major public diplomacy campaign.’ CFR created an ‘Independent Task Force on America’s Response to Terrorism.’ Soros joined Richard C. Holbrooke, Newton L. Gingrich, John M. Shalikashvili (former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff), and other powerful individuals on a campaign to make the Trade Center dead into tools for U.S. foreign policy. The CFR report set out to make the case for a war on terrorism.”

RELATED ITEMS

Global Economic Downturn and the U.S. Image – Melinda Brouwer: Foreign Policy Association: Public Diplomacy and the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election

From the couch in the front yard, BBC covers the U.S. election – Kim Andrew Elliott Discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy

Pentagon Propaganda Pushback: As Congress takes action, how will the president and the media respond? - Media Matters for America, DC: Media Matters for America today applauds the inclusion of language in the 2009 Defense Authorization Bill responding to criticism of the clandestine relationship among media military analysts, the Pentagon, and the defense industries. The bill was sent on Monday to President Bush, who has not yet taken action.

FCC To Probe Pentagon-Funded Information Campaign - By John M. Donnelly, CQ Online News: The Federal Communications Commission confirmed it has launched a probe to address congressional questions about a Pentagon program viewed by some lawmakers as propaganda. The FCC is looking into whether TV networks and certain on-air analysts broke the law by failing to disclose to viewers that the apparently independent analysts were in fact part of a Pentagon-funded information campaign, a spokesman for the commission said.

New Army Operations Manual Leverages ‘Soft Power’ Assets - - Gerry J. Gilmore, American Forces Press Service: The U.S. Army’s new "how-to" manual on stability operations is a unique document that embraces joint effort as a reflection of the realities of a 21st-century world, a senior U.S. military officer said yesterday. Field Manual 3-07, titled, "Stability Operations," was developed from 10 months of collaboration among Army planners, the Defense Department, the State Department and military allies, Lt. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV, commander of the U.S. Army Combined Arms Center and Fort Leavenworth, Kan., told reporters at the Foreign Press Center here. Military power alone cannot achieve successful stability operations in the 21st century, Caldwell said. It’s also necessary, he said, to incorporate "the soft power capabilities our military has in support of other instruments of national and international power – something very vital to an effective strategy at this very crucial time in our history.” Via Alan Heil.

Realizing the value of Foreign Aid - Matt Armstrong, MountainRunner: There needs to be a major revamp in how the United States engages the world that extends beyond reshaping our informational activities. The importance and value of foreign aid must be raised and viewed as vital to success in our struggle for minds and wills.

I Want You To Love Me – Swedish Meatballs Confidential: Under a plan being considered by the British Government, Afghans would be given handsets and access to the internet to help them gain their own voice. It follows a growing realization in Washington and Whitehall that the allies are being outflanked by the Taliban in the battle to reach ordinary Afghans. If Afghan civilians continue to perceive civilian deaths as being directly attributable to our presence & activities within their country and tribal regions then those - per proposed plan - distributed handsets could come back to bite us with a fresh swarm of pesky video snippets. It all sounds rather risky, if not downright desperate, given the present state of affairs in injun country.

Can Afghanistan Be Won? – Charles Peña, Antiwar.com: In Afghanistan we must understand foreign military occupation -- however well intended and however successful at the tactical, operational level -- is not the solution and actually part of the problem because of the resentment it creates (not just with the Afghan population but also the larger Muslim world).

The unwinnable war in Afghanistan – Editorial comments, Financial Times: The next US administration needs to see beyond the superficially muscular policies of the Bush era.

FA: Politics First (1) - Marc Lynch, Abu Aardvark: The moral hazard created by the U.S. military presence in Iraq creates perverse incentives undermining American efforts to help create a self-sustaining Iraqi polity which can get by without it.

Inside Saddam’s Trial: An international court conservatives can support - Gregory S. McNeal, Weekly Standard: The trial of Saddam Hussein, like many American endeavors in the 21st century, has been largely misrepresented by the chattering classes. The book Enemy of the State is a substantial first step in countering the numerous myths, distortions, and outright lies about the quest for justice in Iraq.

The Anti-Muslim Smear Machine Strikes Again? – Isabel MacDonald, Huffington Post: Over the past weeks, 28 million copies of the anti-Muslim propaganda film Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West have been delivered to the doors of newspaper subscribers in swing states. The 2006 documentary, which has been a mainstay of David Horowitz's "Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week," describes "radical Islam" as a menace comparable to Adolf Hitler. The secretive nonprofit called the Clarion Fund behind the Obsession campaign just came out with a brand new DVD, The Third Jihad, featuring Mark Steyn -- who has warned of the "demographic decline" posed by Europe's emerging Muslim population, and suggests there are lessons for Europeans in the Balkan example of ethnic cleansing. One can read all about Emerson, Pipes and Steyn in a new report that's just been released called "Smearcasting: How Islamophobes Spread Fear, Bigotry and Misinformation." The report profiles 12 top anti-Muslim pundits, including prominent talk show hosts Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck.

The End Of American Capitalism? - Anthony Faiola, Washington Post: Over the past three decades, the United States led the crusade to persuade much of the world, especially developing countries, to lift the heavy hand of government from finance and industry. But the hands-off brand of capitalism in the United States is now being blamed for the easy credit that sickened the housing market and allowed a freewheeling Wall Street to create a pool of toxic investments that has infected the global financial system.

Anti-Democratic Nature of US Capitalism is Being Exposed - Noam Chomsky, Irish Times/Common Dreams: "Politics is the shadow cast on society by big business," concluded America's leading 20th century social philosopher John Dewey, and will remain so as long as power resides in "business for private profit through private control of banking, land, industry, reinforced by command of the press, press agents and other means of publicity and propaganda."

Propaganda Posters - Charley Parker, line and colors: It’s commonly thought that “propaganda”, a technique of spreading misinformation, or slanted opinions, for the purpose of manipulating opinions, has been utilized primarily by oppressive regimes like Imperial and Nazi Germany in the early part of the 20th Century or the Soviet Union or Communist China in the latter part. That in itself is a form of propaganda, which can be, and often is, utilized by Western democracies. Propaganda is simply a technique, not a set of values. It can just as easily be employed in a “good” cause as an “evil” one.

Cold War Modern Design 1945-1970 - V&A [Victoria and Albert Museum]: Cold War Modern is the first exhibition to explore international developments in modern art, design, architecture and film in the context of the Cold War. Artists and designers played a central role in the Cold War battle of images. Their work was conscripted for propaganda, and their actions and opinions prized.

Good Ol' Commie Propaganda - Charles Pergiel, Pergelator: “Maybe. I found this [a video on the Sputnik] while I was looking for a recording of 'Brother Ivanovich's turn to throw the bomb'. I am not quite sure what it is, but it is entertaining, regardless of what you may think of it.”

Gorgeous Thandie Must Slouch, Grimace to Capture the Essence of Condiness - Princess Sparkle Pony's Photo Blog: I keep track of Condoleezza's hairdo so you don't have to: “Poor Thandie! I can imagine her on the set, with Oliver Stone continuously bellowing, ‘Thandie, doll, can you make your shoulders sag down more? Thanks, babe.’" PHOTO: Thandie Newton, who plays Condoleezza Rice in the movie 'W', is seen in this undated handout photo. (Sidney Ray Baldwin/Handout/Reuters)

ONE MORE QUOTATION FOR THE DAY

"An Arab is a native speaker of the Arabic language, which is akin to Hebrew. The Arab civilization is one of the more glorious in world history, having bestowed on the world great scientific and cultural achievements. Arabic is spoken in North Africa and West Asia by approximately 250 million people, a group only somewhat smaller than the population of the United States.

"Arabs began immigrating into the United States in the 1880s from Lebanon, and have been an important ethnic group during the past over a century. They provided everything from auto workers to physicians and comedians. There are probably three million self-identified Arab-Americans, and as a group they are slightly wealthier, younger and more educated than Americans in general. (If we counted everyone with at least an 8th Lebanese ancestry as Arab-American, they would be many millions, but most don't self-identify that way). Arab-Americans are more likely to own a business than the average American. … Arab is a linguistic identity whereas Muslim is a religious one. Not all Arabs are Muslims. The Copts in Egypt (6% of the population) speak Arabic but are Christians. Likewise the Maronites in Lebanon and many Chaldeans and Assyrians in Iraq. About 7,000 Jews living in Morocco speak Arabic at home.

"If not all Arabs are Muslims, only a minority of Muslims is Arab. Iranians (70 million strong) are not Arabs. Turks are not Arabs. Pakistanis are not Arabs. Malaysians and Indonesians are not Arabs. Nigerians and Senegalese are not Arabs. But all these national or ethnic groups are predominantly Muslim."

--Juan Cole, “McCain: Obama Decent, no Arab,” Informed Comment: Thoughts on the Middle East, History, and Religion

AMERICANA

Typo Puts ‘Barack Osama’ On Ballot – Truthdig: Election officials in Rensselaer County, N.Y., are caught in the middle of a national embarrassment after a “typo” on 300 absentee ballots listed the Democratic candidate for president as “Barack Osama.” Both Democratic and Republican officials in “Renassliare County” swear the error was accidental.

RUSSICA