January 16

“The words of the diseased … carry more weight than those of the healthy …. Then, too, the diseased truly bite, whereas the healthy pretend to bite but really only snap at the air.”

--Roberto Bolaño, in his novel 2666; cited in The Times Literary Supplement (January 9, 2009), p. 19. PHOTO: Roberto Bolaño

“hacktivism”

--the nonviolent use of illegal or legally ambiguous digital tools in pursuit of political ends (Wikipedia)

Debating U.S. public diplomacy – Marc Lynch, Foreign Policy: Summarizes Under Secretary of State James Glassman’s “valedictory” address at GWU's Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication. “I appreciated Glassman's candid and thoughtful [remarks] … . But still I heard no answer to the basic point. He has defined the core mission of American 'global strategic engagement' as ‘creating a global environment hostile to extremism’. The latest bin Laden message attempting to capitalize on Arab and Muslim outrage is hardly needed to see the radicalizing impact of Israel's ongoing war on Gaza on public opinion across the region. If public diplomacy can't be actively shaping attitudes and the perception of U.S. policy -- or U.S. policy itself -- during such a crisis, when can it be active? … Could the relatively weak U.S. public diplomacy on the Gaza crisis be an unintended consequence of the growing dominance of the military in the realm of strategic communications?” SEE ALSO. PHOTO: Marc Lynch.

Three Quick Steps to Jump-Start America's Public Diplomacy - Jamie Metzl, Huffington Post: "As the new administration enters office, the following three major steps can be taken right away to set a new tone for America's public diplomacy under the Obama administration. First, America's diplomats should embark on a one month 'listening tour' of the world. … Second, we must transform the American government's primary means of public communication from a one-way broadcast model to a two-way dialogue model. … Third, America needs to speak to the world in the languages the world understands. For some, those languages will be twitter-speak, but for even more, they will be actual foreign languages.”

Obama's next campaign - Jack Leslie, PR Week UK: “As President, Mr. Obama, should launch -- sooner rather than later -- a public diplomacy campaign that redefines America’s engagement with the world community and its citizens. He should take the campaign around the world, and especially to the hotbeds of anti-Americanism.

And he already has a roadmap: the same unprecedented approach he used to win the election. Five imperatives highlight why it can, and must, succeed. First, today’s interdependent, interconnected world is ready for Obama’s more adaptive style of U.S. presidential leadership, one that values collaboration and consensus-building to arrive at a collective sense of the public good. … Second, a key audience is the one he was so successful with at home: the young. … The third imperative is that public diplomacy must embrace the tools of modern communications … . Fourth: no medium, no matter how innovative, can substitute for a strong message communicated in an inspirational and disciplined way. … Finally, as his presidential campaign proved, money counts. America needs to invest far more in so-called soft power."

The real Bush tragedy - Christian Bros, Foreign Policy: “In the aftermath of 9-11, the administration cast the so-called 'war on terror' as a 'war of ideas,' but for a majority of the time thereafter, conceived of it as public diplomacy. The problem with this is that public diplomacy is about explaining America, its values, and its policies to the world -- in short, trying to get people to like us. A worthy and necessary idea that, but when it comes to fighting Al-Qaeda, a misplaced one. Getting people to like us isn't the point. The point is stopping people from wanting to kill us.

That's counter-radicalization, and it's not done through jazz concerts in embassies, well-written op-eds, and pressing the flesh and kissing babies on foreign trips. It's done by giving the angry young men who Al-Qaeda preys upon real alternatives to extremism. I'm still not sure there's a strategy to really do that broadly even now.”

Religious Liberty in America: An Idea Worth Sharing Through Public Diplomacy - Jennifer A. Marshall, Backgrounder #2230, Heritage Foundation: “Since the end of the Cold War, public diplomacy has been in a bit of turmoil. There was a sense that ideological struggle had largely ceased or had at least faded into the background, but the whiplash of 9/11 yanked attention back to ideological warfare--and it should stay there. The United States should expect to be endlessly engaged in cold wars of ideas. …

U.S. public diplomacy aims to impart to foreign audiences an understanding and appreciation of American ideals, principles, institutions, and policy. This means that U.S. public diplomacy must be firmly grounded in those principles and ideals, including those concerning religion.”

The Freedom Stagnation - Arch Puddington, Huffington Post: “President Obama should reject the premise that engaging with authoritarian adversaries means ignoring acts of repression. Democracies have numerous and nuanced instruments --including the tools of traditional diplomacy, public diplomacy, and assistance programs -- that can be deployed to register disapproval, censure acts of persecution, or shine the light of publicity on a regime's dark corners.”

From the editor: America expects a new era of consensus - Danny Rogers, PR Week UK: “In New York this week Jack Leslie, Weber Shandwick’s global chairman and a former adviser to Senator Edward Kennedy, even calls for a ‘public diplomacy campaign that redefines America’s engagement with the world community and its citizens’. Leslie argues that the US needs to invest

millions of dollars in its ‘soft’ power, rather than in military solutions. Leslie is right. … The US government can employ the core skills of professional comms: by listening to public opinion; and by winning arguments through a democratic battle of ideas, not military steel.”

How Americans Can Provide Real Public Service - Brian Brown, WebMemo #2222, Heritage Foundation: “Some of the President-elect's proposals to increase public service are novel: Expanding programs for public service into such emerging areas as public diplomacy and 'green jobs'; using the Internet to make the federal government a central figure in connecting people with service opportunities; and increasing government involvement in the nonprofit sector. But most of his proposed plan is based on expanding what already exists.”

Broadcasting Board of Governors Rated Worst Than Ever By Its Employees and As One of The Worst Federal Agencies - FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog: “FreeMediaOnline.org, a San Francisco-based nonprofit supporting media freedom worldwide, is deeply concerned that the BBG’s actions are undermining access of international audiences to unbiased news and information from the United States. Especially hard hit are the very poorest groups as well as refugees and other victims of war and repression. In many countries around the world — including Russia, India, and Ukraine –the BBG and the International Broadcasting Bureau staff have abandoned Voice of America radio, which used to serve these audiences, in favor of relying exclusively on television and the Internet. This insensitive and elitist strategy has been condemned by labor leaders, human rights activists, as well as BBG’s own employees.”

The Future Of American Cultural Diplomacy - Nicholas J. Cull, Public Diplomacy Blog, USC Center on Public Diplomacy: “Quincy Jones's welcome appeal for the creation of an American cultural tsar has fascinating implications for the world of public diplomacy. … Boosting the arts and culture within the United States could not but help the international image of the United States. It would be a fine example of practicing what is preached and proving that America is about more than just superficial Disney-esque instant gratification.

It would also be a sound use of resources in a time of economic crisis. … America's cultural diplomacy does not sit well within the Department of State. … The first step to relaunch U.S. cultural diplomacy should be to establish an American equivalent to the Goethe Institute -- call it a Benjamin Franklin institute -- by moving the activities of the present State Department Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs to an arms-length agency.”

Smith-Mundt Symposium in Pictures – Matt Armstrong, MountainRunner: “Briefly, over 260 people signed up for the Symposium. About 180 attended. Some people left because they had other appointments and few of those returned. A year ago, it was hard to imagine 50 people would be interested in a discussion about the Smith-Mundt Act.”

Teaching Transformational Diplomacy and Making "Democracy" a Good Word Again – Steve Clemons, Washington Note: “I just learned that John Shattuck, President and CEO of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, will be shifting from his current duties to assume the helm as president and rector of the Central European University in Budapest, Hungary. … [T]his university, established in large part through the support of George Soros, has been a powerhouse in training many people to become the clerks, and policy analysts, and political organizers and agitators, and bureaucrats of open societies in much of Eastern Europe. … Soros has always understood 'transformational diplomacy' and how to engineer a political ecosystem in which democratic process might take root more than most democracy promoters in the US government.” PHOTO: John Shattuck

Understanding Islam Through Virtual Worlds - Alvis Brigis, Future Blogger: “On January 29 at 6pm, Carnegie Council Senior Fellows Joshua S. Fouts and Rita J. King will present findings from their Understanding Islam Through Virtual Worlds project. After a year of exploring digital Islamic communities, Fouts and King conclude that engaging with people in virtual worlds who self-identify as Muslim can be part of a broader public diplomacy strategy to foster inclusive perspectives on religion, society, and coexistence. …
I agree that more dynamic non-physical interaction can reveal much about human reactions to conflict and information. I'd further contend that they also permit different interaction with ideas and behaviors that can be externalized through and around avatars in new ways.”

Bush's parting lesson - Caroline Glick, Jerusalem Post: “[The] remarkable incompetence on the part of Israel's UN mission and in particular … bespeaks a personal incompetence on the part of Ambassador Gabriela Shalev. … Shalev is not a professional diplomat. She had no notable experience in international affairs or public diplomacy to speak of before Livni - who insisted that she would only appoint a woman to the post - sent her to Turtle Bay.”


That Israeli Information Machine in Action: Overlooking the “Bloody Conflict” – Scott Lucas, Enduring America: “There has been an exceptional amount of media fluff about the wondrous Israel information/propaganda/hasbara effort in the Gaza conflict. Yet, for all the acknowledged prowess of Tel Aviv on televisions-talkboards-YouTube-Twitter, here’s a rule-of-thumb: the dead, cold reality of civilian deaths, sooner or later, will overtake your use flashy, hot new media.”

War and Public Relations: Israel Defense Forces Conduct News Conference Via Twitter – Blogworks: “In what some consider an outrageous communications platform for an exceedingly complicated conflict, the Israel Defense Forces held a Q & A, over Twitter, complete with abbreviations commonly used in text messaging.”

Gaza propaganda war takes place online - Matthew Hopson, neowin.net: “Branded by some as 'hacktivism', the conflict between Israel and Palestine has spilled onto the web, with activists from both sides defacing websites, taking over computers and shutting down Facebook groups.”

Israel Loses The Propaganda War By Forcing Journalists To Watch Al Jazeera – msadmin, 1800blogger: “Israel’s attempts to shape and influence the reporting of its massacres in Gaza, is a complete and utter failure. By not being able to get their own footage from Gaza, many western media companies are bowing to demands from their audiences and are airing the only footage they can get their hands on - imagery from Gaza that may or may not be controlled and edited by Hamas.”

Debunking Israeli Propaganda: UN Bombed by Israel with White Phosphorus! – Mac, Mosquito Blog: “Israeli propagandists, when they hit mosques, schools, UN compounds, whatever civilian infrastructure or cultural buildings, always claim that there were weapons or ‘terrorists’ hidden inside, without a shred of proof of course. That is just a way of masking Israeli war crimes. Or they will just say ‘whoops, sorry.’"

Propaganda Wars and the Gaza Offensive – The Vigilante Journalist - “Israel is really shooting itself in the foot by not allowing international media in. … In the meantime, those who support the offensive and defend the tactics of Israel have continued uttering a series of mantras in the hopes that it will eventually sink in and drown out the wave of images we are being bombarded with daily. … Just as the US played on public fears of terrorist attacks, so is the Israeli state playing on the very real fears of its people.”

Salvation and Palestinian Propaganda - Mark D. Tooley, FrontPageMagazine.com: “The eagerness of American bishops to mindlessly repeat … predictable anti-Israel themes is indefensible. But perhaps Religious Left groupthink is as intimidating as Palestinian terror.”

The government is not a suicide pact (updated) – manish vij, Ultrabrown: “India is forced back on the defensive: focus not on ‘avenging’ 26/11 or in ‘exacting a price’ but on preventing the next one - strengthening the state internal security apparatus while also engaging the civil society in Pakistan in a positive way: a combination of ‘Homeland Security’ and ‘Public Diplomacy’ that the US adopted after 9/11, minus the retributive wars. In the long-term, the Public Diplomacy would have to moderate the reflexive anti-Indianism many Pakistanis (and Bangladeshis, Sri Lankans, even Nepalese) have, and which is the true font of much terrorism, not just Islamism.”

New Vice-Minister and Undersecretary of Lithuanian Foreign Ministry start their tenure - The Baltic Course: “Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs [Evaldas] Ignatavicius will be responsible for strengthening Eastern Neighbourhood policy, development of bilateral and multilateral relations with Russia and other countries in the Eastern Europe, South Caucasus and Central Asia. He will curate the issues of Lithuania‘s Development Cooperation and Democracy Promotion, and those of public diplomacy.”

English Section of the Foreign Service Officer Test - The Hegemonist: “The third section of the written portion of the Foreign Service Officer Test is the English Expression portion.
…Whenever anyone asks me what to do to study for the Foreign Service Exam I always tell them the same thing. Learn the minute and obscure rules of the English language. English will help you pass the English Expression and the Essay section of the exam, so 2/3 of the exam is based on that one skill.“

Where Is The Government Going To Direct Its Propaganda Machine Now? - Bill Sardi, LewRockwell.com: "Laws may not stop propaganda, but the dissolution of major news media outlets and their replacement by less controllable, more independent, more varied information sources may pose problems for the reigning propaganda state."