January 18

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PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Obama inherits a world of troubles - Matthew B. Stannard, San Francisco Chronicle: “Many … foreign policy experts do expect changes - even dramatic ones - under Obama, who they say will use less stick and more carrot in dealing with allies and rivals alike. ‘Obama has to say that the United States is the most important player in the world system, but we are going to cooperate with every other player,’ said Geoffrey Wiseman,

director of the USC Center on Public Diplomacy. ‘The U.S. has more hard power than anybody else, and in some ways it has more soft power than anybody else. ... I think he is trying to strike a reasonable balance in the middle. … Obama's personal story suggests he will have a longer global honeymoon than past presidents. ‘This is a massive public diplomacy gift that the United States has been given - or the United States has given itself,’ Wiseman said.”

Reliable Sources - Patricia H. Kushlis, Whirled View: “Earlier this week I attended a conference on public diplomacy in Washington, D.C. A Rear Admiral on one of the panels admitted that the US military did not have and will not have in the near future anywhere near the number of language qualified troops needed to engage people overseas in their own languages. As a result, Uncle Sam relies on contractors to carry out the function. He later added that what was most important was that the Iraqis and the Afghans see what we do, not just rely on being told what to think. What I’d like to know, however, is why the US military still doesn’t train anywhere near enough troops in basic foreign language communication skills?”

Upcoming Events - 01/18/09 - WNC Peace Coalition: “From American Friends Service Committee: … We shouldn’t put all our eggs in one basket. Yes, we need official government initiatives, but we also need to revive public diplomacy and increase people-to-people exchanges and citizen diplomacy in order to build the international partnerships the United States needs.”

Chapter 9 Conclusion - Elliot Jager, America Talks To The PLO - Marking 20 Years: “Research Hypothesis Number 3 Suasion and Agenda Setting [.] This study has shown how suasion and agenda setting were used to impede support within the American Jewish community for Likud policies and that various Administrations, together with elements of the Jewish leadership, engaged in this tactic. Strategically, ‘disassociation’ was especially important to suasion and agenda setting. Consequently, 'pro-Israelism’ was redefined and divorced from backing Israel’s claims to Judea, Samaria and Gaza. … 3.5 Jewish critics of the Likud-led Government consulted with and counseled the PLO on its image and other aspects of public diplomacy.”

Latest hasbara weapon: 'Army of bloggers' - Jonathan Beck, Jerusalem Post: “Israel's newest weapon on the public relations front is 'an army of bloggers,' according to a statement issued by the Absorption Ministry Sunday afternoon. In cooperation with the Foreign Ministry's Public Relations Department, the Absorption Ministry has initiated a statewide effort to locate volunteers who speak other languages, to take part in the country's PR efforts over the Internet. … The main weakness in Israel's hasbara (public diplomacy) efforts is the current lack of people willing to sit in front of their computers and comment in languages other than Hebrew. The comments would concentrate on positive aspects of Israeli life and accounts of the hardship Israelis suffer while living under a constant threat of terror.”

Milibend visited the "other India": he spent the night in the hut with walls where his cows – Juliano Denesco, The New Capitalist Pyramid: “British Foreign Secretary David Milibend spent the night in the troubled India. … The head of the British Foreign Ministry willingly tried to put his theory of public diplomacy in practice.”

The strength of Japan's 'soft power' [review of Beyond Pacifism: Why Japan Must Become a "Normal" Nation, by William Middlebrooks; Soft Power Superpowers: Cultural and National Assets of Japan and the U.S., edited by Yasushi Watanabe and David L. McConnell - Jeff Kingston, Japan Times: "While Middlebrooks is more comfortable with orders of battle, the 15 essays in 'Soft Power Superpowers' turn our gaze to the 'hearts and minds' side of the equation. There is nothing here to suggest that Japan deserves the superpower sobriquet even if there is a global fascination with cool Japan.

Overall, the contributors focus more on the limitations rather than the possibilities of soft power. … Naoyuki Agawa, who served in the Japanese Embassy in Washington, D.C., from 2002-2005, shows how Japan effectively engages in public diplomacy in the U.S. to improve Japan's image there and shape government policies. But achieving these objectives has little to do with inspiring the U.S. government, relying instead on doggedly working the media, hiring lobbyists and doling out grants.”

Obama to name 'soft power' Nye for Japan role: report - Guam Okinawa plus Washington Tokyo: "US president-elect Barack Obama plans to name the influential academic [Joseph] Nye, best known for coining the phrase 'soft power,' as ambassador to Japan, a newspaper has said."

How to sweeten a powerful reality - Fred Khumalo, The Times, South Africa: "There is huge resentment on the continent about South Africa, and Nigeria before it, playing the Big Brother role on the continent. There’s a better way, I propose, to sweeten the reality that we are powerful: let’s communicate through our movies, through our music, through our books, the benefits and beauty — such as it is — of a powerful and stable South Africa. I read an instructive article by the US Advisory Committee on Cultural Diplomacy the other day, which summed up some of my thoughts: ‘Cultural diplomacy is the linchpin of public diplomacy; for it is in cultural activities that a nation’s idea of itself is best represented. And cultural diplomacy can enhance our national security in subtle, wide-ranging and sustainable ways.’”

Nuclear news heightens fears over tough-talking N Korea: Its military parades may be predictable and synchronised, but North Korea's brand of public diplomacy is anything but – ABC News, Australia

专访奥巴马白宫内阁秘书长卢沛宁- 无忌的青丘圣殿 - My life and My love: Mention of public diplomacy.

Ernest John Mansmann, Jr. - Obituaries, Washington Post: “Ernest John Mansmann, Jr. Known to all as E.J., died Tuesday, January 6, 2009 at age 92. … In 1952 he entered the Department of State as a Cultural Affairs Officer and from 1956 to 1958 served as Assistant Cultural Attache; at the American Embassy in Paris. From 1958 to 1980 he was in charge of European and Middle American cultural exchange programs and the Voluntary Visitors Leader Program. He was instrumental in the creation of the National Council for International Visitors." Courtesy Len Baldyga

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BBC allegedly shedding its alleged anti-Americanism - Kim Andrew Elliott Discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy


Gaza media and cyber update for 18 January 2009 - Kim Andrew Elliott Discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy

Another War, Another Defeat: The Gaza offensive has succeeded in punishing the Palestinians but not in making Israel more secure - John J. Mearsheimer, American Conservative: Israel does not want the world to see what its soldiers and bombs are doing inside Gaza. At the same time, Israel has launched a massive propaganda campaign to put a positive spin on the horror stories that do emerge. The best evidence, however, that Israel is deliberately seeking to punish the broader population in Gaza is the death and destruction the IDF has wrought on that small piece of real estate. The bottom line is that no matter what happens on the battlefield, Israel cannot win its war in Gaza.

Gaza: War, from a distance - Jon Snow, Independent: This is the fog of war; full access to the consequences of Hamas attacks, but no direct access to the carnage resulting from the Israeli assault on Gaza. It's a war in which the propaganda machines have been in full cry. The Israeli Defence Forces have uploaded more than 30,000 "action clips" on to YouTube and elsewhere. The Arab media has streamed horrific close-ups of wounds and dead bodies that cannot be seen on British television.

Beyond Gaza: The trust that Barack Obama wants to rebuild will require sending some early messages – Editorial, Washington Post: Mr. Obama should send a clear message before Israel's upcoming election that he will expect the new government to negotiate seriously with the Palestinian Authority. He should insist that the next prime minister follow Israel's own laws and commitments in curbing Jewish settlement activity in the West Bank. And he should make clear that Israel will continue to have U.S. support when it defends itself against the terrorism of Hamas and Hezbollah.

Rest Easy, Kansas City: Israel to the Rescue - John Brown, Common Dreams: US-based pro-Israel mainstream-media apologists have recently engaged in a specially-made-for-the-USA, full-court-press PR campaign. It is based on the talking point that Israel, by striking at Hamas on its turf, has done the United States a favor, the suggestion being that Israel is sacrificing itself for your average American.

The Stories of Torture [at Guantanamo] Sounded Made Up. They Weren't - Carol D. Leonnig, Washington Post

Closing GITMO would be a mistake - Jeffrey Addicott, San Antonio Express-News: If soon-to-be President Obama closes down GITMO, as he may do via executive order as early as his first week in office, he will be providing a significant propaganda victory to our enemies.

Leadership And Legitimacy -- Obama must right the wrongs: Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay and the waterboarding of suspected terrorists came to define U.S. power in the last eight years - Los Angeles Times: Some of the Bush administration's decisions will be easier to roll back than others, and Obama may not want to return to the way things were in every case, but a key to reestablishing the country's international standing will be to engage with our allies on these and other issues.

Afghanistan: We Can Do Better - Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Washington Post: An honest assessment of Afghanistan must conclude that we are not where we might have hoped to be by now. The writer is secretary general of NATO.

Vietnamese Authorities Rein In the Country's Vigorous Blogosphere - Tim Johnston, Washington Post

What Bush leaves behind: The outgoing president's place in history will depend on the outcome of wars he started but will not be around to finish - Doyle McManus, Los Angeles Times: After all the drama of the last eight years, the new president inherits a foreign policy that has largely been repaired. Obama ran to change the tone of American diplomacy, repudiating the unilateralist Bush of 2001 -- but he'll find himself building on a foundation laid by the toned-down Bush of 2008.

Unvarnished Conclusions After Covering, and Uncovering, the White House [Review of The Inheritance: The World Obama Confronts and the Challenges to American Power by David E. Sanger] - Gary J. Bass, New York Times: Unlike other accounts of Mr. Bush’s foreign policy, “The Inheritance” is not about Iraq but about the crushing opportunity costs paid elsewhere for that quagmire.

War-Room Debate [Review of The Search For Al Qaeda: Its Leadership, Ideology, and Future by Bruce Riedel and The Duel: Pakistan on the Flight Path of American Power by Tariq Ali] - Ray Bonner, New York Times: Ali and Riedel agree that the United States wants and needs a stable and democratic Pakistan and Afghanistan. It’s called nation building. This is a laudable goal, of course, but is it achievable? Not, they say, unless the United States is prepared for a lengthy commitment. It cannot abandon the project halfway through as it did with Afghanistan and Pakistan after the Soviets were routed.

Mission to Tehran [Review of Restoring The Balance: A Middle East Strategy for the Next President by Richard N. Haass, Martin Indyk and others] - Ethan Bronner, New York Times: What do the contributors to this book think the new administration should do? Vastly increase the role of diplomacy and thereby bring Russia aboard its Mideast initiatives. Cut the number of American troops in Iraq by as much as half within two years. Open direct dialogue with Tehran quickly. Don’t give up on counterterrorism, but remove it from its current central place. Foster reconciliation between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas by, among other things, reducing demands on Hamas, and press Israel to end all construction in occupied lands even in existing settlements and in Jerusalem.