January 7

“[F]or Israelis, this [Gaza conflict] is another incidence of ‘frontier warfare,’ not dissimilar from American Indian-fighting."

--Thomas Donnelly & Danielle Pletka, "Gaza Is Not Lebanon: Why Israel's campaign against Hamas may succeed,” Weekly Standard; see also John Brown, "'Our Indian Wars Are Not Over Yet': Ten Ways to Interpret the War on Terror as a Frontier Conflict," TomDispatch. ABOVE IMAGE FROM

“Propaganda, I contend, is much more difficult to discern in the digital age.”

--Sociologist Jessie Daniels

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Thinking About The Unthinkable - Federalist, FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog: “We are faced not with a war of ideas but a war of beliefs — the worst kind of conflict. The war of beliefs deals in terms of finality and absolutes. … Our public diplomacy apparatus still believes we are dealing with a competition between two ideologies. The current Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy, James K. Glassman, even talks in analogies of Coca-Cola versus Pepsi. In doing so, Mr. Glassman makes a good case that he should be replaced. … [T]he primary objective of US public diplomacy is to deprive jihadists and international terrorism of its most important resource: human capital. The task is daunting. …[W]e need a thorough rehabilitation of our public diplomacy effort in the Arab and Muslim world. Current projects such as Radio Sawa and alHurra television are not getting the job done. Finally, ‘Public Diplomacy 2.0’ should be relegated to the category of fantasy fiction … in much the same way as ‘Dow 36,000’ (a book co-authored by James K. Glassman)."

Re-booting America’s Image in the World: A Roundtable Discussion with Dean Ernest J. Wilson III – USC Center on Public Diplomacy: ”Thursday, Jan 22, 2009 12:00 PM. Venue: USC Annenberg School for Communication. The USC Center on Public Diplomacy is proud to host Ernest J. Wilson III, Dean of the USC Annenberg School for Communication, for a presentation on 'Rebooting America's Image in the World.' Dean Wilson recently returned from Washington, D.C. where he served on the Presidential Transition Team for President-Elect Barack Obama. As part of the presidential transition, Dean Wilson led a team reviewing America's international broadcasting services, including the Voice of America and the Broadcasting Board of Governors, and advised the transition team working with the U.S. Department of State on public diplomacy issues. Dean Wilson will discuss his experiences serving on the Presidential Transition Team and will offer his assessment of the limits and potential for public diplomacy under the new administration as it seeks to re-cast America's image abroad.”

Fine Tuning Broadcast Public Diplomacy - Kim Andrew Elliott, Public Diplomacy Blog, USC Center on Public Diplomacy: "There would be nothing wrong with a 24-hour channel devoted to public diplomacy, consisting of the advocacy and official representation of U.S. policies abroad. It must, however, not attempt to disguise its content as news. If it does, it might be confused for Voice of America or other U.S. international broadcasting services that actually do news. Also, audiences would soon enough discern that the 'news' is not really news. This could make them even more annoyed with the United States than they already are.

RFE/RL provides Serbian-Albanian dialogue - Kim Andrew Elliott Discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy

Smith-Mundt and Muzak - ubiwar . conflict in n dimensions: “Thanks to Matt Armstrong for his invitation to attend (by phone) the Journalist’s Roundtable precursor to next week’s symposium, The Smith-Mundt Act of 1948: A Discourse to Shape America’s Discourse. It finished mere minutes ago and was an interesting insight, for a Limey outsider like me, into the workings of US public diplomacy, specifically the theoretical and practical issues arising from the Smith-Mundt Act. … Although some of today’s conversation was impenetrable to anyone outside the Beltway it has got me thinking more about the role of public diplomacy in general, propaganda, and what Matt calls America’s ‘bifurcated engagement’.” IMAGE: Symposium scene: a reclining youth holds an aulos in one hand and gives another one to a female dancer. Tondo from an Attic red-figured kylix, ca. 490-480 BC. From Vulci.

FP.com (Jan 6): Israeli Ambassador – Marc Lynch, Abu Aardvark: "Tuesday, January 13: I will be chairing one of the morning sessions at Matt Armstrong's Smith-Mundt symposium. This promises to be a fascinating day of discussions -- details at his site. Wednesday, January 14: Under-Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy Jim Glassman will give one of his final official speeches on public diplomacy (unless he gets re-upped) at GWU's Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communications. Consider it his valedictory address, and/or an audition. It will be in the Lindner Commons (Rm 602) at the Elliott School of International Affairs, 10:00-11:30.“

Voices of America - underground ads: “Last summer, I had the great privilege to attend a 'listening session' hosted by the Brookings Institution and Business for Diplomatic Action at the USC Center on Public Diplomacy on the subject of, well, public diplomacy. … Specifically, there was a lot of discussion about the creation of private-public partnership– what that might look like, who should be involved, and where the pitfalls of something like that might lie. It was an absolutely fascinating conversation, and the end result (at least for now) is a report called 'Voices of America: U.S. Public Diplomacy for the 21st Century.' Rebuilding our image overseas is going to be a key challenge over the next four years, and it’s good to know that such smart people are thinking about how we can all contribute to that.”

[January 06 2009] Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: The Obama ‘Change Machine’ Is Going To Have To Change The Democratic Political Machine… Case In Point, The Appointment Of Leon Panetta, Our New Director Of The CIA - Da' Buffalo, Buffalo River Home: “A word from Da’ Buffalo. I had the opportunity to hear mr. Panetta speak at a local gathering quite a few years ago while he was my congressman. In my opinion, he has more intelligence than the last 8 CIA directors put together and showed a profound interest in the humanitarian aspects of our relations with the Mexican community of the area, and the rest of the world. This man must find our Guantanamo concentration camp, torture and the like abhorrent. I couldn’t imagine for a second that he would ever allow the use of waterboarding or illegal abuse of ANYONE on his watch, and in my opinion IS EXACTLY the kind of ‘new blood’ with OTHER IDEAS the US government needs to dig ourselves out of the public diplomacy quagmire we’ve allowed to be dug for ourselves by the current war criminals running the US government.”

Arab-American Activism: “The Courage to Persist, the Will to Build” Is Theme for ATFP Gala – Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, DC: More than 650 people attended the American Task Force on Palestine’s third annual gala on Oct. 12 at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Washington, DC. … James K. Glassman, under secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs, read a letter from President George W. Bush to Gala attendees.”

FO launches public diplomacy initiative – Associated Press of Pakistan: “A British parliamentary delegation comprising James Devine, Mark Fisher, James McGovern and Mohammed Sarwar will visit Islamabad this week as part of the wide-ranging public diplomacy efforts being initiated by Pakistan’s Ambassador at Large, Javed Malik through the Foreign Office.” SEE ALSO

Israel Agrees to Brief Halt in Gaza Offensive - Margaret Coker in Jerusalem, Charles Levinson on the Gaza Border and Jay Solomon In Washington - Wall Street Journal: "Officials [in Jerusalem] said a high-ranking Israeli delegation was scheduled to arrive in Egypt Wednesday to discuss the possibilities of a cease-fire in the Jewish state's 12-day assault on the Gaza Strip, significantly ratcheting up Israel's public diplomacy as pressure to halt its offensive grows."

Despite split on cease-fire, E.U.-Israeli ties stronger than ever - Dinah A. Spritzer, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, NY: “Robin Shepherd, a senior research fellow at the London-based Chatham House think tank, said he sensed a softer approach by European leaders to Israel. 'Israeli public diplomacy in advance of the assault was well prepared,’ he said. 'Israel made sure European leaders knew way in advance that any country would have the need to stop rocket attacks.’''

RELATED ITEMS

Israel Tweeting Fails - Ruth Conniff, Progressive: “I don't know about you but I did not find the Israeli government's Twitter press conference particularly winning. There is something downright creepy about the juxtaposition of mass civilian casualties in Gaza and Israeli officials' demonstrated fluency in cutesy text message jargon. … But the use of Twitter for propaganda purposes didn't sit as well with Twitter bloggers. Small wonder. The messages were short, but the content of the press conference was practically nonexistent.

… In wartime, Twitter is a great tool for witnesses to report facts and events as they occur, or to flag links to longer bits of analysis. But as far as getting information from the government, give me an old fashioned townhall meeting, in person or online, where people have a chance to ask follow-up questions and try to pin down the propagandists.”

Middle East: Gaza Conflict Plays Out Online Through Social Media - Corey Flintoff, NPR: David Saranga, Israel's consul for media and public affairs in New York, says his government started using the Internet and social media well before the conflict in Gaza. "Public diplomacy means you have to reach the public -- and if the public is changing its pattern of gathering news, we have to change the way we deliver our message," he says.

Middle East: For Israeli Blogger, Conflict Spurs Mixed Emotions – NPR: For the past year, two men -- one Israeli, one Palestinian -- have been blogging about their lives on opposite sides of the Israeli-Gaza border. Israeli Eric Yellin calls himself Hope Man. The Palestinian, who does not give his real name because of safety concerns, goes by Peace Man.

IDF Propaganda Blog Lau[n]ched – Whisleblower, Arm Yourself With The Weapons of Mass Education: The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit is the Israel Defense Forces’ professional body responsible for media and public relations in Israel and around the world. This is their new spin site that will help bring propaganda to the world."We will be using this site to post official lies to the gullible and uninformed" http://idfspokesperson.com/.

The Holes in Israel's Web 2.0 Propaganda – Spin of the Day, Center for Media and Democracy

Modernity cuts through Israeli Propaganda - Mehammed "Abou" Mack, KABOBfest: If there is anything at all to be glad about this week, it's that the Israeli Propaganda Machine (IPM) has been completely discredited, in spite of the ban on foreign journalists entering Gaza. A good indication of Israel's PR failure at containing shameful news is the eminently absorbing Facebook News Feed. With only the BBC and Al-Jazeera (among major news outlets) maintaining reporting offices in Gaza prior to the ban, Facebook has become an increasingly rich repository of incriminating images-- not found anywhere else -- posted by Gaza residents, then their family members, and then flowing on outwards via their friends.

The Danger of Propaganda by not allowing Independent Reporters - Paschen, NowPublic: The Problem with Media Black outs such as the one Israel imposes on Gaza by making it impossible for any Reporter to enter or exit Gaza and blocking all Internet and Telephone communication as it is doing presently gives room for false news to come out through activist sending off video and voice reports as well as Blogs that are either false or doctored from another time or location and adapted to the events in Gaza, and this is done by both sides of the conflict feeding falls information to the media.

Gaza: The BBC and subtext propaganda - Aliran news feed: Think about this for a moment. Israel is called Israel in BBC reports. But Palestine is rarely called Palestine. Israel fights Hamas. Israel has a name, the name of a place, a country. Palestine has none. Instead, Hamas -- or, the more usual, Hamas militants -- are fighting Israel. Never do we hear of the Palestinians or the Palestinian people.

MSNBC Propaganda War on Israel – America, You Asked For It!: “Whew! If I didn’t know any better (about Israel’s history or MSNBC’s radical left-wing bias) I’d be hating Israel.”

Sony to Promote Al Jazeera Propaganda - Islam In Action:
Sony one of the worlds largest electronic companies has teamed up with the Islamic propaganda giant of the world Al Jazeera. Now Sony cellphone owners in the Middle East and North Africa can have the news feed from Al Jazeera pre-installed on their phones.

Beyond The Hurricane of Propaganda - Fedwa Wazwaz,
Minneapolis Star Tribune, MN: Peace, Propaganda and the Promised Land is a documentary that compares U.S. and international media coverage of the crisis in the Middle East. The documentary explores the ways that U.S. journalists have become complicit in carrying out Israel's PR campaign. At its core, the documentary raises questions about the ethics and role of journalism, and the relationship between media and politics.

House of European Propaganda - Open Europe blog: It really is amazing how candid the EU institutions are about using educational initiatives to promote a united Europe. It could be that they genuinely cannot see that these activities are wholly unjustifiable as a use for public funds, or maybe they think nobody is ever going to read the small print found in the very telling internal documents. Or maybe it's a bit of both.

Why Do So Few Speak Up for Gaza? - Robert Scheer, Truthdig: Why is it that there is such widespread acceptance, beginning with the apologetic arguments of President Bush, that whatever Israel does is always justified as necessary to the survival of the Jewish state? It is not.

The Israel rules: America's support of the Gaza attack proves once again that our mythical image of Israel has blinded us to its faults -- a myopia with devastating consequences for both countries - Gary Kamiya, Salon: Much of the rest of the world is outraged by Israel's assault on Gaza. But the United States -- the beacon of democracy, the champion of freedom, a nation founded on revolutionary anti-colonialism -- is applauding it. We can no longer afford to follow the Israel rules.

Gaza War Bush's Parting Gift to Middle East - Bruce Falconer, Mother Jones: Based on Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's statement last week that she has no intention of traveling to the Middle East, there seems to be zero prospect of American involvement in brokering a ceasefire, at least until January 20. Then again, history would tell us not to hold our breaths.

Ground war in Gaza: U.S., allies should press for a cease-fire in Israeli-Hamas fight - Our view, Baltimore Sun: President-elect Barack Obama has deferred to President George W. Bush on this fight. But his Mideast experts should be working behind the scenes for a resolution of the conflict because in two weeks it will be his problem.

Gaza distraction - James Lyons, Washington Times: President-elect Barack Obama's national security team should recognize that the current Gaza "crisis" was a planned distraction by Iran, a carefully orchestrated provocation.

The Mideast’s Ground Zero - Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times: Obama’s goal -- America’s goal -- has to be a settlement in Gaza that eliminates the threat of Hamas rockets and opens Gaza economically to the world, under credible international supervision. That’s what will serve U.S. interests, moderate the three great struggles and earn him respect.

Hamas speaks: A Hamas official insists that a 'legacy of suffering' under Israel is what fuels Palestinian resistance - Mousa Abu Marzook, Los Angeles Times: President-elect Obama spoke courageously in his campaign for a policy of open dialogue, absent preconditions, with those deemed inimical to U.S. interests, and we were listening.

Militant Islam Threatens Us All: Hamas rockets have the same terror goal as Hitler's blitz - Benjamin Netanyahu, Wall Street Journal: The struggle between militant Islam and modernity -- whether fought in Afghanistan, Iraq, India or Gaza -- will decide our common future. It is a battle we cannot afford to lose.

Why doesn't Bush get more credit? His bold efforts for freedom were met with scorn - John Hughes, Christian Science Monitor:

How will President-elect Obama seek to change the sometimes negative image of America he has inherited? He has pledged to do so "by deed and by example." He has said he will close the Guantánamo prison. He has said he will try to "reboot America's image" among the world's Muslims and give a major speech in a Muslim capital.

Re-emerging Russia ... – Editorial, Washington Times: The United States in the months and years ahead needs to have policies that encourage Russian enlightenment, but which also are not blind if -- figuratively or literally -- the lights go out, or threaten to go out, in European democracies or elsewhere.

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--"Now we are looking at the foot of a suicide bomber in Afghanistan": BagnewsNotes