February 23

“A big part of ‘public’ diplomacy really is just showing up,

versus manning a phone in DC a la Colin Powell.”

--JM Hane, in a comment on “Showing Up,” JustOneMinute: We are all Joe the Plumber now

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Secretary Clinton’s Remarkable Transformation-- Xinhua, China: “Apart from singing on a television show in Indonesia, she also chatted with Japanese students during a visit to Tokyo University last Tuesday, with topics ranging from her conversation with the Japanese empress to baseball and robots. ‘This is what diplomacy is about,’ Clinton said. 'It doesn't just operate government to government. It operates people to people.’ Furthering public diplomacy and meeting ordinary people was a ‘key part' of Clinton's tour, explained Professor Pang Zhongying, of Renmin University of China.’ … . 'By exercising public diplomacy she is attempting to restore an American image tarnished by the war on terror," added Pang, who referred to Clinton's visit to Indonesia, which has the largest Muslim population in the world, as an example.” See also

How much is America liked, and how much does it matter? - Peter Feaver, Foreign policy: “UN Ambassador Rice put her finger on a very important point about public diplomacy that is all-too-often ignored by the Pew poll watchers: public diplomacy is not an end in itself;
it is a means to an end. … [T]he real Bush problem in this area was not inept public diplomacy but rather a bona fide conflict of interest among our friends and allies over key foreign policy challenges -- a conflict of interest that derives more from the power disparities of the international system than from cowboy brusqueness.”

Obama’s Middle East Policy: Beyond Special Envoys…
- Seema Sridhar, Mainstream, India: “Obama’s Middle East Policy: Beyond Special Envoys… - There has been a vacuous dearth of measures at the official level in the realm of public relations to address public opinion amongst Muslim populations. A vigorous public diplomacy drive to engage the youth in populations that are prone to be swayed by radical Islamic ideology is imperative.”

Digital Diplomacy? The State Department Engages the Public - Cali Mortenso, Pax Bellona: “Secretary Clinton is rapidly engaging the State Department in popular internet technologies. … The Secretary herself is quoted on the blog as saying, ‘There is no doubt in my mind that we have barely scratched the surface as to what we can use to communicate with people around the world.’ However, a brief perusal of these sites seem to me like their audience is less like that of Radio Free Europe and more targeted at the American public. This is fine, as President Obama promised greater transparency in his administration than President Bush. But it seems to me that this is public diplomacy for Americans, not for the world. … Nonetheless, the constant development of new types of social media invite novel approaches to public diplomacy.”

Digital Diplomacy: Toward Experimentation – Joshua Fouts, DIP's Dispatches from the Imagination Age: “Pax Bellona blog has posted a solid analysis with recommendations reacting to Secretary of State Clinton's new digital diplomacy outreach efforts. … These are all great tools, which I also recommend. The challenge, however, in addition to adopting these new tools, is creating a culture within the organization that reinforces entrepreneurialism and creative problem-solving.”

Public Diplomacy is the U.S.'s most powerful tool in its arsenal vis-a-vis the Middle East - Iyad Dakka, Global Axioms: “The U.S. can better put to use its massive technological and information superiority via public and official diplomacy, track-two diplomatic initiatives and most importantly, simply listening more and talking less.”

Will Brand America regain its shine? - Katie O'Connell, NAFSA: The Economist is hosting an online debate called “This house believes that Brand America will regain its shine” February 17 - 27. Will Brand America regain its shine?

The online debate inludes arguments from Kihsore Mahbubani, Dean and Professor in the Practice of Public Policy at Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy NUS, who spoke at NAFSA conference in 2007, and Keith Reinhard, Chairman Emeritus of DDB Worldwide who was part of a panel on public diplomacy moderated by Judy Woodruff at the 2008 NAFSA conference.”

Some Interesting Blogs I Found - Kevin, Strategy Revolutions: “There are a couple of blogs that I have been reading lately and quite enjoy. The first is MountainRunner. I think that this is interesting. I think that most U.S. Military members feel that there needs to be a heavy dose of public diplomacy. I just do not think that the U.S. is any good at it. I think that we should be good at it. If we can sell toothpaste and rock and roll all over the world; why can't we sell the most amazing asset we have, our American principles. But to tell the truth, it is hard to tell these principles watching our politicians in Washington.”

More ISA reflections: Technology, IR, and the study of IR – peter, The Duck of Minerva: “Of all the agencies within the US government, the Pentagon is far and away the most innovative in using information technology resources. Imagine the State Department embedding journalists in the 6 party talks. Imagine the State Department's public diplomacy program with the resources of the Pentagon's information operations. Imagine the State Department with a website filled with cool photos like any of the .mil sites. Imagine a first-person interactive negotiating game on the state department's website (like the Army's first person shooter games). … Information technology is changing the stuff that we study. Information technology is changing the way we conduct our craft. And yet, some institutions seem slow to catch up. Alas, our own profession seems to be one of them. … And, for crying out loud, how hard would it be to get a truly transformational diplomacy?”

Junior Fulbright Program United States - Scholarships Information Center: “The Fulbright Program supports educational exchanges that strengthen understanding and communication between the United States and over 140 countries. It is an effective and prestigious form of public diplomacy.”

Let's Buy More MRAPs! - Armchair Generalist: A Progressive View on Military Affairs – “[A] former US Ambassador penned an article in Foreign Affairs magazine discussing the same sense of risk aversion among the US State Department. He noted that, since 1983, US embassies have turned into isolated 'fortresses', 'far from city centers' and are counter to efforts to improve American public diplomacy.”

Comment - Robert L. Michael, FSO, USIA, retired, Williamsburg, VA 23185 - A Proposed Strategy for Public Diplomacy by Spencer Ackerman: “One of the biggest mistakes the Clinton Administration made in the area of Foreign Affairs was the dis-mantling of the U.S. Information Agency, USIA, and forcing what was left of it into the U.S. Department of State. … I know several of the White Oak [see] participants. I have enormous respect for their experience, knowledge, professionalism and dedication to serving the U.S. national interest. … We must move now to restore and re-invigorate America's ability to communicate effectively with diverse publics around the globe. The White Oak group has given us direction if not a road map that can take us there. As for Mr. John Brown's Letterman-like list of ten reasons to oppose an effective USG public diplomacy initiative [see], there is nothing in his mean-spirited and snarky commentary to commend serious attention. The old canards about ‘useless,’ as a moniker for the overseas identity of USIA offices and the incredibly poor taste shown in the lame joke about dropping the ‘i’ [l] from ‘public,’ only underscore Mr. Brown's limitations and inability to truly understand the continuing need for an effective public diplomacy initiative to strengthen all aspects of American foreign policy.”

A glance of Stratcomm – Afril Wibisono, Strategic Communication Diaries: A glance of Stratcomm: “Strategic Communication (STRATCOMM) is getting the right message, through the right media, to the right audience at the right time and with the right effect.

Effectively reaching and communicating clearly to a targeted audience with specific constraints. While originating as a military term it has branched out into the corporate world in relating to communicating with a clear purpose or message. This is a relatively new term of art for the military counterpart to Public Diplomacy. It emerged as a major focus for defense transformation as a result of a Defense Science Board study by the same title. See also Information Operations.”

What Obama should tell Congress - Gary Andres and Patrick J. Griffin, Politico: “Passage of the stimulus package two weeks ago underscores this point. It was always clear the White House had the necessary votes. So Obama's public diplomacy was aimed more at reminding lawmakers and outside supporters that he was still driving the debate, and that they were doing the right thing, than at trying to apply public pressure.”

A New Public Diplomacy Approach for NATO - Joerg Wolf, Transatlantic Relations: “Dr. Stefanie Babst, NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy Strategy, argues that public diplomacy needs to respond to the challenges of the Web 2.0 world:
NATO should be more courageous in using digital tools to directly interact with the public. Why not host a permanent blog on the NATO website? Why not widen the debate about NATO's new Strategic Concept beyond the 'usual suspects' and try to obtain new thinking through, for instance, online discussions with citizens on specific aspects of NATO's future role? Let us hope that when Allies discuss NATO's future strategic course at the forthcoming Summit in Strasbourg and Kehl, they will also take a moment to sign up to a 21st century public diplomacy approach.”

Pakistan Truce - Aly Jiwani, Perspectives on Public Diplomacy: “[I]t is a success point for Al-Qaeda's public diplomacy that they are able to mesh their agenda with local insurgency agendas and increase its base such that is is becoming harder to distinguish the various groups.”

RELATED ITEMS

Israeli film [Ari Folman’s animated psychological drama ‘Waltz with Bashir’] passed over at Academy Awards - Tom Tugend and Ben Harris, JTA: “David Saranga, the Israeli consul for media and public affairs in New York, said …

[T]he fact that the person who is asking the tough questions is an Israeli shows the morality of the Israeli society and the Israeli soldiers. So it's important to show what are the moral values that the Israelis and the Israeli soldiers have. So I don't find it as something that can hurt our hasbara [public relations], not at all.”

Xinhua gets $10b to promote China's image to the world - The Australian: The Chinese Government will spend $10 billion to promote the country's image internationally by boosting the resources of the state news agency Xinhua, the communist party newspaper People's Daily, and state-owned China Central TV.

China plans 50 propaganda pics: Films mark 60th anniversary of communist rule - Clifford Coonan, Variety

Detecting Deception: A Bibliography of Counterdeception – Matt Armstrong, MountainRunner:

“Briefly, a resource some may find useful: Detecting Deception: A Bibliography of Counterdeception Across Time, Cultures and Disciplines by Barton Whaley (edited by Susan Stratton Aykroyd) for the Foreign Denial & Deception Committee of the National Intelligence Council. … Definitely an interesting resource for the engaging in the struggle for minds and wills.”

AMERICANA

KaCHING! - Princess Sparkle Pony's Photo Blog I STILL keep track of Condoleezza's hairdo so you don't have to: You'll be thrilled to learn that Random House/Crown has rewarded America's Princess Diplomat with a $2.5 million (at least!) contract for three books.

There will be a memoir about her Bush years, a book about her family, and a Readers' Digest condensed version of the latter for the kiddies.