February 5

"Hermann Goering is credited with the remark, "When I hear the word 'culture' I reach for my revolver.' A former member of the TLS staff used to enjoy quoting it, purely for the pleasure of issuing a riposte: 'When I hear the word 'revolver,' I reach for my culture.'"

--J.C., The Times Literary Supplement, January 23, 2009, p. 32

BOOK REVIEW

Something for Everyone [Review of Career Diplomacy: Life and Work in the U.S. Foreign Service by Harry W. Kopp and Charles A. Gillepsie] – John Brown, Foreign Service Journal (February 2009)

I-SCREWED–UP DEPARTMENT

In an interview with IPS, the compiler of this blog inaccurately stated that “The Obama interview [with Al Arabiya] represents a significant public diplomacy departure from the Bush years in that it uses regional media in sending a presidential foreign policy message directly to Middle East audiences.”

As former Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs James Glassman pointed out recently, however, “President Obama is not the first president to appear on Al Arabiya. President Bush appeared several times going all the way back to 2004.”

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

How fares Obama's multi-tasking? A charm offensive alone won't settle a troubled world - John Hughes, Christian Science Monitor: “Abroad he has set a new pace and tone in international diplomacy with a series of dramatic move [among them:] …

In a remarkable gesture to the world of Islam, he chose to give his first White House media interview to the Saudi-funded Arab TV network Al Arabiya. In so doing, he sidelined both Al Jazeera, often criticized for anti-Americanism, and the US government-owned Al Hurra network. Reaching a Middle East audience of some 23 million, he spoke of having Muslim relatives and having lived in a Muslim country. He called for a new partnership with the Muslim world ‘based on mutual respect and mutual interest.’ … [But] [t]he world is no less troubled with Obama in the White House than it was with Bush there. A charm offensive will not alone make the difference.”

Hillary Holds A Town Hall Meeting At The State Dept. - AlwaysforHillary: “QUESTION: Hi. I’m Cheryl Pellerin with the IIP Bureau, International Information Programs. I write for the America.gov website. And I’d like to know what you think about science as a tool for public diplomacy. SECRETARY CLINTON: … .

I want to see science not only funded again, but to have our Department and USAID be in the forefront of, you know, enlisting scientists for all kinds of the problems that we face, working to encourage more scientific exchanges, you know, creating once again what was historically an American strength: our higher education system, our research institutions, the scientific history that we – is so rich. So yes, it’s a very big idea that I hope, if you have some thoughts, you’ll share with us on the intranet about we could play a more robust role in promoting science again here and around the world. … MODERATOR: Okay, our next question comes from Ed Gagliardi, the Information Management Officer at U.S. Embassy Mexico City. He says that Facebook, MySpace, and other web 2.0 social networking technologies will significantly enhance the Department’s diplomacy efforts and business goals. … Do you intend to work with the Department’s security stakeholders in order to navigate or mitigate the vulnerabilities of these technologies so that we may leverage their business benefits? SECRETARY CLINTON: Yes, absolutely. … On the security issue and on outreach and public diplomacy, we must figure out a way consistent with security to use these new tools. 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, and in fact, to use them as tools, as this gentleman pointed out, to further our own work and to be smart about it. … So the United States Government is behind nearly everybody, except in certain discrete areas, in terms of technology. And we are, in my view, wasting time, wasting money, wasting opportunities, because we are not prepared to communicate effectively with what is out there in the business world and the private world.”

Say what? HRC jokes pres race, a 'blur' - Libby Leist and Blayne Alexander, MSNBC: “Secretary of State Clinton seemed to charm State Department employees today in her first town hall meeting as Secretary of State -- mixing serious business with some humor. … She answered questions on a range of issues facing the State Department: everything from the role of the new special envoys to how to better fund the the department. But, there were some lighter moments, too -- like when she got a question about using science as a tool in public diplomacy. Clinton began: ‘I was deeply disturbed as Senator and certainly during my presidential campaign.’ Then she stopped and asked, ‘You know I ran for President...?’ The audience broke out in laughter. She added, chuckling, ‘I sometimes totally forget that; it was like a blur it went by so fast.’

Clinton to use science as a tool for public diplomacy - Lalit K Jha, Press Trust of India, India:

"Can science be used as a tool of public diplomacy? The US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, believes that science at times could be used as an effective tool for America's public diplomacy. In fact, she intends to use science as a tool for public diplomacy as much as she can, Clinton told the employees of the State Department during the course of a town hall meeting at its Foggy Bottom headquarters."

Stimulus: One Percent for the Imagination - John Cavanagh, E. Ethelbert Miller & Melissa Tuckey, Nation: “We support the idea of Bill Ivey, head of the arts/culture Obama transition team, to create a secretary-level post for culture and the arts; indeed, the United States and Germany are the only wealthy nations without a minister or secretary of culture. … Let's employ artists as cultural diplomats as we reinvent our place in the world. American artists could be employed overseas for three- to six-month periods, with an emphasis on countries with which the United States has been at odds. They would serve as cultural ambassadors and give lectures and performances. Visiting artists in the United States could likewise enliven our understanding of other cultures.” SEE ALSO

American Musicians Begin Traveling the Rhythm Road - Happy News: "U.S. cultural diplomacy draws deeply on the transcendent power of music to communicate America's strengths, freedoms, hopes and challenges. Through the presentation of jazz, urban, and roots music, American musicians are reaching out with high impact across cultural, language, and social barriers. The Rhythm Road - American Music Abroad program takes American music around the world."

Q&A: Outgoing State Dept. Official Offers Diplomatic Advice - Amy Harder, Lost in Transition, NationalJournal.com: “At the United States Institute for Peace conference on media and diplomacy Tuesday, NationalJournal.com was able to speak for a few minutes with James Glassman, who succeeded Karen Hughes as undersecretary of State for public diplomacy and public affairs in the last year of the Bush administration. Glassman discussed the qualities his own yet-to-be-named successor should possess and how President Obama can use the media to improve relations with the Middle East.”

Reinventing America's Relations With The Muslim [World] - Hendra Saputra, The Politics,Economics, and Law: “In A Necessary Engagement, the CIA's former point man on Islam ... Emile Nakhleh argues that an engagement with the Muslim world benefits the national interest of the United States. … The author demonstrates that winning over Arabs and Muslims requires a thorough knowledge of Arab and Muslim cultures and languages within our intelligence community . … Stressing that effective public diplomacy must be a serious, coordinated effort pursued at the highest political levels, A Necessary Engagement charts a new course for future ties between the United States and the Islamic world.”

Engaging a target – Defin[i]tely a one-way transaction! - cb3blog: "Referring to an audience as a ‘target’ encourages, in the a parlance of PR Guru James Grunig, is one-way communication. Even if military or foreign policy communicators do conduct two-way asymmetric communications, i.e. conduct deep research and cultural analysis, before conducting comms campaigns, they often still end up aiming at a ‘target’. … The cornerstone of effective communications relies not only in knowing what those ‘publics’ are about - how they think, what makes them tick - but also what they want and need (eg, marketing will fail utterly if the product is not what the publics/consumers want or need, no matter how good the product is). This requires two-way symmetrical communications, or dialogue, with people, not targets.”

Russian media propaganda turns off more Ukrainians - Yuliya Melnyk, Kyiv Post: "Ukrainians are becoming increasingly angry and disappointed in slanted news coverage by the Russian media and are turning to national sources for information. This is one of the new trends discussed by Ukrainian media representatives, scholars and international sponsor organizations during a round table in Washington on Jan. 29, organized by the National Endowment for Democracy. Myroslava Gongadze, a journalist from Voice of America (VOA), which broadcasts some programs in Ukrainian, said that most of the letters and commentary she receives come from eastern Ukraine, where the Russian language is dominant. She said many viewers are disappointed with the quality of Ukrainian news as well, but lack knowledge of English to take the next step and switch to English-language news."

US broadcast to Sudan encounters controversy - Kim Andrew Elliott Discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy

Iran Denies Visas for U.S. Women's Badminton Team - Thomas Erdbrink, Washington Post: “The Obama administration said it was mystified by the [Iranian] visa refusal, especially because the president and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton have expressed a willingness to engage with Tehran. The badminton team's visit would have been the first cultural exchange under the new administration, but it was arranged as part of a concerted effort by the Bush administration since 2006 to promote cultural, medical and athletic contacts between two countries that have not had diplomatic relations for three decades.”

Badminton Diplomacy? – Leslie, Softpedia, Romania: “Public Diplomacy is one of the most deceiving terms in America today. Simply put, it refers to propaganda. Regardless of whether it's white, black or gray, propaganda can only have one purpose, namely to serve false information to the general public. And it's used extensively in the United States.”

Waging Peace: Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference - Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, DC: “'Transitioning the White House: Challenges and Opportunities for Arab-U.S. Relations' was the theme of the 17th Annual Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference, organized by the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations, and held at the Ronald Reagan Building Oct. 30 and 31, 2008. … Former Assistant Secretary for Educational and Cultural Affairs and Deputy Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Dina Habib Powell introduced Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi, United Arab Emirates minister for foreign trade. The UAE’s first woman cabinet member had much to say about women’s rights as well as international trade issues.” PHOTO: Dina Habib Powell

Diplomatic campaign: Dubai I’nal seminar to showup contributions of Pak Diaspora, Friends of Pakistan - Mian Abrar, Payvand's Iran News ...: “Professionally, for the last ten years I have been working, teaching, and researching the newly emerging world of Iranian cities and local governments. ... I quickly became involved in the work of newly established councils, worked on the laws, was asked for advice (occasionally, I was able to give some), engaged in international public diplomacy, organizing several exchanges between European and Iranian mayors.” Kian Tajbakhsh works as an international consultant in the areas of local government reform, urban planning, social policy, and social science research.

Hungary celebrates 10 years in NATO – News, North Atlantic Treaty Organization: “On 29-30 January, the Szeged Centre for Security Policy – supported by the Hungarian Ministry for Foreign Affairs and NATO Public Diplomacy Division – organized the first event to commemorate the tenth anniversary of Hungary’s membership in NATO, along with the Alliance’s 60th Anniversary.”

Divorce! The Musical Premieres Feb. 5 in L.A.; Opens on Valentine's Day - Kenneth Jones, Playbill: “Featuring music, lyrics and book by 2008 Frederick Loewe Award winner Erin Kamler (Runway 69 at New Dramatists), the musical comedy concerns 'one couple's hellish journey to untie the knot.' …

A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College, she [Kamler] is currently pursuing a graduate degree in International Public Diplomacy at USC's Annenberg School for Communication.”

John Brown in Finding Our Voices - Joshua S. Fouts, DIP's Dispatches from the Imagination Age: “I just discovered that Public Diplomacy Blogger John Brown … is a ‘bonus’ feature in the documentary ‘Finding Our Voices.’ It's a stirring, brief video made more so by the fact that the US is now under new leadership.”

RELATED ITEMS

Viewpoint: Send 'Comfort' to the Gaza Strip - William Bache, Baltimore Sun: Nothing would telegraph the message that "America is back" in the Middle East with a balanced, smart-power policy better than for Barack Obama to immediately send a U.S. naval hospital ship to Gaza.

Endless Propaganda: The War on Terror is a Hoax - Paul Craig Roberts, CounterPunch: The “war on terror” is a hoax that fronts for American control of oil pipelines, the profits of the military-security complex, the assault on civil liberty by fomenters of a police state, and Israel’s territorial expansion.

An Advertising Drive Born in Kremlin Politics - Natalya Krainova, Moscow Times: In the heat of Ukraine's presidential election in 2004, a Kremlin spin doctor pitched an idea for a smear campaign to the pro-Russia candidate. The plan was to stock Ukrainian supermarket shelves with cans of a new product labeled "American Salo," thus sparking anti-American sentiment among voters by linking U.S. hegemony to the traditional Ukrainian dish of salted pork fat. Now with the next Ukrainian presidential election just a year away, American Salo has resurfaced in a mysterious billboard campaign in the Moscow metro that Matveichev, currently a Kremlin adviser on domestic politics, said he has nothing to do with. PHOTO: Vladimir Filonov/MT: A Moscow metro billboard offering a fictitious product called American Salo, dreamed up by a Kremlin spin doctor during Ukraine's 2004 presidential vote.

Killing Russian journalists – Editorial, Washington Times: Since 2000, 16 journalists have died in Russia under suspicious circumstances -- and scores of others have been threatened, intimidated and assaulted. What can Americans do to keep the flickering light of freedom alive in Russia? According to Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Nina Ognianova of the Committee to Protect Journalists, it is imperative for fellow journalists to report fully on all these crimes.

Israeli propaganda, media lobbies and the problem of fair reporting - Max Davies, Advance Titan, WI: The pervasive efforts of lobbyists and individual pro-Israeli actors pervades the media to even the college level, and that not only readers, but we as the staff of newspapers need to be critical in our coverage so as to fairly represent the issues.

Close Guantanamo First, Ask Questions Later - Fred Schwarz, National Review: All told, Obama’s “Make it so!” approach to the Guantanamo dilemma involves a distressingly large portion of hope, but very little change.

Unraveling Injustice - Editorial, New York Times: The administration also faces urgent deadlines in court cases where President Bush’s lawyers were trying to expand executive power and impose a blanket of secrecy to avoid having to defend indefensible decisions. The cases give Mr. Obama a chance to show how serious he is about repairing Mr. Bush’s legacy of harm.

Iraq's Latest Progress: Political compromise follows security, not vice versa - Review & Outlook, Wall Street Journal: The surge brigades (Iraqi and American), the new U.S. counterinsurgency strategy and above all the demonstration of sustained U.S. commitment improved security so much that democratic deal-making became possible. All this amounts to a huge strategic gift to the Obama Administration. We're puzzled by media reports that Mr. Obama intends to name Christopher Hill to replace Ryan Crocker as America's ambassador in Baghdad. Mr. Hill has no real diplomatic experience in the Middle East and is not an Arabic speaker.

Iraq's Remarkable Election: The government ensured integrity and security. Iran and sectarianism were the big losers - Kimberly Kagan And Frederick W. Kagan, Wall Street Journal: Despite these achievements, American forces will continue to play a vital role as honest brokers and impartial arbiters standing behind efforts to resolve conflicts peacefully.

Whistling Past the Afghan Graveyard: Where Empires Go to Die - Tom Engelhardt, TomDispatch: In Afghanistan and Pakistan the question is no longer whether the U.S. is in command, but whether it can get out in time. PHOTO: Kabul Graveyard

'Finish the job' in Afghanistan? Where do we begin? Obama faces a complex, perilous situation in which it's no longer clear what the 'job' is, or what it will take to 'finish' it - Rosa Brooks, Los Angeles Times: Restoring stability in Afghanistan and Pakistan will be a long, multifaceted process involving many players in addition to the U.S. -- and that process is just getting started.

An Obama A-Team for Iran - David Ignatius, Washington Post: ”Whom should President Obama appoint as his emissary to Iran, to take on what may be the most important diplomatic mission in decades? … My nominees are Zbigniew Brzezinski and Brent Scowcroft, former national security advisers for Presidents Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush, respectively.”

The unthinkable option - Roger Cohen, International Herald Tribune: Obama must break with the Bush years in more than words. That requires a solemn declaration that the United States recognizes and no longer seeks to destabilize Iran -- an implicit renunciation of force.

Iran's missiles: Don't go ballistic - Dinshaw Mistry and Charles D. Ferguson, International Herald Tribune: Iran demonstrated its growing missile capabilities on Tuesday when it launched a satellite into orbit. But this should not force Europe and the United States to rush decisions on deploying a missile defense system in Europe.

Iran, Obama Admin. off to Shaky Start - Juan Cole, Informed Comment: Thoughts on the Middle East, History, and Religion: Turning Iran policy over to the Israel lobbies, the major agitators for a US war on Iran, is a very bad idea, and if this goes forward Obama will be signalling that there will not in fact be a new US-Iran relationship.

Russian evolution: Moscow's role in the world is changing, and Europe must be ready for the new player - Timothy Garton Ash, Los Angeles Times: "In the matter of sovereignty, what's sauce for the Russian goose must also be sauce for the Georgian or Ukrainian gander. A state cannot consistently say: We insist on full respect for our own sovereignty but will violate the sovereignty of others whenever we decide that is necessary. You may object: Isn't that what George W. Bush's America did? To which I reply: Exactly so. It was wrong of Bush's America and wrong of Putin's Russia. Now President Obama is changing America's approach, and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev should do the same."

Sneaking In Where Thugs Rule - Nicholas D. Kristof, New York Times: President George W. Bush tried to help Burmese dissidents, but he had zero international capital. The Obama administration, in contrast, has a chance to lead an international initiative to curb Burmese arms imports and bring the regime to the negotiating table.

Zimbabwe's False Hope: South Africa demands that the West aid a 'unity' government under Robert Mugabe. How to answer? – Editorial, Washington Post: The misery of Zimbabwe is indeed compelling -- but the Obama administration and other Western governments should reject South Africa's demands.

Art under control in North Korea - Jane Portal, openDemocracy

The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum New Propaganda Exhibit Aims to Educate - Heather Lockwood, Kansas City infoZine, MO: "State of Deception: The Power of Nazi Propaganda" features some of Adolf Hitler's political campaign posters, paintings, photographs, anti-Semitic newspapers, and short films and interactive touch screens about the Nazi propaganda machine.

David Miliband Just Not That Into Condi - Princess Sparkle Pony's Photo Blog I STILL keep track of Condoleezza's hairdo so you don't have to: PHOTO: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (R) and British Foreign Secretary David Miliband shake hands after speaking to the press at the State Department in Washington. Clinton said Tuesday the US-British special relationship "really stands the test of time." (AFP/Nicholas Kamm).

COMMENT: “I always suspected that David Miliband wasn't quite as taken with America's Princess Diplomat as his predecessor, erstwhile Condidate Jack Straw. Miliband would never say, 'Whew! Glad she's gone!' but that was clearly the subtext when he met with Hillary yesterday and gushed just a teensy bit too much.”

AMERICANA

Ex-Shirts; via