February 7

"I do not interfere in my own work”

--The Serbian Minister of Information (1996), as told to the compiler of this blog at the time of his Foreign Service posting in Belgrade; this quotation is also cited in a letter by the compiler to his deceased poet/diplomat father, John L. Brown, currently kept in the latter's Papers housed at Georgetown University; image

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

The Public Diplomacy Hard Part: Getting from here to there - Patricia H. Kushlis, Whirled View: “[W]hat’s been leaked to the media thus far shows that: 1) public diplomacy will not be a central focus of the Clinton Secretary of State-ship – and as a consequence it is likely to continue to be treated as State’s 'red haired step child' as long as it remains under the purview of the Department;

And 2) more importantly, that what’s left of the current dismal state of public diplomacy affairs will not, repeat not, accomplish what the new president said he wants done either in terms of a coordinated public diplomacy effort across the administration or in its ability to establish America Houses across the Muslim world.” IMAGE: Lake of the Dismal Swamp, John Gadsby Chapman, 1825

Finding the Next Murrow – Joshua Fouts, DIP's Dispatches from the Imagination Age: “Edward R. Murrow for whom two US university departments are named -- one focused on journalism and one focused on public diplomacy -- is often lauded as the father of both US public diplomacy for his work directing the U.S. Information Agency (until 1999 the main public diplomacy division of the US government) under president Kennedy and modern US journalism for his World War II Reporting. … With that said, I'd like to propose two candidates for Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy in the Murrow Model who the administration might consider, (if they are even still considering names): Bill Moyers - Veteran journalist, author, commentator and chronicler of the human condition. ... Lawrence Pintak -- Lawrence Pintak is a veteran American journalist, author, scholar, and leader and the director of the Kamal Adham Center for Journalism and Training at the American University in Cairo.”

Obama's Foreign Policy - Bob Burnett, OpEdNews.com: “From Syria to Pakistan, Obama will attempt to cut off support for terrorism. Notably, his first full-length interview was with an Arab television network, Al-Arabiya. Our new President avoided the phrases ‘war on terror’ or ‘Islamic fascism.’

Instead of utilizing pat Bush-era terms, Obama referred to Al Qaeda and the Taliban as extremists, ‘that will use faith as a justification for violence'; making a distinction between them and Muslims in general. This signals not only a change in tone but also recognition that, because Al Qaeda and the Taliban represent a tiny minority of the Arab world, a carefully constructed diplomatic initiative can align US interests with those of the Middle East and Central Asia.” VIA "Tex" Harris.

Editorial: Reaching out to Muslims – GHS, MetroWest Daily News, MA: “Some eyebrows were raised around Washington when President Barack Obama gave his first television interview to Al Aribiya, an Arab TV network based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Was Obama tilting America's Middle East policy in a new direction? Somewhat, but not fundamentally. What he did was send a signal to the world's 1.2 billion Muslims that eight years after Islamist terrorists attacked New York City and the Pentagon, Americans ‘are not your enemies.’ …

Obama chose words designed to isolate extremist leaders from their followers by going over their heads and speaking to the people watching on TV. … Reaction from the Muslim world has generally been positive, but it hasn't been universal. … The United States cannot dictate what direction Islamic countries take. But by engaging their people, our ideas can influence their leaders. We hope Obama's early commitment to public diplomacy becomes a hallmark of his administration.”

Pentagon Propaganda Spending Explodes: 'We Have Such a Massive Apparatus Selling the Military to Us' - Joshua Holland, AlterNet: "’Public diplomacy’ is a waste when you don't have anything morally persuasive to say. But that doesn't dissuade the foreign policy establishment from its belief that if we could only refine the message ...”

Strategic Communication: The Real Battle for ‘Hearts and Minds’ - cb3blog: “Strategic communications is an all pervasive concept: distillation of one’s own raison d’être; direct contribution to strategic guidance; internal communication; dialogical conversations; public diplomacy; boundary-spanning; social psychology; issue management; behavioural dynamics; stakeholder engagement; lobbying; narrative construction and publics analysis. The need to understand this concept at the highest level is becoming ever more crucial in the increasingly complex environments of foreign policy crisis management and post-conflict reconstruction.”

US stands ready to assist Brunei in times of need: Ask the US Ambassador - Borneo Bulletin, Brunei Darussalam: “Q: Would the Embassy consider having a Muslim Affairs officer to assist with outreach to the Muslim world? (Question by Hj Abdul Halim) [William E Todd, US Ambassador to Brunei Darussalam:] I appreciate the question and suggestion, Hj Abdul Halim. We do not have specific officers focused on Islamic affairs. However, we have an expansive programme of outreach to the Islamic community. … I hope to hear more of your thoughts on how we can improve both our Embassy outreach to Brunei and the State Department's public diplomacy throughout the world, especially to the Islamic community.”

I’ll be back – Molly Bordonaro - timesofmalta.com: “Former US ambassador Molly Bordonaro left Malta this afternoon after her three and a half years of service on the island promising that she’ll be back.” Comment by a reader: “Public diplomacy at its best, Hon. Bordonaro's excellence is not only reflected inside her office, behind four walls, but particularly with her active engagement out in the public, staying in touch with with all strata of Maltese society, preempting Obama and Clinton's call for smart power. We look forward to see you back in Malta.” PHOTO: Ms Bordonaro with her three children -- Brooke, Colt and Skylar.

Annenberg prof. receives high honor: Professor Manuel Castells is the second Annenberg professor named University Professor - Malia Makowicki, Daily Trojan:

“’Dr. Castells has and will continue to be a tremendous role model in identifying a healthy balance between the different responsibilities of an academic,’ wrote Shawn Powers, doctoral candidate at the Annenberg School for Communication and research associate at USC’s Center on Public Diplomacy, in an e-mail.”

Smart Power - Foreign Policy Focus: “One of the most quoted example of an efficient public diplomacy strategy is China. A communist country, with a bad human rights record, huge ecological problems and enormous economic disparities, it succeeded to be one of the most envied country brand. Made in China, ofently synonymous for infringements of intellectual property rights, changed into an original example of a brand merchandised worldwide through efficient marketing strategies.”


Israel Defense Force IMAGE

Gaza's Influence on the Israeli Election Campaign - Andrew Emery, Atlantic-Community.org: Reader reaction to the article: “I think that the Israeli population that so unanimously supported the recent military operation was disappointed with Livni for her public diplomacy ineffectiveness failing to get the US to veto the UNSC resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire and with Barak for stopping the military operation short of the achievement of absolute deterrence (see the continuing firing of rockets into Israel).”

Israel's fateful choice - Caroline Glick, carolineglick.com:

“[Likud leader Binyamin] Netanyahu also strongly backed the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs' initiative to indict Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as an international war criminal for inciting genocide. Both the divestment campaign and the campaign against Ahmadinejad have been Israel's most successful public diplomacy efforts in contending with Iran. More than anything done by the government, these initiatives made Americans aware of the Iranian nuclear threat and so forced the issue onto the agendas of all the presidential candidates.” PHOTO: Caroline Glick

Does Israel Need Think Tanks? - Hannah Elka Meyers, WMD, War to Mobilize Democracy: “Unlike the U.S. government and major U.S. corporations, neither the Israeli government nor Israeli businesses contract think tanks to carry out specific research, nor do they provide grants in fulfillment of public diplomacy projects that the civil and foreign service is unable or unwilling to conduct.”

Israel's Propaganda War in Gaza: Losing the Moral High Ground - Ong Weichong, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS): “This commentary discusses Israel's intent to dominate the information space in its military campaign against Hamas in Gaza. The author argues that Israel is currently not able to retain public support and credibility both nationally and internationally, and that it has already lost the war morally.”

Sri Lanka issue debated in Canadian Parliament: Tamil genocide – ceasefire – peacekeeping forces – call for R2P - Daya Gamage, Asian Tribune: “The Asian Tribune for some time has been advocating the importance of Government of Sri Lanka using strategic communication and the techniques of public diplomacy to provide cogent explanations to the above sentiments now shared by the major players of the international community.”

RELATED ITEMS

They Still Hate Us! - Katty Kay, Daily Beast: According to a new BBC poll, those ungrateful foreigners have embraced America’s new president without really changing their opinion of the United States as a whole. The poll of 21 countries (including Ghana, where, incidentally, views of the US have improved, so that’s a big relief) was conducted after the U.S. election. It suggests the world is optimistic that Obama will improve international relations but there has been no corresponding surge in pro-American sentiment. Views of the U.S. have improved, modestly, but are still predominantly negative. “What it says is that it wasn’t just George Bush’s personality that made America so unpopular, but there are underlying foreign policy issues,” says Steven Kull, director of the Program on International Policy Attitudes, which conducted the BBC poll.

Learn English the Obama way – Preeti Aroon, Foreign Policy Barack Obama's speeches are proving to be more than just moving. They're providing English lessons to many Japanese. The English-language textbook, The Speeches of Barack Obama, has become a bestseller in Japan, topping the list at Amazon's Japanese Web site.

Mr. Cheney's Blind Spot: The former vice president still doesn't recognize the damage done by his terrorism policies – Editorial, Washington Post:

Mr. Cheney fails to recognize the damage these policies have done to the country's reputation at large. Thanks to Mr. Cheney and his allies, global respect for the United States is at a low point. Part of the mission of preventing attacks must be to repair that damage.

AP CEO: Bush Turned Military Into Propaganda Machine - John Hanna, Huffington Post: The Bush administration turned the U.S. military into a global propaganda machine while imposing tough restrictions on journalists seeking to give the public truthful reports about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Associated Press chief executive Tom Curley said Friday.

Deja vu in Kabul: Naysayers call Afghanistan a hopeless quagmire. Isn't that what they said about Iraq? - Max Boot, Los Angeles Times: Just as in Iraq, a surge in the number of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan will inevitably bring about a short-term spike in casualties. But if President Obama doesn't lose his nerve, the odds are that a classic counterinsurgency strategy, supported by adequate troop levels, can turn around another failing war effort.

Don't Escalate in Afghanistan – Editorial, Nation: Instead of more troops, we need a regional diplomatic strategy aimed at replacing the US-led NATO occupation with a multinational coalition that would bring about a power-sharing arrangement and new governing structure.

The Promise In Iraq's Rebirth - Samir Sumaida'ie, Washington Post: The continued engagement of the United States in Iraq will be vital to ensuring that what has been achieved is not jeopardized, though the emphasis will inevitably shift from military issues to economic and diplomatic matters. The writer is Iraq's ambassador to the United States.

A Drama-Free Election: The Iraqi vote was a victory for Prime Minister Maliki. Now he'll need to do something for the Shiite masses - Reuel Marc Gerecht, Weekly Standard: The Sadrists are the most volatile element in Iraqi political life -- the possible gateway for truly nefarious Iranian influence. We can only hope that American and Iraqi officials figure out some way of bringing them into the political system.

Misreading the Iraqi Election Results – Ivan Eland, Antiwar.com: In Iraq, as Obama wisely draws down U.S. forces, he should not use his excuse for withdrawing -- the "progress" demonstrated by Iraqi elections -- to ignore powerful historical ethno-sectarian forces there.

America and Russia: Hold that line - Cathy Young, International Herald Tribune: Obama may be in an excellent position to pursue a balanced policy toward Russia: containment if necessary, cooperation when possible, and encouragement of democracy. Whether this policy will be a friendly or adversarial one is largely up to the Kremlin.

Russia tests Obama – Editorial, Boston Globe: Putin wants Obama to cancel or postpone deployment of the defective missile defense system that President Bush wished to locate in Poland and the Czech Republic. Obama will also be expected to back off from Bush's support of fast-track NATO membership for the former Sovet republics of Georgia and Ukraine. And now Putin is trying to show Obama that all foreign dealing with the nations of Central Asia must pass muster with the Kremlin.

Change (in Rhetoric) We Can Believe In? Obama and the Empire - William Blum, CounterPunch: Obama is committed to the empire; and the empire is committed to war. Too bad.

This "Matching Armchairs Photo-Op" Stuff is Just Going to Take a While for Hillary to Perfect - Princess Sparkle Pony's Photo Blog Princess Sparkle Pony's Photo Blog I Still Keep Track Of Condoleezza's Hairdo So You Don't Have To:

PHOTO: Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, right, talks with Tony Blair, left, Quartet Envoy during their meeting at the State Department in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2009. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) COMMENT: “Ha! You can't escape destiny, Hils! The moment we've been waiting for arrived Wednesday. As you can see, Hillary has succumbed to the strange allure of the State Department Reception Room's famous matching armchairs. But, oh no, what have they done? … Basically, they've totally ruined the delicate equilibrium of the matching armchairs photo-op.”