April 28

"Old Age begins in the nursery, and before the young American is put into jackets and trowsers, he says, 'I want something which I never saw before'; and 'I wish I was not I.'"

--Ralph Waldo Emerson, cited in Paul Fisher, House of Wits: An Intimate Portrait of the James Family (2008) p. 64; image from

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

100 Days, 100 Foreign Policy Achievements - Ilan Goldenberg, Huffington Post: "In 100 days, the Obama Administration has taken more than 100 actions that are reshaping American foreign policy, reversing the failures of the Bush Administration, and renewing America's standing in the world. [Among] … the most significant actions … : Re-engaging with Muslim nations through targeted, positive public diplomacy … Public Diplomacy [:] 98. Michelle Obama's activities around the President's Europe trip received an overwhelmingly positive reception and reinforced America's image abroad. 99. In a move reminiscent of Henry Kissinger's successful effort to bring the U.S. the 1994 World Cup, President Obama delivered a message to FIFA imploring soccer's governing body to grant the U.S. the right to host the Cup again in 2018 or 2022." Image from

Obama's First Hundred Days in the Greater Middle East - Juan Cole, Informed Comment: Thoughts on the Middle East, History, and Religion: "Obama has engaged in a number of acts of public diplomacy toward the Muslim world that were intended to change the image of the United States in the region and to marshal for his purposes American soft power, which is among its largest assets in the region. (Contrary to what the American Right used to confidently assert, the Muslim world does not hate 'our way of life,' but rather loves the idea of democracy and loves US media. What they say they don't like is a lot of sleeping around and tolerance of gays; in other words, Muslim public opinion is not so different from that of many Americans in the deep red states). … Obama did an interview with al-Arabiya, the Dubai-based Arabic satellite news station, soon after he got into office. He offered a hand of friendship to Muslims, insisted that you can't stereotype 1.5 billion people with the actions of a few terrorists, and implied that al-Qaeda seemed to be running scared that it had lost George W. Bush as a recruiting tool. … Obama's public diplomacy extended to Iran, which he addressed on the occasion of the Persian New Year. … The big moment for public diplomacy, however, was Obama's trip to Turkey. … [N]early 40 percent of Turks say that they have confidence in President Obama, making him the politician in Turkey with the very highest approval rating! … So, an 'A' on style, which is all that could probably be accomplished in 100 days. We need to come back and judge substance a year from now."

Score Card of Obama's First Hundred Days - salzburgglobal.blogspot.com: "Last November, immediately following the US elections, the Salzburg Global Seminar held Session 458, 'The US and the World: New Strategies of Engagement.' … The sixth point in the Salzburg Seminar’s 8-Point Plan of last year was to 'Engage in Public Diplomacy Through Carefully Staged Events'. After the mixed reactions at home to his speech at the Brandenberg Gate during the campaign last summer, it was not risk-free to embark on such a high profile trip to Europe. … But if President Obama was afraid of scepticism at home about any distraction from the domestic economic crisis or facing the pitfalls of international diplomacy, he exhibited no signs of it. It was a confident performance at every turn that followed the Seminar’s script to a tee. … [T]his was impressive public diplomacy. There was not one message or style for the private meetings and another for public consumption. The strategy flowed straight from Obama; it was no add-on by aides. … In public, his references in Turkey to his upbringing in a Muslim country and having Muslims in his own family broke no new biographical ground, but it demonstrated the power of empathy to overcome the hostility aroused by the US in recent years. … If there is a cautionary note to this glowing review it is that public diplomacy can lead reality – but over time reality must begin to catch up with perception. … For the President, the polling back home shows that the trip helped consolidate his standing among independents and moderate Republicans. An A for public diplomacy." Image from

Obama wooing the Muslim world – The New Nation, Pakistan: "During his first overseas trip since becoming US President, Barack Hussein Obama, continued to make the right sounds to distance his new administration from George W Bush. … But the real challenge will be in translating his words into deeds and delivering on his promises. … Obama's public diplomacy gambit is important in relieving tensions but what everyone is waiting to see is whether this translates into action."

The Victory of the Neoconservatives - Bernard I. Finel, Huffington Post:

"Obama's apparent diagnosis of Bush's foreign policy is not that it was wrongheaded - imperialistic and unachievable - but rather that it was implemented incompetently. Now with better public diplomacy and a retooled military, the policy of remaking the world in our own image - at the point of a gun if necessary - can proceed apace.” See also." Image from

Middle East portrayed by the media – Alexandra Kaplan, BetterLate311 - "The 2001 terrorist attacks changed the way Americans view Middle Easterners. It started a lot of controversy over religious stereotypes. The Maxwell School has recognized these views by adding a Religions, Media and International Relations study.... Maxwell's conference includes world class journalists, such as Lawrence Pintak who has worked in the Middle East. Pintak said he has found many connections between common stereotypes and negative public diplomacy in the Muslim and Islamic worlds."

William Robinson of UC Santa Barbara Spams Class With Graphic "Jews Are Nazis" - Cleveland Indy Media: “[B]latant lying and anti-Jewish tropes - that's the very definition of academic freedom. Besides, 'Jews are Nazis' is exactly the line toed by the State Department's flagship Arab public diplomacy outlet. So what's the big deal?"

Obama's homework before the Notre Dame test: Assignment II - Catholic Culture: "At that shrine [the Virgin at Guadalupe in Mexico], Madame Secretary [Clinton] professed great admiration for the miraculous image of Our Lady. But then she made a thunderous gaffe, asking: 'Who painted it?' Duggan [Joseph Duggan, in his American Spectator article, "The Icon and the Battle-Axe"] asks rhetorically: Was Hillary's public diplomacy fiasco a calculated insult addressed to something she regards as a superstition, or simply the unrehearsed utterance of a person so soulless that she cannot fathom believers' sense of mystery? Good question. When you get the answer-- as it applies Hillary Clinton in particular or the Obama administration in general … please let us know." Image from

What If? Barry Zorthian, Public Diplomacy Council: "What If we simply discarded the term and concept of 'Public Diplomacy' and consigned it to the same dust bin as the 'War on Terror' and 'Mission Accomplished' and other catchy phrases of the post 9/11 world that have since been challenged and abandoned? Would we lose very much? Valid question. My answer is 'no'." Zorthian image from

The Road to Moscow - Gary Hart and Dimitri K. Simes, National Interest: "Perhaps unsurprisingly in view of Russian history, today’s more confident Moscow often overreacts and overplays its hand, exacerbating almost any dispute it enters. As a result, even when Russia has an arguably legitimate case, like when Georgian forces attacked Russian peacekeepers in South Ossetia in August 2008 or when Ukraine failed to pay its debts to Gazprom, Russian public diplomacy often suffers from exaggerated, haughty and dismissive rhetoric that undermines Moscow’s positions and rubs many the wrong way. … Moreover, as much as Moscow likes to remind the world of its new prominence, Russian officials understand that their country is not America’s strategic equal and see the advantages of being its partner."

World on alert as swine flu pandemic threatens - DispatchOnline: "At present there were no reports of swine flu in South Africa, the SA National Institute for Communicable Diseases said yesterday. While the national Department of Health spokesperson was not available to comment, the national Department of Foreign Affairs said they had not yet responded to the scare. 'We have not yet issued any travel advisory,' the department’s chief director of public diplomacy Ronnie Mamoepa said."

USC Public Diplomacy Department: Online Magazine Site Design/Development - Colin Wright, colin is my name: "Sustainable Designer - The University of Southern California’s Public Diplomacy Department needed a website built. This website was to serve as the online edition of their brand new magazine, the aptly-named Public Diplomacy Magazine. See the live site here. … The site needed to be a fully interactive online magazine, so I based the navigation on a category system that used the table of contents as a foundation. The articles and pages are all dynamic, and the PDM staff are able to swap out new issues as necessary, as the entire site is built on the Wordpress platform." Image from

Election Day-Off: Celebrating Democracy – Paul Rockower, Levantine: “I spent the day finishing up a presentation for my Media and Politics class. … I mentioned that we would do a public diplomacy-style campaign to educate on the correlation between the fact that the 21 advanced democracies (among many, many others) had voter rates nearly 25% higher than the US; concurrently 25% of eligible voters who didn't cast ballots cited conflicting schedules and inability to get out of work as reason for not casting a ballot."

RELATED ITEMS

Who Should Own the World's Antiquities? - Hugh Eakin, New York Review of Books:

The new détente between foreign governments and American museums should be seen as an essential step in confronting the urgent problem of the destruction of archaeological sites. For the most crucial challenge is not the aggressive nationalism of some countries or the voracious appetites of some museums: it is the disappearance of the ancient past so coveted by both. Image from

After Iraq's civil war, lessons in civility: New academy gives free music and etiquette lessons to teens, in a bid to boost tolerance and promote peace - Jane Arraf, Christian Science Monitor

Obama's First 100 Days: The Good, The Bad, and the Geithner - Arianna Huffington, Huffington Post: Now to the more tangible aspects of his presidency. Let's start with the pluses: Foreign Relations. From granting his first presidential interview to Al-Arabiya TV to loosening the embargo on Cuba to hanging an open sign on the State Department, Obama has signaled that the bellicose days of antagonism as our default foreign policy position are over.

And his decision to close Guantanamo also sent the right message to the world. Now for the minuses: Afghanistan. Obama has committed 21,000 more troops to Afghanistan but as many, including Obama himself, have noted, there is no exclusively military solution to Afghanistan. What's more, unlike with Guantanamo, Obama has adopted Bush's policies regarding the enemy prisoners being held at Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan. Image from

In First 100 Days, Obama Plants Flag at United Nations - Stephen Schlesinger, Huffington Post: President Obama has dramatically re-established American relations with the UN through numerous steps. Overall, he deserves an A- grade for his first 100 days as regards the UN.

How Obama can succeed in the next 100 days and beyond: His first 100 days has been a sprint. But the success of his second 100 days -- and his presidency -- hinges on a series of tough decisions - Robert Reich, Salon

The big question here is whether foreign policy will come to define his presidency, notwithstanding his domestic ambitions. Squanderer in chief - James Kirchick, Los Angeles Times: Since swearing the oath of office, our president has traveled the world criticizing his predecessor, confessing America's supposed sins and otherwise flagellating the nation he leads on the altar of international "public opinion." Image from

Obama pulls the plug on Chavez propaganda show - Mary Sanchez, The Kansas City Star: Newt Gingrich went into overdrive, pontificating on morning television, “Everywhere in Latin America, enemies of America are going to use the picture of Chavez smiling and meeting with the president as proof that Chavez is now legitimate, that he’s acceptable.” What would have been more appropriate? Spitting in Chavez’s face?

US Bracing for New Prisoner Abuse Photos - William Fisher, Antiwar.com: Today, April 28, marks five years since the world got its first look at the sickening photographs from Abu Ghraib on the U.S. television program 60 Minutes. And a month from now, on May 28, the Department of Justice, acting under a court order, will release several thousand never-before-seen-in-public photographs of U.S. prisoner abuse from Afghanistan and from elsewhere in Iraq.

Al-Qaeda's PR Machine - Ben Johnson, FrontPageMagazine.com: Under President Bush, the United States enjoyed a reputation as a nation that vigorously prosecutes captured terrorists and defends those who stand on its front lines. In three months, President Obama has reversed that. Quite a 100-day accomplishment. Taken together, it becomes clear Obama seeks to elevate his image by turning the Bush administration into a moral pariah. However, his decisions are undoing the edifice that protected this nation for seven years – and even his administration publicly fears his latest move alone will supercharge al-Qaeda recruitment.

FM spokesman: Iran not threat to others despite West's propaganda - Xinhua:

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi said on Monday that in spite of the West's propaganda, Iran is not threat to other countries, the official IRNA news agency reported. Image from

Links for WWI Propaganda - Mrs Duester’s Blog: You have been divided into two groups. One group will research the propaganda created by the Allies during WWI, while the other group will research the propaganda created by the Central Powers.

IMAGE

--"This poster, printed between 1936 and 1937, resembles the posters seen during World War II rather than others found during the New Deal era. It's a rather simple poster with a simple message. While It may seem an obvious idea, I like how the designer has made the typesize gradually decrease in the style of a Snellen chart."

--from