April 8

“All the war-propaganda, all the screaming and lies and hatred, comes invariably from people who are not fighting.”

--George Orwell; image from

Obama scores again, but the game is just starting – Marc Lynch, Foreign Policy: “Obama's speech in Turkey's Parliament has gotten heavy coverage and rave reviews across the Arab political spectrum. Even influential newspapers and personalities who are usually quite critical of American foreign policy have expressed frank admiration. Despite the disarray in the public diplomacy bureaucracy (where there is still no nominee for the Under-Secretary of State), I would say that Obama has already succeeded at the initial public diplomacy phase of his effort to transform America's relations with the Muslim world. … But... the public diplomacy gambit is only the first step. For all their enthusiasm, most of the Arab commentators conclude that thus far, Obama's words and symbolism have not been matched by concrete actions. Obama has performed masterfully at the public diplomacy phase of recasting American relations with the Muslim world. But the next step will require concrete steps to translate the words into deeds and measures to begin to institutionalize a different relationship.” Image from

How will Obama turn his gestures to the Islamic world into action? - Emile Hokayem, The National: “The sources of tension between the US and the Muslim world did not vanish with one visit, and the litany of mutual complaints is long, well known and sometimes deserved. In the Muslim world, it is tempting to blame all the tension of the recent years on US policies perceived as fundamentally unjust and on George W Bush. And in Washington, it is equally appealing to think that the challenge is primarily one of public diplomacy: how to better explain and sell US policies, no matter how misguided they are. Realities on the ground will dictate whether Obama’s rhetoric can do more than clear the air.”

President Obama On The International Stage - The World Newser: World News' Daily Blog: "So how did the President do on his first extensive international trip? George Stephanopoulos told Charles Gibson on WORLD NEWS 'Well it’s a real test for the President and I think he passed it easily. He was confident, he had a sense of command in his personal and public diplomacy.' To cap things off, Stephanopoulos notes, Obama made a 'critical visit to the troops. When you have American troops fighting on two fronts, you have to end that visit with a strong visit with the troops, and he did.' But there were some setbacks for the President on this trip as well." See also.

Obama’s Public Diplomacy - D-Day: “I sense a harshness to my own rhetoric against President Obama the past couple weeks. I've been focused on the financial crisis, the refusal to acknowledge the Constitutional abuses of the prior Administration and the Af-Pak policies, all of which I fear have the potential to destroy a promising Presidency; but I have been remiss in pointing out that, in general, this was an excellent European trip that yielded tangible results, particularly in the area of public diplomacy. For instance I thought his town hall in Istanbul, and indeed the entire notion of holding town hall meetings in foreign countries, to be first-rate.”

Obama's Ankara Visit Highlights Rapprochement Strategy Toward the Middle East - Eurasia Daily Monitor:

"President Barack Obama's visit to Ankara was well received by the majority of Turkish people, apart from a minority in Ankara complaining about traffic jams due to enhanced security measures. Obama's visit to Turkey was a well planned public diplomacy event by U.S. policy planners." Image from

Obama’s Ankara speech – The Arabist: "[I]n Obama’s speech in Ankara, … [he] moved away from the idea that engagement with the Muslim world is a policy solely based on the war on terror and the problem of Islamic fundamentalism. This is a great step, and most of the advocates of public diplomacy in the last few years were deeply wrong in framing the need for outreach in the context of al-Qaeda."

Obama's Turkey Visit a Good First Step - Yigal Schleifer, World Politics Review: "Obama's speech and public diplomacy efforts seem to have been a hit with both the public and Turkey's political class, prompting several newspapers to run headlines touting the start of a "new chapter" in U.S.-Turkey relations." Image from

Obama makes surprise visit to Iraq: AFP - "Once back in the United States, the US president will return to the daunting daily crisis management of leading the struggle against the most punishing financial eltdown in generations. 'We feel this was an enormously productive trip,' said Obama's top political aide David Axelrod, before the president met Turkish students, his final event of a trip mixing summits, bilateral talks and public diplomacy."

Bush Was Friendly to Muslims, Too: the Obama Team's Response - Dan Gilgoff, U.S. News & World Report: “I just hung up with a senior Obama administration official who argued that Bush projects like Iraq and Guantánamo—and missteps like Abu Ghraib—undermined his stated warmth for the Islamic world. Obama's initial opposition to the Iraq war and his early executive orders banning torture and closing Gitmo, this official says, make Obama's public diplomacy in Turkey a lot more credible.” Image from

Pakistan urges $30 billion Marshall Plan to stabilize border region – Associated Press of Pakistan: "Pakistan has called for a $30 billion Marshall Plan to bolster socio-economic development of people as a way to wipe out al-Qaeda threat in the Pak-Afghan border region and help win hearts and minds of the local population. The cost to the West for such a plan in the high-stakes region was negligible compared to that of rescuing failing banks and corporations, Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States told The Washington Times. … He said the U.S. public diplomacy in the Muslim world had lagged under the Bush administration and praised Obama’s efforts to reach out to Muslims."

State tidbits: morale rising, reviews underway, building sightings - Laura Rozen, Foreign policy: "[S]ources say that Judith McHale, the administration’s expected pick to serve as undersecretary of state for public diplomacy ('R'), has been seen attending meetings in the building and around an office on the first floor. Officials say she is not yet fully in place in the building, however."

US envoy visits South Sudan and hold talks with senior officials – NationVision: "The US special envoy to Sudan, Scott Gration, is visiting Juba where he will discuss ways of improving bilateral relations between the United States and Sudan. Speaking to Sudan Radio Service by phone from Juba on Monday, Walter Braunohler, the public diplomacy officer at the US embassy in Khartoum, said the envoy’s visit is also aimed at finding ways of improving the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Darfur."

The Diversity of Muslims in the United States - Pakistani Newspaper: "The assimilation and integration of American Muslims has effectively enabled the flourishing of dozens of national and regional organizations to work in areas of civil rights, human rights, interfaith dialogue, education, charity, public diplomacy, political activism, and other religious and secular activities."

Branding Canada: Projecting Canada’s Soft Power Through Public Diplomacy - Lesley Strutt, suite101.com:

"In Branding Canada, [Evan] Potter demonstrates how Canada has successfully chosen as its ambassadors her exchange students, academics, scientists and researchers, artists and authors, athletes and even the Canadian tourist (Potter includes backpackers). The results of this long term, low-key public diplomacy are far-reaching and long lasting. Canadians are welcome all over the planet as polite and respectful guests."

Netherlands: Public Diplomacy Against Extremism – NIS News Bulletin: "The Netherlands is to make more active use of public diplomacy to combat extremism in the Muslim world and elsewhere. Also, a survey will be carried out in 15 countries on the image of the Netherlands, according to Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen. 'It is no longer sufficient in these times to speak to a government,' said Verhagen at a meeting of the Alliance of Civilizations in Istanbul. 'Direct contacts with opinion-leaders, religious leaders, social organisations and the population are just as important for cultivating understanding between countries and cultures.'"

Broken into pieces - salemlekuzen, A 2-Year "Orientation" Orientation: (Lit.) To Look Eastwards. E.G. Looking East To Malaysia: “7 months on and I still can’t tell you what my exact professional/career purpose is in Malaysia. Even though it’s supposed to be a Fulbright stint and Public Diplomacy speaking programs with the Embassy, it’s been in a sense all but the latter. … After 7 months though, I can be sure of one thing: I do understand Malaysia a lot better.” Malaysia Image from

My presentation in IABD – esevin, Reaching the Public: “Last week, I was in IABD’s 21st Annual Convention in St.Louis. Apart from IABD Press, I also presented my paper entitled ‘More Than A Touristic Visit: Scholar Exchanges As A Communication Method In Public Diplomacy’.”

Kathmandu, Nepal - April 2, 2007 - Carol, Travelina Guizar Carolina by Day, Travelina While Away: "I have finally arrived in Kathmandu, Nepal. For those of you who don't know, I'm here doing some travel photography. I am staying with my friend, Paul, who I met at Georgetown in a class of mine. He now works for the State Department and is working in the Public Diplomacy Office at the US Embassy here in Kathmandu. Basically, when anything happens in Nepal and the US has to comment on it to the press, he's the one who puts out that statement and talks with the press."

Obama reaches out to Muslims - Lisa Van Dusen, Winnipeg Sun: “It … didn't help that, when the Bush administration appointed a public diplomacy chief charged with global outreach to the Muslim world, it was former Bush political aide Karen Hughes, a middle-aged white woman from Texas with no known background in the faith, knowledge of Arabic or any other vague prerequisite that would have justified her appointment over that of an actual Muslim-American.“ Image from

Kommunikations - og kulturpraktikant søges - Den danske ambassade i Ottawa, Canada - Job fra Akademikernes Jobbank: "Stillingen tilbydes en dansk studerende med en bachelorgrad fra en videregående uddannelse samt gode engelsk kundskaber, skriftlige såvel som mundtlige. Praktikantstillingen vil have hovedvægt på ambassadens public diplomacy og kulturelle arbejde i Canada. Dette indebærer blandt andet deltagelse i eller selvstændig arrangering af public diplomacy begivenheder, pressebesøg, kulturelle events og kontakt til den canadiske offentlighed med det formål at fremme danske interesser og skabe et klart positivt billede af Danmark."

Russia Is No Enemy of the Internet - Kirill Pankratov, Moscow Times:

"In 1999, when Russia was considered freer than now by all Western accounts, there were about 3 million Internet users in the country. Today, the number is somewhere between 30 million and 40 million. Some 80 percent of the politically active citizens have access to the Internet. This is important because the web is free, uncensored and open to any point of view imaginable." Image from

North Korea's Propaganda Machine - Sahil Mahtani, New Republic

Propaganda Posters: Do They Really Have an Effect? - C. Custer, chinageeks: "Certainly, effort goes into making these things and keeping them posted all over the country. Is it all a wasted effort? Tough to say. Obviously someone thinks it isn’t."



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