May 15

"Fragments are the only form I trust."

--Statement by one of author Donald Barthelme’s characters; image: Charlotte Moore, Angles and Fragments

"At the White House the other night, President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama hosted a night of poetry and music featuring musicians, authors and poets, to which President Bush said, 'Now, that's torture.'"

--Talk show host Jay Leno; from Political News, U.S. World & New Report BulletinNews

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

The Obama Doctrine - Jeff Weintraub, Public Affairs: "I think Obama’s 'I’d-rather-be-loved-than-feared' approach is worth a try. Indeed, it may be his only option given the public diplomacy mess he inherited. ... We’ve seen how that the guns-blazing, we’re-always-right, you’re-either-with-us-or-against us policy got us: mostly revulsion and very little fear. It became politically dangerous for other countries’ leaders even to cooperate with us. How did that strengthen the United States?" Image from

Obama's Middle East Diplomacy Begins - Sadie Goldman, Mideast Peace Pulse: "Public Diplomacy[:]President Obama's starting point is that ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by creating a Palestinian state is critical to a stable Middle East. However, working with Israeli and Palestinian partners alone is insufficient. As King Abdullah put it, the conflict is 'far bigger than Israelis and the Palestinians.' ... There is no doubt that discussing Gaza raises a host of complications. The main one-how to deal with Hamas-has become so politically toxic both in the Middle East and in Washington that President Obama and his Middle East interlocutors might be happier if it remains behind closed doors. They would probably like the attention to stay on state leaders." Vulgar image from

Three Hopeful Words - James K. Glassman, Economics, Investing, Public Diplomacy, and More: "For those who despair of the future of public diplomacy, I have three hopeful words: Hillary Rodham Clinton. The new Secretary of State is a great public diplomat herself. She understands the importance of connecting ordinary Americans with ordinary foreigners. She brims with enthusiasm.

And, unlike others in this administration, she is not reluctant to adopt and extend programs begun in the Bush Administration. ... Secretary Clinton has a real affinity for new technology and for young people, and she hasn’t been waiting for something else: her Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs ... . In that regard, the Secretary might want to look at the programs that the previous Under Secretary approved for funding (including AYM and MEMRI) but that have not, at least to his admittedly limited knowledge, gotten their money yet. I have another suggestion for the Secretary: create the post of U.S. Ambassador to Cyberspace. Just as student interns can act as Foreign Service Officers in virtual worlds, so can a high-level American official. My final piece of advice for the Secretary is that while individual programs are important, public diplomacy and strategic communications need a real strategy." Image from

Social networking, public diplomacy, and international broadcasting - Kim Andrew Elliott discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy: "Back in the pre-internet years, VOA received tens of thousands of letters from listeners every year. The best VOA programs incorporated that mail in their content. VOA was socially networking with its audience decades before the term 'social networking' was coined. ... Most people listened to -- and still listen to/watch/read -- VOA for the news. 'Engage' is not really what we do with the news." Image from

New format for US-backed Arabic channel - Keach Hagey, The National: "Alhurra, the Arabic-language news channel backed by the US government, is banking that the unusual format of its new daily news show can help it grab a bigger share of the increasingly crowded Arabic television news market. The three-hour programme, called Al Youm, is broadcast live simultaneously from its hub in Dubai as well as bureaux in Cairo, Beirut, Jerusalem and the channel’s headquarters in Springfield, Virginia. Anchors and guests in each of the five studios debate issues live, giving the show a different pace and tone than traditional news programmes. ... 'The budget for the whole Middle East Broadcasting Networks has grown significantly in the last two years, probably 20 per cent,' said Joaquin Blaya, a member of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which oversees the US government’s non-military international broadcasting services. 'Significantly, that would be due to Al Youm.' MBN’s budget for this year is US$120 million (Dh440.7m) and Mr Blaya believes it will continue to increase because of the support of the administration of Barack Obama, the US president, for public diplomacy." Blaya image from

Top Disney Executive Urges Partnership - George Dooley, TravelAgentCentral: "The Travel Promotion Act, introduced this week, won a strong endorsement from Jay Rasulo, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, who testified before the Senate Subcommittee on Competitiveness, Innovation, and Export Promotion of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation. Rasulo said the Act would create a public-private entity that could speak with the authority of the U.S. government to tell the world, 'We want you to visit.' 'It would work to reverse widespread negative perceptions that the U.S. is unwelcoming to overseas travelers,' Rasulo told the Committee. 'And it would complement and augment our nation’s public diplomacy efforts: We know from research that those who have visited the U.S. are 74% more likely to have an extremely favorable opinion of America than those who haven’t traveled here.'" Image from

Commentary: Global Volunteerism - Brandolon Barnett, KERA - "In March I spent time working with volunteers in a small town high in the mountains of Jamaica's cockpit country. It was a short-term mission to promote cultural awareness and sustainability. … Some call it global volunteerism. Others prefer citizen diplomacy. By whatever name, there has been an appreciable surge in both the number of people interested in serving abroad and the political will behind efforts to involve American citizens in U.S. public diplomacy. According to the Brookings Institution, in 2005, 50,000 people volunteered in locations as different as Romania and Ghana, a number that could double by 2010."

Simon Act Included in House Foreign Relations Bill - Janice Mulholland, NAFSA: "The effort to expand study abroad opportunities for American college students took a big step forward today when the Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Foundation Act was included in the Foreign Relations Authorization Act introduced by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman (D-Calif.).

The Simon Act aims to dramatically increase the number of American undergraduates who study abroad in quality programs across the globe, focusing particular attention on ensuring access to study abroad across the college demographic and encouraging study abroad in the developing world." Simon picture from

NATO Psyops - Jeff, The Bling Cycle: It's a Media War: "From PR Watch: As the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) turns 60 and some ask why the Cold War alliance still exists, NATO is launching new media and public relations efforts. The NewsMarket, an online source of b-roll and video news release footage, is providing NATO-produced videos to journalists. ... 'NATO Public Diplomacy Division has developed a comprehensive strategy to engage with young audiences,' according to the NATO / NewsMarket press release. NATO's youth outreach includes an and 'unconventional advertisement videos' posted to YouTube. ... Check out these Ads [three videos at link]. If these aren't PSYOP, I'm not sure what are." Image from

A Tale of Two Wars: Review of War of Necessity, War of Choice: A Memoir of Two Iraq Wars By Richard N. Haass] - Kevin Sullivan, Real Clear World: "George W. Bush, by Haass’ account, showed little interest in multilateralism and deliberation. ... All of the considerations from a decade prior – the risks of regional instability, the danger of empowering Iran vis-à-vis a weakened Iraq, and the sheer costs likely to be incurred in an Iraq nation-building project – all left a bad taste in his mouth. He typed up a policy memo offering some alternatives to an Iraq invasion: A more rigorous inspections regime, tighter sanctions, and a public diplomacy campaign to oust Hussein, among other suggestions. Secretary Powell took the letter and placed it in his pocket for safekeeping." Image from

Grading Condi: Is this a C+ or a D ? - Diplopundit: "The Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) is a nonpartisan umbrella group of 11 organizations concerned about U.S. diplomatic readiness (http://www.facouncil.org/). It has just released its Task Force Report 'Managing Secretary Rice’s State Department: An Independent Assessment, May 2009.' As this report documents, Secretary Rice’s performance was central to the failure in achieving adequate resources. …

Secretary Albright did little to increase resources when Yugoslavia disintegrated into seven new countries and public diplomacy and USAID lost significant human and financial resources as the 'peace dividend' was cashed. Only Secretary Colin Powell fought the good fight with OMB and the Congress and gained about 1,200 new positions in his 'Diplomatic Readiness Initiative.' … In summary, Secretary Rice’s initial three years of virtual inaction on the staffing front left our foreign affairs agencies hobbled by a human capital crisis. Despite her clear responsibility to lead and manage the foreign affairs agencies under the 150 account of the national budget, Secretary Rice fell short when it came to properly maintaining the platform upon which diplomacy and development assistance are conducted." Image from

RELATED ITEMS

New Images of Abuse: Why Mr. Obama should lose a battle with the ACLU – Editorial, Washington Post:

The Obama administration is confronted with the own dilemma: whether to release additional photographs that are said to depict prisoner abuse beyond Abu Ghraib and that were collected as part of a military investigation into detainee treatment. The photographs should be made public." Image from

Transparency 0, Terrible Burdens of Wielding Enormous Power 1 Matt Welch, Reason: In a move precisely as surprising as President Obama's about-face on calling the Armenian genocide a "genocide" once he held the reins of power, your Transparency President has decided to abandon previously stated plans and go full Cheney when it comes to allowing for the release of photographs showing the U.S. torturing and defiling prisoners and detainees.

The Torture Photos and Obama’s Response - Charles J. Brown, Undiplomatic: Obama has chosen not to use this moment to issue a clarion call for justice. He has decided to defer to torture apologists in the name of not inflaming world opinion. It’s a mistake — and a tragedy. Any short-term impact on world public opinion is nothing compared to the long-term impact of not telling the full truth about what the United States did -- and then taking action to ensure that it never happens again. Image from

The Torture Debate, Continued - Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post:

On the morality of waterboarding and other "torture," Pelosi other senior and expert members of Congress gave tacit approval.

Pelosi's Self-Torture: The speaker is engulfed by her own game of political retribution – Review & Outlook, Wall Street Journal

Democrats Discover Gitmo's Virtues Move the detainees? Not to my backyard – Potomac Watch:
Wall Street Journal

Canadians Plan Afghan Propaganda Campaign - Mike Pechar, The Jawa Report: (Ottawa, Canada) The Canadian military is planning a propaganda campaign. The arguably overdue effort involves tapping into mobile phones in Afghanistan, sending text messages, and running contests to gather listeners to its Pashto-language radio station.

Israel’s "Ultimate Mission" in bad propaganda - Michael Petrou, Maccleans.ca: "Often, while reading the online version of the Jerusalem Post, I come across ads promoting something called the 'Ultimate Mission to Israel.'

The wording always struck me as weird. Since when is a vacation a 'mission' – unless you happen to be a seven-year-old boy, or a North American suburbanite with a wannabe soldier complex. But I didn’t think much of it. It’s worth taking a closer look, though, if only to see how creepy the whole package is. Put on by the Shurat HaDin Israeli Law Center, the trip offers an exploration of Israel’s struggle for survival and security, mostly through lectures (described as 'briefings') by former commanders in the Israel Defence Forces, Shin Bet, and Mossad." Image from

Q+A: Sri Lanka's propaganda war - C. Bryson Hull, Reuters UK: Sri Lanka and the Tamil Tiger rebels are again trading blame over reported attacks on civilians, which diplomats say sparked the U.N. Security Council and U.S. President Barack Obama to speak out. Here are questions and answers about why it is so hard to separate fact from propaganda in Asia's longest modern war.

AMERICANA

Cave Sleepers: The Sleepers — Curtis, Deborah and their children, Kian, Perry and baby Theodore Wesley — live in a cave, a 17,000-square-foot gouge in the earth left by a 1930s sandstone mine. It’s Tom Sawyer country here in Festus, Mo., just a few miles from the Mississippi River, and the Sleepers showed their adventurous side by making their home 45 feet under a forest (and a neighbor’s home).

From Los Angeles Times