June 16

"I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong."

--Bertrand Russell; Russell image from

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

The Revolution Will Be Twittered - Marc Ambinder, Atlantic: "In some ways, the public attention (and activist attention) being given to the Iranian opposition may complicate the administration's public diplomacy efforts.

The public will demand expressions of sympathy for the protestors, when Obama wants a stable government he can deal with. As with every example of an election and its enabling technology -- Nigeria and cell phones, 2008 and the Net, 2004 and affinity organizing -- it's too simplistic to correlate one's preferred outcome -- in this case, the unsheathing of dissent in Iran -- with the effect of technology alone." Image from

Hey Obama, send ACORN to Iran and steal another one - Obambi.com: "[S]ome analysts said it is clear that Obama’s approach to the Middle East and the larger Islamic world is having an impact – or will in time. But that belief is not universal. Other analysts say Obama’s effect on the elections in Iran and Lebanon, if there was one, was minor given the waves of domestic dissatisfaction in those countries. … 'It will be a blow for Obama if Ahmadinejad wins, because it will make it much more difficult, just as a matter of public diplomacy, to be sitting beside a Holocaust denier and semi-lunatic,' said Abbas Milani, director of the Iranian studies program at Stanford. 'But I think Iranians are going to want whoever (wins) to negotiate with Obama.'”

Obama’s Iran Puzzle - Ramzy Baroud, Khaleej Times: "The election victory of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is likely to complicate US President Barack Obama’s new approach to his country’s conflict with Iran. The reason behind the foreseen obstacle is neither the US nor Iran’s refusal to engage in future dialogue, but rather, Israel’s insistence on a hard-line approach to the problem. … Senior fellow at the pro-Israeli American Enterprise Institute, John R Bolton expressed the war-mongering mantra of the pro-Israel crowd in a recent article in the Wall Street Journal entitled: 'What if Israel Strikes Iran?': 'Many argue that Israeli military action will cause Iranians to rally in support of the mullahs’ regime and plunge the region into political chaos. To the contrary, a strike accompanied by effective public diplomacy could well turn Iran’s diverse population against an 
oppressive regime.'” Image from

People power in Iran - Calgary Herald: "It is widely alleged that the outcome of Friday's presidential election in Iran was swayed by polling irregularities and while there is precious little that the outside world can do directly, there is plenty of scope for focused public diplomacy to let aggrieved Iranians know that the apparent injustice has not gone unnoticed."

H.R. 2410: Public Diplomacy Takes Center Stage – Diplopundit: "TITLE II Subtitle B—Authorizes the Secretary of State (Secretary) to establish in the Foreign Service a Public Diplomacy Reserve Corps consisting of mid- and senior-level former Foreign Service officers and other individuals to serve for a period of six months to two years abroad. It provides for the enhancement of U.S. diplomatic outreach, including: (1) establishment of new, and maintenance of existing, libraries and resource centers in connection with U.S. diplomatic and consular missions; and (2) grants for documentary film programs. It also extends the United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy. … I’m not sure how many old hands from USIA are around and willing to staff the Public Diplomacy Reserve Corps. I’m also wondering if we’ll see an increased in WAE appointments or if we’ll see more contractors coming from the private sector for these 6-24 months appointments for PDRC jobs." Image from

Texas veterans denounce Texas Monthly’s attack on Rep. Flores for fighting for disabled war heroes - Edinburg Politics: "The Foreign Relations Authorization Act (HR 2410) passed the House late June 11 by a vote of 298-119 and supports a wide range of U.S. national security goals. It authorizes resources necessary to diplomacy efforts abroad and supports the President’s request to close a 'diplomacy gap' in overseas posts. It also provides a significant number of resources for public diplomacy officers, arms control experts and counterterrorism specialists."

What Do Iranians Want? - Jeffrey Gedmin, Washington Post: "What are the preferences of most Iranians? It's hard to know. We [RFE/RL] subcontract to a polling group in a neighboring country to find out how many people listen to Radio Farda. In one recent survey, we determined our audience size to be 2.5 percent of an estimated 50 million adult listeners in Iran.

The same firm, using the same method of telephone calls but asking questions in a different way, also came up with 24 percent. The Iranian government jams our radio signals, blocks our Web site, threatens our journalists in Prague (we're not permitted a bureau in Tehran) and warns people inside the country not to speak with us. It's a safe bet that Iranians are not telling pollsters the complete truth about their listening habits, and possibly a number of other things." The writer is president of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, whose Farsi-language station Radio Farda ("Radio Tomorrow") is funded by Congress and broadcasts uncensored news and music in Farsi to Iran 24 hours a day. Gedmin image from

House bill includes permanent authority for RFA - Kim Andrew Elliott discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy: "Radio Free Asia is a very good international radio station, with dedicated employees. Permanent authority, however, makes permanent the splitting of US resources for broadcasting to East Asia into two entities, RFA and VOA, that compete with each other for budget, transmitters, talent, and audience. … The Obama Administration will have to reduce the US budget deficit. The consolidation of international broadcasting would contribute to the cause. So would the elimination of the various advisory commissions scattered around the US government." Image from

A (R)Evolution in Public Affairs at the Defense Department? - Matt Armstrong, MountainRunner: "As I wrote over a week ago, Price Floyd, formerly of (wait for it) the Center for a New American Security (surprise!), is the new Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (P-DASD) for Public Affairs. Price has a deep appreciation for proactive public diplomacy."

Let the “War on Terror” RIP Please - Patricia H. Kushlis, Whirled View: "The Bush administration’s War on Terror? [Former Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs] James Glassman’s War of Ideas? These paranoid, fear-evoking words are gone: quietly tossed out the back door of the White House like yesterday’s paper napkins."

Middle East Update - Hadassah Southern California Blog: "Yehuda Yaakov … from the [Israel] Ministry of Foreign Affairs … talked about how, in response to the slowing down of the Security Council process and the fatiguing of the international community on the Iran issue, Israel has been expanding its activities on the economic front vis-a-vis Iran, and has also added an element of public diplomacy to its efforts." Image from

KMT plans to purge democracy out of TDF – Editorial, Taiwan News: "The exposure of plans by President Ma Ying-jeou's right-wing Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang) government to purge the Taiwan Democracy Foundation starkly confirms the accelerating 'convergence' of Taiwan's human rights standards with the authoritarian People's Republic of China under restored KMT rule. During its six years, the TDF has built an enviable reputation in public diplomacy by engaging wide range of research and educational activities to promote Asian democracy and human rights awareness and by participating actively in the global promotion of democracy and improvement of human rights."

A startling reality – Volunteering in the slums of Buenos Aires - Megan’s Buenos Aires Blog: "After three unbelievingly frustrating months of searching for volunteer work, I finally was able find work with a project known as 'Goles y metas para las chicas' (English title: 'Goals for Girls') under the auspices of Democracía Representativa, an Argentine NGO (Non Governmental Organization). … I have been so impressed by Goals for Girls’s work that I recently contacted the Head of Public Diplomacy at the US Embassy, who sometimes supports smaller, worthy local NGOs, giving them a stamp of approval and legitimacy that frequently helps such organizations procure grants. I don’t know if that will go anywhere, but I am really hoping it will." Image: Ciudad Oculta, a slum in Buenos Aires

Former U.S. Ambassador Training as Backup for Space Tourism Flight - Doug Messier, Parabolic Arc: "Today, Space Adventures, Ltd., the only company that provides human space missions to the world marketplace, announced that Barbara Barrett is currently training as the back-up crew member alongside orbital spaceflight candidate Guy Laliberte, who is preparing for the Soyuz TMA-16 flight to the International Space Station (ISS). … Barrett was … Chairman of the U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy."

RELATED ITEMS

Obama's Message to Iran - David Ignatius, Washington Post:

U.S. intelligence officials consulted with the White House as speechwriters were preparing the Cairo address -- seeking to calibrate the message in a way that would be most effective in countering Muslim extremists. These officials believe that Obama, with his coolly rational approach, is suggesting a new pathway for young people who might otherwise be tempted by jihadist rhetoric. Image from

Obama's choice is not to choose on Iran: The president has an opportunity to stand up for democracy - Jonah Goldberg, Los Angeles Times: Do it, President Obama, please. Take the side of democracy.

What now on Iran? Though the validity of its presidential election is in doubt, a hard-line stance by the U.S. seems counterproductive – Editorial, Los Angeles Times

Iranian election uprising: Twitter tracks it real-time, Iranian bloggers evade 'Net Censorship – Boing Boing

The Revolution Will Be Twittered - benyehudah08, A Thousand Words, The Virtual Medinat Yehudah:

As of tonight, there have been large-scale riots and demonstrations in virtually every large city in Iran. But above all, there are the youth willing to kill and die for the cause, willing to match the police blow for blow and to pay the butcher’s bill. By using the power of modern communications, these youth have succeeded in putting out a flood of propaganda to compete with the propaganda of the regime. The regime tried to stop them by shutting down SMS and cutting off specific internet sites, but to no avail. Image from

Social Networks Spread Iranian Defiance Online – Brad Stone and Noam Cohen, New York Times

Iranian political strife sparks limited cyber-warfare - Kevin Spiess, Neoseeker: internet mass-communication tools have empowered the Iranian protesters means of organization, and counter-propaganda efforts. It'll be interesting to see how the hard line, right-wing government of President Ahmadinejad will attempt to stymie this advantage if it manages to retain power.

Drop iPods, not bombs! – Evgeny Morozov, Foreign Affairs

DDOS attacks on Iran's web-sites: what a stupid idea! - Evgeny Morozov, Foreign Affairs: If you want to help Iran, go organize a protest near the Iranian consulate in your city or send money to some independent online news agency - this, at least, will do no harm, unlike DDOS.

Iran state TV using Fox News footage for propaganda - Scarce, Daily Kos

Afghan Tragedy: Obama’s Afghan war, the U.S. media, and the United Nations: the new metric of civilian casualties - Marc W. Herold, Frontline:

The metric of civilian casualties has two dimensions: the one on the ground in Afghanistan and the other on how Obama’s war gets reported outside Afghanistan. In Afghanistan today, word spreads very quickly about civilians killed by U.S. and/or NATO actions. The foreign forces constantly lament the effectiveness of so-called Taliban propaganda. The presence of cellphone technology has greatly facilitated such diffusion. No way exists to contain the spread of such information within Afghanistan. Image from

A Home for the Uighurs: America's allies help Muslims from China emerge from an injust imprisonment. Why isn't the U.S. stepping up? – Editorial, Washington Post