June 3

"The war has used up words."

-The novelist Henry James, in a March 21, 1915 interview in The New York Times, regarding World War I; image from; see also John Brown, "The Anti-Propaganda Tradition in the United States," Public Diplomacy Alumni Association

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Obama and the Dialogue of Civilizations - Frankie Martin, Huffington Post: "President Barack Obama's June 4th speech in Cairo will be one of the most important of his presidency. … We need a new lexicon, a new phrase that Obama can use to define a new age.

If 'War on Terror' could capture the public imagination, then so too can 'Dialogue of Civilizations.' …'Dialogue of Civilizations' is not meant to be a 'kumbaya' philosophy for the President, but a real strategy to combat anti-Americanism and win allies. The President's use of the phrase should be followed by action including reform of U.S. visa policy to bring more people from Muslim countries to the United States, programs to encourage American students to study abroad, and more vigorous public diplomacy to bring our diplomats out of their embassy fortresses and interact with Muslims where they live." Image from

What Obama should say in Cairo – John Brown, Notes and Essays: "Declare, Mr. President, that the 'war on terror' is over. … And then have your speechwriters and public-diplomacy professionals take it from there, Mr. President. "

Setting the Scene - Mark Dillen, Public Diplomacy: The World Affairs Blog Network: "As President Obama embarks for Riyadh and Cairo this evening, the 'scene setters' appear: the BBC headlines 'what could be one of the most important speeches of his presidency'; America’s own NPR features a pre-departure interview focused on the Cairo speech as a 'high-profile opportunity to reshape America’s image among Muslim countries.' We’re all familiar how, in professional sports, atheletes and coaches try to avoid rash comments before a big game. The same is often true in politics as officials try to manage expectations before a big event. This time, however, the Obama White House has set the bar high. Expect no radical changes in U.S. policy, they seem to be saying, but expect the President to succeed in altering how the Muslim world views the U.S." More on Obama speech in below "related items." Image from

America the Dutiful – Belmont Club: "Six hours ago, Le Monde quoted Barack Obama [in a Canal+ interview] as saying that the US is one of the largest Muslim countries on the planet … . In the interview, President Obama says one of the goals his trip is to foster dialogue between the West and the Muslim world. Maybe some communications strategist or public diplomacy consultant has advised 'rebranding America' as the sort of place Muslims can identify with. That way it will be an easy sell. What better way to do it than by saying, ‘America is one of the biggest Muslim countries on the planet’. Ich bin ein Mussulman, or however you say it. That won’t necessarily fly; it doesn’t seem to work too well for India, which has a genuinely huge Muslim population. But there’s a hidden danger. His audience can say right: just look at how advanced and rich America is, and it’s one of the largest Muslim countries on the planet. See nothing is broken in Islam. America is proof. There comes a point when rebranding may become misleading packaging."

What Muslim World? - Scott Carpenter, Soner Cagaptay, Foreign Policy: "No one questions that a religion known as Islam exists or that many Muslims believe in their global community, the ummah. As a theological reference, however, the ummah is vaguely analogous to the belief that all Christians are part of the body of Christ. It is a powerful spiritual metaphor, but not a visceral part of every believer's identity. … This term is not only an analytical error - it's also a critical public diplomacy mistake. 'Muslim world' unfairly and singularly assigns adherents of Islam into a figurative ghetto. And particularly in the post-September 11, this relegation carries a real moral hazard: By lumping together extremists, secularists, and everyone in between, the term 'Muslim world' legitimizes the idea that all of the group's members are locked in deadly conflict with the non-Islamic world. If this sounds dangerously close to the message through which Islamist ideologues push for jihad, it is. Extremists are the only Muslim group that strongly advocates tying all Muslims together politically, in a united global community. In their ideal world, the modern nation state would be replaced with a new caliphate under Sharia law. Every time the United States speaks to the 'Muslim world,' then, it inadvertently legitimizes the extremists' vision." See also; image from

USIP Special Report - Sheldon Himelfarb, Tamara Gould, Eric Martin, and Tara Sonenshine, Reporting on Conflict Peacemakers Trust Media Watch Blog: "Over the last decade, America’s image abroad has declined, and public diplomacy is often cited as the reason for that decline. According to the BBC World Service Poll in 2008 and the University of Maryland’s Program for International Policy Attitudes, publics in twenty-three countries view America’s influence in the world more negatively than the influence of North Korea. Citizens in a NATO ally, Turkey, view the United States (64 percent) as the greatest threat to their country in the future." See also

US looks for Saudi help in Afghanistan, Pakistan - Beijing News: "The United States, grappling with how to counter the spread of Taliban militants on both sides of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, is turning to Saudi Arabia for help. But so far the kingdom seems wary of diving into the thorny

conflict. … But that doesn't mean the Saudi role has been nonexistent. It has always preferred to work through secret back channels rather than public diplomacy, and its approach to Afghanistan and Pakistan has been no different." Image from

State’s McHale to Spearhead U.S. Global Public Engagement - Merle David Kellerhals Jr., America.gov: “'We have to do a better job reaching out, of connecting with publics around the world, of communicating with them in every aspect that we do,' she [McHale]said in a May 27 interview with America.gov."

Where Judith McHale sits vis-a-vis US international broadcasting - Kim Andrew Elliott discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy: "Mc[H]ale has one vote, on behalf of the Secretary of State, on the Broadcasting Board of Governors. Beyond that, she has no executive authority over Alhurra or any other element of US international broadcasting. If US public diplomacy did control US international broadcasting, then US international broadcasting would lack the independence necessary to achieve the credibility required to attract an audience. And given McHale's experience,
she might have been a better fit as BBG chairperson than under secretary for public diplomacy. McHale's testimony at her 13 May Senate confirmation hearing does not mention international broadcasting. But was she thinking of international broadcasting when she said 'our public diplomacy must be run strategically – not just in unconnected, unintegrated programs?' "

Invasion of the Alhurra bashers - Kim Andrew Elliott discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy: "The question is 'which network's news broadcasts do you watch most often?' That is a ridiculous measure by which to evaluate the success of an international broadcaster. Foreign stations are rarely watched, or listened to, 'most often.' They are used supplementally, especially by elites. … Alhurra can claim success if it has a respectable percentage of the audience size of Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya. Also important is how well Alhurra competes with the other Arabic-language foreign stations … . Actually, the choice of Al Arabiya was good public diplomacy on President Obama's part [for his interview], and good for Alhurra's credibility."

More complaints about VOA and those pesky Taliban spokesmen - Kim Andrew Elliott discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy: "Broadcasts that provide only the non-Taliban side of the story would not be 'counter-programming.' They would just be more propaganda. Real counter-programming is accurate, reliable, balanced news, which must necessarily include coverage of what opponents are doing and saying. If decision makers want to use broadcast media to transmit one-sided broadcasts into Afghanistan and Pakistan, they can do so. They can be public diplomacy under State, or information operations under Defense, as long as they are not part of or confused with US international broadcasting under the Broadcasting Board of Governors. While Taliban one-sided broadcasting might appeal to local prejudices and ideologies, US one-sided broadcasting would not (unless it is an uncommonly clever 'black' clandestine operation). The latter would therefore probably not have much of an audience." Image from

US Public Diplomacy 2.0: Strategy and Challenges – DS, Diplopundit: "Remember that report earlier this year about the Pentagon’s plan to employ 27,000 people just for recruitment, advertising and public relations? We were talking about $547 million that goes into DOD’s public affairs operation alone, a drop in the bucket in its humongous budget. State’s FY10 budget request calls for $520 million 'for public diplomacy to engage foreign audiences and win support for U.S. foreign policy goals.' That’s money that will fund public diplomacy operations in 309 US missions and other presence overseas . The entire State Department has about 30,000 people with only about a thousand working in public diplomacy. So it does give you pause -- how that computes in the real world where the 'lead' has less money and less people? One could argue that a true leader can lead from any chair, big or small, in front or at the back. Let's hope that's the case here."

Government 2.0 catching on

– Brian Carlson, SmartBrief: "The State Department recently created a program for people to text financial support for refugees in Pakistan; the U.S. military is using YouTube, Twitter and other social media for propaganda; and as of last month we can all 'friend' the White House on Facebook." Image: "For some reason, bidets have yet to catch on in a big way here in the States. It can be expensive, it takes up space and it may have an effeminate vibe to it, but let me tell you—there ain't nothin' wrong with a good butt washing now and then. Besides, billions of foreigners love it—they can't all be wrong. But what about you? Would you / do you prefer a bidet over a regular toilet?"

Analog Laws and 21st Century Statecraft – science progress: "One Thursday in May, a State Department staffer suggested a simple idea to get U.S. citizens involved in the government’s relief efforts in Pakistan. The following Tuesday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced a simple text donation program. Sending the word 'Swat,' the name of a valley in the relief area, to 20222 sends a $5 donation to the United Nations High Commission fund for supplies for refugees caught in a worsening humanitarian crisis. Alec Ross, senior adviser on innovation to Secretary Clinton, explained the mobile-powered donation project in a conversation about New Media and public diplomacy at the Center for American Progress yesterday. … Ross joined Tim O’Reilly, founder and CEO of O’Reilly Media, Faiz Shakir, research director for ThinkProgress.org, and CAP Senior Fellow Peter Swire to discuss Web 2.0 and the federal government. "

Social Media as Public Diplomacy - Matt Armstrong, Layalina Productions: "Simply put, social media is public diplomacy. It permits direct and indirect international engagement and empowers individuals as well as groups. Similarly, the same limits that restrict America’s use of social media apply to public diplomacy as a whole. Any improvement in social media will have immediate and lasting effects for the whole government." Image from

Where’s U.S. Public Diplomacy When Bin Laden Whines About Obama? - Spencer Ackerman, Washington Independent: "The State Department has existing infrastructure set up — the DipNote blog, its Tweeting, and so forth — to get the U.S. message out, and yet it rarely spends much effort countering anti-American messages directly. Similarly, the Pentagon is getting out of the public diplomacy business for fear of edging too closely into propaganda. That’s laudable, but it contributes to an information lacuna that several administrations have failed to address."

I should have known better – Starbuck, Wings Over Iraq: "It’s great to see military leaders incorporating Web 2.0 and social networking technologies in an attempt to facilitate better public diplomacy between the military and civilian communities." Beatles record with "I should have known better" song from

Why Do They Still Hate Us? - Michael C. Moynihan, Reason: "Like so many pundits and partisans before him, Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Conn.) declared last August that 'this [Obama-Biden] ticket will repair our damaged reputation abroad.' It was simply presumed that, drone strikes on Pakistan and a surge of troops in Afghanistan notwithstanding, an Obama administration would just be better for public diplomacy. In Europe, where the universal loathing of George W. Bush crept into most every news story about the United States, the presidency of Barack Obama has bumped opinions of the U.S. in a positive direction. … During his two terms, President Bush sent cack-handed teams of State Department officials on taxpayer-funded trips to remote villages in Belgium, where they were to teach Flemish youths about the NBA and MTV. A member of Karen Hughes' staff (after she took on the hopeless job of Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs) told me of an attempt to 'win hearts and minds' by funding basketball tournaments for Danish teens. Indeed, in the last eight years European perceptions of both America and American policy (they are rarely dealt with separately) were deeply negative. But when people like Rep. Courtney talk of repairing damaged relationships, one imagines they are thinking of Berlin, London, and Paris—Cairo, Damascus, and Tehran being rather tougher nuts to crack. And according to recent polling data from Gallup, reported here by the indefatigable ABC News correspondent Jake Tapper, opinions of the United States in the Arab are now only 'slightly less negative.'"

US Jazz rocks hearts in Algeria - Alfred de Montesquiou – AP: "As President Barack Obama readies for his first speech in the region this week, the U.S. is also trying what the State Department labels 'public diplomacy' — reaching out to local populations to let them discover American values.

Funding for U.S. cultural and education exchanges in Algeria reached US$8.5 million for the 2007-2008 fiscal year, said Rafik Mansour, the head of public outreach at the U.S. embassy in Algiers." Image from

Yemeni Prisoner Muhammad Salih Dies At Guantánamo - Andy Worthington, The Public Record: "It has just been reported that Muhammad Ahmad Abdallah Salih (also known as Mohammed al-Hanashi), a Yemeni prisoner at Guantánamo, has died, apparently by committing suicide. … It is not known yet if President Obama’s Pentagon will deal more sensitively with his death than has happened previously. I would be surprised if any comments are made that can compare with those made by Rear Admiral Harry Harris, the commander of Guantánamo at the time of the deaths in 2006, who said, 'I believe this was not an act of desperation, but an act of asymmetric warfare committed against us,' or Colleen Graffy, the deputy assistant secretary of state for public diplomacy, who described the suicides as a 'good PR move to draw attention,' but in every previous case of a 'suicide' at Guantánamo, the Pentagon has subsequently made official pronouncements about the men’s alleged involvement with terrorism, even though they — like Muhammad Salih — had never been charged or tried, and even though there was no substantial evidence to suggest that this was the case." On Ms. Graffy's twittering, see.

Staying relevant – NATO in changing times – egovmonitor: Source: Government of Norway … . "NATO must change to keep our free and prosperous societies just that. Democratic work. As NATO responds to multidimensional threats – or challenges rather – in the years to come, good public diplomacy will be required to maintain the support and involvement of the public."

Israel's official blog gets new design – Jerusalem Post: "The Consulate General of Israel in New York on Wednesday unveiled a new redesign of the official blog of Israel, isRealli.org. The new makeover includes a sleeker design, user-friendly interface, enhanced navigation, redefined categories, as well as boosted interaction. It was designed to look and feel like an online magazine, while maintaining its original vision as a blog that showcases Israel beyond the headlines. isRealli was launched in 2006 and was the first blog in the world to ever be administered by a government office. Today, it has become a defining tool in Israel's public diplomacy efforts, attracting users from more than 150 countries across the globe; a large constituent of them from Europe, Asia, and Muslim countries such as Iran, Turkey, and Egypt. 'With the growing presence of social networking sites, we decided this would be an opportune time to modernize isRealli and keep it visually current with today's technology,' says David Saranga, Consul for Media and Public Affairs at the Israeli Consulate in New York. 'This redesign is a reflection of Israel's booming high-tech industry, which continues to be a global leader in today's economy.'"

Innovative Economic Experiences from Spain: A Spain-USA Foundation Presentation - Press Release, Capital Wire PR: "The Spain-USA Foundation continues its annual PREVIEW SPAIN Arts&Culture program with a seminar on Innovative Economic Experiences from Spain: Contributions to the U.S. – Spain Relationship. …

PREVIEW SPAIN Arts&Culture was introduced last year to create awareness among the public of the Washington DC area about contemporary cultural trends from Spain, as well as highlights from its classical culture, in anticipation of the Spain/US House, the future centre for cultural cooperation and public diplomacy opening in 2011 in Washington DC." Image from

PM appreciates performance of Javed Malik – Associated Press of Pakistan: "Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani has appreciated the work of Ambassador at Large Javed Malik for promoting friendship between people of Pakistan and other countries. … The Ambassador at Large informed the Prime Minister on the activities of Pakistan International Council, which was established under the patronage of the Prime Minister as a non‑political wide ranging public diplomacy initiative aimed at promoting friendship and goodwill about Pakistan."

Ethics in the Business of Persuasion – Nina Keim Blog: "As a communications professional, whether you are in marketing, PR, advertising, or public diplomacy, there are ethical barriers that should not be broken down. As soon as the audience does not have free will to choose whether the product should be bought or not, the communicators have gone one step to far." Image from

Review: Philosophy and Real Politics by Raymond Geuss - Katerina Deligiorgi, TPM: The Philosophers' Magazine: "Among Geuss’s targets are political philosophers, chiefly John Rawls, Robert Nozick, and Jürgen Habermas; the moralising tone that infects much Anglo-American public diplomacy; and finally specific policy decisions, such as the war in Iraq. Liberal political philosophy is criticised for perpetuating deceptive idealisations of ourselves, dazzling us in the process."

A Mishmash of Little Known Websites (You Help Fund) - marketing veep, Dig Deep Thinker: Public Diplomacy Council: "This link provides you with all kinds of sites and blogs related to public diplomacy. The nonprofit Public Diplomacy Council focuses on to the academic study, professional practice, and responsible advocacy of public diplomacy. (whew! that’s their mouthful, not mine.)"

June 2 - Marvi Memon, Diary: "next was a meeting with national counter terrorism centre- high powered presentation showing how the best of minds technologies and synergies had produced a better safer environment- my only comment was that if we all solved kashmir and palestine or made some attempt to, this big high powered organization wld not be so busy… i am not being cynical- think about resources spent on public diplomacy vs on such organizations- what a sharp contrast- common sense to invest more into public diplomacy to have a real long term solution- dont u think- anyway i have decided if the americans take time to come forward on kashmir forward movement pak’s younger leadership will move forward and dialogue with indian younger leadership ourselves- reaching out- taking initiative- yes i am willing to talk to indians!!!! ok so i have decided that we need to resolve and for that i cant be close minded! dont laugh! i am being serious- i owe it to my electorate -" Image from

Jessica Brown - Panel Coordinator, Gender Equity – marshall, 2009 Geneva Forum for Social Change: "Jessica is passionate about finding ways that arts and culture programs can be utilized to create positive externalities in communities– by improving economic livelihoods, increasing civic engagement and building mutual understanding between groups. Through a joint degree in Public Policy at Georgetown University an[d] the International Organizations MBA at the University of Geneva, she has focused her studies on these issues of cultural policy and cultural diplomacy, with a developing interest in the Muslim World. Upon graduation, Jessica hopes to work in public diplomacy in the foreign service."

RELATED ITEMS

Obama looks to refurbish U.S. image with Cairo speech - Ross Colvin and Ulf Laessing, Reuters. See also.

Obama on Obama - Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times: Part of America’s “battle against terrorist extremists involves changing the hearts and minds of the people they recruit from,” Obama added during a telephone interview Tuesday.

“And if there are a bunch of 22- and 25-year-old men and women in Cairo or in Lahore who listen to a speech by me or other Americans and say: ‘I don’t agree with everything they are saying, but they seem to know who I am or they seem to want to promote economic development or tolerance or inclusiveness,’ then they are maybe a little less likely to be tempted by a terrorist recruiter.” Image from

From Ayman Nour, a Question for Obama - Michael Gerson, Washington Post: Any presidential speech abroad has multiple audiences. One of them, in this case [Obama speech in Cairo], is the Egyptian government, whose cooperation is needed on issues that range from proliferation to peace. But another audience will be dissidents and reformers in Egypt and beyond. And a president who does not speak boldly for their political rights -- their democratic rights -- has little useful to say to them.”

Multiple Channels for Obama’s Cairo Speech - Jeff Zeleny, New York Times: The White House is taking elaborate steps to multiply the audience -- and vastly expand the reach -- of the president’s address on Thursday. It will be translated by the State Department into at least 13 different languages and a special Web site has been created in Arabic, Persian, Urdu and English for people to receive the speech via text message. Yes, the administration is taking a page from the playbook of the Obama campaign, which often turned to text messaging and other types of communication to draw people in.

Obama plans to reach out to Muslim world - Mimi Hall, USA TODAY: Obama promised a new approach to the Muslim world during his campaign. He said he would address Muslims from a major Muslim capital early in his presidency to try to soften hearts and minds hardened by the U.S. response to 9/11, its close ties to Israel, the war in Iraq, its treatment of terrorism suspects and more.

Reach for the stars in Cairo: Obama speech should urge banishing hateful fanaticism - L.R. Vasey, Washington Times

Obama selects BBC for "nuanced and thoughtful" interview – Kim Andrew Elliott discussing Internationall Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy

U.S. Trims Waiting Time on Visas for Scientists – Wall Street Journal

Cum Laude in Evading Bandits – Nicholas D. Kristof, New York Times:

One of the great failures of American universities is that they are far too parochial, rarely exposing students to worlds beyond our borders. If colleges provide credit for dozing through an introductory Spanish class, why not give credit for a “gap year” in a Bolivian village? If students can learn about microfinance while sitting comatose in 9 a.m. lectures, couldn’t they learn more by volunteering with a lender in a Bangladesh slum? See also; image from

Blog of War: US Military Tweets from Afghanistan - VOA News: The U.S. military in Afghanistan has opened up a new front in the information war, using popular Web sites Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to publish reports on operations.