June 4

"Wherever there is status quo, there is propaganda."

--The Work Of The People, Status Quo, Propaganda & The Poets; image from

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

The Speech (the White House hopes) Heard 'Round the World: a Preview of President Obama's Speech to the Muslim World - Jake Tapper and Sunlen Miller, ABC News: "Administration officials stressed repeatedly that the President sees the speech as an opportunity to 'continue a dialogue' he’s had since the inauguration with the Muslim world, referencing his first interview as President to Al Arabiya, his video message to Iranians celebrating Nowruz, and his speech in Turkey as proof he wants to 'really start a new chapter of engagement between the Unites States and the Muslim world.' The president has been discussing such a plan since August 2007, when during a foreign policy speech he talked about launching a program of public diplomacy." Image from

Obama the Underminer: By addressing the "Muslim world" from Cairo, the president is helping Tehran - Lee Smith, Slate: "If President Barack Obama's speech in Cairo on Thursday is designed to hit 'reset' on Washington's relations with the Muslim world, the White House may soon find that it is pushing the wrong buttons. Public diplomacy in the lands of Islam is a deeply complicated affair, and Muslims do it much better than U.S. presidents. … Now that Washington has put democracy promotion on the back burner, the only challenge to these regimes is from Islamists and other so-called nonstate actors, as well as the state that stands behind them: the Islamic Republic of Iran. President Obama has unwittingly walked right into the middle of Tehran's own public diplomacy campaign, one of the most effective PR efforts ever staged. … Washington's Arab allies are telling Obama that Iran is the problem, but he can't hear them while he's doing Tehran's public diplomacy." Image from; see also.

Bin Laden in hiding, Obama in public: Purported broadcast of al Qaeda leader stands in "contrast,'' State contends – Mark Silva, The Swamp: "The … messages of bin Laden and his deputy this week are signs that al Qaeda's leaders fear the impact that a new American president with clear popularity in the region can have in a battle for public support, says Tom Sanderson, a terrorism expert. …

'This guy sends chills up their spine, because they have to rely so much now - while they're not making attacks - on an information campaign. Here's someone who really pulls the carpet out from under them,'' he said. 'He's whipping (them) in terms of U.S. public diplomacy... Sure, nothing concrete has happened yet, but this Obama is laying a groundwork for relations with Muslim countries... It can only hurt al Qaeda.... We're making genuine steps, literally taking steps, walking into these countries.''' See also. Image from

State will text portions of Obama speech in 13 languages - Kim Andrew Elliott discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy

A day before Obama’s Middle East speech from Cairo - Rick Barton and Liora Danan, written by Justine Fleischner - PCR Project, CSIS: "Religious expertise should be represented at key levels of the government. The undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs should be responsible for representing religious dimensions at the principals level, and the ambassador-at-large for religious freedom should be present at senior State Department meetings.

The geographic bureaus at the State Department should be tasked with expanding religious expertise, and public engagement on this issue should be promoted, perhaps through a national commission or online communities. Cairo presents an opportunity to set the right tone for religious engagement moving forward." Image from

Humility Or Humiliation? – Andrew Sullivan, The Atlantic: "I think the last decade or so has shown the extreme limits of hard power and the desperate need for more public diplomacy, national re-branding and some shrewd maneuvering to advance the interests of the West and to help avoid what could be a catastrophic era in global politics. I still believe in the prudent use of military force, and the need to keep a threat of such force in diplomacy. But the great challenge of the war against Jihadist terror is shifting the psyches of countless young Muslims, from Pakistan to Morocco. That we have chance to do that with this president is itself testimony to democracy's capacity for correcting mistakes and the strength of its ethnic and cultural diversity in appealing to the wider world."

Ethical Policy Dilemmas in the Promotion of U.S. Human Rights Values - Richard H. Solomon, Joel H. Rosenthal, Carnegie Council: Richard Solomon: "We can look at all of the public opinion evidence that the United States does face tremendous public hostility on a broad front that, for example, makes it very difficult for leaders that we would like to work with in Egypt, in Jordan, in other Middle East countries, who do not have the public base of support to make peace. We know there has been an evident failure of our so-called public diplomacy efforts. We can't seem to communicate with these mass publics." Image from

Money Ain’t A Thing Baby We Can Buy It All - Spencer Ackerman, Attackerman: "So speaking of public diplomacy, it's often said that public diplomacy is a poor substitute for good policy, and there's truth to that, although they don't need to be defined in opposition to each other. (Gen. David Petraeus tells a story about how, at the start of the surge, visiting dignitaries would tell him he had a public-diplomacy problem; he rejoindered that he had a results problem.)"

Same Old Song from GAO on Strategic Communication - Steven R. Corman, COMOPS Journal:

"The GAO would have more interesting things to say if they abandoned the old 'command and control' framework for criticism that they have been applying all these years, and made recommendations that are better suited to the complex systems in which public diplomacy actually operates." Image from

In Search of A Smarter, More Cultured Approach to U.S. Public Diplomacy and Broadcasting in the Middle East - Ted Lipien, FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog: "President Obama’s recent announcement of a new Global Engagement Directorate that will combine 'diplomacy, communications, international development and assistance' was short on specifics how this new structure might change the focus of U.S. public diplomacy and broadcasting initiatives. That’s hardly surprising, considering that the White House has to deal with many other seemingly more pressing problems. But when the Administration finally starts making hard decisions on global engagement, a greater appreciation of history and foreign cultures could help return some sanity and accountability to these programs. The President and the Senate also have to make better choices in selecting key officials responsible for international communications and avoid the temptation to use propaganda rather than dialogue and journalism in communicating with the Muslim world. Such officials should be appointed and confirmed based on their qualifications as foreign policy analysts and international media experts rather than selected because of political loyalty or the size of their political contributions. Finally, there is no reason why American taxpayers should continue to fund many of the programs created during the Bush Administration that at best don’t work and often damage America’s image abroad."

Television diplomacy - Damian Reilly, ArabianBusiness.com: "The Alhurra television channel is an American foreign policy tool, and Joaquin Blaya, one of four members of the US Broadcasting Board of Governors who oversee the channel, makes no bones about it. 'Yes, it is part of our public diplomacy. Alhurra today has a budget of $126m a year. We don't carry any advertising. We are subsidised by the American taxpayer. The American taxpayer is not paying for entertainment for people living in the Middle East. They are paying for the promotion of freedom and democracy, through news and information,' he says." Image from

BBG's Blaya makes the case for Alhurra (updated) – Kim Andrew Elliott discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy: "Positioning US international broadcasting as part of US public diplomacy erodes the credibility of US international broadcasting. Separating international broadcasting from public diplomacy, as the BBC World Service has done with obvious success (see previous post), protects that credibility."

North Korea disapproves of budget increase for US "reptile broadcasting services" - Kim Andrew Elliott discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy

Six students to experience US - Joyce C Abaño, The Peninsula: Qatar’s Leading Daily: "Six students from different schools here will participate in the US Embassy’s Youth Exchange and Study (YES) Programme this year. … 'The programme is a wonderful way for the students to learn about our culture and for the students in our country to learn about Qatari culture… This will be an exchange of culture, an exchange of information...,' said Joseph LeBaron, US Ambassador to Qatar, during a reception at his residence. The YES programme, which was started in 2003, is a high school exchange programme funded by the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. LeBaron said the public diplomacy initiative 'builds bridges of international understanding.'” Image from

State Department promotes Internet diplomacy - Aliya Sternstein, nextgov: "For the first time in its history, the State Department is conducting international relations by encouraging online interaction between individual Americans and foreigners. But the risks associated with this approach are unknown so far, said the department's new media strategist on Monday. Calling the tactic, '21st century statecraft,' Alec Ross, senior adviser for innovation to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, explained that this use of information technology to move beyond 'traditional government-to-government diplomacy to people-to-people diplomacy' is 'a big move forward in terms of how the State Department engages with the wider world.' Ross spoke at a public discussion hosted by the Center for American Progress, a Washington think tank."

Alec Ross: more about 21st Century Statecraft - cnewmark: craig from craigslist indulges himself: "Hey, Alec, at the State Department, is helping pioneer something new, about more than public diplomacy, a lot about 'treating people like you want to be treated.'" Image from

The Use of New Media in Public Diplomacy - David Saranga, One Jerusalem - "The shift to online media, and in particular, social media such as Facebook and Twitter, represents the growing trend of people turning to online sources for news and world events. This presents a unique opportunity for Israel's public diplomacy to penetrate global public opinion."

Knowledge: Facebook Public Diplomacy or Democratic Diplomacy - Globcal, Goodwill and Diplomacy Online: Cites "the articles that were forwarded for further consideration and incorporating in our Globcal Social Public Diplomacy program study course for those seeking confirmation as Ambassadors.”

Lithuania: Heads of Diplomacy of Lithuania and Italy Signed Declaration on Cooperation Between the Ministries – Isria: "Lithuanian and Italian Foreign Ministries signed a declaration on enhanced cooperation. The declaration foresees regular cooperation of the ministerial officials and consultations on important issues of the European Union, NATO, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), United Nations (UN) and other international organisations, European Neighbourhood, energy security, and public diplomacy issues." Image of Miss Lithuania from

Erin Kamler’s Satirical Musical About Divorce - Lee Melville, LA Stage Blog - Beta: Erin Kamler: "When I was 16, I lived here in Bangkok as an exchange student, learned Thai and fell in love with the culture. Wanting to reconnect with those roots, I’m now working on a master’s degree in International Public Diplomacy with a focus on Southeast Asia. The research I’m doing this summer is part academic and part creative: I’ll be working with kids in the north who are at risk of being trafficked, writing a paper on child trafficking, presenting another paper at an academic conference in Bali and, ultimately, writing a show that relates to these experiences."

RELATED ITEMS

Mideast Trip: Rundown: Reaction All Over the Map - Ben Pershing, Washington Post. Below image from


The Cairo Moment - Howard Kurtz, Washington Post: Are speeches enough when it comes to the tangled, treacherous, tribal warfare of the Middle East? Expectations are way out of control.

Baker’s Ghost in Cairo - Roger Cohen, New York Times: The president must talk about the cost to Israel -- and to U.S. standing in the Middle East -- of the occupation and expanding settlements.

Obama Egypt Speech: Venue Choice Draws Fire - Omid Memarian, Huffington Post

Obama’s Cairo Speech: Nervous Optimism - Pat Frost, Great Power Politics

Egyptians Crave Deeds More Than Words - Michael Slackman, New York Times:

After so many years of feeling bullied and vilified by the Bush White House, many Arabs are greeting President Obama’s visit as a historic moment, and an opportunity. For Mr. Obama to win favor, however, he needs to address challenges facing the Arab world, from poverty and inadequate education systems to limits on democracy and human rights. He also appears mindful of the need to address issues of democracy and human rights while not seeming to criticize or lecture the authoritarian leaders of the region, whose help he needs. Image from

Obama Tugs at the Settlement Knot - David Ignatius, Washington Post: Obama will have to articulate U.S. policy more clearly and emphatically than have any of his predecessors, and he will have to demonstrate that he means what he says. To make peace, he will first have to make some enemies.

AMERICANA

The real 'fast-food nation'? Not U.S., survey says -

Nanci Hellmich, USA TODAY: The United States has been dubbed the fast-food nation, but that may be changing -- at least in one respect. About 44% of people in the USA say they like the taste of fast food too much to give it up, but 68% of people in Bulgaria feel that way, according to a February survey. Image from