July 8

"What are they going to do -- send me back to Texas? … I'm already in Iraq."

--Army Pfc. Tina M. Priest, who died March 1 2006 of a gunshot wound to the chest in a non-combat situation in Taji; image from citation

“How can anyone fire me? I don’t have a job.”

--A valued PDPBR subscriber, referring to the current economic situation; no link

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Public Diplomacy: Books, Articles, Websites #46 Posted by Matt Armstrong, Mountain Runner Blog: Courtesy of Bruce Gregory, Professor of Media and Public Affairs, George Washington University:

July 7, 2009 Intended for teachers of public diplomacy and related courses, here is an update on resources that may be of general interest. Suggestions for future updates are welcome. Bruce Gregory Adjunct Assistant Professor of Media and Public Affairs George Washington University (202) 994-6350 BGregory@gwu.edu. Gregory image from

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Bin the soft words. Squeeze Iran sharply Talk about talks with Ahmadinejad is worthless. We need sanctions and firm diplomacy – Rosemary righter, Times, London: "Public diplomacy towards Iran … needs drastic overhaul. A basic Western misunderstanding has been that, 30 years after Khomeini’s revolution, Iranians are still brainwashed by his aggressively messianic message. This misconception underpinned the West’s pathetic eagerness to be seen not to 'intervene' in Iran’s drama, a sacrifice of principle for no reward since the regime blamed satanic meddling anyway. Even at the height of Khomeinist fervour, the massed black-clad rallies were far from the whole story — some five million Iranians have spent time in jail since 1979 — and experience has inoculated most Iranians against permanent Islamic revolution. Their courage has more than earned Iranians the right to be treated as adults. At least a third are plugged into the information revolution by satellite and mobiles. And they are in a mood to listen. They have been told that their nuclear programme is peaceable, and it is as such that it has massive support. Detailed evidence that the regime has lied to them is worth laying out, clearly and repeatedly, together with an explanation of the links between non-compliance and sanctions, and the rewards on offer for Iranian co-operation." See also. Image from

Obama Team Effectively Utilizes Online Social Networking for Public Diplomacy - Tori Horton, CPD Blog, USC Center on Public Diplomacy: "Through the use of new technology, President Obama has made it clear that when he speaks in Ghana this Saturday, July 11, he intends to move from monologue to dialogue as the U.S. State Department opens up venues for greater public participation in the conversation. The U.S. State Department expects an outpouring of people from all over Africa. … [T]he U.S. Government has encouraged members in virtual worlds to pick up the event and host their own conversations. In Second Life, I have been participating with a group that is convening interested citizens for a conversation discussing what it means to be a global citizen and how technology has created a new virtual public sphere to develop a marketplace of ideas. These places offer individual citizens the chance to articulate their views and suggest viable solutions. In short, these initiatives demonstrate the very best potential for new technology to facilitate public diplomacy for dialogue and citizen engagement. … In terms of public diplomacy utilization of new technology, this outreach is one of the most progressive in U.S. history."

Africans invited to text Obama before Ghana speech - Michael Wilkerson, Foreign Policy: "Obama will respond to questions submitted this week by text message (SMS) in a recording made sometime before his speech at the Ghanaian parliament. The tape will be released to African radio stations and other media after his speech, and the speech will also be broadcast simultaneously on African radio stations and on the internet. … Erik Hersman, a new media guru who blogs at White African, worked with the White House on the platform and has a great post on log[is]tics and some of the reasoning behind the various outreach platforms. Hersman says that U.S. citizens cannot participate in the SMS platform because of cold-war era legislation on public diplomacy, but other efforts including a live chat on Facebook and a dedicated Twitter tag (#obamaghana) will try and encourage global discussion. News site allAfrica is also collecting questions for Obama." Image from

New Defense Department Plan on Strategic Communication and Science and Technology – Matt Armstrong, MountainRunner: "The plan describes current efforts within the Department of Defense, the military services, the combatant commands and other agencies on SC. In total, these efforts could be linked together to form the foundation of an S&T thrust area for strategic communication. The report also includes a macro-analysis of capability gaps not being addressed by ongoing initiatives and lays out potential areas for future S&T investment."

If I have this right, new Defense Department report says strategic communication can be transmitted from geostationary satellites to, say, Oklahoma - Kim Andrew Elliott discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy: "Brilliant. This report [see above] has found a way to work around the Smith-Mundt clause prohibiting the domestic dissemination of public diplomacy. Just call it 'strategic communication.'"

Radio Russia: In the Soviet Union, politics and radio were inseparable. Some things never change - Mark Krotov, Paste Magazine: "Since the emergence of radio in the 1910s, Russians haven’t just listened—they’ve listened passionately, forcefully, illegally. … Some of them even risked their livelihoods to tell journalists from VOA—and Radio Liberty, another American-government-run station—the truth about government oppression. …

Voice of America emerged during the war [WWII] as the United States government’s official radio service, airing its first Russian broadcast on Feb. 17, 1947. The need to speak directly with Soviet citizens (perhaps undermining some of the U.S.S.R.’s authority along the way) was urgent, but American policymakers were reluctant to endorse and fund a program that by its very nature would be propagandistic—after all, VOA’s mission was to spread the word about America. ... VOA was much more than just Soviet-bashing; in its early days, it was schizophrenic, mixing righteous pro-American commentary with entertainment shows like Willis Conover’s Jazz Hour, which ran for almost 40 years and introduced an entire nation to jazz—and to Conover, who became a star in his own right. ... Just as Lenin had used Soviet radio to indoctrinate the Russian people, the West had accessed the same hearts and minds through the same medium. … In 1971, it was revealed that the CIA had channeled undercover funds to VOA and RL." Courtesy MC. See also. Image from article.

Soft Power and Soft Vowels – John Brown, Notes and Essays: "And now the good news. In his speech at the New Economic School (July 7, his last day in Russia) Barack Hussein Obama pronounced the last name of Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev [ˈdmʲitrʲɪj ɐnɐˈtolʲjɪvʲɪtɕ mʲɪˈdvʲedʲɪf] correctly."

Out of a job? State Dept. is looking for new diplomats - Noreen O'Donnell, Lower Hudson Journal News: "A hiring initiative called Diplomacy 3.0 now calls for the State Department to add 750 generalists and more than 500 specialists this fiscal year and a similar number next fiscal year. Most people apply to work in public diplomacy and politics; the agency is seeking more management, consular and economics officers."

U.S. diplomats use military role-playing to prepare for Iraq assignments: In a weeklong stint at Fort Irwin's National Training Center, they sleep on cots and work out of a tent near faux villages plagued by insurgent attacks, corrupt officials and sectarian rivalries - - Alexandra Zavis, Los Angeles Times: "'You can forget at times that you are in California,' said Wesley Robertson, a public diplomacy officer who is trading a post in Chennai, India, for Iraq's violent Diyala province ... [and] joining Provincial Reconstruction Teams, or PRTs. These civilian-led teams, which include some military officers and representatives of other government agencies, were conceived in 2005 to help Iraq's local and provincial governments provide services, promote stability and stimulate development." Image from article: State Department diplomat George Tietjen, a former Marine, rides in the back of an armored Stryker in May during a week of intense training at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin in the Mojave Desert.

Chinese Public Diplomacy: Learning From Past Mistakes – The Negotiator: "In response to the ongoing riots in Urumchi, China took the now obvious strategies of blocking cellphones, Twitter, social networking sites, slowing access to the Internet, and the like. In a sign that China’s public diplomacy is clearly evolving – think the evolution from SARS to the 2008 earthquake to the Tibet uprising – to take advantage of foreign based reporters and the web, China has deployed some new tactics. In the NY Times: [']On the surface, at least, the government’s approach to the outside world has been markedly different. By Monday morning, the State Council Information Office, the top-level government public-relations agency, had invited foreign journalists to Urumqi to report firsthand on the riots. … [T]he Chinese appear to have decided that it is better to give the world a supervised peek at the nation’s problems — Uighur gate-crashing included — than to remain silent and let Beijing’s critics set the news agenda.['] So, for the Chinese the question is centered on who can, and how to, control the message and the messengers. Reporters have a corresponding, and somewhat age-old, dilemma to confront: Do I want access or do I want credibility? In most cases, both cannot be ensured."

Israel pushes for major upgrade in relations with NATO - David Harris, Xinhua "It is difficult to ascertain just how integral a part of NATO Israel would like to be. Becoming a full member demands active participation in military operations -- something Israel is unlikely to want to do. It has to deal with enough battles on its own front door without having to send its troops half way around the world. Despite that, Israel was the first country to sign an Individual Cooperation Program agreement with NATO and since then has contributed to NATO particularly in 'science, public diplomacy and armaments cooperation,' as the previous NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer put it during a visit to Israel in January. " Image from

The Fifth Annual Annenberg-Oxford Summer Institute on Global Media Policy: Technology and New Themes in Media Regulation - The Media Law Assistance Website: "Some background information courtesy of the Center for Global Communication Studies at the Annenberg School, University of Pennsylvania: … . In the past there have been sessions on freedom of information statutes, public diplomacy, media and economic and social development and the history of information transitions in the former Soviet Union."

John Mccain,From: Kyle Drennen Kate Klonick Kellydaniel CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney Tulip Lynn Sweet La Shawn John K. Wilson Brian Maloney(Brian Maloney) White Rabbit Tara Stiles /23578542 – Webmaster, john mccain: "McCain named Otto Reich as his adviser on Latin American issues, even though Reich was involved in the Iran-Contra scandal. In the mid-1980s, Reich ran the U.S. Office of Public Diplomacy and illegally coordinated with the CIA to run a 'White Propaganda' campaign planting bogus op-eds written by his speechwriters in newspapers. In 1987, the Republican Comptroller-General formally found that Reich had broken the law." On Reich, see. Image from: Public Diplomacy and Covert Propaganda; The Declassified record of Ambassador Otto Juan Reich; A National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book Edited by Thomas Blanton March 2, 2001

Yes, I am Alive - Copeland_Norcross, Summer in D.C.: "A few weeks ago I got to help prepare for our company's board meeting. It was quite an experience. So much preparation goes into an event that lasts about two hours. Nonetheless, it was an incredible experience. There's been a lot going on. We got a new chairman, who seems to be taking the organization in a very new and exciting direction.

As a premiere [sic] public diplomacy group, we're hoping to bolster our image and strengthen the creds." Image from

RELATED ITEMS

In Russia, Obama’s Star Power Does Not Translate - Clifford J. Levy and Ellen Barry, New York Times: Let other capitals go all weak-kneed when President Obama visits. Moscow has greeted Mr. Obama, who on Tuesday night concluded a two-day Russian-American summit meeting, as if he were just another dignitary passing through.

Michael Jackson memorial as international broadcasting event - Kim Andrew Elliott discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy

Youtube is preferred distribution site for jihadi propaganda - creeping sharia.com

'Mao' by Andy Warhol (1973) in high resolution - Andy Warhol Posters and Andy Warhol Prints:

Mao is one of a series of silkscreened portraits of the Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong (1893-1976) that Warhol produced in 1973. Nearly 15 feet tall, this towering image mirrors representations that were displayed throughout China during and after the Cultural Revolution (1966-76). Warhol was undoubtedly drawn to this subject because of the media’s attention to the opening of diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China in the early 1970s. His irreverent attitude toward China’s totalitarian propaganda is apparent on the surface of the painting. Image from article.

AMERICANA

Lights, Camera, Lots of Action. Forget the Script - Matt Richtel, New York Times: The pornographic movie industry has long had only a casual interest in plot and dialogue. But moviemakers are focusing even less on narrative arcs these days.

Instead, they are filming more short scenes that can be easily uploaded to Web sites and sold in several-minute chunks. “On the Internet, the average attention span is three to five minutes,” said Steven Hirsch, co-chairman of Vivid Entertainment. “We have to cater to that.” Image from