September 9

"I think that propaganda is perfectly acceptable as long as I agree with it."

--Blogger Alice Wills Gold; image from

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

State Department Briefing by Ian Kelly, September 8, 2009 - enewspf.com: "QUESTION: What about the impact on public opinion, not just in Afghanistan, but in Germany and Europe, of this airstrike that hit the two tankers, killed many civilians? … QUESTION: In light of this incident, isn’t it important for the U.S. to do more public diplomacy in Europe to convince the Europeans of the need for these operations, given – and then reassure them that efforts are being made -- MR. KELLY: Yeah. QUESTION: -- to avoid these incidents? MR. KELLY: Well, I mean, this is – actually, that is an issue that I was very much involved with back when I was at the U.S. Mission to NATO.

This is – I don’t think it’s really for us to cajole our allies to do things. This is a – it’s a mission that all NATO allies support in one way or another through troop contributions, through development aid, through financial contributions to the military efforts. The Germans do all three. And as I said, they are a key – they’re a key contributor to the overall effort, and we very much appreciate everything that they do. But again, it’s not for us to tell the Germans what to do. I think it’s more that we have to focus on our common mission that we may need to do more public diplomacy in terms of the NATO and the ISAF mission. But I appreciate the question." Image from

Why Obama Can’t Win in Afghanistan - Human Events: "Non-military recommendations to defeat Islamism are found in the 9/11 Commission report. That body recommended defending our ideals vigorously versus allowing Islamists to define us. The Bush administration failed in this area. Bush’s under secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs Karen Hughes embraced the very people who foment and foster anti-American sentiment in the Muslim world. She met with individuals and groups that held pro-Islamist stances. Obama’s strategy must be radically different. He must directly support moderate Muslims who share our ideals to stand-up against the Islamists and promote accountability and democracy." Photo: From left: Fran Townsend, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, NSC Senior Director for European Affairs Judy Ansley, White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten, and Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Karen Hughes, attend the rededication ceremony of the Islamic Center of Washington.

No Grand Bargain with Russia: Why Missile Defenses in Poland and the Czech Republic Are Vital to the Security of Europe and the United States – Heritage Foundation: "Date: September 15, 2009 Time: 10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Please join The Heritage Foundation in examining the current threats facing the United States and how Third Site missile defenses are a cost-effective and proven defense against the threats facing America and its allies, as well as the public diplomacy implications of abandoning Third Site."

An Expensive War That Hasn’t Happened - Richard McEachin, The Confidential Resource: "Insurgencies (4GW) and 5GW warfare are often described as 'low-intensity warfare'. This is a misnomer in the economic sense — just look at the cost of Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. One must accept at the outset that there will not be a clear winner in such a conflict, and that the participants involved will not value victory in the same way and that the fighting may end before total victory by one side. … My research identified 5 good news/bad news issues surrounding 5GW that are starting to shape policy. … 5. Two lower cost solutions exist — developing a culture of preparedness and service at home, and extensive use of public diplomacy abroad. The development of a true militia to supply emergency manpower and a more active foreign policy based upon public diplomacy, particularly by the allied countries such as Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand, and the EU will lower the costs created by fear and uncertainty." Image from

Public Diplomacy and Legitimacy in the Age of Transparency – GlobalPost: "As transparency becomes the norm for establishing knowledge—and it is—governments that previously had trouble establishing credibility with foreign audiences now have a means of conveying information that does not require a leap of faith by the audience to be trusted. Rather, by embracing the hyperlink, providing in-depth information to back up one’s arguments and stories and openly expressing one’s personal attachment to an issue—i.e. bias—public diplomacy practitioners have a newly established and ubiquitous means of engaging foreign audiences. Put another way, the ascendance of transparency as a marker of knowledge, rather than objectivity, levels the playing field. That is why a blog post from Tehran can be considered more credible than CNN’s broadcast from Atlanta."

Gov2.0 Expo, Part 4: Government as Peacekeeper - Chris Amico, Eyes East: "'Give peace a chance,' says Steve Ressler, introducing our next session.

The Government as a PEACEKEEPER category shows off how people are using emerging technology as a tool to make the world a better place. From humanitarian efforts overseas to influencing the world through public diplomacy, these entries demonstrate a new way of working." Image from

Trends in Religious Giving - Private Actors In International Developoment - Paid: "While Evangelicals curiously observe the movements of the Obama Administration, the Obama Administration is clear that with regards to foreign aid, the private sector is a critical partner for public diplomacy as well as development. Religious organizations, foundations and even congregations are not necessarily new partners to the US government, however these private actors are sizeable, dependable, committed, and potentially changing their focus to becoming a different kind of partner or ally to overseas development assistance. This shift may be worrisome to the old guard of the faithful but welcomed by the younger generations."

* Pass the popcorn - Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf: "The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum will recognize the twin traditions of baseball and film when, for the fourth consecutive year, it hosts the Baseball Film Festival in Cooperstown, Oct. 2-4. … This year’s lineup includes: … A Shortstop in China. Shortly after being enshrined in Cooperstown, Cal Ripken Jr. was named Public Diplomacy Envoy by the U.S. State Department. True to form, America’s Iron Man embraced the challenge of his new career as diplomat. His first mission: travel to China and share the game of baseball, 'the Ripken way.'” Ripken image from

Timoni Grone: 9 Ways to Improve Twitter, and Other Thoughts - Notes on Design: "Timoni Grone is the senior visual designer at Scribd where she creates websites that blend responsible web practices with classic design & typographical philosophies. … Notes on Design: How did you get your start? Timoni Grone: I was an English major in college but talked about art and design enough that a friend encouraged me to take an art class, and I’ve been making sites and designing for friends since 1999. I’m largely self-taught—I looked at course syllabi and taught myself design fundamentals. My second job was as a web editor for the State Department creating mockups for sites to expand dialogue with the Arabic world. I didn’t expect that I’d ever work on security and public diplomacy, and it was eye-opening."

Broader Strategy: West's Afghan War Targets Russia, China, Iran - Rick Rozoff, Australia.TO: "A week ago Nicola de Santis, NATO's head of the Mediterranean Dialogue and the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative Countries Section in the NATO Public Diplomacy Division, visited the United Arab Emirates and met with the nation's foreign minister, Anwar Mohammed Gargash. 'Prospects of UAE-NATO cooperation' and 'NATO's Istanbul Cooperation Initiative' were the main topics of discussion." de Santis image from

Pak, China maintain immense reservoir of goodwill, soft power: Ambassador Khan - Associated Press of Pakistan: "In his keynote speech on ‘Ancient Civilizations and Modern Soft Power’ at the International Conference on Soft Power and Public Diplomacy held at prestigious Tsinghua University, Ambassador Khan [Pakistan Ambassador to China Masood Khan] said that Soft power is a recent term but it has been there with us for thousands of years. Terming the topic he likes most, Khan said he had been speaking on the subject for quite often. He pointed out that some believe that Joseph Nye of Harvard University ‘invented’ it in the early 1990s. But we know that Chinese philosopher Lao Tsu talked about it in the 7th century B.C.; and the Middle Kingdom practiced it quite effectively. However, the use of the soft power as an instrument of foreign policy and public diplomacy is a recent phenomenon."

News Group International organises third annual summit as PR measurement gains momentum – Zawya:

"The effectiveness of Middle East government public relations (PR) and communications programmes will be debated during the 2009 PR measurement summit (Habtoor Grand Resort & Spa, Dubai - November 22-24). … [P]anels include measurement discussions on public health care communications, public diplomacy and evaluating the success of public-private partnerships as well as a special session on how to measure social networking for governmental associations." Image from

New Media in Iran - Ren's Micro Diplomacy: "CPD-Journalism Directors’ Forum: Iran – New Media, New Politics Annenberg Room 207, 12 noon The USC Center on Public Diplomacy and ASC School of Journalism are proud to host a forum discussing Iran: New Politics, New Media as part of the CPD-Journalism Directors’ Forum. This discussion be moderated by Philip Seib, Director of the USC Center on Public Diplomacy and will feature an illustrious group of panelists including independent scholar Mahasti Afshar, New York Times columnist Roger Cohen, Karim Sadjadpour from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and NPR’s Mike Shuster."

RELATED ITEMS

Airstrikes in Afghanistan drop by almost half - Jim Michaels, USA TODAY: airstrikes by coalition forces in Afghanistan have dropped dramatically in the three months Gen. Stanley McChrystal has led the war effort there, reflecting his new emphasis on avoiding civilian casualties and protecting the population.

Plans to expand US embassy worry Pakistanis - Nahal Toosi, AP: The U.S. mission has some big plans. It wants to reconstruct the buildings on its 38-acre (15-hectare) compound and acquire an additional 18 acres (7 hectares), much of which will be used for apartments, embassy spokesman Richard Snelsire said. About 1,450 employees work for the embassy: 1,000 Pakistanis, 250 Americans posted to the site and another 200 Americans on short-term assignments. The plan is to add around 400 people, including about 200 more posted U.S. staffers, Snelsire said. The major reason for the growth is a proposal in Congress to triple nonmilitary aid to Pakistan, he said. Via LB.

Pakistani anti-Americanism fueled by Pakistani media? - Kim Andrew Elliott discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy

Reporters sans frontières leery of Egyptian candidate for DG of UNESCO - Kim Andrew Elliott discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy

It's time to boycott Press TV, Iran's propaganda machine – Ed West, telegraph.co.uk

IMAGE


The Hierarchy Of Digital Distractions: levels of digital activity, visualized. (by David McCandless, via Scott Beale); via