September 11

"[T]he longer-winded tropes of 'public diplomacy' carry keys to their own undoing."

--Daniel Simpson, "Media ineptitude? We’ve been framed."

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

A Changing Threat: Al-Qaeda Eight Years Later - Peter Henne, Huffington Post: "In Afghanistan, Obama has attempted to differentiate between hard-core AQ supporters and local fighters to undermine broad support for AQ and its Taliban allies, an approach that should be applied elsewhere. He also emphasizes economic and social development in Afghanistan to dissolve terrorist safe-havens. Finally, beginning with his excellent speech on US-Muslim relations in Turkey this Spring, Obama has launched a public diplomacy campaign that will help to restore a positive American image among Muslim societies." Above image from

The Limits of Lucidity: Understanding North Korea - Weapons and Hope: "Ok, so what exactly is going on with North Korea? It is often difficult to separate public diplomacy from the real diplomacy. Similarly, it is also difficult to separate hard analysis from catchy headlines. As a ‘rogue’ nation, North Korea is under the constant scrutiny of the media and governments worldwide.

Thus, there is an incredible amount of incoming data on North Korean behavior and activities. But that data is not always synthesized into coherent messages; after all, it is incredibly difficult to know what exactly is going on with as insular a country as North Korea. Thus, it is very helpful when experts and analysts flesh out the details." Image from article: The "Bridge of No Return" in the Korean DMZ, Looking to the North from South.

Preparing to Lose the Information War? - Matt Armstrong, mountainrunner.us: "[F]or the past eight years, the functions, authorities, and funding for engaging global audiences, from anti-AIDS literature to soccer balls to development projects, has migrated from the State Department to the Defense Department. … [W]hile the boots are coming off public diplomacy, the wingtips may not be showing up anytime soon. State simply does not have the capacity now nor has there been anything remotely resembling an in-kind increase in funding and authorities to absorb the [public-diplomacy] responsibilities that most, including in State, agree should be in State."

US international broadcasting to Iran: sifting some facts from the fiction - Kim Andrew Elliott discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy:

"'Broadcasting events inside of Iran' is already happening, to the extent possible. US and UK international broadcasting to Iran is already extensive, with not much meaningful room for expansion. US international broadcasting to Iran would benefit more from rationalization than from expansion." Image from Adam Sitte, "Middle East/North Africa Relies on Many News Sources: National and international TV most important in region," The Muslim West facts Project.

Cultures in Harmony in State Department publication - Harmony Beat: "An article about our recent project in Pakistan appeared in Public Diplomacy Highlights, an official publication of the U. S. Department of State's Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs."

TED Magazine – Judy Vorfeld's Office Supplies Service: “According to the official press release: SAN FRANCISCO/ LONDON, September 22, 2009 – Global innovation firm frog design today released a special edition of its award-winning design mind magazine, devoted exclusively to TEDGlobal (the twin conference of the annual TED conference in Long Beach, California), which took place from July 21-24, 2009 in Oxford, England. … Highlights include: … Public Diplomacy 2.0: Digital governance expert Evgeny Morozov argues that governments need to upgrade their social media outreach."

Americans for Artsakh offers negotiations and PR training in Stepanakert - Armenian Reporter: "Americans for Artsakh (AFA) recently completed its third in a series of training projects for government officials in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR). … Dr. [Paul] Dezendorf, a faculty member at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, N.C., led the series of workshops.

His course was based on the classes he offers in the United States, and will offer during a Fulbright Scholar appointment at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow this fall. Dr. Dezendorf's opening lectures aided students in understanding eight categories of communications that governments typically use in building relationships with their audiences, such as press relations and encouraging compliance with laws. He focused on several areas that are particularly relevant to the Artsakh situation: dealing with the media, creating a 'brand' image for the country and increasing tourism prospects, and public diplomacy." Image from article: Paul Dezendorf during a workshop in Stepanakert sponsored by Americans for Artsakh.

Science And Public Diplomacy – Two Solitudes?- Daryl Copeland, Newswire – CPD Blog & Blogroll, USC Center on Public Diplomacy: "[T]here is enormous scope for more creative thinking about the nature of the basic linkages between science and PD."

I believe in America - The Mind of Andres: "In my mind I find that I think America is lazy, but when I think about it more and more, I find that what I am saying is a lie. America is not lazy it is just that people rely more and more on technology. Though I always wonder what is it that makes America so great that people keep coming here. As Colin Powell

said, ' ... . I believe that our greatest strength in dealing with the world is the openness of our society and the welcoming nature of our people. A good stay in our country is the best public diplomacy tool we have.'" Powell image from

The U.S. Navy's war on whales - Thomas E. Ricks, Foreign Policy: "Every so occasionally a bunch of whales run up on shore, going crazy, perhaps bleeding from the ears. This seems to be caused by U.S. Navy sonar experiments that send powerful sounds bouncing around the deep. It amazes me that there aren't more people upset by this. I wonder if one day in the future we will figure out how to communicate with whales. If so, I suspect their first question will be: Why do you hate us? … [COMMENT:] Does Captain Paul Watson Know? by Da Buffalo Amon... on Thu, 09/10/2009 - 1:53pm I'm sure he does, but his Sea Shepherd Conservation Society crew has been quite busy doing the sort of public diplomacy the US government and it's military neglects. (When Watson isn't busy ramming illegal Japanese Whaling ships)."

Up, up and away – Paul Rockower, Levantine: "It's a bird, it's a plane...no, it's my massive 'The 21st Century Family of Man: Photography as Public Diplomacy' exhibit.


All the photos went up today, with minimal nuisance. Tomorrow the signage goes up and soon the website will be launched." Image from article.

President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts, 9/10/09 - Office of the Press Secretary, The White House: "Jack Leslie, Appointee for Chairman of United States African Development Foundation. Mr. Leslie currently serves as Vice Chairman of USADF and as Chairman of Weber Shandwick, the world’s leading public relations and public affairs firm. As a crisis communications advisor, Mr. Leslie consulted with the NY Port Authority after the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, with American Airlines following September 11, 2001 and testified before Congress on US public diplomacy programs directed at the Muslim world after the 2001 terrorist attacks."

US public diplomacy: a tool for domination - Farai Mushayahembe, Letter to the Editor, Zimbabwe Guardian:

"I would like to commend public diplomatic officials in the United States of America for managing to dupe millions of people around the world that their country is the best symbol of democracy in the world. US propaganda in this century has produced some astounding results with many people failing to see through this country's public propaganda. The idea of dropping 'bombs and burgers' in Iraq has gone undetected by many people who think the US provides salvation to poor countries." Image from

LSR campaigns for Aung San Suu Kyi - Zee News: "The international campaign to free detained Burmese leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi got a further boost on Thursday with Lady Shri Ram (LSR) College organising an exclusive screening of the film 'Burma VJ: Reporting from a close country'. … The film screening was preceded by a panel discussion on 'Suu Kyi – Symbol of Democracy.' Participants included ...Ravi Nair, human rights activist … . Nair appealed for introspection and offered several ideas for future initiatives, including public diplomacy, to keep up the momentum."

Forgotten Historical Memory – ET, produsin.ro - "2008, somewhere in Gdansk. A Polish friend of mine tells me somewhat surprised that he saw on the buses posters making refference to Romania. I start searching what is this all about. With great surprise I find out that is related to a public diplomacy project initiated by the Romanian Cultural Institute from Warszaw. Even bigger was my surprise when I realized that we do have a Cultural Institute outside our borders and is actually 'doing something'. For not keeping pace with the cultural aspects of our time mea culpa, but I consider this to be an initiative worthy of example to what concerns bilateral relations once very good between two states."

The Propaganda Machine - David Miller, Songlight For Dawn: "This essay appeared in the book Tell Me Lies: Propaganda and Media Distortion in the Attack on Iraq [2004] edited by the author. Since 11 September 2001 both the US and UK governments have comprehensively overhauled their internal and external propaganda apparatus. These have been globally co-ordinated as never before to justify the 'war on terror' including the attacks on Afghanistan and Iraq and the assault on civil liberties at home. To win the war on Iraq the US and UK governments evidently believed that they could not rely on the media to report consistently in conformity with the official line.

Consequently there has been serious investment in an extensive machinery of propaganda. There is very little public debate on the propaganda apparatus and very few people know of the extensive machinery which has been built up in the past two years. The UK Foreign Office public diplomacy operation alone costs £340 million annually for operations taking place in London and not including work done in embassies around the world. In the US the Pentagon has its own machinery and the State Department has the Office of Public Diplomacy. The latter tries to win hearts and minds in the Arab world and operates with a budget in excess of $1 billion. The overall cost of the propaganda campaigns to justify the 'war on terror' and the attack on Afghanistan and Iraq is a secret, but it must run into billions of dollars in the US and hundreds of millions of pounds in the UK." Image from

Friday, September 11, 2009: CAT General Awareness Question Paper 4 - Board university exam results site: "# Which former advertising personality has recently [sic] been named the Undersecretary of State for ‘public diplomacy and public affairs’ of the US in an exercise to rebrand the US following the September 11 terrorist strikes? 1. Charlotte Beers 2. Jay Chiat 3. Martin Sorrell 4. George Lois Answer: A"

RELATED ITEMS

Naked Propaganda in America Latina - Charlie Hardy,
Pacific Free Press: "A few days ago I bought a copy of the Venezuelan daily, El Nacional, and asked God for forgiveness. Many years ago it was my favorite newspaper here. Now I feel I am sinning whenever I put two more bolivars into their coffers. I wanted to see their coverage of the situation in Honduras. But what I quickly discovered on page three was their un-coverage of a woman.

In a half-page ad, black and white, there was a naked woman! . ... The white words that penetrated the blackness were: 'The Social Property Law will take everything from you. NO to the Cuban law.' The ad was sponsored by 'CEDICE.' A good question is: who is paying for all of this propaganda? Jeremy Bigwood and Eva Golinger have documented some of the funds that CEDICE and CIPE (an organization that calls CEDICE its 'partner['] in Venezuela) have received from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). I also did a bit of checking back in 2003 and discovered that $490,441.00 was approved for the two organizations during the seven years from 1994 to 2000. Then, for some reason, $273,352 was approved for one year: 2002, the year of the coup d’état against Chávez. If you check NED’s website today, you will see that they no longer give much specific information on Venezuela although it does say that CIPE was allotted a grant of $99,925 in 2008. But check Eva Golinger’s website, http://www.chavezcode.com/, and you will be given a much clearer picture of the U.S. involvement in Honduras and in Latin America through the work she and Jeremy have done."

9/11 and the 'Good War': It was the furies of the Arab world, not Afghanistan, that struck America eight years ago today – Fouad Ajami, Wall Street Journal: For the American effort in Afghanistan to stick on the ground in the face of a Taliban insurgency that's gaining in strength and geographical reach, Mr. Obama will have to make a hard choice. He will need a troop commitment of sufficient weight to turn the tide of war. Furthermore, he will have to face his own coalition on the left and convince it that there is a project in Afghanistan worth fighting (and paying) for. By the evidence of things, this is a decision that he has refused to make, as he pursues his sweeping domestic agenda while keeping Afghanistan in play.

The Afghan Electoral Fix: A positive outcome from the vote mess is still possible - Review & Outlook, Wall Street Journal:

A primary goal of the new Obama strategy, as it was of the Bush team, is to strengthen the Afghan state and military so that each can stand on its own. If both the Afghan and international institutions continue to do their job properly now and the politicians respect their verdict on the election, an outcome that strengthens Afghan democracy is still within reach. Image from

To Save Afghanistan, Look to Its Past - Ansar Rahel and Jon Krakauer, New York Times: Afghans need to start again from scratch and choose their leader by a fresh process that restores legitimacy to the national government. Fortunately, such a process already exists -- one that is both highly respected by the Afghan people and recognized in the Afghan Constitution: the convening of an emergency loya jirga, or grand assembly.

Iran's Non-Response: Can the Obama administration deliver on the tough sanctions it has been promising? – Editorial, Washington Post: The administration has said all along that it would seek tough sanctions against Iran unless it responded meaningfully to an offer of dialogue. The time has come for it to show whether it can deliver on that promise.

Cuba's blogging culture is "vibrant" despite highly regulated and expensive internet access - Kim Andrew Elliott discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy

China Propaganda Movie - Suomen Kuvalehti:

Actors Tang Guoqiang, left and Zhang Guoli, right attend the premier gala for movie ’The Founding of a Republic’ in Beijing Thursday Sept. 10, 2009. The blockbuster propaganda movie which features more than a hundred of China’s top movie actors and actresses will hit the big screen ahead of China’s Oct 1. 60th anniversary for the founding of Communist China.