September 29

"It's not appropriate for me, as American ambassador, to say the people I work for didn't do something appropriately. And I'm not going to say that. What happened happened."

--Outgoing Bush-appointed U.S. ambassador to Poland Victor Ashe, a former mayor of Knoxville, Tennessee, regarding Washington's decision -- announced on September 17, the date when the Soviet Union invaded Poland in 1939 -- to back out of the missile shield agreement forged by the Bush administration -- and opposed by Russia -- which has evoked memories among Poles of Cold War helplessness, of being brushed aside as casualties of great power politics. Image from

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

US Embassy Warsaw sees insensitive timing of Obama’s - Ted [Lipien], Blogger News Network: "Displaying unprecedented boldness for a US diplomatic mission, the US Embassy in Warsaw conceded on its official public website that Poles believe that the 'insensitive timing' — as the Embassy put it — of the Obama administration announcement on canceling the US missile shield system in Central Europe 'shows that Obama does not understand Poland.' In what may be a deliberate US public diplomacy effort to repair the public relations damage in Poland, a news item on the embassy website, posted in both English and Polish, acknowledged that 'the timing of Obama’s announcement upset Poland and Polish Americans because it came on Sept. 17, the 70th anniversary of the Russian invasion of Poland at the beginning of World War II.' …

The fear in Poland that history may repeat itself may explain, according to a former US official, the unprecedented frankness of the news item placed by American diplomats in Warsaw on the US Embassy website. Another explanation may be the absence of a US ambassador in Poland, the lack of usual bureaucratic supervision and the desire of the embassy staff to redeem themselves after failing to get the attention of the Obama White House that making the missile announcement on September 17 would be seen as a major offense in Poland. ... It is not clear whether the news on the US embassy website is a purely local initiative of American diplomats in Warsaw or represents a major effort approved in Washington to repair the public relations damage from President Obama’s decision. A former employee of the now defunct US Information Agency, which was once responsible for conducting public diplomacy, said that in any case it was a commendable display of diplomatic frankness and courage." See also Megan K. Stack, “Poles indignant that U.S. altered missile-shield plans,” Los Angeles Times. Image from

The Bear Still Has Teeth - Robert D. Kaplan, The Atlantic: "[T]he the Obama Administration’s decision, earlier this month, to scrap America’s Poland-and Czech Republic -based missile defense plans in favor of a sea-based approach makes eminent sense.

The new system will better protect America’s allies against Iranian missiles. Moreover, we need Russia’s cooperation on matters of geopolitical importance right now, and can’t afford to antagonize the country with new military bases in the midst of its perceived sphere of influence. But announcing our decision on the 70th anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Poland was a strategic communications failure—suggesting to Eastern Europe that it is once again being deserted by its allies and left to the mercies of the Russian bear." Image: Black bear teeth

The September 17 missile announcement: A speculation regarding this public-diplomacy disaster - John Brown, Notes and Essays: "The Russians knew full well the announcement would be a PD disaster for the U.S. in Poland."

Persistent 'Foreign Language Gap' Compromises Diplomatic efforts in Afghanistan, GAO Report Says - Karen Schuberg, cnsnews.com: "State Department press officer Fred Lash told CNSNews.com that finding language-proficient employees 'has probably been a problem for years' because many of the positions are in spots that 'are difficult to fill--they’re hazardous and they’re at hardship posts, things like that.' …


When asked about potential difficulties in conducting diplomatic negotiations given the dearth of language-proficient [diplomatic] personnel, Lash said the State Department has been training some military personnel in language and cultural sensitivity. 'We have a military unit somewhere (that)has been undergoing cultural and language training but there’s just not as much of it. There needs to be more of that, too,' Lash said. 'Along the public diplomacy line we’re kind of far behind largely because of staffing and budget, but I think there are people that are working on bringing us up to par,' Lash said. Image from

Waiting for 'smart power' – Marc Lynch, Foreign Policy: "The Obama administration came in with a unique promise to transform America's public diplomacy and global engagement. Obama himself captivated international attention and created a fresh start to reconfigure American relationships. His conception of a global engagement rooted in 'mutual interest and mutual respect' beautifully captured this potential. The people around Obama really seemed to understand the appropriate role of public diplomacy and strategic communications -- from Hillary Clinton's 'smart power'

and Robert Gates's call to build State Department capacity to key actors at the NSC. Obama's personal interventions have been fantastic -- the interviews, the speeches, the key symbolic gestures (such as promising to end torture and close Gitmo). But this makes it all the more baffling that the government as a whole has so often failed to capitalize on the openings these moves have created. … I don't know why it has proven so difficult for the U.S. government to mount public diplomacy and strategic communications campaigns in support of key administration policy goals. Is it something about the organization of the government, leadership, or the allocation of the resources? Is it that deeds have not kept up with words, harming the credibility of such communications campaigns? Is it the cultural clash between traditional public diplomacy and the demands of goal-oriented strategic communications? Is it that the State Department hasn't stepped up as the Pentagon's strategic communications operations have been scaled back? Is it a backlash against the over-selling of stratetic communications in recent years? Or is it something else?" See also. Image from

Strategic Communications: The Debate continues – John Brown, Huffington Post: “[T]he ‘Commander's Initial Assessment’ of the situation in Afghanistan, signed by General Stanley A. McChrystal, Commander - Afghanistan/International Security Assistance Force, is now available to the public. …

While in no way does this document make a convincing case that the war in Afghanistan can be 'won' by more 'sensitive' and 'sensible' strategic communications or public diplomacy, it at least reflects an admission of the tremendous difficulties the U.S. faces in reaching and earning the trust of the Afghan population." For the Assessment, see. McChrystal image from

Politics, Terrorism, and the Sunni Divide - Samuel Helfont, FPRI: "By viewing the Muslim Brotherhood and Wahhabism as two separate movements, U.S. policymakers can address each group separately, forming distinct policies for each. Wahhabism presents a unique challenge for U.S. policymakers in that Wahhabists consider any epistemology not rooted entirely in traditional Islamic sources to be invalid. Therefore, it would be very difficult for the United States to engage Wahhabists in direct public diplomacy or a battle of ideas. After all, they do not accept the modern secular premises—whether liberal, realists, Marxist, etc. — that Western arguments rest upon. However, the United States does have a direct interest in limiting the influence of the more violent Wahhabists, and in empowering the most non-political scholars."

U.S. International Broadcasting: Too Bizarre To Be Explained By Political Science - Kim Andrew Elliott, Newswire – CPD Blog & Blogroll, USC Center on Public Diplomacy:

"In the Arab nations, as in much of the rest of the world, audiences for broadcast news have migrated from radio to television. Alhurra provides newscasts for elites and others interested in the news. Many who still listen to radio do so to hear music. [USG-funded] Radio Sawa was designed to follow that audience. Small elite audiences have their uses, but large audiences consisting of people from all strata are even more desirable. In the Jordan survey mentioned above ['In Jordan, Alhurra has a past-week audience of 23%. This is far lower than Al Jazeera’s 92% and Al Arabiya’s 78%. But 23% is a large audience for international broadcasting. Furthermore, Alhurra is (for now) ahead of the new BBC Arabic TV (at 12%) and well ahead of the other Arabic television services from non-Arab nations'], Radio Sawa has a past-week audience of 21%, well ahead of BBC Arabic radio and French-owned Radio Monte Carlo-Middle East, with 9% each.* The Radio Sawa newscasts and features, multiplied by all the people who listen to them, multiplied again by all the times they are heard over the years, result in the neutralization of a great deal of misinformation and disinformation from less salubrious sources. Bizarre? Well, yes, in the sense that U.S. international broadcasting now has double-digit audiences in, of all places, the Arab world, and larger than, of all stations, BBC World Service." Image from

Am I the only one who has an issue with this? - Leah Farrall, Australia, All Things Counter Terrorism: "A blog focussing on all things counter terrorism with an occasional foray into the world of insurgency This is a screen capture of this blog at the NYT…

I note the title 'At War' Then 'From the Arab Press' Then this: A look at discussions inside the Arab world, as played out on the front page of a major Arabic newspaper. Way to help public diplomacy efforts guys. I think I might actually be almost speechless." Image from article

Nigeria, US forms Partnership Drive - Senator Iroegbu, This Day: "Inline with the vision of the Director-General of the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC), and Ministry of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation; Nigeria and United States of America (USA) have commenced efforts aimed at promoting sports tourism in the country. Both countries are going to share knowledge and jointly build a mutually beneficial relationship that would see more American tourists coming to Nigeria to watch and participate in traditional and contemporary sports and other related tourism activities in Nigeria. At a recent meeting with the members of the joint action committee of the National Sports Tourism Fiesta, Public Diplomacy Officer at the US Embassy in Nigeria, Mr. Edward Flynn described the idea of sports tourism as an innovative one that deserves all the support it could get."

GNP lawmaker named KOICA honorary envoy – The Korea Herald: "Rep. Hong Jung-wook of the ruling Grand National Party was appointed as an honorary public diplomacy envoy for the Korea International Cooperation Agency yesterday.

Hong, 39, a first-term Harvard-educated legislator, will take part in stressing the necessity and importance of grant-type aid projects with the state-run agency that aims to enhance global ties." Hong Jung-wook image from

RELATED ITEMS

The Neocons Make a Comeback - Bret Stephens, Wall Street Journal: The neocons are back because Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Kim Jong Il and Vladimir Putin never went away. A star may have shone in the east the day Barack Obama became president. But these three kings, at least, have yet to proffer the usual gifts of gold and incense and myrrh.

A conflict of deception - Cal Thomas, Washington Times: Memo to Mr. Obama: Radical, fundamentalist Muslims believe they have a religious duty to lie and deceive "infidels."

Time to Act Like a President - Richard Cohen, Washington Post: At last week's Group of 20 meeting in Pittsburgh the candidate-in-full commandeered the television networks and the leaders of Britain and France to give the Iranians a dramatic warning.

Yet another of their secret nuclear facilities had been revealed and Obama, as anyone could see, was determined to do something about it -- just don't ask what. The supposedly secret installation had been known to Western intelligence agencies -- Britain, France, the United States and undoubtedly Israel -- for several years. Image from

A Big Card To Play in Iran - Anne Applebaum, Washington Post: What do Iran's rulers truly fear? A sustained and well-funded human rights campaign must be a terrifying prospect.

U.S. Envoy's Outreach to Sudan Is Criticized as Naive - Stephanie McCrummen, Washington Post: Top administration officials are scheduled to meet Tuesday to discuss a major review of the United States' Sudan policy. But even as that document is being finalized, U.S. diplomacy has remained mostly in the hands of Obama's special envoy to Sudan, retired Air Force Maj. Gen. J. Scott Gration, who is pushing toward normalized relations with the only country in the world led by a president indicted on war-crimes charges. Although Gration describes the approach as pragmatic and driven by a sense of urgency, his critics here and in the United States say it is dangerously, perhaps willfully, naïve.

Art of Persuasion exhibit in AOK library presents historically pertinent posters from then and now - Samantha Medema, Retriever: The Albin O. Kuhn Library Gallery recently unveiled its newest exhibit, entitled "The Art of Persuasion: Poster Design From 1896 through 2008." The exhibit showcases popular and historical posters and silkscreen prints from around the world, and is largely composed of "selections [that] were drawn from UMBC's Special Collections as well as public and private collections," according to the library's website.

The posters in this exhibit are arranged to follow three themes, "Pleasure & Leisure, Politics & Propaganda, and Commercial Advertising." Some of the most familiar works of art are found within the "Politics & Propaganda" section, which includes pieces like the Uncle Sam "want[s] YOU for U.S. Army" poster, as well as a poster depicting U.S. President Barack Obama, with the words "Yes We Did" written in a banner across the top of the image. This group also includes several WWI and II posters, ranging from images promoting the Red Cross to a particularly shocking image of an arm clad in a Nazi uniform holding a knife through a Bible, entitled "This Is The Enemy." Foreign propaganda posters and images from the Vietnam War era are also housed within this group.