November 30

"There is only one way out of Afghanistan: We need a BIGGER and more dangerous enemy somewhere else. For the sake of innocent victims we might kill or injure on this planet and for the sake of civlization in general, I vote for attacking space aliens in the farthest reaches of the Galaxy. The technological innovation necessary for such an undertaking and the amounts of money to be made in the defense industry makes that a win for eve[r]yone."

--joeneri, commenting on a piece in the Huffington Post regarding President Obama's Afghan war plans; image from

AN OBSERVATION BY YOUR PDPBR COMPILER


Coverage of public diplomacy in the media has declined considerably in recent days; so enjoy, at least, the pictures below!; above image from

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Thanks Al - Matt Armstrong, MuntainRunner.u.s.: "If you’re new to http://www.mountainrunner.us/ via Al Kamen’s In the Loop, welcome and browse a while. By the way, Kamen was referring to this post Fresh Start for the Broadcasting Board of Governors when he cited me and this blog. Michael Meehan, like other BBG nominees, was previously nominated to the Board by President George W. Bush. The (informal) link between the BBG and State Department’s public diplomacy office may potentially benefit State’s public diplomacy efforts."

Israel's Frozen Chutzpah - Emmanuel Navon, For the Sake of Zion: "Israel should not have announced a settlement freeze without demanding that the PA finally fulfills its most basic commitments under the Oslo Agreements, after systematically violating them for the past sixteen years.

Likewise, Israel could have used the public diplomacy card by pointing out to Barack Obama's double standards when in comes to his alleged commitment to human rights. During his recent trip to Asia, Obama shamefully let China and Myanmar get away with their human rights violations. While in China, Obama said that America believes fundamental human freedoms are universal; but he refrained from openly saying that China does not respect those very freedoms." Image from

EU's quiet diplomat steps aside after 10 years - Andrew Rettman, EUobserver.com: "EU foreign relations chief Javier Solana, who retires this week, will be remembered as a master of quiet, behind-the-scenes diplomacy. But campaigners say he should have done more to put human rights at the forefront of his work. ... Human Rights Watch advocate Lotte Leicht [said] ... [h]e may deliver a tough message in behind-closed-doors talks with world leaders, for all we know, she added. But he has not put human rights at the heart of the EU's identity in a public way. 'In terms of quiet diplomacy he has probably performed quite well. But in terms of public diplomacy he has not,' Ms Lotte said. 'It's a missed opportunity.'"

Work Agenda - Andy Carling, Brussels Agenda: 3 Dec - "Speaking With One Voice: what public diplomacy for the EU? 18:45 to 20:00, The Centre, 22, Avenue Marnix The Centre is hosting a debate on EU foreign policy post-Lisbon

and new opportunities to engage with third countries with Jamie Shea, Director Policy Planning at NATO, and Steven Everts, Personal Representative of Javier Solana for energy and foreign policy." Image from

U.S. Embassy in Colombo on the expression out for new media help - jcptypoi: “The U.S.A. Embassy in Colombo holds positioned out an advert for a new media assistant I conceive it Holds the first diplomatic mission in Democratic socialist republic of sri lanka to expressly name for a place that prosecutes with new media, proposing the turning importance of public diplomacy leveraging the web and Mobile postwar.”

RELATED ITEMS

The US "war on the internet" – Blog from the Middle East: The US "war on the internet" information below is just the tip of a terrible iceberg, rarely even mentioned, much less examined by US mainstream media.

Total surveillance and control of information and communications is central and essential to the phony 'war on terror' --- a state terror war for global domination as so much of the world on the deadly receiving end knows. Image from

White House emphasizes the positive in Afghanistan:In the run-up to Obama's expected troop-increase announcement, administration officials praise the Afghan government for progress in crucial areas - Paul Richter, latimes.com

Defend the defensible - Larry Franklin, Washington Times:

Ultimately, only President Obama can decide whether our interest is so compelling as to demand the continued sacrifice of our blood and treasure in Afghanistan. It is on him. The president would do well to read the memoirs of 19th century veterans of Britain's Afghan wars before granting our commanders their requests for additional troops. This swamp cannot be drained. Image from

Europe Is Missing the Action in Afghanistan: NATO secretary-general Anders Fogh Rasmussen would like to see the Allies 'allowing for more flexibility in the use of their forces' - Daniel Schwammenthal, Wall Street Journal: Rather than dispatching more combat troops, the mood in Europe (and increasingly in the U.S.) is to find some sort of exit strategy.

The Arabs Have Stopped Applauding Obama: A foreign policy of penance has won America no friends – Foujad Ajami, Wall Street Journal:

No one told Mr. Obama that the Islamic world, where American power is engaged and so dangerously exposed, it is considered bad form, nay a great moral lapse, to speak ill of one's own tribe when in the midst, and in the lands, of others. The laws of gravity, the weight of history and of precedent, have caught up with the Obama presidency. We are beyond stirring speeches. Image from

In Elections, Honduras Defeats Chávez: The tiny country beats back the colonial aspirations of its neighbors – Mary Anastasia O’Grady, Wall Street Journal: Unless something monumental happens in the Western Hemisphere in the next 31 days, the big regional story for 2009 will be how tiny Honduras managed to beat back the colonial aspirations of its most powerful neighbors and preserve its constitution. Yesterday's elections for president and Congress, held as scheduled and without incident, were the crowning achievement of that struggle. The fact that the U.S. has said it will recognize their legitimacy shows that this reality eventually made its way to the White House.

The impossible dream, again - Everett 'Ted' Ellis Briggs, Washington Times:


Cuba remains a cancer in the Western Hemisphere. With help from Venezuela and radical Arab states, it has resumed spreading virulent anti-American propaganda, most recently accusing the United States of genocide against Cuba.

Enlarging NATO, Expanding Confusion - Mary Elise Sarotte, New York Times:
Twenty years ago, dictatorships across Central and Eastern Europe toppled. During this season of remembering, the focus has rightly been on celebration of the new freedoms gained by the inhabitants of those countries: to speak freely, to travel, to vote and to choose their own national futures and alliances. Yet the legacy of 1989 has difficult aspects as well, mostly centering on the origins and legitimacy of later NATO expansion to former East German and Warsaw Pact territory; acknowledgment of them by the United States could greatly improve American and Russian relations.

How to Study a Superpower: Experts guided policy, then turned against it [Review of Know Your Enemy by David C. Engerman] - Arch Puddington, Wall Street Journal:

The idea that a historian must check his moral outrage at the door was no more relevant to the study of communism than to the study of Hitlerism. That many, perhaps most, Soviet specialists did not understand this obvious truth at the end of the Cold War ranks among the great intellectual scandals of our time.