November 6

"There is no single article that illustrates more aptly the playfulness of the cultural impulse than the periwig as worn in the seventeenth an eighteenth centuries."

--Dutch historian Johan Huizinga, in his "Homo Ludens"; image from

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Five things learned from Hillary Clinton's trip - Laura Rozen, Politico:


"Secretary Clinton, like candidate Clinton, tries to win over audiences with her homework and her obvious command of policy substance, as well as with her ability to connect on a personal level. She also tactically deploys the odd flash of authenticity, lowering her voice to speak 'frankly' and get real. In a complex environment like Pakistan or the Middle East, such efforts sometimes backfire, or at least counteract the rest of her major public diplomacy message du jour. But with Clinton, ever aware that her audience is both domestic and international, it’s hard to know how much such misfires may be unintentional — or not." Image from

Graphs, Cold War Deer, Evaluating Hillary, An Armey of Tea Baggers, and Rubio - 2parse.com: Evaluating Hillary. "Joe Klein has a balanced and insightful evaluation of Hillary Clinton’s tenure as Secretary of State. It is a bit early – as he acknowledges. But while the piece is worthwhile, he gives too little credit for the positive progress made by Hillary and the Obama administration in checking the deterioration of U.S. interests around the world, especially with regards to public diplomacy."

The Role of Humanitarians in Government: Perspectives on Advocacy and Impact - Sierra Express Media (blog): Eric P. Schwartz, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, Brookings Institute, Washington, DC:

"[H]umanitarians in government must raise the profile of our work – among our colleagues in government, within the Congress, and among civil society and the public at large. Public awareness of our issues is a critical pre-requisite to political support for international humanitarian objectives. We must engage in more vigorous public affairs and public diplomacy, information-sharing with Congress and the NGO community, and travel to regions of the world where key humanitarian issues are implicated." Schwartz image from

What Obama Should Say to North Korea: The president's visit to Seoul is an opportunity to speak out on human rights - Melanie Kirkpatrick, Wall Street Journal: "When he's in Seoul this month, Mr. Obama could meet with refugees and hear their horror stories of life in their homeland. Even better, he could visit the offices of Radio Free Asia, Voice of America or Free North Korea Radio (run by refugees) and broadcast a message of support to the North Korean people themselves."

Ambassador Todd Welcomes MFAT's Participation In IVLP - Bru Direct: "Hajah Fauziah Haji Abdul Hamid, Acting Senior Special Duties Officer, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT), is currently in the United States as part of a US State Department-sponsored International Visitor Leadership Programme (IVLP). … US Ambassador [William E.] Todd

said, 'I am pleased that Hajah Fauziah was selected for this important and very timely programme. Asean has increased focus and attention on human rights and I believe this programme will be of benefit to both Hajah Fauziah and Brunei. The State Department's fully sponsored IVLP is an important part of our public diplomacy programme globally, regionally, and in Brunei.' … The IVLP programme is an all-expense-paid trip supported by the US Department of State. Hajah Fauziah will join 10 other participants from Asean member countries with varying backgrounds. The participants will include members of local human rights organisations, academics, journalists and other members of civil society involved in human rights issues." Todd image from

Pesta Blogger 2009: Broadening the scope of Public Diplomacy - Madhurjya Kotoky, The Public Diplomacy Blog: "As we discuss the need & possibility of broadening the understanding of Public Diplomacy in India, there have been some interesting developments around the world with PD 2.0

worth taking note of. Last week, I received this interesting bit of information from the US state department that the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, is sponsoring Pesta Blogger 2009 - Indonesia’s only national-level bloggers’ gathering for the second consecutive year." Image from

Cinema diplomacy failing? - Jenny Schuch, 2nd Parallel South: Life working in Sumatra and other excursions. "With the movies at the local theatre only $1 on weeknights it has quickly turned into a fun, budget friendly, language/culture lesson for me. The theatre actually frequently has American movies passing through- always at least a year after they came out in the US- and after seeing a couple I think I have figured out why the American stereotype here is so extremely Hollywood-centered. In a city that gets very few, if any, tourists each year and is obviously outside of the US Embassy’s Public Diplomacy reaches, these cheap movies that make it to the theatre in Sumatra are really one of very few representations of American culture and people."

Culture's Purpose and the Work of Cultural Diplomacy Conference – John Brown, Notes & Essays: An account of the conference, held at American University on November 5.

The blog notes that “[a]ll too often discussions (and appreciations) of cultural diplomacy omit one of its key elements: that it's meant to be a joyful and pleasurable activity . ... In contrast to the more 'serious' sides of public diplomacy (e.g., being an arm of national security), cultural diplomacy is at heart a playful, often unpredictable, enterprise, one that appeals to the homo ludens element of our humanity; play being, according to the noted Dutch historian Johan Huizinga, 'primary to, and ... a necessary (though not sufficient) condition of the generation of culture.'" Image from conference announcement

Quoting history: engaging in the information sphere - Matt Armstrong, MountainRunner.us: "Years ago, the House Appropriations Committee opened an inquiry into 'cultural diplomacy.' The response from the Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs at the time was that it was a necessary response to the 'enormous sums' our adversary was spending on propaganda, 'possibly more than the rest of the world combined.'”

Research Announcement - email to PDPBR compiler from Aimee Fullman Consultant, Development, Arts and Cultural Policy, Globalscope-Developé:

"The Robert Sterling Clark Foundation has released the second publication in its Series on International Cultural Engagement, 'The Art of Engagement: Trends in U.S. Cultural Exchange and International Programming.' This document presents an overview of the results from the International Programming and Cultural Exchange Survey administered between September 2007 and June 2008. 134 artists and organizations representing 12 arts disciplines and the humanities weighed in on challenges, impact, and lessons learned from their experiences with international cultural exchange. ... Further information about this initiative and the U.S. Public and Cultural Diplomacy Timeline 1999-2009 is available at. The Timeline will be included as part of the 2009 Winter Journal of Art, Management, Law and Society-the online version." Image from

'We were looking for cracks in the façade' - The Local: ‎ "As a public affairs officer for the US Embassy in East Berlin just before the Berlin Wall fell, Peter Claussen

had a unique view of life in the German Democratic Republic. The Local spoke with him about how he remembers the historic time. … [Q:] Would you describe any of the public diplomacy work or cultural programmes you proposed as edgy or objectionable to East German authorities? [A:] Not on the face of it. We were essentially looking for cracks in the façade - organisations, institutes, offices or schools that seemed more amenable to the kinds of things we had to offer. [Q:] How closely connected with intelligence gathering was this? [A:] It’s a fine line, but in the organisation I was working for there was a very strict line between that and the kind of cultural work we were doing – it was deliberate, there was nothing clandestine about it. That was part of being a cultural diplomat – to establish clearly and convincingly that this is what you did for a living, and not the other." Claussen image from article

20 years after: The world, a wall, the Cold War and triumph of will - The Guardian, Nigeria: "Activities marking the fall of the Berlin Wall, the symbol of the Cold War era, will peak on Monday, the 20th anniversary of the triumph of will over human-erected obstacles. ... In the U.S., the German Embassy is coordinating a public diplomacy campaign with the motto 'Freedom Without Walls' to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Wall. The campaign is focused on promoting awareness among current university students, and students at over 20 universities will participate in 'Freedom Without Walls' events in late 2009."

El cielo sobre Berlín

- Felipe Santos, diplomacia pública: A blog in spanish by Felipe Santos on Public Diplomacy, Smart Power and the common ground shared by Strategic Communication, Politics, Diplomacy, Security and Defense. Image from article.

British Council’s 75th birthday - David Miliband, Britishcouncilvoices: "In 1936 The British Council’s Chairman William Tyrrell defined the Council’s role as 'removing misunderstanding and promoting understanding'. Today, public diplomacy is arguably more important than ever. Citizens are more literate and more informed. They are connected to the outside world through trade, media and travel; more able to communicate with each other, to organise, to hold power to account, and to exert influence over political decision making. This is not just true in established democracies – public opinion also constrains more authoritarian leaders. So if we are to promote our values and influence our world in the 21st century, we must renew our soft power."

Diplomacy or credibility? ABC director will have to decide in his plans for Australian international broadcasting (updated) - Kim Andrew Elliott discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy

Voice of Russia wholeheartedly congratulated for glorious 80th anniversary! - Kim Andrew Elliott discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy

Fighting Iran on the high seas - Yaakow Katz, Jerusalem Post: "[T]he seizure [of ships in an ‘international battle that Israel is waging to win the war against weapons smuggling in the Mediterranean’] ... helps Israel ... with its public diplomacy efforts."

How to score a spot on Obama's arts team - Pia Catton, Politico:

"It’s not like being named the ambassador to London or Paris, but an appointment to the President’s Committee on Arts and Humanities is one of the cushier rewards for supporting a presidential candidate. ... Committee Co-Chairwoman Margo Lion is in the Harvard Public Diplomacy Collaborative." Image from article: This social map illustrates what PCAH members have in common, from Harvard University to the Aspen Institute to Hollywood.

Pioneering Public Diplomacy Advert – Paul Rockower, Levantine:

"This is the new Public Diplomacy Magazine advertisement, designed by Matt Schrader and moi, and used for ad swaps with other journals." Image from article

Internal/External Communication Specialist - jamiiforums.com: "The US Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) is seeking an individual for the position of Internal/External Communication Specialist. ... MAJOR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: ... Work with Public Affairs colleagues and the Office of the PEPFAR Country Coordinator to leverage interagency opportunities such as the new PEPFAR Tanzania Voluntary Visitor Program, Ambassador’s Small Grants Programs, U.S. Guest Speaker Program, the Performing Arts Initiative and the Sports Envoy Program. ... Attend Public Affairs/Public Diplomacy weekly staff meetings and participate in other interagency processes involving communication issues."

RELATED ITEMS

Young Russians’ About-Face From the West: When the Berlin Wall fell, young Russians clamored for all things Western. Now they rail against anything that is - Owen Matthews and Anna Nemtsova - Newsweek Web Exclusive

Reviews Raise Doubt on Training of Afghan Forces - Thom Shanker and John H. Cushman Jr. – New York Times: A series of internal government reviews have presented the Obama administration with a dire portrait of Afghanistan’s military and police force, bringing into serious question an ambitious goal at the heart of the evolving American war strategy -- to speed up their training and send many more Afghans to the fight. Below image: Afghans attacking the retreating British and Indian army


Obama's Unrealistic Afghan Assumptions Before the surge, Iraq's Maliki also wasn't considered credible - Elise Jordan, Wall Street journal: Mr. Obama who must now prove himself through deeds, not words. A military strategy that would reinforce the message that the U.S. will not abandon Afghans would do a lot of good. A renewed commitment from Mr. Obama would bolster U.S. efforts on the ground in Afghanistan and help our credibility in Pakistan.

Warlords R Us - Arnaud de Borchgrave, Washington Times: The key lies in Pakistan. Almost all terrorist trails in Europe lead back to Pakistan - and its madrassas. These are the free Koranic schools that have stepped into the vacuum of no education system for the poor as the military take up 50 percent of government revenue. A fraction of what the U.S. has spent in Iraq and Afghanistan would go a long way to turning Pakistan around.

Bunkers or Breakthrough?- Roger Cohen, New York Times: The Islamic Republic needs to move on. It has sullied and weakened itself in recent months. It needs to put an end to the paralyzing behind-the-scenes fight over who would claim credit for any rapprochement with America.

Tehran gains time: How much longer should the Obama administration tolerate the regime's intransigence? – Editorial, Washington Post: The Obama administration and European governments have set the end of the year as a deadline for the transfer of the uranium out of Iran and for progress in the overall negotiations. But the administration must consider whether it makes sense to grant the regime two more months of grace.

The War Against the War on Terrorism: Italy convicts U.S. spooks for carrying out Italian policy – Wall Street Journal: Armando Spataro

cut his teeth as a prosecutor hunting down Red Brigade terrorists in Italy. But Wednesday in Milan he secured the conviction of 23 Americans charged with kidnapping and spiriting out of the country Osama Mustafa Hassan Nasr in 2003. Their conviction and sentencing -- in absentia -- is one more dubious milestone in the legal war against the war on terror. Spataro image from

The right place to try terrorists - Michael B. Mukasey, Washington Post: The very transfer of prisoners from Guantanamo to this country has consequences. The question of what constitutional rights may apply to aliens in government custody is unsettled, but it is clear from existing jurisprudence that physical presence in the United States would be a significant, if not a decisive, factor.

Italy got it right: CIA renditions are wrong - The conviction of 23 Americans in the abduction of Muslim cleric Abu Omar may be largely symbolic, but it sends an important message to the Obama administration, Editorial, Los Angeles Times

Obama must stand firm on Honduras crisis: A U.S.-brokered deal to return ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya to office is unraveling, and the Obama administration seems to be wavering – Editorial, Los Angeles Times. Below image from


Ideologues hijack a compromise- Edward Schumacher-Matos, Washington Post: Opposing a U.S.-brokered agreement reached a week ago by Hondurans to defuse the crisis, the senators, led by South Carolina's Jim DeMint, have been grandstanding on principles that have little to do with reality, contributing to looming chaos in that Central American country and undermining U.S. policy in the region.