November 9

“This is mass madness, you maniacs! In God’s name, you people are the real thing! We are the illusion! So turn off your television sets. Turn them off now. Turn them off right now. Turn them off and leave them off! Turn them off right in the middle of the sentence I’m speaking to you now! TURN THEM OFF…"

--"UBS Evening News" anchor Howard Beale, in the film Network; image from

NEW BOOK

Nicholas J. Cull, Public Diplomacy: Lessons from the Past (Figueroa Press, Los Angeles)

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY IN THE NEWS

Ringing the alarm - DAWN.com: ‎"There is an Alice in Wonderland quality to America’s dealings with Pakistan. Late last month, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Pakistan to undertake a highly visible campaign of public diplomacy to placate Pakistanis about their worst fears regarding the intentions of the US foreign-policy and security establishments. Then yesterday, The New Yorker published an article by Seymour Hersh that is sure to send chills through many here. The article is subtitled: ‘In an unstable Pakistan, can nuclear warheads be kept safe?’ Quoting unnamed senior US government and security officials, Mr Hersh reports:

‘[The Obama] Administration has been negotiating highly sensitive understandings with the Pakistani military. These would allow specially trained American units to provide added security for the Pakistani arsenal in case of a crisis.’ ... In all the recriminations over the ‘mixed signals’ that the Pakistani security establishment sends to the US in the fight against militancy, what is often overlooked is that the US, too, sends highly damaging signals to Pakistan and its people. The obsession with the ‘safety and security’ of Pakistan’s nuclear programme is as counter-productive to US-Pak relations as any issue can get." Image from

What's in a Name? - Sol Schindler, American Diplomacy: "The basic question is not whether we want public diplomacy. The question is to what end."

Toward a New Public Diplomacy: Redirecting U.S. Foreign Policy [review of Philip Seib, editor, Toward a New Public Diplomacy: Redirecting U.S. Foreign Policy New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009,ISBN: 978-0-230-61744-5, 257 pp. Trade Paperback, $30.00; Hardcover, $90.00] - John H. Brown, American Diplomacy:

"[T]he main message of the book — that PD is in deep trouble and needs to be redirected — has been the subject of dozens of reports and countless other publications in recent years, including by some of the distinguished authors of this volume."

The Backlash Against Cultural Diplomacy – John Brown, Huffington Post: "While it can always use rejuvenation and must avoid becoming propagandistic, cultural diplomacy remains as important as ever."

How much spin can one take? - Jaxiecracks, Sis 640 Communiacs:

The Creative Domain Of The Fall 2009 Sis 640 [Au]: "[M]aybe what we really need is a more structural approach to winning over hearts and minds. Perhaps we should be targeting our public diplomacy efforts less on getting people to like or love America, and more on getting them to tap into the ideas and beliefs already present in their culture that underscore social and institutional structures that are in line with American ideologies." Image from Spin-Art Gallery

A World Without Walls – ISN Blog: "Meir Shlomo, the Strategic Adviser of the Public Diplomacy Division of the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Israel, outlined Israel’s strategy to promote a more positive picture in the world. He clearly answered a question from the audience regarding the wall between Israel and Palestine: It helped to keep terrorists out, and that means it’s necessary."

RELATED ITEMS

Thinking through the sales pitch: There is an obligation by citizens to ask the crucial questions about war - Susan A. Brewer, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Now, after years of war in Afghanistan, U.S. leaders reassess the mission. If President Barack Obama were to follow in the tradition set by many of his predecessors, he would announce a decisive policy that promised progress and victory. But, as much as the American people might like to be told there is a simple solution to the complex problems confronting the United States in Afghanistan, they know better. Image from

Who Caused the End of the Cold War? – Joseph Nye, Huffington Post: The lessons for today are clear. While military power remains important, and Reagan's rhetoric played some role, it is a mistake for any country to discount the role of economic power and soft power.

Four Little Words: Reagan deliberately confronted criminal regimes with what they fear most: the publicly spoken truth about their moral weakness - Anthony R. Dolan, Wall Street Journal: Reagan spoke formally and repeatedly of deploying against criminal regimes the one weapon they fear more than military or economic sanction: the publicly-spoken truth about their moral absurdity, their ontological weakness. This was the sort of moral confrontation, as countless dissidents and resisters have noted, that makes these regimes conciliatory, precisely because it heartens those whom they fear most—their own oppressed people.

Reagan's understanding that rhetorical confrontation causes geopolitical conciliation led in no small part to the wall's collapse 20 years ago today. Image from

Mr. Obama, stay away from this wall: Democrats tried to thwart Reagan's Cold War vision – Editorial, Washington Times: Some have criticized President Obama for not visiting Berlin to commemorate this historic moment, but he made the right choice. Mr. Obama should not attempt to associate himself with that historic moment, when a man with vision had the ability to see the future and the courage to realize it.

Hitler: football coach?

The Scottish veterans charity Erskine surveyed 2,000 young people between the ages of nine and 15 about World War I and II. Apparently, five percent thought that Hitler was a German football coach;

sixteen percent believed that Auschwitz is a WWII theme park; five percent said the Holocaust was a bash to celebrate the war's end. (STV News). Cited in Boing Boing. Image from