December 17

"That man's silence is wonderful to listen to."

—Thomas Hardy, English novelist and poet, "Under the Greenwood Tree," 1872; image from

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Remarks At Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for SA-5 Hillary Rodham Clinton Secretary of State Judith A. McHale Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Annex Building Washington, DC December 16, 2009, U.S. Department of State: Clinton: "I want to thank also everyone who has helped to make this move possible. Maura Pally and Jeremy Curtin, thank you for your leadership in this transition. And we now have 900-plus combined staff from ECA, IIP, R, PPR, L, PD, GSEC. I must say that when I was working on my confirmation hearings and ran into all of these alphabetical descriptions, I was thrown for a loop. Now, what R has to do with public diplomacy is something that we’ve never figured out. (Laughter.)

But what I do know is that some of the most important work that we do here at the State Department and in our posts around the world on behalf of our values and our interests and our security is really in your hands. This is absolutely one of my highest priorities – to do a better job of integrating policymaking and public diplomacy. I think telling America’s story is something that we need to do every single day. We did it quite well during the Cold War and then we dropped off because we thought, well, Cold War is over, Soviet Union has dissolved, everybody should know that democracy and human rights and individual freedom and liberty is self-evidently the way of the future. Well, we’ve learned that we cannot rest. ... Now, it’s my pleasure to cut this ribbon symbolizing the formal inauguration of State Department Annex 5. Now, we have to think of a different name. (Laughter.) ... As Judith McHale can tell you, one of our early conclusions after looking at the situation in both Afghanistan and Pakistan is that we have really fallen down on the job. We were being outrun by the Taliban in getting a story out. They were using all kinds of platforms – FM radio stations on the back of motorcycles – they were getting their message out, and we weren’t. And here we are, this extraordinary, powerful society with all of the tools that are needed, and we had to do a better job. And so I think that’s just one example of why what you’re doing is literally critical to everything that the Obama Administration is attempting to accomplish." Image from

Turning away - James M. Lindsay, Baltimore Sun: "[O]pposition to American activism overseas has grown. Today, 49 percent agree that the United States should mind its own business overseas, compared with 42 percent who disagree. This is the first time that a plurality of Americans has said that the United States should mind its own business abroad. ... Today, 44 percent of Americans agree that it should. This is a 16-point jump since the question was last asked in 2005. It is 10 points higher than the previous high, recorded in 1995. ... Mr. Obama has yet to show that his multilateral diplomacy works. The public believes he has improved America's image in the world. The percentage saying that America is less respected in the world has fallen 14 points compared to a year ago. But he still has no diplomatic breakthroughs to point to."

A Matter of Competency - Patricia H. Kushlis, Whirled View:

"Unfortunately, administration after administration regardless of political party seems to think that 'cushy' Ambassadorial positions complete with free house, staff, car and driver are fit payment for campaign fundraising support – often as paybacks for 'bundling money.' ... Two decades of almost relentless downsizing and contracting out, the needless and deleterious consolidation of two independent agencies into the State Department in the late 1990s in the name of – well placating the late Jesse Helms, the then isolationist Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee - and the total lack of oversight of a Human Resources operation that has run amok does not bode well for success in fulfilling today's difficult mission. ... Let’s also not forget the continuing fortress Embassy construction that – as we and others have pointed out to no avail – will simply do to America what Osama bin Laden and Dr. Zawahari most desire: to make it far more difficult for official US representatives to connect with the people in whatever country these Crusader Castle Embassies are built." Image from

Associate dean selected to serve on Obama-Medvedev Commission - Penn State Live: "Jacqueline Edmondson, associate dean for undergraduate and graduate studies at Penn State, has been selected to serve as a member of the Obama-Medvedev Commission. The Commission, officially known as the U.S.-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission, was announced July 6, by U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev during Obama's visit to Moscow. …

Edmondson is one of 17 U.S. officials and experts chosen to the Commission’s Working Group on Education, Culture, Sports, and Media, one of 16 working groups created under the initiative. She and her American colleagues traveled to Moscow from Dec. 7 to 9, for bilateral meetings with their Russian counterparts. The American delegation was led by U.S. Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Judith A. McHale. … In elementary, secondary and higher education, the parties intend to develop new educational and research initiatives in science, language acquisition and proficiency, teacher education and professional development. The group also intends to expand existing exchange mechanisms such as the Fulbright Program and university partnerships. In culture, the participants hope to develop events in both countries to celebrate the traditions, accomplishments and aspirations. They also will examine innovative use of the Internet to convey the dynamism of the cultures to students in both countries. In sports, the group plans to initiate a pilot exchange of young nonprofessional student athletes in several team sports, including hockey, basketball, beach volleyball and swimming, with possible future expansion into other sports. The participants also will continue discussions to identify areas of cooperation in media." Image from

Some funding restored for political lightning rod TV Martí - Kim Andrew Elliott discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy

VOA reporter detained in Cabinda, and other VOA in the news - Kim Andrew Elliott discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy

H.J.Res. 64: Making further continuing appropriations for fiscal year 2010, and for other purposes By Rep. Obey, David R. Committee on Appropriations - Let D.C. Know: "H.J. Res. 64 would extend the current continuing resolution (CR) that was originally passed on October 29, 2009, by a vote of 247-178, from December 18, 2009 to December 23, 2009. The CR extends funding for the government through December 23, 2009, at current FY 2009 levels, including all supplemental appropriation levels for defense in 2009, and includes provisions contained in the original CR. Provision extended in the CR include: ... • Extends the United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy."

Refugee diplomacy is listening not propaganda - Examiner.com: "Søren Jessen-Petersen, former Assistant High Commissioner for Refugees with the UNHCR and currently Head of Office for Independent Diplomat (ID), spoke with The Mantle at ID’s Washington D.C. offices last month about the values-based approach that tomorrow’s public diplomacy will require. ... Identifying humility, respect, honesty and integrity as fundamental values for any person engaged in public diplomacy, Jessen-Petersen suggests that future iplomatic practitioners stand to learn much more if they are willing to listen

to the needs of those that they’re trying to help first. 'Respect means listening,' Jessen-Petersen stressed. Expanding on this, he suggests that new methods of communications now available mean that governments need to change how they conduct their own public diplomacy too. 'Public diplomacy is not and should not be propaganda. It should be a way of respecting that you conduct diplomacy in a democracy. It shouldn’t be the exclusive responsibility of a little group.'" Image from

Конференция РМ АЕАС - aeac.livejournal.com: "On December 3-4, 2009, the annual Russian Youth Atlantic Treaty Association (YATA-Russia) Conference took place in Moscow under the theme 'Euro-Atlantic security in the face of the new challenges and threats'. ... The main goals of this conference are not only to discuss common threats and challenges but also common values and interests of all Euro-Atlantic community and to find new opportunities for development of NATO-Russia partnership without distrust and any concerns. This conference was also coincident with the first meeting of the renewed NATO-Russia Council. The conference was opened by the speech of Petr Lunak, Public Diplomacy Division, NATO HQ."

Social Media as a Platform for Dialogue in the Middle East - David Saranga, Huffington Post: The answer I gave to the New York Times correspondent one year ago is still valid today: ['] Since the definition of war has changed, the definition of public diplomacy has to change as well.

['] I was referring to the need of governments to adapt to progress. This answer is also true in times of peace: as the definition of the media has changed, now that social networks have emerged as a central source for information, governments and state leaders must embrace social networks and use them as a platform for conveying their messages in a direct and unmediated fashion. It is time for direct and frank dialogue between governments and global public opinion. Today this is a real possibility for leaders, and it lies directly at their fingertips, within reach of the keyboard. Saranga image from

Yaalon: Arabs resorting to propaganda after losing wars - Roni Sofer, Ynetnews: "Israel's Arab enemies have resorted to a propaganda campaign after realizing they cannot defeat the Jewish State on the battlefield, Deputy Prime Minister Moshe (Bogi) Yaalon says. ... Arab propaganda efforts had an effect mostly in Europe and in some parts of the United States, the deputy PM said. ... Yaalon said he believes that Israel's diplomats across the world are at fault for the current situation. 'For years we neglected public diplomacy. We haven't done enough,' he said. 'Not always those who represent us are worthy of representing us, especially when we examine the manner in which they do so. During my travels I encountered some people who simply cannot be representing us. This is why the government decided to travel and speak across the world. Ministers, including myself, are traveling abroad and explaining our position.'"

The key to opening Öcalan's prison lock: AK Party deputies of the East, Southeast - Today's Zaman: "[T]he AK Party [Justice and Development Party] deputies -- and especially those representing eastern and southeastern provinces -- must enter a period where their work pace matches that of Prime Minister Erdoğan, establish contact with regional opinion leaders and speak in a clear and open manner to our citizens of Kurdish descent

whose pain, caused by terror, they are trying to redress. If this public diplomacy can be accomplished in the field, if the deputies and party administrators can establish contact with all the people and understand the nature of these provocations that attempt to subvert democracy, then Turkey can easily overcome the turbulence that it has encountered, and the work of those who attempt to disable the democratic parliamentary system will be thwarted." Image from

RELATED ITEMS

Give Respect, Get Respect - ExpressJournalist, allvoices.com: Americans think they are masters

of the world. In past few months Pakistan has witnessed many incidents in which American embassy officials and other officials acted like masters and above the law of Pakistan. Image from, with following statement: "Although many people have claimed to be a Yo-Yo Master, there are only 13 Official Yo-Yo Masters worldwide. The directors of the National Yo-Yo League select these players based on skill, dedication, and ability to teach and spread the sport of yo-yos around the world. Of the 13 official National Yo-Yo Masters around the world, 10 live in the USA, and one in the Midwest....that's me!"

How partnering with the U.S. could strengthen Pakistan's sovereignty - David Ignatius, Washington Post: The Af-Pak wars may seem like a mad gamble, but if given the right strategic framework, they represent a common effort to create a stable structure for Central and South Asia in the 21st century. The payoff is immense, especially for Pakistan. To understand why this conflict makes sense, people need to see the big idea that lies behind it -- the stabilization of a lawless tribal region that has been causing trouble for 150 years.

The wrong way to cut greenhouse gases - David B. Rivkin Jr. and Lee A. Casey, latimes.com: A U.S. promise to unilaterally reduce CO2 will do nothing to spur developing economies to do the same.

Vows from the big non-Western carbon emitters must be secured first for real change to occur. Image from