December 28

“the Big Zero”

--Economist Paul Krugman’s name for the past decade, "in which we achieved nothing and learned nothing”; image "what to call this decade?" from

“the '00s'”

-- Howard Kurtz, Washington Post Staff Writer, identifying the first years of the 21st century, an “unmitigated bummer” for the traditional media

“Awful Aughts”

--Kurtz again, characterizing the past ten years we have “lived through”

“Decade from Hell"

--Time Magazine on America since the beginning of the new century

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Can U.S. Baseball Diplomacy Get the Save in Nicaragua? - Tim Rogers, Time: "Last month, 56 U.S. softball players traveled to Cuba for a series of goodwill games that probably did more for America's public image on the island than any single political effort over the past 50 years. And in Nicaragua, where political relations with the U.S. have frayed ever since former revolutionary Daniel Ortega came back to power in 2007, U.S. Ambassador Robert Callahan

has discovered he can do some of his best work wearing a baseball mitt. ‘I think the State Department is coming to realize, belatedly, that [baseball] can be a very effective tool in public diplomacy,’ Callahan told TIME. In the case of the U.S. and Nicaragua, he said, ‘of all the things that unite us, I think the great sport of baseball is the most important.’ ... Sometimes, of course, baseball and politics don't mix. When U.S. Public Diplomacy Envoy Cal Ripken Jr. visited Nicaragua last year, the Hall of Fame shortstop was forced to cut short his baseball clinics due to post-electoral political riots. But that hasn't soured interest in developing baseball here.” Image -- U.S. Ambassador Robert Callahan bats during a softball game -- from article

Image from

James Zogby on another year, another $112 million for Alhurra - Kim Andrew Elliott discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy: "'The US government-funded TV network Al Hurra was intended to be an important component of American efforts to win hearts and minds in the Arab world. It was a bad idea when it was launched in 2004. It has failed, and yet it won’t die. This month the US Congress approved another $112 million to fund al Hurra in 2010, making the 'bad idea’s' cost to date for American taxpayers more than $650 million. ... [T]here was no US version of the BBC, a respected international brand with a seasoned staff of professionals. The BBC would have an easier time launching an Arabic channel and having it accepted as a serious news operation: that is what it is known for and what it does well. The US, on the other hand, has no such organisation and would therefore be creating one 'out of whole cloth'. And it would no doubt be seen as a propaganda effort – since that, quite simply, was what it was intended to be. ... At one point I was called by staffers from the Senate committee that was holding hearings on launching and funding this 'bad idea'. I said I would be delighted to give my views. A few days later I was contacted again to provide a preview of my take on this venture. I stated my case (the same arguments I have presented here) and suggested that instead of wasting $100 million a year, it might be better to create a fund to encourage public/private co-production arrangements between Arab and US networks and other opportunities for Arab network journalists to work with American counterparts; this would cost less and be of greater benefit. But the committee had already made up its mind to go forward with Al Hurra, and I was not asked to give evidence.' John Zogby, The National (Abu Dhabi), 26 December 2009.

[Elliott comment:] Arabic is an obvious target language for US international broadcasting. And television is the obvious medium to reach that audience. It would be great if CNN had extended its Arabic-language website into television, but they must have looked at the numbers and determined that it couldn't be profitable. And, so, the US Arabic channel must be US government funded. It wasn't created 'out of whole cloth.' The VOA Arabic Service, though never nearly as popular as BBC Arabic, was substantial and contributed some of its talent to Alhurra and to Radio Sawa. Was Alhurra intended 'quite simply' to be a propaganda effort? Early Alhurra management did the channel no favors by talking about objective news in one breath, and about promoting freedom and democracy in the next. But all BBG entities must abide by sound journalistic guidelines which cannot casually be dismissed and, without which, they would have no audience. So far, Alhurra audience numbers have not been bad. (See previous post.) The big question is how well Alhurra will be able to compete with the new BBC Arabic television channel, now that the latter is becoming established." Image from Alhurra Bleeding Viewers, Poll Finds, But Spending is Up by Dafna Linzer, ProPublica (May 29, 2009)

Al Hurra TV fails the propaganda test for Arabs - Ziad Sardawi, Dubai, Letter to the Editor, The National: "In reference to Dr James Zogby’s opinion article A $100m bad idea then, a $650m bad idea now (December 27[)], I think this is exactly what sprung to every Arab’s mind when they first saw the US government-funded TV channel Al Hurra. Why have they wasted their money? The channel screams propaganda that the Arab world does not need at this point and quite frankly has had enough of. If anything, the channel does more harm than good. It belittles Arabs and offends us. If only the American government would start to listen to the right kind of Arab Americans, there would be many benefits to both sides and many tragedies would have been avoided. Al Hurra is a huge failure."

Fox is "suspiciously more informed" about bid to release abducted Israeli soldier" - Kim Andrew Elliott discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy: "Alhurra also had an early scoop involving the possible release of Gilad Schalit."

What does this video have to do with Public Diplomacy 2.0? - Wandren PD: "The run-in to the Christmas break has seen the production of numerous pieces about Gov 2.0 and PD 2.0.

As comments on them have got a little long I’ve attached them here rather than have an overly long blog post. Many of these have been hot on the potential of ‘new’ tools but less clear on what they think the ’network’ in social networks might mean and how this would influence the development of strategy. If PD 2.0 is to make serious progress attention will have to be given to understanding the networks with which PD engages, not just the tools through which that engagement takes place. ... Ultimately, understanding different types of networks with which PD 2.0 will engage is an important part of developing strategy and understanding what does ‘many to many’ mean?." Image from Wandren PD homepage heading

First day on the job in Baghdad - cheesetoasters, Where the Wombats Are: "Today was my first official day at work

and I am exhausted and ecstatic! I met most of the staff (though not the Iraqi nationals as today was Ashoura – a Shi’a holiday) and they all seem very bright and friendly. I did a bunch of boring HR stuff, had brief visits with a number of my colleagues, then had meaty meetings with two of my big bosses about the direction of public diplomacy in Iraq and my role in it. They were extremely encouraging – not only because both men are very wise and savvy, but also because I got the impression that there will probably be adequate funding for the things I might think are important, and they both suggested that they didn’t need or want to supervise too closely but that I could really operate very independently." Image from

Nigerian Carver, Fakeye, South African Writer, Brutus, Pass On - Tajudeen Sowole, The Guardian, Nigeria: "The global art community lost two of its eminent members in the past three days. Master carver, Lamidi Olonade Fakeye died on Friday in Ile Ife, Osun State ... . About 48 years after he had a solo show at the British Council in Lagos, Fakeye,

a member of the fifth generation Fakeye carvers dynasty of Ila Orangun had his last solo art exhibition last year in Lagos. ... During the exhibition, Public Diplomacy Officer of the Public Affairs Section of the US, Lagos, Marylou Johnson-Pizarro recalled that she first got in touch with Fakeye's works through the USIS Office in Ibadan where the artist's works, collected by the US mission in Nigeria since the 1960s were mounted. 'I can't remember seeing any of his works at exhibitions in any gallery. But I am very familiar with his works. His works collected then by the USIS in the 1960s, are still in our Ibadan office. Through his works, I have known more about Nigerian, particularly Yoruba culture,' Johnson-Pizarro said." Lamidi Olonade Fakeye image from

RELATED ITEMS

Truthers @USArmyAfrica? - Michael Goldfarb, Weekly Standard: We've noticed some fairly bizarre twitterings from the official feed for the U.S. Army's Africa Command. Among them is a tweet sending @USArmyAfrica followers to an article on the website of truther in chief Alex Jones titled "Foiled Terrorist Bombing in Detroit: An Excuse to Expand the Bogus War On Terror." Another tweet this morning sent followers to an article titled "Oil lust or war on terror? Nigerian airplane bomber raises some questions" . ... THE WEEKLY STANDARD has another question: who is updating the US Army Africa twitter feed? Has it been hacked by some crackpot truther [?] ... . Another question we have for Africa Command is what value a Twitter feed has for a continent where more than half the population doesn't even have access to electricity let alone high-speed Internet (the feed has just 2,483 followers) -- and for those Africans who are following the feed, what message does the US Army Africa hope to send them with links to conspiratorial websites that impute the worst possible motives to the American government in general and Africa Command in particular?

Afghanistan: What Could Work- Rory Stewart, New York Review of Books: Obama has acquired leverage over the generals and some support from the public by making it clear that he will not increase troop strength further. He has gained leverage over Karzai by showing that he has options other than investing in Afghanistan. Now he needs to regain leverage over the Taliban by showing them that he is not about to abandon Afghanistan and that their best option is to negotiate. In short, he needs to follow his argument for a call strategy to its conclusion. The date of withdrawal should be recast as a time for reduction to a lighter, more sustainable, and more permanent presence. Below image from

No Chance Obama’s War in Afghanistan Will Succeed - Sherwood Ross, laprogressive.com:If Afghans are dying by the thousands and Pakistanis have become refugees by the millions to ensure Obama’s political survival, the U.S. has lost any vestige of moral authority. Is it thinkable to ask what if the purpose of the war is not “victory” but to keep the engines of the military-industrial complex humming? Via TH.

Spirit of America in Afghanistan: Ordinary citizens can contribute to our victory - Jim Hake, Wall Street Journal: For the past six years, Spirit of America,

the group I head, has supported our troops' humanitarian efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq. With donations from American citizens and businesses, we have provided sewing machines, medical supplies, tools, shoes, blankets, toys and more—all at the request of our troops for the benefit of local people. Image from Spirit of America website

Some Wisdom From Voltaire – Jason Summers Blog: "In our modern day, just a small propaganda campaign can make it look like the other country is the aggressor, and then it’s ok to invade their country, drop bombs on them, and kill hundreds of thousands of their civilians. ... And from what I can tell, the good old boys in Washington are turning the propaganda presses toward Iran, preparing to invade there, to expand the elite’s empire. Though the wars cost trillions, they don’t care. They’re too busy manufacturing fear."

ONE MORE QUOTATION FOR THE DAY

"One of the basic assumptions of capitalism is that anyone paid huge sums of money must be very smart."


--Robert B. Reich; image: Amy Smart topless