January 28

"The passions are the only orators that always persuade."

--François de La Rochefoucauld, French author best known for his maximes; image from

EVENT

Daryl Copeland and Evan Potter get set to duke it out February 4th over the future of diplomacy


Thursday, February 4, 2010
Rendez vous Room
Lester B. Pearson Building
125 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, Ontario

VIDEO

American artist finds inspiration in Russia, RTTV
by Frank Williams (videos)

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY IN THE NEWS

Banner Year For 'Brand America': The world views the U.S. more favorably since Obama took office - Andrew Hammond, Forbes: "It's a year into Barack Obama's presidency and assessment of his performance in the White House has been mixed. While his domestic popularity within the U.S. has taken a hit, as last week's Republican victory in the Senate election in Massachusetts indicates, one major success has been his contribution toward the resurgence of so-called 'Brand America.' ... James Glassman, former Under-Secretary of State for Public Affairs and Public Diplomacy, noted that despite the best efforts of public diplomacy, there may always be outright hostility toward the U.S. in some countries.

Thus, a logical goal in these environments is to work, where possible, in common interest toward mutual goals to undercut support for common enemies (e.g., the mutual interest with Islamabad and Kabul to defeat the Taliban and al-Qaida). It is the failures, however, of the Bush administration's public diplomacy that remain most obvious. For this reason, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) listed 'improving the U.S. image abroad' as one of the urgent priorities facing the Obama team and Congress. ... Washington alone isn't capable of remaking or managing Brand America. Judith McHale, Glassman's successor, said the U.S. will need to continue to 'move beyond traditional government-to-government diplomacy and seek innovative ways to communicate and engage directly with foreign publics.' ... Taken overall, while Brand America has rebounded, reforming U.S. public diplomacy and strategic communications must remain a priority, underpinned by a strategy that can secure bipartisan support." Image from

Reaction Roundup: Heritage Responds To The State Of The Union – posted at Thoughts of a Conservative Christian: “Public Diplomacy ... [T]here were assertions of American leadership and a reach for ideas that seemed to be somewhat of a departure for this self-avowedly pragmatic president. 'America must always stand on the side of freedom and human dignity,' Obama stated. 'American ideas are its greatest source of strength.' And rather than naively reach out to the regimes of Iran and North Korea, the president emphasized their growing isolation, somewhat optimistically holding out the promise of tighter sanctions on Iran. In that sense, the speech reflected some of the hard earned experience of the past year. In other areas, the speech seemed almost out of touch with reality. ... [author] Helle Dale”

Foreign Affairs Get Little Attention in Obama's State of the Union - Patrick Goodenough, NSNews.com: "President Obama dedicated considerably less of his State of the Union address to foreign policy issues than did five previous presidents in their speeches of similar or shorter length.

... Helle Dale, senior fellow for public diplomacy at the Heritage Foundation, observed after the speech that it took Obama an hour before he 'got around to the issue of foreign affairs, terrorism and U.S. foreign military engagements.'” Image from

Haiti, VOA, and the role of shortwave during crises - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting

Commando Solo transmits VOA and PSAs to Haiti - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting

VOL. VI NO. 2, January 15-January 28, 2010 - The Layalina Review on Public Diplomacy and Arab Media: "Winning Hearts and Minds in AfPak? As a climate of mistrust and suspicion settle in over Pakistan and the United States, Defense Secretary Robert Gates made a recent visit to Pakistan in an attempt to strengthen ties between both countries. In the meantime, the Taliban is overhauling its image to win the hearts and minds of the region.
Obama and the New America After a year in tenure, President Barack Obama’s ratings remain high abroad, despite a dropping approval rating at home. While America’s image and popularity has improved, the country’s credibility remains very low internationally.
Internet Censorship A recently launched State Department campaign aimed at supporting global internet freedom has provided a context for renewed discussions over ‘soft power’ as a foreign policy tool to promote freedom of speech around the world.
Propaganda Wars Following the Department of Defense's recent update of its doctrine on psychological operations, critics investigate the role the media has played in creating negative propaganda and its interference with foreign policy.
A Small Step for Middle East Media, a Giant Leap for Murdoch? Media mogul Rupert Murdoch is discussing a possible media partnership with Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, owner of the leading media company Rotana. Many Arabs expressed their worries of Murdoch gaining a foothold in regional media, claiming his media machine generally portrays them as terrorists.
Al-Jazeera Creating Rifts in the Middle East? The Qatari channel is hailed by some as a bastion of independent regional reporting while others criticize its bias in reporting on regional conflicts.
Muslims Still Waiting While President Obama’s speech in Cairo was positively received, he has been criticized for not following up his public diplomacy efforts with concrete action on foreign policy issues central to the Muslim world.
Redefining the Enemy The United States government has come under fire for new, controversial initiatives aiming to protect the country from future terrorist attacks. Experts offer their opinion on what the Obama administration is missing in its national security policy.
Iran and America: An Unlikely Alliance? Although prospects remain bleak for the relationship between the United States and Iran, some pro-democracy advocates believe that a regime change is just around the corner and that an alliance between the two countries may be possible.
Ringtones and Fatwas The blockades imposed on Gaza by Israel are pushing some local entrepreneurs to develop innovative commercial ventures through modern media tools and the internet. Palestinians are beginning to export customized cell phone ringtones, while the religious tones rouse the ire of Muslim clerics."

One Nation Under Contract - A Book Review Essay - Patricia H. Kushlis, Whirled View: "Consolidation and dismemberment of USIA in 1999 which had handled US public diplomacy since 1953 has largely resulted in a dysfunctional, bifurcated operation plagued with problems. ... Today, the Pentagon’s budget and staff for strategic communications (the closest military equivalent to public diplomacy) is multiple times that of State’s public diplomacy operation plus the International Board of Broadcasting which oversees the Voice of America and other international broadcasting elements combined. ... Even to transfer a few funds from the Pentagon budget to the State Department – as Defense Secretary Gates advocates – to begin to reverse the huge problem of over-militarization that hurts, not helps our image and activities worldwide,

will be difficult at best – if not befitting the labors of Hercules." Image from

MEPs debate NATO's future role with Madeleine Albright - press release, European Parliament: "EU-NATO co-operation, the new international security environment, NATO's relations with Russia and 'open door' policy, and the importance of winning public support when redefining NATO's role in the 21st century, were among the issues discussed by MEPs on Wednesday with Madeleine K. Albright and Jeroen van der Veer, Chair and Vice Chair of NATO's Strategic Concept Expert Group. ... Reinhard Butikhofer (Greens/EFA, DE) wanted to know how public opinion is involved in the Strategic Concept review process. Expert Group Vice Chair Jeroen van der Veer explained that this consultation process must first ensure clarity about NATO's role, so that the public can understand it. The Expert Group's final report would therefore be concise, and available to the public, he promised, adding that the consultation process under way would include 'public diplomacy' events such as university lectures."

Congress and Law: U.S. Information Service in the Field – Congress & Law: "The work of the USIS officer involved advocating U.S. positions, but also involved working with a much larger segment of the host country’s society to discuss both broad U.S. government policy, and more specific issues of mutual interest to that country, such as U.S. import quotas or visa issuance policies."

Congress and Law: United States Information Agency in Washington – United States Updates latest:

"When the United States Information Agency existed, there were on-going debates between public diplomacy officers and political officers as to whether official speakers and official events should stick to the party line." Image from

NATO mission in Afghanistan? - Asma Bano, Frontier Post: "Now no one can dominate the world through military power there is dire need of soft power so NATO should try to win the hearts and minds of Afghans. They should try to enhance its image in Afghanistan through public diplomacy."

RI-US interfaith meet stresses religious tolerance in schools - ANTARA:

"A number of religious leaders and youth figures from Indonesia and the United States participating in an Interfaith Dialogue here have agreed to promote religious tolerance in schools in their respective communities. ... The Indonesian delegation to the meeting was led by the Foreign Ministry`s Director General of Information and Public Diplomacy, Andri Hadi and the US delegation by Senior Director of Global Engagement for the White House National Security Council, Pradeep Ramamurthy." Image from

No Good Israeli Deed Goes Unpunished - Martin Krossel, FrumForum – "It’s been years since Israel has had such a good public relations week. The Jewish State established the first field hospital in Haiti after the earthquake. ... 'In Europe, Israel’s image is defined by the Goldstone Report [a highly controversial UN Report authored by South African judge Richard Goldstone in which Israel was accused committing war crimes in last year’s war against Hamas terrorists in Gaza], so news items like those coming from Haiti can definitely help change that image,' an Israeli official told Guttman [Nathan Guttman, who reported for the Jewish national weekly newspaper, The Forward, on Israel’s assistance to Haiti]. But Guttman is skeptical about its aid to Haiti having anything but a short-term impact on Israel’s image. ... [According to Gutman,] ‘[d]uring the first Gulf War in 1992, public diplomacy experts marveled at the outpouring of international sympathy for Israel while it was under attack by Iraqi missiles. Shortly after, however, Washington did not hesitate to pressure Israel in agreeing to attend the Madrid peace conference.’ To understand much of why Israel so quickly falls out of favor, one just has to look of the reaction of two of the country’s own columnists to Israel’s efforts to help Haiti."

Statement: Brand Ghana: Framework for Development - Mathias Akotia, Joy Online: From the speech delivered by Mathias Akotia, Brand Ghana Office:

"Country branding harmonizes national policies as varied as acts and policies of government, the values and behaviors of the citizenry, education, culture, sports, health, taxation, public diplomacy, look and feel of settlements, export and investment promotion, and infrastructure development. ... Culturally purposeful public diplomacy ... has been found to be more rewarding than commercial advertising." Image from

Berlin Wall Topic for Feb. 26 Talk - UA Fort Smith News: "Thorsten Gottfried, consul for consular and cultural affairs at the German Consulate General in Houston, will speak on the topic '20th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall' at noon Feb. 26 at the University of Arkansas - Fort Smith. ... The 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall came in 2009 and was marked with a public diplomacy campaign by the German Embassy in the United States."

The Flor de Caña Protest - Paul Rockower, University of Southern California Global Health: "The former workers in the Flor de Caña had left their homes in San Antonio to bring attention to the fact that Flor de Caña and its parent group Pellas had been using pesticides that had contaminated the water supply in the western region of Nicaragua. ...

In my support, I post my photo album of their protest in the hopes to bring more attention to their plight. This is the closest intersection of public health and public diplomacy- the use of new media platforms to make foreign publics aware of public health issues. You can be sure that their struggle will be looming large in the photos for my upcoming exhibit on the world of public health." Image from article

Science Diplomacy and the Prevention of Conflict – Arts and Events Calendar, USC Center on Public Diplomacy: "A conference furthers academic understanding of science diplomacy as a valuable element in the wider field of public diplomacy. The USC Center on Public Diplomacy (CPD) is pleased to host a conference in collaboration with USIP’s Center of Innovation for Science Technology and Peacebuilding. Science diplomacy provides an opportunity for scientists around the world to work together on projects that address humanity’s most pressing challenges, including sustainable development, preserving the environment, and fighting disease and hunger to prevent conflict around the world."

Undeclared - Matt's Samoa Blog: "I met with Charges [sic] D’Affaires [sic] Robin at the U.S. embassy this afternoon . ... Near the end of our chat today, I asked Robin what sort of graduate program I should attend. I believe my exact words were, 'So what should I go back to school for?' She gave me a pity consolation laugh and then threw out some suggestions.

It depends on what sort of role I’d like to play in the Foreign Service and how different degrees apply to different jobs. Depending on what I was interested in, I should look into politics or international affairs or journalism or psychology or public diplomacy." Image from

Public Diplomacy and Media Relations Officer, Public Affairs Section, Canadian Embassy - nationalevacaturebank.nl: "SUMMARY OF DUTIES Under the general direction of the First Secretary - Public Affairs, the incumbent contributes to public diplomacy campaigns in support of Canadian priorities; is supporting the Trade sector on priority trade issues through related communications initiatives; is implementing the mission’s public information program, including the management of the web site, the production of communications tools and the provision of translations. The incumbent is responsible for all activities pertaining to the mission’s media relations program, including: networking with the Dutch media, providing advice on media initiatives and implementing all related activities; monitoring and reporting on media for coverage of Canada. Open to: citizens of Netherlands or residents possessing a valid Dutch working permit, whose applications are received by 24:00 on 17 February 2010."

PA Ambassador Deputy Head of Mission - British Embassy - Brussels - Belgium Jobs: "Main Role PA management work: arranging appointments and official travel, diary and programme management,

administrative and secretarial support for the Ambassador and the Deputy Head of Mission, and coordination work for the wider political and public diplomacy section and the wider Embassy. 75%" Image from

RELATED ITEMS

Just Google “China” - Mark Dillen, Public Diplomacy: The other day The Wall Street Journal ran a good summary of China’s conflict with Google. It looks like we’re in for another international war of words but, this time, it won’t be a classic Cold War confrontation over political-military issues, but rather a war of words over words — censorship, to be precise.

Holocaust remembrance is a boon for Israeli propaganda - Gideon Levy, Ha'aretz: In his speech yesterday, Netanyahu's [Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] equating Nazi Germany with fundamentalist Iran was no more than cheap propaganda. Talk about "degrading the Holocaust." Iran isn't Germany, Ahmedinejad isn't Hitler and equating them is no less spurious than equating Israeli soldiers with Nazis. The Holocaust must not be forgotten, and there is no need to compare it with anything. Israel must take part in the efforts to keep its memory alive, but in doing so it must show up with clean hands, clean of evil of their own doing. And it must not arouse suspicion that it is cynically using the memory of the Holocaust to obliterate and blur other things. Regrettably, this is not the case.

IMAGE (PHOTOMONTAGE?):