March 19-20

ANNOUNCEMENT

March 22-23: Arab Media Symposium, Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, Georgetown University. Via CS

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Briefing On Upcoming US-Pakistan Strategic Dialogue - press release, Media Newswire: "MR. TONER: Good afternoon and welcome to the State Department. It’s a great pleasure to have with us today Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke, and he’s here to preview the U.S.-Pakistan Strategic Dialogue set to begin next week. ... AMBASSADOR HOLBROOKE: Thank you. Well, next week is an important week in U.S.-Pakistani relations. For the first time, our strategic dialogue will be headed on the American side by the Secretary of State. This was a decision taken personally, of course, by Secretary Clinton after her trip and conversations with Foreign Minister Qureshi when she was in Islamabad and Lahore in October of last year. We announced it then, and we’re very, very pleased it’s taking place next week. It marks a major intensification of our partnership, and we welcome the extremely high caliber delegation which Pakistan is sending. It will be lead [sic], of course, by Foreign Minister Qureshi. ... On the American side, our delegation will be lead by Secretary Clinton and will include Secretary of Defense Gates, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mullen, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, Deputy Secretary of State Jack Lew, Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Neal Wolin, National Security Council Senior Director David Lipton, Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Marantis, the Administrator of USAID Raj Shah, myself, Ambassador Patterson, Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy Judith McHale, my wonderful team here on my right, and many other Americans working on this."

In Middle East, Public Diplomacy Is the Wrong Approach - Mortimer B. Zuckerman, U.S. News & World Report: "Disagreements are common, but generally they have not been made as bitingly public. Nothing positive comes out of public negotiations or public controversy. If issues are to be resolved, it will happen only through private channels and private dialogue. What can be retrieved? Above all, it is unwise to elevate Jerusalem as an issue in the negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis because the question of Jerusalem is so emotional for both parties. Each of them would find it impossible to find a compromise if attempts occurred in public and without an agreement on the other issues. The status of Jerusalem should be raised only at the very end of a negotiation."

Petraeus & Me (a non-story) - Stephen M. Walt, Foreign Policy: "Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee last week, U.S. CentCom commander General David Petraeus made the obvious point that the continuation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a strategic problem for the United States. Among other things, he said 'the conflict foments anti-American sentiment, due to a perception of U.S. favoritism for Israel. Arab anger over the Palestinian question limits the strength and depth of U.S. partnerships with governments and peoples in the AOR and weakens the legitimacy of moderate regimes in the Arab world.' Numerous scholarly studies and government panels-including the 9/11 Commission and the State Department's Advisory Committee on Public Diplomacy in the Arab and Muslim World-have reached similar conclusions."

Is the U.S. ‘Offer’ to Iran on Medical Isotopes a Pretext for More Coercive Action? - Flynt Leverett and Hillary Mann Leverett, Race for Iran: "We have written several times on www.TheRaceForIran.com about the back-and-forth between Washington and Tehran about proposals for refueling the Tehran Research Reactor (TRR). As we have argued, the Obama Administration has unnecessarily taken what should be a straightforward technical issue—how Iran can secure new fuel for the TRR without exacerbating international concerns about the perceived proliferation risks of its nuclear activities—and turned it into a highly politicized effort to forestall the theoretical possibility of an Iranian 'breakout' capability for a year, during which the Obama Administra But Tehran had originally asked the IAEA to help it purchase new fuel for the reactor, in a manner thoroughly compliant with Iran’s safeguards obligations. From Tehran’s perspective, the international community’s willingness to move ahead with such a transaction would have built Iranian trust and confidence in pledges by the United States and other countries to help the Islamic Republic enjoy the full benefits of peaceful nuclear technology—including the capability to produce medical isotopes in Iran. So, now, with their too-clever-by-half gambit having failed, senior Obama Administration officials are engaged in a concerted effort to win a 'public diplomacy' battle with Tehran over the issue. In that effort, the charge that Iran is cavalierly indifferent to the fate of its cancer patients has apparently been deemed a valuable talking point. But, is it just a talking point, or is it another pretext for the Obama Administration to take America’s Iran policy in more coercive directions? tion would try to sort out the internal inconsistencies in/unresolved questions about its own Iran policy."

PD, Gender Gap Data and the ‘flimsy new framework’ - Wandren PD: "The Strategic Framework for US PD [see previous PDPBRs -- JB] lacked any sense of a networked approach, focusing on a hierarchical framing narratives and correcting information to ‘markets’. That might work with some of the people some of the time, but at others genuine engagement will require a different mindset. ... Public Diplomacy cannot be carried out merely on the assumption that ‘the more you know us the more you will like us’ – so let[']s make sure you have all the ‘correct’ information and everything will be fine."

Hussain Abdul-Hussain: Overhauling US Public Diplomacy Is Like Beating a Dead Horse, News Portal: "Public diplomacy success will never come through boring State Department talking points, or with misinformed Under Secretaries of State for Public diplomacy beating a dead horse on the Hill, in front of less informed and partisan lawmakers."

White House / National Security Council release report on Strategic Communication - Matt Armstrong, MountainRunner.us: "The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2009 required the President and the Defense Department to submit reports on comprehensive strategies for public diplomacy and strategic communication. These are called 1055 reports because of the section of the NDAA that called for them. The Defense Department 1055 report is here. The President’s 1055 report, issued through the National Security Council, is now available (PDF, 737kb).* In the report are four significant recommendations on 're-balancing' public diplomacy and strategic communication programs. The fourth recommendation deserves special attention: '(d) how best to expedite revitalizing and strengthening civilian department and agency capabilities, both qualitatively and quantitatively, to enable them to effectively execute these programs and activities.' The issue of 'quality' is tremendously important. We already know that public diplomacy personnel at the State Department are limited in their ability to conceive and execute programs based on limited resources and appreciation of the practice from a managerial point aspect. This is more than establishing new positions, but finding out why the State Department, as well as the rest of Government, is not attracting the best and the brightest that want to make public diplomacy their career. Finding out why must be central to moving forward."

Decide on domestic politics - Chua Chin, Straits Times: "Singapore’s domestic politics is something for Singaporeans to decide for themselves, the incoming US Ambassador to Singapore clarified. Mr David Adelman's remarks during an earlier nomination hearing - that he would use public diplomacy to promote political freedom in Singapore - stirred some controversy among Singaporeans who felt a diplomat should not interfere in his host country's domestic politics. When asked for his response to the criticisms on Friday, Ambassador Adelman said: 'There's no question. I want to make it very clear that those issues are for Singaporeans to decide for themselves.'''

US Senate confirms Katz as Portugal ambassador - Bart Jansen, Tallahassee.com: "His [Katz’s] goal as ambassador is to boost public diplomacy to strengthen ties between the countries."

New journey to the west - Lim Ai Lee, Malaysia Star: "Chinese students are flocking to the US, forming one of the largest groups of international students who contribute US$17.8bil (RM58.8bil) to the economy. ... Judith A. McHale, Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, is happy to see the large increase in overseas students. 'The all-time high number of international students who studied here in the 2008-09 academic year testifies to the quality and diversity for which American higher education is known around the world,' she said. Judith A. McHale, Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, is happy to see the large increase in overseas students."

A Reply to the Editors of Six Iranian News Websites – Alex Belinda, VOA News Blog: "A joint letter from the editors of six Iranian news websites came into the office the other day. ... The letter ... accuse[s] BBC Persian and the Voice of America of allegedly encouraging anti-government protesters in Iran – a frequent complaint of Iranian officials. ... [T]he facts simply don’t support their arguments or their contentions."

Ethiopia admits jamming VOA radio broadcasts in Amharic - BBC News: "Ethiopia has admitted it is jamming the Voice of America's (VOA) broadcasts in Amharic, accusing the radio station of engaging in 'destabilising propaganda'. Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said Ethiopia had been testing jamming equipment, although there had been no formal decision to bloc the US station. The Amharic Service has experienced interference since late February. Mr Meles also compared the VOA's transmissions to broadcasts in Rwanda in the mid-1990s that incited genocide. ... In a statement, VOA director Danforth Austin said that any comparison of VOA programming to Rwandan broadcasts inciting genocide in the 1990s was 'incorrect and unfortunate'. 'The VOA deplores jamming as a form of media censorship wherever it may occur,' he said, adding that the station's Amharic Service was required by law to provide accurate and objective information. The VOA and other foreign media organisations say broadcasts in Amharic - the country's most widely spoken language - have been jammed around elections in the past."

Ethiopia may censor VOA 'propaganda' - News24: "Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said he was prepared to order the censorship of Voice of America broadcasts because of its 'destabilising propaganda'. The VOA earlier this month said its daily transmissions in Amharic, Ethiopia's main language, were being systematically jammed, while broadcasts in other languages remained intact. Meles told reporters late on Thursday that Ethiopian authorities "may have been testing their capacity (to censor) in recent days, but that wasn't the formal decision of jamming". 'I can assure you that at some future date that if they have that capacity then I will give them the clear guideline to jam it,' he added." See also.

Ethiopian ambassador seconds Geldof complaint about BBC World Service report (updated) - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting

The Voice of America’s Persian News Network will broadcast a three-hour concert for Persian New Year this weekend – Matt Armstrong, MountainRunner.us

VOA's influence on musicians is not limited to jazz – Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting

How VOA altered a Polish pianist's interpretation of Chopin – Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting

The Art of Naning Military Operations - Gregory C. Sieminski, Parameters, Autumn 1995, pp. 81-98, posted at posterous: "From names that stress an operation's humanitarian focus, like Operation Provide Comfort in Turkey, to ones that stress an operation's restoration of democratic authority, like Operation Uphold Democracy in Haiti, it is evident that the military has begun to recognize the power of names in waging a public relations campaign, and the significance of winning that campaign to the overall effort. As Major General Charles McClain, Chief of Public Affairs for the Army, has recently written, 'the perception of an operation can be as important to success as the execution of that operation.' Professor Ray Eldon Hiebert, in a piece titled, 'Public Relations as a Weapon of Modern War,' elaborates on that view: 'The effective use of words and media today . . . is just as important as the effective use of bullets and bombs. In the end, it is no longer enough just to be strong. Now it is necessary to communicate. To win a war today government not only has to win on the battlefield, it must also win the minds of its public.' ... Few would object to the Defense Department engaging in what some have called 'public diplomacy' --the attempt to portray its activities in a positive light to bolster troop morale and to garner domestic and international support. Commercial firms carefully consider product names to ensure success in the marketplace; why should the government's approach to naming military operations be any different? But there is a point at which aggressive marketing turns public relations into propaganda. Going beyond this point breeds cynicism rather than support."

Paul Ngobeni is not a fugitive from justice - Lindiwe Sisulu, Politicsweb: "Transcript of International Cooperation, Trade and Security Cluster briefing - statement by Defence and Military Veterans Minister Lindiwe Sisulu at Imbizo Media Centre, Cape Town, March 12 2010 Panel: Thozile Xasa, Deputy Minister of Tourism, Siyabonga Cwele, Minister of State Security, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation ... Minister Lindiwe Sisulu: Minister, why don't we confine ourselves to the UK visit so that we can ask questions if there are any and deal with that matter. Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane: I think it is important that we inform our population of the work we do in the International Relations and Cooperation, I know we issue loads of statements but it seems our people don't really know much about what we are doing and that's why we spend so much time on Airbuses I guess. But let me pause here Minister and say that our public diplomacy will continue to inform the South African population of the work we do. I am ready for questions."

Wilders jeopardizing the Dutch interests - Dr Ko Ko Gyi’s Blog: Autobiography of Dr Abdul Rahman Zafrudin: "Dutch anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders is denting Dutch interests abroad, especially in Islamic countries. That was the message of Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen at a recent conference. Dutch diplomats have now launched a damage-limitation campaign. The Christian Democrat minister unleashed an unusually fierce attack on Geert Wilders at a conference on public diplomacy in Noordwijk. Maxime Verhagen accused the Freedom Party leader of spreading hatred and fear, and of accentuating the differences between ethnic groups instead of searching for solutions based on shared values. As well as highlighting the damage to Dutch society, Mr Verhagen also warned that Wilders is damaging the Netherlands’ international reputation."

China: Arrogant, uncooperative or just misunderstood? - Maria Siow, ‎TODAYonline: "Growing power ... means that it is necessary to communicate more effectively with the outside world. As China's forefront proponent of public diplomacy Zhao Qizheng noted, China needs a bigger public diplomacy campaign 'to better present the country to the world'. These include international exchanges involving scholars, opinion leaders, social activists, non-government organisations and even members of the public. As authors Li Xing and Huang Qing argued in the inaugural issue of Public Diplomacy Quarterly, published on March 1, the climate change summit at Copenhagen highlighted China's inadequacy in putting across the country's point of view. ... Certainly, greater effort at public diplomacy is only one of a number of major initiatives that will lead to a better global understanding of China. But the greater interaction that will invariably be generated will also increasingly allow China to understand and hopefully bridge Western perceptions of China."

Official text of Russian deputy foreign minister's speech on Asia- Pacific region - Water World: From the official text: "Reliable security of the eastern borders of Russia is a precondition for the implementation of the tasks of modernization of our economy, especially in relation to the areas of Siberia and the Russian Far East. A striking example of cooperation in the fields of security and socioeconomic development with the neighbouring Asian countries are our relations with China, Mongolia, Vietnam and South Korea. The potential of such cooperation is being used to uplift the Asian part of Russia. This takes into account the inadmissibility of falling into dependence on foreign economies and of Siberia and our Far East becoming a raw materials appendage. We carefully monitor the migration situation in the east of the country in order to prevent undesirable demographic skews. In this context, the role of parliamentary and public diplomacy increases. Efforts being undertaken by the Foreign Ministry in cooperation with the chambers of the Federal Assembly, the Siberian and far eastern regions, NGOs, and the academic and business community are focused on promoting friendly relations and mutually beneficial cooperation with the Asian-Pacific countries, especially with our strategic partners."

Minister's turn to European rabbis in PR war meets skepticism - Cnaan Liphshiz, Ha'aretz: "European rabbis may become the latest addition to Israel's arsenal of public diplomacy tools, following Minister Yuli Edelstein's request this week that they act as 'ambassadors.' But authorities on Israel advocacy in Europe warned the plan could end up reinforcing tendencies to blame Jewish communities for Israel's actions. Edelstein, the Information and Diaspora Minister, conveyed his request this week through Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger, who met with a large delegation from the Rabbinical Center of Europe in Jerusalem. 'We would like you to learn how to answer questions about the State of Israel,' Rabbi Metzger told the group of rabbis, referring specifically to 'disinformation regarding Operation Cast Lead.' Dr. Mikael Tossavainen, who is in charge of the Scandinavian desk at Tel Aviv University's Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism and Racism, described this plan as 'a bad idea.' 'Using rabbis as spokespeople would reinforce the image that's already very strong, that Jews are in some way connected or responsible for what Israel does,' he said. 'In small Jewish communities and especially in Scandinavia it would also be ineffective because most Scandinavian rabbis are not originally Scandinavian,' Tossavainen added, explaining they would appear 'foreign.' ... Speaking to Anglo File, Edelstein said such reservations are obsolete. 'These concerns were justified 20 years ago,' the minister said. 'All or nearly all Jewish communities in Europe and elsewhere understand they are inextricably bound together with Israel. With very few exceptions, rabbis and community leaders are telling me they want to help.'"

Diplomats distressed abroad focus on public diplomacy at home - Ankara-Hürriyet Daily News: "'Turkish diplomats, distressed by the deadlock on the divided island of Cyprus, up-and-downs in the EU accession process and diplomatic rows stemming from the Armenian ‘genocide’ resolutions, are stepping up public diplomacy efforts at home. 'In order to determine the effects [of foreign policy related] developments, a new project has been launched aimed to widen the public affairs works across the country,' Turkish Foreign Ministry noted in a written-statement released late Wednesday. 'It is an important part of our public diplomacy strategy.' Headed by Ambassador Engin Soysal, three diplomats are visiting the Black Sea province of Trabzon on March 18-19. Soysal will address a panel in the Black Sea Technical University and hold talks with local authorities, businessmen and non-governmental organizations in an effort to explain the existing foreign policy strategies. It will be the first one, but not the last. Ankara has released that it would be difficult to go further without public support. Similar programs will take place in 20 other provinces including Konya, Adana, Denizli, Afyon and Erzurum. The decision makers for the normalization with Armenia will try to convince the nationalist thought of 'Why should we open borders to those Armenians who killed our grandparents and occupied the land of our Azeri brothers.'” See also.

Layalina’s Reality Series to Air in Prime Time on Leading Pan Arab Satellite Station – PR Newswire: "Layalina Productions, Inc., an American non-profit, announced today that the second season of its hit reality series, Ala al Tariq fi Amrika (On The Road In America) will premiere tomorrow on MBC1, the leading pan-Arab free-to-air satellite network. ... Ambassador Richard Fairbanks, Layalina's Founder and Chairman states: 'We are delighted to work once again with market leader MBC to build on the success of the first season in the Middle East as well as in the United States. The show's millions of fans are in for a treat.' Fairbanks goes on to say, 'The U.S. private and non-profit sectors have an important role to play in public diplomacy, and I am proud that Layalina is helping lead the way.'"

Shanghai Expo Learning Component for Purdue University Students Studying Abroad - International Higher Education Consulting Blog™ -- A Source for News on International Educational Exchange & Mutual Understanding by David Com: "I recently learned about a very interesting study abroad program initiative at Purdue University called the Shanghai Expo Learning Component and I think it is a great example of innovative programming in the field. In conjunction with Expo 2010 in Shanghai, China, http://en.expo2010.cn/ nine Purdue summer study abroad programs (each with different objectives, dates and faculty leaders) will meet up in late May to take in elements of the Expo. Additionally, they will also be meeting with representatives from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Purdue alumni during this period. The programs range from Aviation Technology to Health & Kinesiology. You can learn more about the Shanghai Expo Learning Component at Purdue University here. Similar to Purdue, the University of Southern California is also focusing on Expo 2010 and their U.S.-China Institute has partnered with USA Pavilion to create the Student Ambassadors Internship Program."

Governance in Virtual Worlds three way - Dumacornellucian: "This half-day symposium [Governance in Virtual Worlds], conducted simultaneously and via streamed media from the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law at Arizona State University and in the immersive virtual world of Second Life™, and viewable onsite at ASU, in Second Life, and on the web, will convene scholars of technology and law; experts in enterprise virtual world applications and online community, public diplomacy, game development and other disciplines to discuss controversial issues stemming from enterprise and government use of virtual world environments for business, public outreach, education and entertainment."

State Department’s William May to discuss social media, public diplomacy at SU March 25 - Wendy S. Loughlin, insidesu.syr.edu: "William May, director of the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Innovative Engagement (part of the Bureau of International Information Programs), will visit Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications http://newhouse.syr.edu/ on Thursday, March 25, speaking on 'Using Social Media in Public Diplomacy' at 7 p.m. in Room 101 of Newhouse 1. His talk is free and open to the public. Parking is available in SU pay lots."

Negotiating in the Press: American Journalism and Diplomacy, 1918-1919 (Media & Public Affairs Ser.) - ebook30.com: "During the late 1910s, as World War I finally came to a close, American journalists and diplomats found themselves working in unlikely proximity, with correspondents occasionally performing diplomatic duties, and diplomats sometimes courting publicity. The efforts of both groups to facilitate the peace talks at Versailles arose amidst the vision of a 'new diplomacy,' one characterized by openness, information sharing, and public accountability. Using evidence from memoirs, official records, and contemporary periodicals, Hayden reveals that participants in the Paris Peace Conference continually wrestled with ideas about the roles of the press and, through the press, the people. ... An engaging analysis of diplomacy and the Fourth Estate, Negotiating in the Press offers a fascinating look at how leading nations democratized foreign policy a century ago and ushered in the dawn of public diplomacy."

And Speaking of November... - Carol's Closet: "Colonel Mike Prendergast. ... a Master of Strategic Studies degree from the U.S. Army War College with a major in Public Diplomacy and a concentration in Campaign and Strategic Crisis Planning."

Internships at the National Council for International Visitors in Washington DC pays $8.25/hr – internalert.com: "The National Council for International Visitors (NCIV) is a nonprofit organization 501(c)(3) whose mission is to promote excellence in citizen diplomacy, the idea that the individual citizen has the right even the responsibility to help shape U.S. foreign relations, as our members phrase it, one handshake at a time. ... *Qualifications [include]: ... Background and interest in citizen diplomacy, public diplomacy, international education and exchange."

Communications Advisor - naombakazi.blogspot.com: "Communications Advisor CTS Global, Inc. Closing date: 26 Mar 2010 Location: United Republic of Tanzania (the) - Dar es Salaam The Communications Advisor, with guidance from Organization’s Tanzania Public Health Advisor, advises on the design, implementation, coordination and evaluation of a broad range of communications activities in Tanzania. The Communications Advisor serves as the lead writer/editor for external documents and as a communications liaison for all Organization public affairs activities and events. ... [Other duties include] Attend Public Affairs/Public Diplomacy weekly staff meetings and participate in other interagency processes involving communication issues."

Public diplomacy - Monika, The New Diplomacy 2010 E -- A Reflective Group Blog by Some Of The Students on the New Diplomacy Module at London Metropolitan University: "The biggest public diplomacy goal is: advocacy."

is american public diplomacy mere propaganda? - Federica, The New Diplomacy 2010 B -- A Reflective Group Blog by Some of the Students on the New Diplomacy Module at London Metropolitan University: "The biggest public diplomacy goal is: advocacy- the presentation of a country and its policies in ways that are convincing and catchy to international audience, which leads to creating a climate of trust and respect, giving a way to achieving political and economic goals."

RELATED ITEMS

No way to treat a friend: Why is the Obama administration so hard on Israel -- the most liberal and pro-American country in the Middle East -- when it's so soft on its despotic neighbors? - Max Boot, Los Angeles Times: If Obama is serious about reducing the threat against the U.S., he should do more to support peaceful opposition groups in Syria and Iran -- states that actually help to kill American troops. Instead, he's picking on the only state in the region that's consistently on our side.

A “Next Generation” Department of State: A Proposal for the Consolidation of the Management of Foreign Affairs - Edward Marks, American Diplomacy: The traditional organization of freestanding departments and agencies of the Federal Government needs to be modified to deal with a world that cannot be contained within stovepiped perspectives. The arrival of a new Administration devoted to change in how the business of the Republic is conducted and the presence of a government experienced and politically savvy Secretary of State offers an opportunity to make the sort of organization changes in the bureaucracy which are so difficult to achieve. The old question therefore poses itself once again, if change is necessary, if not now, then when? Via MA blog.

A Foreign Service for Wall Street - Scott McCleskey, New York Times: Like Foreign Service officers, financial regulation service officers should receive long-term training in professional tracks like consumer protection, systemic risk and examinations and investigations, and they should accumulate progressive responsibility within specialized fields. Most important, they should become eligible for a pension after as little as 20 years on the job.

The Pentagon’s Propaganda Networks - Pratap Chatterjee, antiwar.com: Propaganda networks that conduct "psychological warfare" for the Pentagon have been in vogue for a long time. Mike Furlong, a senior Pentagon official who is now being investigated for running a covert network of contractors to supply information for drone strikes and assassinations in Afghanistan and Pakistan, had a long history of working in this field.

The Economist Parrots Propaganda About Jerusalem – Ricki Hollander, Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America: The Economist, which has in the past criticized Israel for not allocating enough funds to eastern Jerusalem, now condemns the government for precisely the opposite – devoting resources to that sector.

The truth about maps: How cartographers distort reality - As a fascinating new exhibition [Magnificent Maps: Power, Propaganda and Art is at the British Library, London NW1, from 30 April to 19 September] shows, it's not always what they put in that matters – but what they leave out: Michael Church, Independent: "Power, propaganda and art" is the exhibition's subtitle – political spin was the usual subtext. As with Hitler's schoolroom map of "Deutschland" in 1935, in which all the German-speaking areas surrounding Germany were presented – without borders – as part of the Reich: pressure from Mussolini forced him to commission a less imperialist version with the borders restored. Or as with the US government's invasion map of Europe in 1944, which was one of the most insidious pieces of map-making propaganda in history. This view, promulgated by the National Geographic, presented the Soviet Union as grossly inflated in size, and became the template for Western thinking throughout the Cold War. Only in 1988 did America adopt a modified version with an accurately scaled-down Soviet Union. Some maps are propaganda pure and simple, with the most famous being Fred Rose's "Serio-comic war map for the year 1877". In this, Russia is portrayed as an octopus throttling Poland and Finland, while the other countries of Europe go about their business – Greece joining Russia to attack the Turks, France planning to avenge its defeat by Germany, Britain acquiring Cyprus. As the exhibition shows, the octopus motif proved versatile: in 1917, France portrayed Prussia as the octopus; and in 1942, Vichy France recast it as Winston Churchill.

WWII: The most racist generation: Tom Hanks flunks history – Editorial, Washington Times: Was the "Greatest Generation" just a bunch of racists? Actor and producer Tom Hanks, promoting his new World War II series "The Pacific," suggested that the war with Japan was really all about American intolerance; and by the way, so is the war on terrorism. "It would be naive to assume that racism was not part of that quotient of World War II," Mr. Hanks said. That is true. Racial sentiments no doubt played a role. President Franklin D. Roosevelt's internment order for Americans of Japanese ancestry - overseen in California by state Attorney General Earl Warren and later upheld by the liberal majority on the U.S. Supreme Court - remains a controversial episode in American history. Some government propaganda showed the Japanese in an unflattering light, but propaganda against Axis partners Germany and Italy did as well. The idea that the United States was making war on "the yellow people" is nonsense, however.

Hitler's use of Film in Germany, Leading up to and During WWII - William K Boland, studentpulse.com: With the Ministry of Propaganda led by Joseph Goebbels, developing as the controlling force of German cinema, propaganda became a major thematic element of the films produced in this period, always favoring and advocating the Nazi party. Hitler, an early fan of the cinema, saw its true power and the scope of influence it had. Riefenstahl’s Triumph des Willens, purported as a documentary of the Nazi Party rallies in Nuremberg in 1934, delivers a message of a society, cast out and oppressed by the outside international community, which is finally climbing back onto its feet through the guidance of a hero, a god-like legend, Fuhrer Adolph Hitler.