March 13

“vermeil, moiling, delacrimation and sudorification.”

--How an "expanded" vocabulary might have rendered Churchill’s “blood, toil, tears and sweat” speech; Ammon Shea, "Vocabulary Size," New York Times; image from

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Questions Remain About McHale's Public Diplomacy Strategy - Philip Seib, Huffington Post: "I thought we elected a new president in 2008. But Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Judith McHale proudly says she is 'on the same page' as her predecessors Karen Hughes and James Glassman in defining a new public diplomacy strategy. She cites 'consensus' among members of the undersecretary club.

Is that a good thing? Hughes and Glassman are Republican stalwarts, appointed to their jobs by a conservative Republican president during whose tenure public diplomacy was often in shambles. I don't question their commitment to serving their country, but if President Obama's appointee can do no better than achieve consensus with these predecessors, what was the point of the election? ... Putting public diplomacy where it belongs - at the heart of U.S. foreign policy - will require a steep uphill climb. Embracing the Bush administration's approach to public diplomacy is not the way to get there." Image from

State's public diplomacy employees should be, by now, expert users of the coffee pot - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting: "[Elliott’s comments on several recent PD-related reports/articles:] I think the people who are writing and translating content at www.america.gov are busy enough. ... The State Department's Office of Broadcast Services distributes public diplomacy content and is not to be confused with the news organizations under the Broadcasting Board of Governors. ... Even though it[']s really a BBG matter, there was much discussion of international broadcasting [at The Senate Foreign Relations Committee held the hearing 'The Future of Public Diplomacy' on 11 March]. A major theme in the discussion was the urgency to confirm the new members of the Broadcasting Board of Governors."

Teach for the World Vs. Peace Corps - Nicholas Kristof, New York Times, posted at the Orange Country Register:

"My Thursday column proposing Teach for the World attracted a range of comments and criticisms. One blog noted that the beneficiaries would essentially be American kids and argued that if the aim is to build language and cultural skills, why not do more to expand the Peace Corps? Others noted that if we want to improve education in poor countries, the obvious way to do that is to build local capacity by training teachers." Image from

The Illusion of Knowledge? - Lena, Global Chaos: "[T]he Americans have to know the world they live in, and the world which they want to communicate with. At the same time, it is very important to know their place in the world and be able to identify and capture changing dynamics, to be able respond to these shifts adequately. A people-to-people PD approach would ... necessitate well educated, well informed, culturally-sensitive (note: cultural sensitivity not in terms of political correctness or specific information about a certain country, but rather in terms of awareness of the existence of the 'other' and their treatment as equals) and engaged citizens. And, of course, there is an inexplicable paranoia about the government's attempts to propagandize its own people, or the 'waste' of the taxpayer's money when supporting education."

Senators revisit NSC involvement in VOA/BBC/DW statement on Iranian satellite jamming - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting: "’Three senior Republican senators are demanding answers

to questions raised by an exclusive report in The Cable that revealed the involvement of the National Security Council in the Broadcasting Board of Governor's actions regarding Iran.’ ... Josh Rogin, The Cable, Foreign Policy, 10 March 2010.” Image from

VOA launches radio reports, website, in English, to cover Sudan's election - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting

One year anniversary for Alhurra flagship news program Al Youm - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting

A composer's interpretation of Gertrude Stein's account of what VOA sounded like in France during World War II - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting

US Senator Voinovich to kick-off Partnership Way speeches at 10:45 am. Monday - groundbreaking at Sharonville Commerce Center - Andy Hemmer, Cincinnati.com: "Over the last decade, Senator Voinovich has been actively involved in crafting America’s foreign and national security policies. ... Senator Voinovich

has also carries the banners of advancing UN reform, strengthening US public diplomacy, promoting lasting peace and stability in Southeast Europe, and combating global anti-Semitism, racism and other forms of intolerance. And, his Visa Waiver Program legislation was eagerly adopted, and is now benefiting countries that support the United States and are committed to fighting terrorism around the globe. Helle Dale of the Washington Times lauded his leadership on visa waivers, saying that 'by taking a fresh look at an issue that has been festering sore in relations between the United States and some of it new allies … [Voinovich] came up with a solution that will greatly benefit all.'” Image from

Iraqi Children to Receive Refurbished Desks - Systems: "Sitting at a well-crafted desk may not seem like a big deal to children in the United States or other more affluent parts of the world, but to the children of Kirkuk’s school provinces, it is. Thanks to several volunteers from the 506th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron at Kirkuk Regional Air Base, Iraqi school children will get to sit in the same style of comfort other children get on a regular basis.The idea for refurbishing the school desks sprang from a conversation Chief Master Sgt. Tom Pizzi, 506th ECES chief enlisted manager, deployed from McChord AFB, Wash., had with Stacy Barrios, public diplomacy officer, Kirkuk Provincial Reconstruction Team, U.S. Embassy, Iraq."

Buying a car in Iraq - cheesetoasters, Where the Wombats Are - "Okay, just got into an enormous 2-hour conversation

with someone else about the relationship between psychological operations in the military and public diplomacy. Also meandered into organizational personality differences between state and military (she’s military) as well as the impact of office layout on internal office politics." Image from

Biden visit exposed Israeli settler truths – Daniel Levy, Guardian: "The Arab states had produced a breakthrough peace initiative in 2002 but it never translated into a programme for public diplomacy or even pressure to be brought to bear on Israel, America, or the Quartet. The US and EU continue to place their faith in confidence-building measures and unmediated negotiations between the parties, hoping against hope that a formula which had failed for over a decade would produce a breakthrough and that rational argument might prevail. Not surprisingly, none of this was going anywhere. It has taken a Netanyahu-led extreme right, religious government in Israel (the defunct Labor party of Ehud Barak can be justly ignored as window dressing) to send a signal strong enough to perhaps pierce this paralysis."

China needs more public diplomacy, Zhao says - Zhang Haizhou, China-Wire: "Internationally, public diplomacy was first used in 1965 by Edmund Gullion, a career American diplomat, according to the United States Information Agency Alumni Association. It refers to the spreading of knowledge about a country’s foreign policy via communication with foreign public audiences. Though public diplomacy has existed in China for a long time, 'the campaign is not big enough', Zhao [Qizheng, spokesman for the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC)]

said, when asked what the main difficulty is. Most Chinese who currently do public diplomacy are those with rich work experience in international trade and communication, leaders of non-Communist parties, heads of China’s multinational corporations, and research fellows of international affairs in Chinese universities, he said. But during this year’s two sessions of the CPPCC and the National People’s Congress, Zhao has seen momentum to facilitate the country’s public diplomacy. The foreign affairs committee of the CPPCC on March 1, just two days before the annual session opened, published a new journal, Public Diplomacy Quarterly. As its editor-in-chief, Zhao wrote in the inaugural statement: 'The aim and mission of this journal is to facilitate China’s public diplomacy.'” Image from

Obamacare - Chandrashekar Tamirisa, Transformations LLC Blog: "[A]s a matter of principle and character, it is important to provide access to health care to all people on U.S soil, illegal, visitors, permanent residents and citizens. ... It makes little sense as a matter of public diplomacy to worry about the sick elsewhere if we cannot do it within the country first."

U.S. officials reflect upon Lithuania's road to freedom - Kimkweder, Lithuanian News, Features and Analysis: "As Lithuanians around the world celebrate the 20th anniversary of independence March 11, Americans also carried out significant roles in shaping U.S. diplomacy to the newly liberated country in the Cold War era.

The Lithuanian Embassy of Washington hosted an evening (March 11) of remembrance and lessons learned to those who mobilized awareness campaigns, press coverage and community-building during the years leading up to the Parliament’s vote. ... Guests at the Embassy who also shared experiences included Richard Miles, a former Coun[sul] General in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) and Paul Goble, an expert on public diplomacy who served under Secretary of State James A. Baker." Image from

International Business and School Business International Relations Majors? - Business Xanadu Online: "1. At first I was thinking about majoring in just international business, but recently I wanted to double major in both international business and international relations. First of all, are these majors in increasing demand so that jobs will be available in the future?? Secondly, would this require more time and school and is this a good idea?? ... Comment by darkvelvetrain [:] I would say that an IR degree is in relatively high demand. You could work in government analytical positions or likely do something abroad. I did Poli Sci with IR as a specialization and was very strongly considering an MBA with International Business (I was enrolled and everything, but I opted against it in the end).

I would argue that you’re wasting your time double majoring, I would recommend that if you really want to do both, you do the IR then get an MBA with an emphasis in International Business OR you do International Business then do a MIR or MPD (Public Diplomacy) program instead. You’d be worth a lot more to an organization if you did that, and it would take about the same amount of time." Image from

RELATED ITEMS

The Guantanamo diversion: Civilian trials of the 9/11 suspects should not be held hostage to a deal to close the detention facility – Editorial, latimes.com

Interfere, no, but U.S. should be monitoring Iraqi deliberations – Editorial, Washington Post

Russia dismisses U.S. human rights report - Reuters, Washington Post: Russia indignantly dismissed U.S. criticism of its human rights record on Friday, saying the United States was guilty of its own abuses from Afghanistan to "the streets of America." In a statement laced with sarcasm,

the Foreign Ministry said the main purpose of what it called the U.S. State Department's annual "opus" on human rights worldwide was to "solve the internal political problems of the American establishment." Image from

In the Crosshairs How al-Qaida & Co. Are Responding to Drone Warfare -
Yassin Musharbash, Spiegel Online: Militant jihadists in Iraq, Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia are becoming increasingly afraid of US drones. Despites their boasts of having shot down dozens of aircraft, they have yet to come up with effective countermeasures. An undisclosed location in Iraq, sometime in 2008. Lying on a wooden table in front of a tree is a drone. It is damaged. It is unclear whether it was shot down or merely crashed. Standing next to the table is the commander of a militant group, who is explaining the drone's propulsion system and camera. The scene is taken from a propaganda video made by an Iraqi jihadist group. It is meant to convey that insurgents and terrorists being pinpointed and attacked by drones in Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen and possibly Somalia are coping with this novel threat.

Al-Qaida, the Taliban, the so-called Islamic Army in Iraq and Shabab militants in Somalia all claim to have shot down American drones. "The mujahedeen have brought down dozens from the sky," al-Qaida in Iraq recently boasted, displaying photos meant to prove it. But the boasts mask growing anxiety. The commander in the propaganda video warns his footsoldiers that the drones are completely silent, "can photograph us by day and by night," and "can follow our movements." He adds that the unmanned reconnaissance aircraft can intercept telephone calls, so they shouldn't use their cell phones. ... Their paranoia has been compounded by the fact that there is at least one informant behind every successful drone attack -- someone who identifies the target or marks it in some way. Image from

Latest Kick-Ass Posters Encourage You To Join The Fight - Alex Gerage, MovieViral: MTV Splash Page has posted the third of their exclusive Kick-Ass posters, inspired by classic World War II propaganda.

These posters evoke retro World War II propaganda posters, which were used to encourage citizens to sign up for military service or help mobilize the homeland. Image from article

Oh glorious propaganda art - The Memoirs of a Swedish Salaryman: "I have a special place in my heart for propaganda art. WW2, sov[i]et, chinese and all the rest. I even have an original poster on my wall that my brother gave to me of a sov[i]et one, a treasured possession. Today, government propaganda seems to mostly consist of talking heads on television and press releases and not the bombastic statements of the nation and the heinousness of its opponents. With one exception of course, North Korea."

IMAGE

An alternative to the atomic bomb? - Boing Boing: A geologist proposed bombing Japan's volcanoes to win the war in a January 1944 issue of Popular Science. [via Google Books via Pink Tentacle]

ONE MORE QUOTATION FOR THE DAY

"Groucho Marx was sitting in a restaurant with John Guedel to whom we owe thanks for 'You Bet Your Life.'

A couple came over and the man said: Groucho, would you say something insulting to my wife?

Groucho eyed her and delivered: 'With a wife like that, you should be able to think of your own insults.'”

--Dick Cavett