March 21

"No commodity is quite so strange/As this thing called cultural exchange."

--Dave and Iola Brubeck, The Real Ambassadors, their musical with Louis Armstrong; cited in above book

BELOW IMAGES: from Fred Kaplan, "The Jazz Ambassadors," New York Times: "Half a century ago, when America was having problems with its image during the cold war, Adam Clayton Powell Jr., the United States representative from Harlem, had an idea. Stop sending symphony orchestras and ballet companies on international tours, he told the State Department. Let the world experience what he called 'real Americana': send out jazz bands instead." Via GG on Facebook

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY IN THE NEWS

President Obama speaks to Iran in Nowruz video – Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting

Obama, Nowruz, Greens & Israel - Steve Clemons, The Washington Note: "I thought that President Obama's Nowruz message to Iranians was -- like last year [sic] -- excellent.


I think that this kind of public diplomacy is enormously important in reaching out for the prospects of change -- even if the Iran government is recalcitrant." Randy Weston autographs record jackets at the Lycee Leon Mba for students who correctly answered questions about the history of jazz in Libreville, Gabon, 1967.

Activists want more access in Iran to US internet hardware - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting

It's simple: broadcast "loads of information embarrassing to Iran's leaders" – Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting: "Washington pundits see international broadcasting as part of public diplomacy, where the broadcaster 'ramps up' policy-supporting content at the direction of the administration.

The audience, on the other hand, uses international broadcasting as a source more comprehensive, reliable, and credible than the news they get from their state-controlled domestic media. Success in international broadcasting involves following the agenda of the audience, not of the pundits. To Iran, this will include news unfavorable to the regime, but not to the point of being the all-bad-news-about-Iran-all-the-time station." Benny Goodman in Moscow in 1962.

State Department issues statement against Ethiopian jamming of VOA Amharic – Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting

Pakistani Senate committee "chagrined" by good VOA, BBC reception - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting

Cambodian listens to RFA and VOA for "trustworthy news" - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting

New Singapore poll rules: Are they for real? - Maxwell Coopers, Free Malaysia Today: "In his confirmation hearings before the US Senate ambassador designate to Singapore, Daniel Adelman said that if confirmed, he would push for greater political pluralism in the city-state.

'Make no mistake, currently Singapore is not a multi-party democracy and I intend, if confirmed to use public diplomacy to work towards greater press freedoms, greater freedom of assembly and ultimately more political space for opposition parties in Singapore to strengthen Singapore into a multi-party democracy', Adelman told chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last month. It is unrealistic given the record of the fierce defence of its sovereignty over the years, that Singapore would have paid any heed to foreign statesmen telling her what to do. But with the United States, the dynamics are ‘different’ as Washington is the Republic’s largest trade partner and the somewhat guarantor of its security." Count Basie in what was then Rangoon, Burma, 1971.

The Iranian Threat Looms Unaddressed - Doris Strub Epstein, Shalom Life: “'The Iranian threat is like global warming,' said Dr. Raanan Gissin. 'Everybody talks about it; nobody does anything about it; but it progresses, becomes worse and worse until one day it will be too late.' Gissin was Senior Advisor to Israel’s former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on matters of public diplomacy, media and official spokesperson to the foreign press. Born in Raanana, hence his name, he is a cousin to Toronto’s Israel Counsel General, Amir Gissin. Today, he is one of the country’s most prominent analysts to the international community on security and strategic issues, terrorism the Iranian and radical Islamic threats and the peace process. ... He urges the use of communications, especially the internet, to 'expose these people and show who they really are. Rebrand the enemy.' Aimed especially at the Iranian people, it would fan the flames of resistance there, he believes. 'Historically, any changes that have taken place in Iran, have come about internally.'”

Preparations for a Hit against Iran: Stopping Israel's Next War - Muriel Mirak-Weissbach, Center for Research on Globalization: "Israel’s standing in the world has been vanishing like snow under a hot spring sun, as even President Peres was forced to recognize. Israeli diplomats no longer feel free to travel abroad, fearing that international arrest warrants might be slapped on them as perpetrators of war crimes committed during the Gaza war.

As reported in the March 15 Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the Israeli government has launched a desperate public relations campaign, through a website for 'Public Diplomacy and the Diaspora,' aimed at preparing Israelis to project a positive image of their country while travelling abroad. If citizens have to study government-issued brochures handed out at the airport, to learn how to defend the reputation of Israel, then the moral crisis the country has entered is quicksand." Clark Terry and his Jolly Giants perform at the Pakistan American Cultural Center in Karachi, Pakistan, 1978.

What is the Future of the Oromo People? - Asafa Jalata, Gadaa.com Oduu: The future of the Oromo people depends on what the Oromo liberation and political organizations and society will do to assure the survivability of the Oromo nation and its liberation from Ethiopian colonialism. ... So what should the Oromo Diaspora in general the elites in particular should do to make sure the survival of their nation and the victory of their national struggle? History demonstrates that the determined people can liberate themselves.

The Oromo elites in general and that of the Diaspora in particular must start to determine the destiny of their nation by taking the following concrete steps immediately. ... [Inter alia:] all members of the Oromo Diaspora must engage in public diplomacy by becoming members of organizations, such as the Orom-American Citizens' Council.” Dizzy Gillespie in 1956 in Zagreb, in what was then Yugoslavia, with the Yugoslav composer Nikica Kalogjera as passenger.

Does recalling envoys really work as a foreign policy tool? - Today's Zaman: "The presidents of Turkey’s leading think tanks recognize the diplomatic message conveyed by recalling ambassadors but question its effectiveness, particularly in the recent case of Turkey, which employed the tactic in reaction to the passage earlier this month of Armenian resolutions in the United States and Sweden. Turkey first recalled Namık Tan, Turkish ambassador to the US, and then Ambassador to Sweden Zergün Korutürk upon the approval of resolutions branding the Word War I-era killings of Armenians 'genocide.' Süleyman Şensoy of the Turkish Asian Center for Strategic Studies (TASAM) ... put a particular emphasis on the need for employing tools of public diplomacy rather than coercive measures. 'Recalling ambassadors has its place in professional diplomatic language, and if you do not give a proper reaction in the first place, the consequences may worsen, too. However, a reaction to a decision taken under pressure of non-state actors as was the case in the Armenian resolutions should also be in the form of campaigns carried out by non-state actors,' he said, detailing his suggestion by stating potential roles that could be played by NGOs and universities. 'Ways out of such matters certainly pass through public diplomacy,' he concluded."

`Indo-US ties based on mutual benefits' - Times of India: "The US is not a Trojan Horse and the Indo-US ties should be seen in a long-term perspective, said India's former ambassador to the United States, Ronen Sen. Sen was speaking on the `Evolution of India's relations with US' at Lucknow University on Saturday.

He termed the views expressed by him as 'personal'. The lecture was part of a series on India's foreign policy organised by public diplomacy division of the external affairs ministry." Duke Ellington observing local musicians in New Delhi, 1963.

Shashi Tharoor’s Remarks to Regional Groups “The Future of the UN” - Shashi Tharoor blog: "Fifty-three years ago the first outgoing Secretary-General, Trygve Lie, described the post he was handing over to Dag Hammarskjold as 'the most impossible job in the world'. A function described in the Charter as the Chief Administrative Officer of the Organization, yet one with major unspecified political responsibilities and communications challenges. Today the Secretary-General commands great diplomatic legitimacy, and even greater media visibility, but less political power than the language of the UN Charter suggests. To be effective, he must be skilled at managing staff and budgets, gifted at public diplomacy (and its behind-the-scenes variant), and able to engage the loyalties of a wide array of external actors, including non-governmental organizations, business groups, and journalists. And he must work well, above all, with Governments."

Elections & Governance - Seton Hall University News & Events: "The Honorable Robert Barry, Former Ambassador to Bulgaria and Head of Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) presents:

'Elections and Governance: Reflections on the political process in Iraq, Afghanistan, Russia, and Bosnia.' ... Ambassador Robert Barry is currently a consultant dealing with election and governance issues. During a 35 year career in the US Foreign Sevice he specialized in Soviet and Eastern European affairs, arms control and public diplomacy." Benny Carter and his band travel to Ankara, Turkey, in 1975 for the State Department at the time of the U.S. Bicentennial.

Home in Carroll Gardens - Jennifer K: "I'm a student of poli sci, interested in econ, public diplomacy, poverty reduction, music, lit, food, & animals, among others-blogging/tweeting about all!"

CULTURAL DIPLOMACY

The Soft Steps of Diplomacy - Roslyn Sulcas, New York Times: "The State Department has had a cultural-exchange program in effect for the past 60 years, but dance hadn’t played a major role since the better-financed days of the mid-1980s. 'We have music, visual arts and film, but we didn’t have a dance program, which seemed like a glaring omission,' said Maura Pally, the acting assistant secretary at the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. 'Then we got a large chunk of money to do an ongoing dance program. We haven’t done this scale and scope before.' The large chunk was $1 million, awarded to the bureau in 2008 specifically for this program at the end of the Bush administration. The budget for culture at the bureau has been steadily increasing since 2001, Ms. Pally said, with a large jump from $8.5 million in 2008 to $11.5 million in 2009. The bureau plans to maintain the program, eventually opening it to all types of dance. 'Both the secretary and the president have spoken about the power of the arts to connect people in a unique way,' Ms. Pally said. 'I think they both view this type of tool as an important tool in our foreign-diplomacy tool chest.' ... How well such endeavors work is difficult to quantify. ... How much the artists gain from their exposure to these cultures seems as significant as how much they give. ... 'Measuring long-term impact is the holy grail of all public sector programs,” said Adrian Ellis, executive director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, the partner organization for the Rhythm Road, a State Department music program that has, since 2005, taken American roots music to more than 90 countries. 'How do you measure the impact of a concert in Sierra Leone? It’s the chance encounters that may trigger something 10 years later.'” Courtesy LB

Expo prime chance to sell U.S., San Antonio - Elaine Kurtenbach, Ji Chen, San Antonio Express: "For millions of Chinese, the U.S. pavilion’s show at the Shanghai World Expo will be the closest they’ll ever come to an experience of America. What they’ll get — apart from long waits — is a warm welcome, a dose of Hollywood-style entertainment and, in May, an impression of San Antonio.

The expo, which begins May 1 and is expected to draw up to 80 million visitors, offers a chance at cultural diplomacy at a time when relations are fraying over broader trade and geopolitical issues. … A growing number of San Antonio companies and organizations, such as Port San Antonio and Bexar County, are helping pay for the U.S. pavilion with a $500,000 pledge. In return, San Antonio will have three San Antonio Days at the pavilion, plus two weeks of signs and video presentations. San Antonio will be one of a handful of U.S. cities taking advantage of the opportunity. A city delegation led by Mayor Julián Castro and Chinese-born City Councilwoman Elisa Chan will preside during San Antonio Days. Contributing San Antonio companies will have use of the U.S. pavilion’s VIP rooms to entertain Chinese government and business leaders." Louis Armstrong meets Sir Ahmadu Bello, Sardauna of Sokoto and Premier of the Northern Nigerian Region in Kaduna, Nigeria, 1960.

Grants awarded to three scholars - Abilene Recorder Chronicle: "The Eisenhower Foundation recently presented travel grants in the amounts of $400 to $500 to three scholars conducting research at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library. ... [Among the receipients is] Maurice M. Labelle, Jr., Ph.D. candidate in History, University of Akron, Akron, Ohio, 'Walking the Arab Street: Arab Anti-Americanism and U.S. Cultural Diplomacy in Lebanon, 1957-69.'”

The art of selling us short: can Gabriel really make a difference? - Medb Ruane, ‎Irish Independent: "Who is Gabriel Byrne? [Golden Globe winning, Irish actor, film director, film producer, writer, and audiobook narrator]. As of this Paddy's week, the actor is Ireland's first cultural ambassador to the USA. You don't have to talk nice to him or call him 'Excellency,' unless you want to. Anyways, the job's honourary so he won't be paid. … Byrne's celebrity pull-power will be first tested next year, when Ireland launches a year-long strategic cultural programme in the US. If he's good, he'll free things up so that attention is given to more contemporary, innovative acts.

If it works, culture and economics will knit in like a double helix, with cultural profile creating a positive ambience in which to conduct business, starting with the dwindling diaspora. There's nothing new about this theory. The difference now is that government has finally realised the power of cultural diplomacy because it's worked so well in the past. Values are shifting, somewhat, from the days when being a local hero meant raising your glass in the former Fianna Fail tent at the Galway races or getting planning permission for a zillion apartments to be built in bogs or faraway deserts. Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and the US integrated cultural planning with foreign and economic policies for years -- conspiracy theorists believe the CIA was responsible for making Abstract Expressionism the most cutting-edge art movement after the Second World War." Sarah Vaughan at the Newport-Belgrade Jazz Festival. Belgrade, Yugoslavia, 1973.

Premature power - Shyam Saran, Business Standard: "In the first half of the first decade of the new millennium, India’s emergence as a major political and economic power became an acknowledged reality worldwide. ... India’s vulnerabilities in the next decade will be centred mainly in its neighbourhood. While the Indian subcontinent is a single geopolitical unit, it is fractured into several states, each with its own dynamics. ... The management of our neighbourhood should enjoy the highest priority in the next decade. Episodic engagement and crisis-management must yield place to a long-term focus on the following elements [including]: ... Significantly expanded cultural diplomacy to leverage the strong and enduring cultural and linguistic affinities we share with our neighbours."

Alternate FM, culture minister confer on econ and cultural diplomacy efforts - Athens News Agency: "ANA-MPA/Alternate foreign minister George Droutsas conferred on Monday with culture and tourism minister Pavlos Geroulanos on economic and cultural diplomacy matters.

Droutsas told reporters after the meeting that cooperation and coordination between the two ministries is necessary, adding that economic and cultural diplomacy are very important sectors of a modern foreign policy. He said they discussed initiatives and actions being organised to mark the 2500th anniversary of the Battle of Marathon, as well as cooperation with important countries such as the US and the European states." Dave Brubeck in Baghdad, 1958.

Hungary to provide four programs for UNESCO event - Caboodle.hu: "Hungary will provide four programmes as part of the UNESCO International Year for the Rapprochement of Cultures this year, the foreign ministry spokeswoman told MTI on Thursday. The UNESCO events in 2010 aim to boost ' dialogue among civilisations and cultures' using science, culture and communications to promote peace between peoples and protect diversity, said Zsuzsanna Matrai in a statement. Matrai noted that Hungary had won a competition to stage four events, which she said was a great success for Hungarian cultural diplomacy."

RELATED ITEMS

Government forms propaganda unit - myjoyonline.com, Ghana: At a time when all manner of noise is being made about the cost that the former New Patriotic Party’s (NPP’s) government allegedly incurred through the formation of communications teams, the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) has done exactly the same thing, by forming its own propaganda unit tasked to boost government’s image! According to Deputy Minister of Information, Mr. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, government has formed its own propaganda outfit, which he describes as a Communications Team to tell its story on radio, television and on other media platforms.

According to Okudzeto Ablakwa, the government ‘communications team’ is made of newspapers editors, government appointees and other people. He however failed to name the editors who act as the government guard dogs. “Every government in the world has a communications team, those that you see appearing on programmes…radio, television, Good Morning Ghana, Good Evening Ghana, TV Africa, newspaper review programmes, Peace FM, Joy Fm form the government’ communications team,” he said. Woody Herman deplanes in Santiago, Chile, 1958.

Hilarious anti-Estonian propaganda – Edward Lucas, The New Cold War: Estonia is (Pravda reports so it must be true) launching a new campaign for the assimilation of the Russian-speaking population. The Russians residing in Estonia will be pushed towards changing their Russian surnames to Estonian surnames. The administration of the Baltic nation decided to use such a measure to conceal its absolute inability to struggle against the financial crisis, which had put the three Baltic states on the edge of the economic collapse.

Edward Lucas' "The New Cold War" Propaganda Part One: Shock Therapy – Karl Naylor, Central-Eastern Europe Watch: One of the worst and badly researched works on Russia written

by a British journalist is the New Cold War by Edward Lucas whose rhetoric about Putin, calling him a "monster", a new Mussolini or a new Stalin is the distallation of all that is wrong into one shoddy piece of hack propaganda, a kind of anti-Russian version of Melanie Philips anti-Islamist work Londinstan. Benny Goodman plays the hne (oboe) with a musician in Rangoon, Burma, 1957.