May 26

“So as I officially finish my Master's in Public Diplomacy, I leave with a true sense of accomplishment and, well, mastery. Time and time again, for the last two years, I have been assured that my hard work, diligence (and $120,000 in tuition) will pay off and I will have no problem finding a rewarding and lucrative career. So far, it seems like someone lied to me. The hours I have spent on cover letters and resume tweaking have resulted in maybe one call back.”

--Katharine Keith, A World Not Our Own: A Public Diplomacy Blog; Keith image from her blog; please note her comment on tuition costs below

“Hate is always a strong word, but it sure sends a message, doesn’t it? In an interview with the Institute for Defense and Government Advancement last week I relished in a bit of a self help moment. When asked about the role of strategic communication in social media strategy I admitted the reality I’ve lived with since working for the Army – I kind of hate the term strategic communication. "

--indykyzer

SCHOLARSHIP

Cull, Nicholas J. “Speeding the Strange Death of American Public Diplomacy: The George H.W. Bush Administration and the U.S. Information Agency”. Diplomatic History 34, no.1 (January 2010): 47-69; cited at

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

US Public Diplomacy in Pakistan - Jordan Dey, ‎Huffington Post:

"A poll by the International Republican Institute (U.S.) found 74 percent of Pakistanis have a negative image of the United States - while some European polling firms put the number above 90 percent. … For the U.S. to turn this tide in Pakistan, a better quality of life for most Pakistanis would be a significant step forward. This is a challenge for the government, private sector, and community groups in Pakistan - but the U.S. can be helpful in a targeted manner. First, the Pakistani public - not just the government or military - needs to be considered when evaluating the success of U.S. policy. … Second, average Pakistanis are more concerned about high inflation (40 percent) and unemployment (20 percent), than terrorism (13 percent), according to another IRI poll. The U.S. Congress could help Pakistan's economy in a variety of ways, including through granting duty-free access to the U.S. market . … Third, the Obama administration must discuss more openly what U.S. development assistance is doing in Pakistan. … Finally, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton should return for a town-hall tour around Pakistan, perhaps with Adm. Michael Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, this time." Dey image from

Don't Silence Voice of America - ‎Helle Dale, Heritage.org: "Not only does radio remain the medium most people trust, but in some parts of the world, it is the only medium that can evade the control of the state. Both television stations and the Internet are far more vulnerable to censorship and government interference in a way that shortwave radio—due to the laws of physics, which allow transmitters to be stationed as far away as the other side of the earth—is not. Medium-wave radio can be effective if transmitted from across borders, as in the case of the array of U.S. transmitters located in Kuwait but directed at Iran. ... Although diplomats and pundits have crowned Web 2.0 as the new communications king, radio remains the globe’s most trusted source for information. Consequently, America should ensure its public diplomacy strategy continues to commit resources, as well as congressional oversight, to developing its radio capabilities."

All eight BBG nominees are now committee approved, await Senate floor vote. Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting

China Brushes Off Clinton's Call For Action Against North Korea - Matthew Lee, Huffington Post: "Comment by party-of-one 9 hours ago (4:56 AM):

The Secretary of State lost credibility in public diplomacy with and about North Korea when engaged in an unseemly round of name calling in 2009. You cannot 'un-ring' the bell. As a result, she is far more likely to antagonize than resolve the current tensions." Image from

Public and Private Diplomacy - Terry Anzur Coaching Blog: "A TVNews Talent Coach Tries to Make the World a Better Place for Excellence in Broadcast and Online Journalism: While I was conducting public diplomacy with Maldivian journalists, the real diplomats were busy a few blocks away at the president's office and the Holiday Inn, Male's newest and most posh hotel. For days, the story dominating the news in Maldives has been President Nasheed's decision to accept two former detainees from Guantanamo Bay. The government reasons that there's a lot to gain by helping the US meet President Obama's goal of closing the detention facility."

Former Ambassador to Poland Ashe speaks to Jewish GOP - ‎Alan Sloan, Farragutpress: "Asked by an RJC [Republican Jewish Coalition, Knoxville Chapter] member the degree to which the U.S. State Department trained Ashe for his ambassadorship, the ex-Knoxville

mayor said, 'Quickly and not well,' adding it’s a 'two-week course' in which 'you simply can’t consume it all. ... A lot of it’s [on-the-job training] to be honest.' 'I think having been mayor was good preparation in terms of public diplomacy,' Ashe added. 'Reaching out to different groups.' ... Attempting to stay in touch with Polish people, Ashe said, 'I made a point of visiting more than 200 cities ... most of them had never had an American ambassador come visit them. They were almost, sort of, shell-shocked.'" Image from

A nation adrift in Asia literacy - ‎Greg Sheridan, The Australian: "Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott [said that] … We invest very little in Asia, much less than we invest in the US or Europe. Our diplomatic representation in Asia, though of high quality, is actually quite small. The embassies, all under staffed, do a good job but we do not have a significant network of consulates across big Asian countries like China, India and Indonesia. Despite our priority for Asia, even European nations put far more resources into public diplomacy there than we do."

Johanna Blakley: Lessons from fashion's free culture - ‎Exchange Morning Post: "Johanna Blakley studies the impact of mass media and entertainment on our world. As the Deputy Director of the Norman Lear Center (a media-focused think tank at the University of Southern California) Johanna Blakley


spends much of her time exploring how our entertainment interacts with our political, commercial and social habits. ... Blakley has worked across a huge variety of media platforms -- producing for the web on a large scale, conducting gaming research, coordinating events for film festivals and executing consumer research on entertainment and politics. Drawing on this vast body of experience, she also lectures at USC and helped develop their masters program in Public Diplomacy." Blakley image from

Um livro de que participei: Emerging Powers (Canada) - Paulo R. de Almeida Diplomatizzando: "Andrew F. Cooper is Associate Director and Distinguished Fellow at CIGI and Professor of Political Science at the University of Waterloo, where he teaches in the areas of International Political Economy, Global Governance, Comparative and Canadian Foreign Policy, and the Practice of Diplomacy. He has been ... in 2009 a Fulbright Visiting Chair of Public Diplomacy at the University of Southern California. Dr. Cooper’s recent publications include Global Governance and Diplomacy: Worlds Apart? (Palgrave, 2008), Celebrity Diplomacy (Paradigm, 2007), and Regionalisation and Global Governance: The Taming of Globalisation? (Routledge, 2007)."

RELATED ITEMS

A flawed strategy and a failed war in Afghanistan - Katrina vanden Heuvel, Washington Post:

Vietnam and Iraq both demonstrated how easy it is to get into war and how difficult it is to get out. We now see that dilemma in Afghanistan. Withdrawal will demand a huge political lift and may well lead to the question, "What were the last eight years of lost blood and treasure about?" Confronting that question honestly is far less costly than continuing a flawed strategy and a failed war. Image from

Making diplomacy a counterinsurgency weapon - ‎Daryl Copeland, Embassy: Armed force is both too sharp and too dull an international policy instrument to be relied upon in addressing the vexing problems of the globalization age. If, as a last resort, military action is absolutely necessary, then it must be conducted discriminately and as an integral part of an over-arching strategic framework grounded firmly in a deep understanding of local conditions and long term development challenges.

Inter-Korean crisis: Propaganda fight - BBC News:

South Korea has resumed propaganda operations against North Korea, amid a crisis in relations. Seoul has blamed its communist neighbour for the sinking of a warship in March, but Pyongyang denies this. BBC News looks at some of the methods both countries have used in the past to get their message across the border. Loudspeakers … Display boards … DMZ villages. Image : Once a year, tens of thousands of tourists gather in a town in Spain to hurl over one hundred tons of overripe tomatoes … all in just one hour. When the festival is called to a halt fire houses are used to clean the streets as well as the participants. For this brief but amazing food fight the size of the town quadruples, drawing visitors from all over the world to participate in the largest spaghetti sauce bath of all time.

Israel's Strange Behaviour on Flotilla to Gaza - Irish4Palestine – Global Research: Amazing the odd tactics Israel has attempted in the last two weeks with regards to the Flotilla coming to Gaza. First they threaten the ministers of the various countries, Turkey, UK, Ireland, Sweden, etc. Telling them to call back their dignitaries. Then they suddenly allow some trucks into Gaza with a little humanitarian aid, to which 4 days later they are using as propaganda, telling the world there is no need for the flotilla because Israel allowed "some" aid into Gaza.