"What great nation has not been colonized?"
--F Sionil Jose, The Philippine Star; image from
PUBLIC DIPLOMACY
Sunday Morning News and Views - Art Lynch, Communication Prof News and Views: "The largest world[']s fair in history has opened in Shanghai China, with over 600,000 people in lines for the Swiss Pavilion alone. Like the ancient tradition of paying tribute to the emperor, world leaders are there for the opening, hands out for Chinese money and grants. Obama is at home in New Orleans.
The US Pavilion cost only sixty one million, among the lowest in costs, is the only one done with no government funds, and is among the most boring and least popular of the exhibits. Just as they did with the Olympics, residents were moved from their homes, security increased, eyesores removed, drastic moves to reduce air pollution taken and other actions only possible in a totalitarian communist state." Image from article
Huntsman keeps his options open - Carol E. Lee, fredericksburg.com: "President Barack Obama essentially sidelined a potential 2012 challenger last year when he dispatched Republican Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman to Beijing. ... Listening to Huntsman, it’s clear he and Obama share a common world view, if not a common touch. As Obama sold himself as a fresh face on the world stage who offers a diverse background, Huntsman offers a new American face in China. He draws on his personal experiences, including his adopted Chinese daughter, Gracie, to help connect with the Chinese. When he brought Gracie the place she was born he said the entire town turned out to greet her. 'If it helps in terms of public diplomacy and helping people here understand who we are as Americans and what our core values are – freedom, security and human rights and open markets – then I’m always happy to do that,' Huntsman said. ... Huntsman said the Chinese pepper him with all sorts of questions everywhere he goes – about everything from the United States’ intentions in Asia to sports, pop culture and music. One thing they have not asked him about is Sarah Palin. 'I’ve never heard her name brought up once,' Huntsman said."
Sanctions: An Important Component of U.S. North Korea Policy - Bruce Klingner, 38 North, US-Korea Institute at SAIS: "The debate over the utility of sanctions in foreign policy is usually depicted in binary fashion, i.e. whether the U.S. should use pressure or engagement. The reality, of course, is that sanctions and engagement—along with economic assistance, military deterrence, alliances, and public diplomacy—are all diplomatic tools to influence the negotiating behavior of the other side. Rather than being used in isolation, these tools are most effective when integrated into a comprehensive strategy utilizing all the instruments of national power. ... While a comprehensive integrated strategy utilizing all the tools of coercion and persuasion provides the best potential for achieving North Korean denuclearization, we must realize we may be trying to negotiate the non-negotiable. There may not be any magical combination of benefits and punishments that gets Pyongyang to abandon its decades long quest to develop nuclear weapons. ... The Obama administration’s two-track policy of pressure and negotiations is an improvement over earlier approaches
that veered to either extreme. However, 'strategic patience' is insufficient as a long-term strategy. ... Washington should therefore begin discussions with its allies over possible next steps for policy toward North Korea, particularly in light of a future leadership succession in Pyongyang. It is best to start having the discussion now and coordinating policy rather than simply allowing the status quo to continue ... and continue to deteriorate." Image from
Administration's must sharpen message on Burma - Kelley Currie, Daily Caller: "The US should also change its approach to Burma’s Asian neighbors. Polite diplomacy is not going to change Chinese or Indian policies. They have only ever been moved through public embarrassment about their patronage of the retrograde junta, especially if they find themselves outside a regional consensus led by Indonesia, Japan and South Korea. The Association of Southeast Asian States (ASEAN)—of which Burma is a member and the U.S. is not—is a poor partner for dealing with the regime’s malfeasance. Burma has become ASEAN’s unsolvable problem and a drag on institutional development. US policy should embrace ASEAN’s decision to allow its members to act individually on Burma, and focus on forward-leaning countries like Indonesia—which has emerged as a leading critic of the junta. Public diplomacy in Asia should highlight events such as a prominent Indonesian parliamentarian’s recent call for sanctions on the Burmese regime."
Mother Karen – Paul Rockower, Levantine: "There is a fantastic and terrifying piece on the Karen uprising against the Burmese regime. It is called 'For Us Surrender is Out of the Question.' Very much worth a read. There are already plans in the works on how to help the Karen with some service on the public diplomacy front.
For now, all payment will probably come in stick soup. However, after we help overthrow the Burmese regime, maybe we can get paid in Burmese rubies." 1983 Karen image from
“I Challenge Marc Thiessen”– Six Questions for Malcolm Nance - Scott Horton, Harper’s: "An Arabic-speaking counterterrorism expert and a combat veteran with twenty-eight years of operational experience in the Middle East, Malcolm Nance has now published a sweeping new strategic proposal for engaging Al Qaeda. I put six questions to him about his book and the continuing debate about waterboarding propelled by former Vice President Cheney and his staffers. ... 4. [Question:] You say that the United States needs to target Al Qaeda with a public-diplomacy campaign that you call CIRCUIT BREAKER. Explain your proposal and why you think Bush-era public diplomacy fell short. [Answer:] The entire eight-year effort under Bush targeted Americans, not the world or Al Qaeda supporters. Bin Laden benefitted immensely from massive policy errors such as the invasion of Iraq. CIRCUIT BREAKER is designed to reverse these losses and break Al Qaeda’s global base of support. Bin Laden’s deputy, Ayman Al-Zawahiri, noted that losing the Muslim world’s support would utterly destroy Al Qaeda. This strategy, which would cost only a fraction of the hundreds of billions spent on military operations, would attack Al Qaeda in the realm of public opinion in the Islamic world and would reposition America and Americans as partners rather than an opponents."
Secondary Students for Leadership Program in the U.S. - Today and Forever: "Five Tanzanian youths and one secondary school teacher have arrived in the United States for a four-week Youth Leadership Exchange Program. The American people are sponsoring the program which takes place from March 27 through April 21, 2010 in Washington D.C. and Denver, Colorado.
This is the second group of Tanzanian youth to participate in the Youth Leadership Exchange Program in the past six months.A statement from the U.S. Embassy said the students will live with local hosts' families and interact with U.S. teenagers, grassroots activists and community organizations. Through direct involvement with these groups as well as U.S. high schools and local government leaders, the students will learn about civic participation and study the rights and responsibilities of all citizens in a democracy. 'The students will develop leadership skills, see the diversity in American high schools, and practice community activism,' said the U.S. Embassy Public Diplomacy Officer, Karen Grissette." Image from article
Possible 18-25% cut to BBC World Service budget would be "pretty much terminal" – Kim Andrew Elliot reporting on International Broadcasting
Israel Trapped in Nuclear Isolation - This is zionism:
"Whether Israel likes it or not, its challenging of Iran's nuclear ambiguity is more and more being linked in the international community with its own nuclear opacity. Top-flight nuclear scholars concluded a recent conference in London organised jointly by the School of Oriental and African Studies and the East Jerusalem-based Palestine-Israel Journal with the statement that 'the Iranian nuclear programme has served as a welcome distraction for the Netanyahu administration. (They) have conducted a 'megaphone war' in pointing to Iran as the major threat to the state of Israel and as the primary source of regional instability, in the expectation that this will diminish (or at least mask) domestic and international scrutiny of the faltering peace process. Using the media and public diplomacy, Netanyahu is 'fanning the flames of fear' over an alleged 'existential threat' emanating from Iran.'" Image from
Istanbul 2010: "I'm inspired. Are you? – Lena, Global Chaos: As a part of a semester-long project for my International PR class, I did some work on Turkey, particularly related to public diplomacy. Istanbul 2010 was something I kept coming across, so I ended up doing a paper on it. ... Since 1985 the EU has been nominating various cities as 'European Capitals of Culture' (ECOC), giving them cash and fame to preserve cultural heritage, and promote sustainable development and tourism. (Basically: bring Europe closer together, while benefiting the locals.) In 2006 Istanbul was chosen to be one of the cities to hold the ECOC title in 2010 (the others are Essen in Germany and Pecs in Hungary). This, of course, was of special significance, since Turkey has so far had a bumpy ride with its EU membership bid: Istanbul 2010 was seen as an opportunity to prove Turkey's 'Europeanness' to Europeans."
Image Advertising and Public Diplomacy - Slicely's World [Google translation from German text]: "Do you know the difference between image advertising and public diplomacy? What's communication? What role does www.swissinfo.ch in this context? ... . Diplomats and lobbyists influence the opinion leaders in their own and other countries.
Switzerland's interests are highlighted at the international level, described and defended. For image advertising and public diplomacy, inter alia, the presence of Switzerland, a division of the General Secretariat responsible EDA. It provides world fairs, major international sports events and road shows for Swiss attention. Foreign journalists and opinion makers are cared for." Image from article
RELATED ITEMS
Obama's diplomacy, not fully engaged - Jackson Diehl, Washington Post: Barack Obama's foreign policy has been defined so far by his attempts to "engage" with adversaries or rivals of the United States, such as Ayatollah Ali Khamenei of Iran and Dmitry Medvedev of Russia. The results have been mixed. But now the president's focus is visibly shifting. In the next 18 months, Obama's record abroad will be made or broken by his ability to do business with two nominal U.S. allies: Hamid Karzai and Binyamin Netanyahu. Obama has to find a way to coax each of them toward a change of course. Public bullying won't do it. Assurances of U.S. support and stroking by special envoys go only so far. What's missing is personal chemistry and confidence, the construction of a bond between leaders that can persuade a U.S. ally to take a risk; in other words, presidential "engagement."
Syria: Scud delivery to Hezbollah – US propaganda – ynetnews.com
Poster propaganda: Exhibit displays America’s messages during World Wars: Before pop-up ads on computers or commercials on TVs, the key tools in getting information out to as many people as possible were newspapers, newsreels and radio spots - John Lamb, INFORUM: More than 50 fliers from World Wars I and II have been saved, framed and preserved by the State Historical Society of North Dakota in Bismarck.
The images are collected in two touring exhibits, “Liberty Loan Posters” and “World War II Posters,” both on display at the Historical and Cultural Society of Clay County in Moorhead through May. Image from article
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