June 19-20

“You can't market occupation."

--Israeli commentator Ronen Bergman; image from

SITE OF INTEREST

Welcome to INTERNational Connections — a community designed for current and former interns to stay in touch with fellow interns, supervisors and other colleagues at the U.S. Department of State. Via

EVENTS

A) Perspectives on U.S. International Broadcasting, Heritage Foundation, June 21

B) 2010 Botkin Lectures: Cultural Democracy in a Time of Diminished Resources, presented by Bau Graves, Old Town School of Folk Music, Chicago. July 22, 2010, 12:00 noon - 1:00 pm Mary Pickford Theater, 3rd Floor, James Madison Building. Via GL. Image

C) Mountain Runner Institute: Now Media: Engagement based on Information not Platforms 8:00 - 5:00 July 6 (Tue) Washington, DC $300 before 28 June, $400 after

VIDEO

How’s Your Farsi? Your PDPBR compiler interviewed on Persian News Network; on PNN, see. (Severe Warning!: By looking at this video, you may be in violation of the Smith-Mundt Act)

Below images from: Vulgar Army: Octopus in Propaganda and Political Cartoons

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

A Politically Correct War: Nine years after 9/11, we still don’t know how to deal with radical Islam - Michael Hirsch, Newsweek:

"The Obama team, says Scott Carpenter of the Washington Institute for Near East Peace Policy, 'is doing some interesting things on the public diplomacy side [outreach to the Muslim world], and on the counterterrorism side. But in this big fat middle, radicalization, they’re doing zero.'”

The Headwinds of Muslim Public Opinion‎ - Spencer Ackerman, Firedoglake: "A year after the Cairo speech, Pew finds Muslim antipathy to Obama and his foreign policies, the outlier to a poll that generally finds foreign receptivity to the U.S. to have increased in the Obama era. What’s that demonstrate? That public diplomacy, plus or minus substantive policy changes, equals… well, the results of the new Pew poll of international attitudes. ... Also, to dispense with a canard: public diplomacy and foreign public opinion is not about winning a popularity contest and it’s not its own virtue. It’s to build up trust amongst foreign publics so that when you occasionally take steps that they disapprove of, it doesn’t wreck your relationship. One of the chief mistakes of the Obama administration’s foreign policy to date is that the administration assumed more trust existed amongst chief allies and partners — Israel is a good example — than actually existed, hoping to pocket the extant relationship while turning its attention to outreach to adversaries or rapproachement [sic] with Russia."

Obama nominates pastor to international religious freedom post‎ - Jessica Pall, The Catholic Review: "President Barack Obama announced the nomination of the Rev. Suzan Johnson Cook to be ambassador at large for international religious freedom. ... As ambassador-at-large, Rev. Cook

will serve as principle adviser on religious freedom to Clinton and the Obama administration. She will be supported by the Office of International Religious Freedom in the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, whose staff monitors religious persecution and discrimination worldwide. The office produces an annual report on religious freedom around the world. It also has roles in public diplomacy and in public affairs. The ambassadorial post has been vacant since Obama took office."

George P. Shultz Center Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony - ‎Hillary Rodham Clinton, US Department of State: "Well, it’s really a pleasure for me, personally, to be back and a real honor to take part in this dedication of this expansion, the George P. Shultz National Foreign Affairs Training Center. ... Today, of course, there are still the A-100 courses and the focus on language skills, but the curriculum has been widened in order to provide more of the education and training that is called for, including classes in public diplomacy.”

Dominguez Earns Degree‎ - NJ Today: "Valeria Dominguez of Elizabeth was one of 477 seniors who graduated from Colby College May 23, receiving a bachelor of arts degree at the outdoor commencement in Waterville, Maine. Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Judith A. McHale urged graduates to recognize human commonalities as they embark on their careers. 'What unites us as humans is far more powerful and important than what divides us,' she said. 'From Waterville to Moscow

to Islamabad, people everywhere share the same aspirations for their families and communities.'”

New House Caucus on Diplomacy and War of Ideas Off and Running Heritage.org: "Thursday’s caucus briefing was an enlightening introduction to the Administration’s thinking on strategic communications and public diplomacy. In institutional terms, however, the White House has a long way to go before solving the interdepartmental conflicts that still exist. To do this, Congress must become an active participant, and Congressmen Mac Thornberry and Adam Smith have gotten off to a very respectable start." More on briefing in below section on cultural diplomacy.

BBG response to article in Layalina Review on Public Diplomacy and Arab Media – John Brown, Notes and Essays:

"BBG broadcasters report the story before they write the headline. It’s unfortunate that the anonymous author of the Layalina item 'The BBG is Out of Touch with Reality' did not follow the same standard of professionalism. The author did not bother to contact the BBG before publishing this error-filled piece. ... Letitia King Director, Office of Public Affairs BBG/."

NATO Deputy Secretary General meets Parliamentarians from Qatar - ISRIA (registration): From Google entry: “Council from Qatar in the framework of their visit to NATO Headquarters organised on 16 and 17 June 2010 by the NATO Public Diplomacy Division.”

The Jihad Flotillas: Melding Propaganda with Violence – Pamela Geller, As an American: "After the Israeli action against the Turkish jihad flotilla aroused more international condemnation of Israel, Iran is now sending two of its own Islamic jihad flotillas – Moetillas – to Gaza.


The war ship convoy (which the media affectionately has called a 'humanitarian flotilla' while the 'aid workers' set out to slice and dice the Jews) operated by jihad gangs from thug countries is the new way to wage war in the twenty-first century, if you’re not already busy blowing up buildings, trains, planes and other civilian target After the Israeli action against the Turkish jihad flotilla aroused more international condemnation of Israel, Iran is now sending two of its own Islamic jihad flotillas – Moetillas – to Gaza. The war ship convoy (which the media affectionately has called a 'humanitarian flotilla' while the 'aid workers' set out to slice and dice the Jews) operated by jihad gangs from thug countries is the new way to wage war in the twenty-first century, if you’re not already busy blowing up buildings, trains, planes and other civilian target." Image from article

Column One: Weathering the approaching storm Weathering the approaching storm - Caroline B. Glick, Jerusalem Post: "Israel is endangered today as it has never been before. The Turkish-Hamas flotilla two weeks ago precipitated a number of dangerous developments. Rather than attend to all of them, Israel’s leadership is devoting itself almost exclusively to contending with the least dangerous among them while ignoring the emerging threats with the potential to lead us to great calamities. … Here the tools of diplomacy with NATO members and public diplomacy with the American people will be crucial to convincing Turkey to stand down."

Elton John aside, Israelis feel growing isolation‎ - Aron Heller, The Associated Press:

"Many in Israel, including in the country's leadership, have concluded that the war over world opinion is lost, said Israeli commentator Ronen Bergman. He said the 'siege mentality' mindset was dangerous, particularly for a nation seeking to rally world support against what Israel sees as an existential threat — Iran's nuclear program. Many in Israel blame the country's public diplomacy mechanism for not explaining itself properly and for being outmaneuvered in the media, but Bergman said this largely misses the point. 'The problem is not with the marketing. The problem is with the product and the product is damaged. You can't market occupation,' Bergman said, referring to Israel's 43 years of control over the Palestinians."

GIYUS Targets Christian Science Monitor Message Board - Eli Clifton, lobelog.com: "Last week I wrote about GIYUS—the 'online public diplomacy platform of Israel' as the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Word document) describes it—and the powerful role it can play in shaping the results of online polls and changing the direction of message board discussions. Yesterday GIYUS sent out an alert about a forum on The Christian Science Monitor’s website. GIYUS appears to have driven a lot of traffic to the discussion–which is titled 'Israeli blockade of Gaza: What would you change?'–and has inundated the forum with pro-blockade comments.
Comments in favor of the blockade are consistently receiving “thumbs up” votes and those in opposition to the blockade, and the IDF’s lethal attack on the flotilla, are getting voted down."

Model community: Toronto's Jewish community – the 3rd-largest in N. America – is unparalleled in its support for Israel. A behind-the-scenes look into 'hasbara' there - David Brinn, Jerusalem Post: “'Nowhere in the world have I met such a strong, well organized and self-confident community,' said Amir Gissin, the consul-general for Toronto and Western Canada, who said he receives some 500 requests to attend Israel-related events each year ('I’m starting to be a bit more picky, but I accepted over 200 last year'). …

Gissin always seems to be ahead of the curve. When he served as the head of public diplomacy at the Foreign Ministry, he was on the ground floor of the multiyear undertaking to rebrand Israel as a country not seen entirely through the lens of conflict. He was instrumental in retooling its advocacy doctrine away from the concept of 'Israel vs. Palestinians' and toward a more global 'moderates vs. extremists' messaging platform. And now, after nearly three years in Toronto, the youthful looking 45-year-old Jerusalemite is touting some new ideas on how to continue improving Israel’s image in Canada."

China's positive ratings dip 9% in India, remain high in Pakistan‎ - Times of India: "China's positive ratings in India have dipped with a new opinion poll showing 34 per cent of Indians view it favourably compared to 43 per cent in an earlier survey, but 85 per cent of Pakistanis rated it as a friendly nation. The survey, conducted by US-based Pew Research Centre to gauge the world wide perspectives about China, showed that 52 per cent Indians viewed China unfavourably while 34 per cent gave it a favourable rating. ... A Beijing-based international analyst Pang Zhongyin said the result of the poll is nothing new and Beijing still needs to step up efforts to strengthen communication with the world. ... Pang emphasised the importance of public diplomacy, saying the Chinese government, from the top leader to the ordinary diplomat, has gradually taken the idea in mind. He noted that Premier Wen Jiabao's recent interactions with local people during his visit to the Republic of Korea and Japan is a good example of extending the message that China is not a threat."

Diplomacia Digital e o papel do “novo diplomata”, por André E. Ribeiro de Souza Aprigio - Mundorama:

Discusses soft power and cites Nye, Jr., Joseph S., 2008. Public Diplomacy and Soft Power. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 616, p. 94-95.

Princeton Perspective: The dangerous appeal of moral authority- Nikki Stern, Packet Online: "Nikki Stern worked as a public relations executive before the death of her husband in the World Trade Center on 9/11 ... Ms. Stern has maintained advocacy roles on the advisory boards of Americans for Informed Democracy (with whom she shared the Common Ground Award), Project Rebirth, and the Public Diplomacy Collaborative at Harvard University’s Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation."

On the Register - Super Mario Diplomacy: "I’ve been waiting for this moment from the day I signed up to take the Foreign Service written exam.

After going through a relatively quick security investigation and about a month in adjudications (I had an interesting red flag…), I was recently informed that I was added to the Public Diplomacy register. That’s not all. I found out that out of 116 candidates, I was ranked first. 'Shocked' isn’t enough to describe how I felt. Here I am, able to join the Foreign Service at the age of 21."

CULTURAL DIPLOMACY

Cultural Diplomacy and Strategic Communications/Public Diplomacy - John Brown, Notes and Essays: "On Thursday, June 17th, bright and early at 9:00 am at 121 Cannon on Capitol Hill, I attended, at the kind invitation of Michael Clauser, Congressional Aide in Rep. Mac Thornberry's office, a briefing of the Strategic Communication and Public Diplomacy caucus. The purpose of the briefing (which lasted over an hour) was to discuss the White House's National Framework for Strategic Communication, the '1055 Report' on Strategic Communication (Defense Department), the Strategic Framework for Public Diplomacy (State Department). Noting that the impact of American culture was problematical in some countries, I asked why [Cultural Diplomacy] -- which I defined as a government's presentation of its country's culture -- had not been mentioned during the briefing, except (in a related way) when Ms. DiMartino cited 'cultural programming' as one of public diplomacy's activities. Mr. Rhodes politely said mine was 'an important question,' stressing the White House's interest in culture as seen in the April Muslim-focused entrepreneur's summit hosted by President Obama. He then went on to show the administration's concern with culture in its emphasis on using US education, science-technology, and sport (he mentioned basketball in Turkey) as vehicles to promote the US overseas. Ms. Brooks, who spoke next, simply exclaimed 'American Idol,' to which I retorted by uttering 'Sex and the City.' In a lengthier reply, Ms. DiMartino said that cultural diplomacy had been a topic of discussion in the recent Public Diplomacy review at the State Department at which "field officers" (Public Affairs Officers -- PAOs) had taken part. Ms. DiMartino underscored that cultural diplomacy is a tool of US foreign policy, not an activity in and of itself; those who see it thus, she said, should work for organizations other than the State Department, such as NGOs."

What the Obama Administration Really Thinks about Cultural Relations – Joshua Fouts, The Imagination Age: “[John] Brown reports on a June 17 briefing he attended on Capitol Hill in which he asked a number of senior Obama Foreign Policy appointees about the importance of cultural diplomacy in the US government's global foreign policy outreach efforts. ... Kitty Bartels DiMartino, a former Vice President at Discovery Communications and current Chief of Staff for the US Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy Judith McHale (former CEO of Discovery Communications) explained in greater detail what the what the Obama Administration thinks of investing in cultural diplomacy efforts.

Says ... Brown: She underscored that cultural diplomacy is a tool of US foreign policy, not an activity in and of itself; those who see it thus, she said, should work for organizations other than the State Department, such as NGOs. Fortunately, other governments think differently and support and fund cultural relations institutions. The British Council ... for one example, is the British government's cultural relations outreach organization. The 74-year-old British Council is officially a charity and reports directly to Her Majesty the Queen. We are grateful that organizations like the British Council exist and, more importantly perhaps, that they include the United States citizens in the worldwide cultural relations and intercultural dialogue programs they create."

Cultural Diplomacy in Iowa - Paul Deaton, Blog for Iowa: "A group of Iowans was sitting around a table at the public library meeting room talking about Iran. While Iowa newspapers and the broader corporate media have focused their attention on the United Nations sanctions to hold Iran accountable for its violations of the Nuclear Non-proliferation treaty, that was not our topic. We were discussing how Iran is a country whose culture and governance is not easily reduced to simple statements or characterizations. What we read in the corporate media is much different from our growing understanding, gained through the experience of friends who are Iranian expatriates and from narratives of friends and neighbors who visit Iran. The discussion was prompted by an event at the Englert Theatre last Tuesday, featuring Christopher Merrill, director of the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa, titled, 'Though the Lens of Cultural Diplomacy: A Global Snapshot.'”

Cultural Democracy in a Time of Diminished Resources - Bau Graves, The American Folklife Center, Library of Congress [see above "events"]: "Simply stated, 'Cultural Democracy' is the notion that everybody's heritage and cultural expression is worthwhile and deserving of an equitable share of whatever resources are available.

In recent years, Cultural Democracy has also gained traction as a descriptor for the whole realm of participatory, community-centered arts activities, practiced by millions of Americans everyday in their homes, backyards, public parks, places of worship, schools — pretty much everywhere except in the designated art spaces of our museums and concert halls, where they happen infrequently. The mechanisms that we have inherited for the support of public culture were inspired by the practices of the fine arts economy of the first half of the 20th century, and were designed to validate curatorial authority. This is the top-down version of culture. Financial and programmatic decision-making is vested in highly-trained, credentialed individuals who are positioned to determine what the entire community should see, hear and experience. Cultural Democracy requires a paradigm shift away from this curatorial model, and towards a process of continuous and intense community engagement, using culture as a catalyst for addressing social issues: art of the people, made by the people, and presented for the people."

How about corporate cultural responsibility, asks Geeta Chandran (Interview) - Sify: "Classical dances should be included as a regular cultural component in the country's tourism package 'to project India's soft power', says noted bharatanatyam dancer Geeta Chandran, now working on a performance for the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony. 'It is something I describe as corporate cultural responsibility under which the state government is expected to be 100 percent responsible for the promotion and packaging of culture,' Chandran told IANS in an interview. 'Dance has become a potent tool of communication. It breeds people-to-people synergy that is not always possible through dialogue and conventional diplomacy. It is one of the most sophisticated forms of cultural diplomacy.'"

America's Musical Ambassadors - Corinna Da Fonseca-Wollheim, wall Street Journal: "The Little Joe McLerran Quartet is one of 10 ensembles chosen to represent the U.S. this year on the 'Rhythm Road,' an arts diplomacy initiative funded by the State Department and administered by Jazz at Lincoln Center.

Since 2006, the program has sent more than 100 musicians on tours to 97 different countries, most of them outside the reach of American music. … The program is a revival of the Jazz Ambassadors of the Cold War. Beginning in the mid 1950s, the State Department sent America's finest jazz musicians—including Dizzy Gillespie, Count Basie, Duke Ellington and Dave Brubeck—to far-flung places around the world. … At its most successful, the Rhythm Road is a two-way cultural exchange."

RELATED ITEMS

Most Americans and Europeans Support Impending Attack on Iran - Kurt Nimmo - Prison Planet.com: "'Majorities in many Western and some Muslim countries are willing to consider military action against Iran to prevent the Islamic republic from obtaining nuclear weapons, a global poll showed on Thursday,' reports the Sydney Morning Herald today. 'The Pew Research Center’s poll conducted in 22 countries found majorities or pluralities in 16 countries endorsing the possibility of military intervention.' Naturally Americans are more susceptible to neocon propaganda than other people around the world. In America, a sucker is born every minute, as P. T. Barnum said (actually it was 'Paper Collar Joe' Bessimer who made the cynical comment). 'Americans are among the most supportive of a military option to deal with Iran with 66 per cent of those who oppose a nuclear-armed Iran saying they would consider the use of force, a figure second only to Nigeria’s 71 per cent.'”

There was no Twitter Revolution in Iran. Yes there was

- Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting

Fight Fire With Fire! Winning The Propaganda War With Fm Radio - tariqafridi allvoices.com: Until now, conventional forms of mass media have failed to reach out to the people of Federally Administered Tribal Areas in Pakistan. Newspaper circulation has been sparse, access to the internet unheard of and television reception, more often than not, has been insubstantial. Even those areas that fall within close proximity of the settled territories consider left out since available print publications and television programs neither reflect tribal culture nor exclusively speak to the needs of a poor, conservative society struggling to live in a troubled region. Sensing the opportunity, militant groups operating in different parts of the Tribal Areas and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, had been quick to exploit the power of FM radio by setting up illegal stations throughout the region. On the flip side, radio is unarguably the best available medium through which to reach the people of FATA in order to educate the local populace and to ensure that accessible media reflects popular, rather than minority, hard line views.

By War or Peace, No Easy Exit From Afghanistan - Rod Nordland, New York Times:

There’s no way we can kill our way out of Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the American commander, has said. By now, that’s become a mantra.

Afghanistan violence is soaring, U.N. says: Afghanistan is increasingly dangerous for troops and civilians alike, the report says, citing an 'alarming' 94% increase in IED attacks alone in the first four months of 2010, compared to last year. Suicide bombings and political killings also have risen - Laura King, Los Angeles Times

Afghanistan’s Civic War - James Traub, New York Times:

The essence of counterinsurgency (COIN) doctrine is that you cannot defeat an insurgency by killing insurgents, because their ranks will continue to grow as long as the people from whom they draw recruits view their own government as illegitimate.

An NCO recognizes a flawed Afghanistan strategy - George F. Will, Washington Post: Obama must adhee to his timetable for disentangling U.S. forces from the Afghan misadventure.

In Britain's exhausting Boer War, a parallel for Afghanistan - Carlos Lozada, Washington Post: Speaking on a panel this month during the annual conference of the Center for a New American Security, Peter W. Singer, a senior fellow in foreign policy at the Brookings Institution, invoked Britain's battle from 1899 to 1902 against a South African militia that it vastly outnumbered. Though the Brits eventually prevailed, victory came at such a cost in blood and treasure and time that scholars often point to the war as the beginning of the end of the British Empire.

Propaganda damaging Pak-US ties‎ - Zaheerul Hassan, Pakistan Observer: For better relationship with the Muslim world, American top brass and think tanks has to find the flaws at their ends and rather than playing in the hands of anti Pakistan and anti Muslim elements present in their rows. American policy makers have to forego the hunting down policy in relation to Pakistan. It is mentionable here that Indian and Jews are present in most of western and American think tanks. They are twisting and controlling the Washington and London policies and busy in fomenting propaganda against Muslim world in general and particularly against lonely nuclear Islamic Power.

Tidbits from Both Sides of the Fight: Taliban Propaganda Watch (RC South/Southwest) – 191225UTC Jun 10 - MILNEWS.Ca Blog

Deutsche Welle on how Europeans versus Americans demonstrate anger about oil spills - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting

Nollywood as a tool for International Rebranding & Diplomacy - George Ndukwu, Bandana: Film is seen by public diplomacy advocates as an enormously important avenue for otherwise diverse cultures to understand each other. It involves the use of truthful propaganda to communicate with citizens in other societies rather than their governments. Nigerians and Africans in Diaspora are constantly being barraged with news about high scale corruption, criminality, kidnapping etc by aggressive and overbearing foreign media agencies. We must get adjusted to the fact that the world does not view us as we see ourselves. … Films and television are enormously important avenues for international cultural understanding, which is a key goal of modern public diplomacy strategy. The can be used as tools of shaping the message(s) that we wish to present abroad, especially the current Rebranding campaign by the Ministry of Information & Communications. In this case, since this present Nigerian government has adopted citizens diplomacy as major foreign relations policy, we can now adopt “Population – centric foreign affairs” within which populations assume a central component of our foreign policy, since people and not just countries are of global importance in a world where technology and migration increasingly face everyone.

New York Politicians Peddle Israeli Propaganda About Gaza Flotilla - Alex Kane, Indypendent

Israel's propaganda war - Raymond G. Helmick, Nazir Khaja, Arab News: Israel's ability to shape public opinion regarding the flotilla massacre is intimately linked to its long-standing campaign to manipulate global public perceptions of what has been happening in Palestine all along since Israel's birth in 1947.

Hamas: Israeli decision to ease blockade 'propaganda' - ‎Ali Waked, Ynetnews

Israeli propaganda rag is mad at Al-Akhbar - The Angry Arab News Service/وكالة أنباء العربي الغاضب

South Korean Protesters Push for Propaganda War Against North Korea‎ - Bong Tae-hong, NTDTV

Art or propaganda? Examining North Korean paintings in Austria: Critics say the images of happy soldiers and peasants, presented without commentary, only sell Kim Jong Il's ideology. The Vienna museum defends the exhibit as a glimpse into an isolated art scene - Julia Damianova, Los Angeles Times:

In North Korea, "art assumes a social function and is subordinate to the revolutionary process," organizers of the Viennese exhibit said in a news release. North Korean artists are all members of state artist associations and have regular working hours. They receive a monthly salary for producing a certain number of works that "communicate the correct attitude, behaviors, morality and values." And their work has apparently become a profitable export that is able to skirt North Korea's international isolation, helping to bring cash back home. Image from article

Photos From The Italian Front - How The Nazis Used War Rubble As Propaganda - Christoph Gunkel, Spiegel:

As the Allies marched inexorably northward through Italy during World War II, the Nazis set to work photographing the rubble of damaged historical buildings and artwork. The images were supposed to prove that their enemies were cultural barbarians. Often, the images were produced by photographers belonging to so-called propaganda companies and they would end up in brochures depicting sites both before and after their destruction. An exhibit at the Central Institute of Art History in Munich showing selected photos taken by Germany's "art preservation unit" in Italy runs until the 25th of this month.

Images from article: The Palazzo Accademia Albertina, in Turin, where illustrious Italian painters were educated during the 19th century, before and after Allied destruction.

The man who led General de Gaulle's propaganda from 1942 - BBC News: The French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, has visited London on the 70th anniversary of General Charles De Gaulle's first wartime broadcast to Nazi-occupied France on the BBC French Service. The broadcasts enabled the French wartime leader to appeal directly to the French people to join the resistance against Nazi Germany. Jean-Louis Crémieux-Brilhac was in charge of clandestine Free French propaganda from the spring of 1942 until the liberation.

ONE MORE QUOTATION FOR THE DAY

“NGO (Not so Glowing Opinion)”

--American artist in Russia Frank Williams,

in a comment to a blog entry on cultural diplomacy; Williams image from