June 2-3

"Communicating, but no one was talking."

--A visitor to Iran about five years ago seeing young Iranians in the southwestern city of Shiraz busily texting each other; image from

“the spin doctors, or public diplomaticists”

--from an DPA article in Earth Times

VIDEO


Early Morning Swim: Keith Olbermann Interviews Ambassador Edward Peck about Israeli Flotilla Attack; via TH; Peck image from

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY IN THE NEWS

Daily Appointments: Daily Appointments Schedule for June 3, 2010 - State.gov: "Under Secretary For Public Diplomacy And Public Affairs Judith Mchale: Under Secretary McHale is in Mexico City, Mexico through June 4. During the trip, she is meeting with senior Mexican officials including Ambassador Julian Ventura, Special Advisor to the Foreign Minister Gonzalo Canseco, Coordinator of Advisors Enrique Rojo Stein and Director General for Public Affairs Rodrigo Brand.

Under Secretary McHale is also meeting with leading Mexican media outlets and personalities, including El Universal, Grupo Televisa, MVS Tele-Communicaciones, civil society/NGO representatives and Mexican advertising executives. She also is visiting with the Public Affairs Section of Embassy Mexico City Public Affairs section." Image from

Mongolia - President Elbegdorj meets with Ms. ‎McHale, Under Secretary of the US Department of State - ISRIA: "Ms. Judith McHale, Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs of the US Department of State called on a visit to the President Elbegdorj. President Elbegdorj expressed satisfaction over successful development of bilateral relations and cooperation between Mongolia and the US. Noting the fact that Mongolia views the US as Mongolia’s third neighbor, President Elbegdorj expressed gratitude to the USA for the continued support of Mongolia’s efforts to promote democracy. President underlined substantial expansion of bilateral relations between two countries over the recent years and re-affirmed Mongolia’s commitment to developing Mongolia-US relations based on principles of Comprehensive Partnership. ... Mongolia’s development efforts are greatly shouldered by the Mongolian youth who study and studied in the US. President thanked Madame McHale for accepting Mongolia’s request to increase the number of Mongolian students, expanding the Fulbright scholarship program and launching a joint Scholarship fund with shared private funding.

Madame McHale agreed with President Elbegdorj and said the US would work to provide more opportunities to the Mongolian youth wishing to study in the US. She continued: 'Studies show that 95% of the Mongolian students in the US study in 150 universities. Yet, there are hundreds of schools in the US and the opportunities for Mongolian students are indeed very wide'. President Elbegdorj and Madame McHale further discussed possibilities to increase the number of bachelor-degree students and provide opportunities for children of low income families but who demonstrate strong skills through scholarship programs. Mining is evolving as one of the busiest sectors of Mongolia’s economy and President Elbegdorj expressed interest to train Mongolian youth in mining majors in the US." Image from

Haibao, Shanghai World Expo and the Branding of Nations - PurdueCom: This Is The Personal Blog of Howard Sypher: The Comments Represent My Views and Can Best Be Described as "From The Corner": "In the biggest World Expo yet, Shanghai and China have pulled out all the stops to make another global post-Olympic splash. … It’s 'public diplomacy' at work… originally a chance to show off the latest in technology and architecture (there are some really cool pavilions!) it’s now mostly an exercise in national pride, showmanship and 'nation branding' at work. Interestingly, the U.S. was almost a noshow… if not for the last minute intervention of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton we would have been most prominently and embarrassingly absent. Since it’s illegal for the US to use public money in this endeavor, corporate donors had to be convinced to step up. This was harder than you might imagine since many of what we think of as US companies (McDonald’s, Coke, Starbucks, KFC, etc.) are really global companies and had already signed on as major Expo sponsors… they were already committed to the Expo and not to supporting a US presence. Despite what you think of these things, the US needed to be at this Expo. As US Commissioner General for the Expo, Jose Villarreal noted in a conversation to a group I was in… 'The US Expo Pavilion will see more Chinese visitors in the next six months than our Embassy and all our consulates in China will during the next 30 years. This is the chance of a lifetime to influence a huge number of people'. It was also vitally important for the Chinese… a U.S. noshow would have been a huge snub and this is not the sort of thing we needed for diplomacy of any sort… public or private.'"

Lawsuit invokes Smith-Mundt Act against Broadcasting Board of Governors. Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting: "Periodico (Havana), 31 May 2010: 'A civic group will shortly disclose evidence on how the U.S. Government covertly paid tens of thousands of dollars to Miami journalists working for major media outlets to incendiary stories against Cuba and five Cuban antiterrorists. The evidence has been uncovered by the National Committee to Free the Cuban Five, which next June 2 will make it public at a press conference. ... The press conference will reveal names of journalists, payment amounts, and will have available notebooks highlighting articles and propaganda by supposedly-independent journalists who were covertly on the payroll of the U.S. Government.

Speaking at the press conference will be attorneys with the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund (PCJF) that have filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of the National Committee. The litigation filed by the PCJF asserts that the Broadcasting Board of Governors and its Office of Cuba Broadcasting are withholding information that will show that they have engaged in activities in violation of federal law, specifically the Smith-Mundt Act, which prohibits the BBG from seeking to propagandize the U.S. public, and may be continuing to do so.' See also PCJF complaint (pdf)." Image from

Iran and North Korea Again: The Perils of Brinkmanship - ‎Middle East Online: "In the case of Iran, the United States has been trying for some months now to obtain from the U.N. Security Council a new resolution imposing further sanctions on Iran for refusing the Security Council's resolution demanding that Iran suspend the enrichment of uranium. ... The United States has assumed up to now that once it got the support of Russia and China, it would be able to get a unanimous resolution from the Security Council. Suddenly, two of the non-permanent members -- Brazil and Turkey -- entered the picture and engaged in very public diplomacy on this issue. Their leaders arranged with Iran to swap about half its low enriched uranium for nuclear fuel. Brazil, Turkey, and Iran argued that this deal goes a long way towards meeting U.S. demands. The United States does not agree at all and has said it will proceed with pushing for its resolution in the Security Council."

The Faculty Role in Study Abroad - ‎Inside Higher Ed: "Matters of public policy were also on the agenda at the NAFSA conference on Wednesday. In the annual business meeting, the association’s members approved a resolution calling for the repeal of Arizona’s

new anti-illegal immigration law, which allows for the detention of individuals who fail to carry immigration papers. 'U.S. public diplomacy strategies cannot be effective if unwelcoming immigration laws are enacted in this country,' the resolution reads, in part. NAFSA joins a host of other academic associations in condemning the statute." Image from

David Isenberg: Are Private Contractors the Vulnerable Underbelly of the Intelligence Community? - Neal Tolani, USA Trends: "We hear so much about the use of private military and security contractors by the Defense and State departments that it is easy to forget that outsourcing goes far beyond those two government departments. Private contractors are present in every aspect of government; constituting a fourth branch of government from homeland security to public diplomacy."

Advancing America's Health: Eight Resolutions for the New Decade - ‎Susan Blumenthal - Anita Verma, Huffington Post: "In the 21st century, America's health is global health, and global health is America's health. As a central pillar of foreign policy and public diplomacy, the Administration's Global Health Initiative should establish an integrated strategy for global development and health assistance, with a focus on health systems strengthening to ensure sustainability."

Five holes in the administration's new National Security Strategy - ‎Thomas E. Ricks, Foreign Policy: "My CNAS colleague Patrick Cronin sat in yesterday on Pentagon strategist Amanda Dory's conversation with some bloggers. Here is his report. … [T]he National Security Strategy barely mentions the subject of strategic communications. What gives? According to deputy assistant Secretary Dory, it remains up to each department and agency to execute policy and articulate it in what she dubbed a 'federated approach.' At the same time, she pledged, the State Department is in process of shoring up public diplomacy and the Department of Defense will continue to grapple with strategic communications."

Israel and the Turkish Factor - Patricia H. Kushlis, Whirled View: "Public diplomacy needs to be credible to be believed. It may not tell the whole truth – but lies are not part of it. That’s strategic communications – a military term that mixes deliberate falsehoods, misinformation and disinformation with selected facts and images to sway public opinion. Strategic communications with all its warts, not public diplomacy which does not lie, is what the Israelis have been dishing out to the world since May 31. It can also come back to bite them."

The need for a national strategy for Communication & Engagement – Matt Armstrong, MountainRunner.us: "It is clear from the general discourse surrounding the terms public diplomacy, strategic communication (and a recommended alternative 'Signaling Integration' to be announced), and global engagement that each of these terms face their own inadequacies. None of them can be used to capture the essential elements required to convey the value, importance, and imperative of addressing the failings at the strategic down to the tactical levels, overcoming the institutional friction to adapt to modern requirements that may be simultaneously local, regional, and global. As each of the aforementioned terms are tainted in some way or another, I recommend a new label that is comprehensive, simple, and flexible. … A National Strategy on Communication and Engagement would naturally sit above the current constrained discourse about what is and is not included and provide the necessary support and impetus to move truly comprehensive and integrated efforts."

Hardcore Strategic Communications - Public Diplomacy, Networks and Influence: "[R]eports prepared for the British government

on climate/environmental communication … [are] interesting because of the way that communication is used to create an environment that will lead to behaviour modification. The other point is that this is strategic communication by a government that has a high level of control over the population including a broad range of policy instruments. In comparison PD (or political campaigners) never have this toolkit available – this really is hardcore persuasive communication." Image from

Guest post: Dr. Michael Elasmar on International Public Opinion Formation - PsyDip: Psychological Diplomacy: Where psychology and diplomacy meet: "From a public diplomacy perspective, knowing what influences the variation of opinions will reveal what it will take to change them in a desirable direction. In this case, understanding why international public opinion toward the U.S. varies is vital to improve this international public opinion. While describing the trend in public opinion falls solely within the domain of statistics, empirically explaining the variation of public opinion trends involves the use of statistical analytic approaches for testing theoretical explanations."

HBO's "For Neda" on VOA Persian News Network, and other VOA in the news - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting: "USIB should stick to the news, while the Persian page of the public diplomacy site America.gov can devote a voluminous section to 'freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief.'"

Official points to social media as diplomatic tool - ‎The Associated Press: "Teenagers clicked away on their cell phones in a bustling Iranian marketplace. Ignoring the cold, they exchanged information about parties, dates and potential bandmates with strangers, using Bluetooth technology. It is this type of simple adaptation of social networking that is key to U.S. public diplomacy efforts, said Jared Cohen, a member of Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's policy planning staff. In a lecture Wednesday, Cohen recalled visiting Iran about five years ago for book research and seeing young Iranians in the southwestern city of Shiraz busily texting each other. Communicating, but no one was talking. Diplomats with decades of experience and knowledge need to work with the under-30 age group that is deftly using Internet-based communication technology, Cohen said."

Ahmadinejad: The Celebrity – Lena, Global Chaos: "Iran is dangerous and Ahmadinejad needs to be dealt with. ...

Having a better informed public could open a door for further dialogue and understanding, and especially so, when it comes to people-to-people public diplomacy."

Washburn High celebrates international flavor - ‎Julie Buckles, County Journal: “[The] Youth Exchange and Study Programs (YES) ... [is] a high school exchange program funded by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. This public diplomacy initiative hopes to build bridges of international understanding, especially between Americans and people in countries with significant Muslim populations."

US Embassy Contributes Books To Rizqun International - ‎Bru Direct: Bandar Seri Begawan - [From Google entry; link does not lead to article]:

"As a continued and essential part of US Ambassador William Todd's public diplomacy initiatives, the US Embassy in Brunei Darussalam ..." Image from

Smart Power and the art of diplomacy, 14 Juni 2010, Berlin June 2010, Berlin - Thomas.Zimmerling, Public Affairs: "Die Ringvorlesung Public Affairs am Otto-Suhr-Institut der Freien Universität Berlin findet ihre Fortsetzung in einem Vortrag von Helena Kane Finn, Gesandte-Botschaftsrätin für Public Affairs an der Amerikanischen Botschaft in Berlin.

The lecture series will take place on Public Affairs Otto-Suhr-Institut of the Free University of Berlin continued in a lecture by Helena Kane Finn, Minister-Counselor for Public Affairs at the American Embassy in Berlin. Finn, die nicht nur politisch tätig ist, sondern auch an Universitäten und für Think Tanks, hat den bisherigen Schwerpunkt ihrer Arbeit auf Public Diplomacy gelegt. Finn, which is not only politically active, but also at universities and think tanks, has the recent focus of their work placed on Public Diplomacy. Public Affairs für Staaten gehört zu den interessantesten Bereichen der PA, fällt jedoch in der Betrachtung des Tätigkeitsfelds oft unter den Tisch. Public Affairs for the States is one of the most interesting areas of PA, however, falls in the consideration of activity often under the table. Von daher ist der Vortrag von Helena Kane Finn eine seltene Gelegenheit, tiefere Einblicke zu gewinnen. Therefore, the lecture by Helena Kane Finn a rare opportunity to gain deeper insights. Die Veranstaltung findet im Hörsaal A des Instituts in der Ihnestraße 21 statt. The event will take place in Lecture Hall A of the Institute in the Ihnestraße 21st Beginn ist um 18 Uhr. Start is at 18 clock." Image from

Teaching women in Bamiyan becoming journalists - Mahtab Farid, Public Diplomacy in Afghanistan: "Bamiyan is one of the most beautiful and peaceful provinces in Afghanistan yet this province has no female journalist. During a workshop at the U.S. Lincoln Center in Bamiyan, I taught a group of young aspiring female journalists about journalism.

They had a chance to conduct muck interviews front of the class on the topic of their choice. ... The young Afghan generation will be the key for the future of their country. They are truly bright with big dreams filled with hope for a happy future. Unlike what most of us see on the news, the young Afghans are not what you see on television. They want to be educated, prosperous, and want to join the international community." Image from

Energy Independence: انتاج الغاز الطبيعي - TH Culhane, zabaleen.blogspot.com: "T.H. talks about the Hof Sondermann biogas plant near his home in Germany that generates enough electricity and hot water from organic waste to power and heat about 8,000 homes. ... As the U.S. Embassy's Public Diplomacy Officer Esperanza M. Tilghman pointed out to many of the audiences, 'this is one of the few new technologies that completely belongs to you, requiring no imports and no dependencies on outside funding or technical help.' Amen!"

Thanks for the memories : Ken Griffey Jr.Sacramento Gold Miners Fan Club: "Ken Griffey Jr. announced his retirement yesterday prior to Seattle’s game against Minnesota. While the announcement probably comes a few months too late (Griffey was hitting .184 so far this year) the last two years of his career do nothing to tarnish the sterling legacy that Griffey leaves behind. … In what may have been the only cool thing ever done by the Bush administration, Griffey was named an American Public Diplomacy Envoy by then Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on November 18, 2008."

VOL. VI NO. 10, May 7-May 20, 2010 - The Layalina Review on Public Diplomacy and Arab Media:

"Pakistan Un-friends Facebook The Lahore High Court Telecommunication Authority (PTA) banned Facebook and other social media following public outrage over a Facebook contest to draw the Prophet Muhammad. The campaign originally aimed at expressing solidarity with the creators of “South Park” against censorship.

Miss USA: Made in Lebanon Lebanese-born Rima Fakih won the beauty pageant Miss America 2010,


giving a new face to Arab Muslims in America. Yet, her victory provoked an outcry among the American far right who claim she is a mole for the terrorist group Hezbollah. Image from

1001 Opinions over Arabian Nights A literary battle unfolds between conservatives and liberals in Egypt as a group of Islamist lawyers took Egypt’s ministry of culture to court for issuing a new edition of The Arabian Nights, deemed too bawdy to their liking. Meanwhile, the liberals have protested that the work is a beacon of Arabic literature and should not be banned under the pretext of religious fanaticism.

Homegrown Terrorism: Keep It Local The recently-foiled bombing of Times Square in New York City has raised the specter of homegrown terrorism in America, bringing officials to reconsider their approach and outreach to Muslims at home.

The Sound of Music and Public Diplomacy Seeking nuanced public diplomacy initiatives, the State Department is funding music tours in the Middle East, indicating a shift toward cultural diplomacy in its outreach to the Arab world. Reminiscent of jazz diplomacy, State aims to facilitate understanding between both cultures by highlighting America’s diversity of faith and musical heritage.

Arabic Domain Names: A New Gateway to the Internet The rise in new Arabic domain names is hailed as a positive step in the Arab world, where the internet is often used as a platform to evade government censorship. Although many believe that it will increase internet participation in the region, others believe that it may in fact alienate all non-Arabic speakers, creating a greater divide.

Arab Media Forum Tackles Censorship Participants and media experts at the ninth Arab Media Forum in Dubai

earlier in May discussed the prominent role of advertising companies in generating media content, while urging Arab governments to reconsider their censorship policies. Image from

State Heads on a Cultural Tour Cultural Tourism DC's Around-the-World tour brought different cultures to the US. Despite the success of diplomatic programs, experts expressed disappointment with the training of public diplomacy officers and international efforts.

Media Exchange Programs Open New Doors The Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship was one part of President Obama's efforts to improve US-Muslim relations. However, the Muslim community, especially in the Middle East, remains focused on opportunities to improve business prospects across the region."

Ben Eliezer supports int'l probe - ‎Yoram Cohen, Jerusalem Post: "Trade and Labor Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer said Thursday he does not object to an international commission of inquiry into the Gaza protest flotilla incident, Army Radio reported. In a meeting of Labor party ministers, Eliezer commented that the current crisis was the result of an 'unprecedented, shameful' failure of Israeli hasbara (public diplomacy), and an international inquiry would calm the harsh global criticism of Israel. 'We have nothing to hide', he concluded."

Let the Turks rage: We should take the initiative and establishing an investigative committee, Nachman Shai, ‎Jerusalem Post: "Was a takeover of the convoy the only way to respond or could we have intercepted the ships at an earlier stage and turned them away without the use of force? ... As expected, the brunt of the criticism is turned toward hasbara. For some reason, we think that it can solve everything. It cannot. In its new format, hasbara is in effect public diplomacy composed of political, defense and legal efforts to explain Israel’s position. ... In this particular incident, the hasbara effort came into play hours after the first photos and videos from the battle at sea were already making the rounds across news channels and papers, capturing headlines.The original plan to prevent the leakage of information was only partially successful. In the end, Al Jazeera and Turkish TV news channels were reporting freely and airing footage from the scene. ...[T]he first hours in such an incident are critical and determine the fate of the media campaign. It would have been better to release a statement detailing the initial events from the get-go, and reveal the rest gradually."

How Free Explains Israel’s Flotilla FAIL - Amir Mizroch, The Danger Room: "The organizers of the 'Free Gaza' flotilla spent almost nothing on their campaign. The government of Israel poured millions into its botched raid on the ships — and now is in a worse position than when the flotilla launched. How did it happen? Part of the problem is that the Israeli government never bothered to read Wired. Israeli commandos may not have known that members of the Free Gaza flotilla were carrying knives, guns and metal bars. But they should have known that many in the incoming flotilla were armed with cameras, cellphones, blogs and Twitter accounts. For a country so technologically advanced, and with such acute public diplomacy challenges, to fail so miserably at preparing a communications offensive over new media is a failure of strategic proportions. ... The narrative that navy commandos were attacked with metal bars, knives and possibly guns, while trying to take over a flotilla meant to break the naval blockade on Gaza — after Israel offered to transfer humanitarian aid — was drowned out on the social media networks by charges of an unprovoked massacre of peaceful activists on a humanitarian mission to besieged Gaza."

Israel's Actions on the High Seas: Part Justified and Part Chutzpah - Marc Ginsberg, Huffington Post: "There is an ominous shadow looming over Israel's recent international missteps. The global rush to judgment against Israel's interdiction of the Turkish

ferry 'Mavi Marmara' represents an important barometer of Israel's decaying public diplomacy. … The facts are under investigation, and time will tell which side was 'legally' within its rights under international law. But legality rarely trumps public perception, and perception, not legal treatise, influences public opinion." Image from

A scandalous saga of withheld film: Delayed release of IDF footage is unforgivable - David Horovitz, Jerusalem Post: "Whichever Israeli officials took the ultimate decision to withhold, for hour after eternal hour on Monday, the IDF’s footage of Israel’s naval commandos being beaten to within inches of their lives aboard the Mavi Marmara, should be relieved of their responsibilities, effective immediately. … Even allowing generous time for processing and editing the material, the footage could have been flashing across TV screens worldwide by our breakfast time, before news of the entire incident was even beginning to permeate. Would it have completely transformed the way the incident was reported and understood? No. Would it have greatly helped Israel’s case? Unquestionably. This is not the first time Israel’s abysmal official public diplomacy hierarchies have made this kind of criminal misjudgment, to the terrible detriment of the national interest. … One of my foreign colleagues said his TV station would repeatedly have run the key few seconds, showing the rods and clubs pounding the outnumbered, ill-equipped commandos. Indeed, on Tuesday, numerous world TV stations were doing precisely that, and some of them were commissioning stories asking why official Israel had shown such spectacular public diplomacy ineptitude in withholding the clip. This behavior puts paid to that other false and defeatist Israeli claim about the foreign media, which has also been reprised in the last two days: 'They wouldn’t have broadcast the footage anyway.' The delayed release of the critical footage was far from Israel’s only public diplomacy failure on Monday. Numerous foreign journalists will tell you that they made phone call after phone call seeking official Israeli responses to the unfolding events, in vain."

After the flotilla confrontation comes the spin - Feature - Jeff Abramowitz, Earthtimes: "As the dust settles on Monday's pre-dawn Israeli naval commando raid on a six-ship flotilla bearing aid to the Gaza Strip, resulting in at least nine people killed, both sides - the flotilla organizers and the Israelis - are busy spinning their version of events.

Israel, released - belatedly - video footage showing troops being violently attacked on board the largest ship, the Mavi Marmara. ... International Relations Professor Eytan Gilboa, an expert on public diplomacy, thinks that even armed with video footage showing troops being attacked, Israel will still face an uphill struggle to put across its version of events. 'For Israel, it's a losing battle when you have a convoy carrying people described as peace activists and you have the military taking over the ships,' he told the German Press Agency dpa. 'Peope who describe themselves as peace activists are given the benefit of the doubt,' he says. A further problem for the spin doctors, or public diplomaticists, is that phenomenon of 'my mind is made up, don't confuse me with the facts,' Gilboa said." Image from

Analysis: Diaspora starts getting explanations - ‎Haviv Rettig, Jerusalem Post: "The media shockwaves worldwide that followed Monday morning’s deadly clash aboard the Gaza-bound Turkish flotilla were acutely felt in the world’s Jewish communities.In the United States, Jewish organization officials struggled to understand what happened and to discover if Israel had indeed killed 'peace activists' in the nighttime raid. … ‘There’s a lot of anger about the hasbara [public diplomacy], how it was handled,' said Malcolm Hoenlein, executive head of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. 'Why did it take so long to get the films [of the ship-board violence] out? It appears [the soldiers] weren’t prepared for what they found, even though they knew what they were going to find.'”

DFM Ayalon holds conference call with US Jewish leaders‎ - press release, Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs: "Deputy Foreign Minister Daniel Ayalon held a conference call this evening (1 June) with more than 700 heads of Jewish federations and Jewish community leaders in the United States, in the wake of the events yesterday concerning the interception of the Gaza flotilla. ... In answer to a question concerning Israeli-Turkish relations, the deputy foreign minister said that Israel did not attack Turkey, although the latter had the power to stop the flotilla, as Cypress did. Turkey must decide for itself where its interests lie. DFM Ayalon thanked all the participants for their support of Israel and asked them to continue to engage in public diplomacy. For this purpose, the participants will be sent clips from the IDF Spokesperson."

What took so long with flotilla film? - ‎Yaakov Katz, Jerusalem Post: "A disagreement between the IDF and the Foreign Ministry over the effect the release of video footage from the navy’s anti-flotilla operation on Monday would have on the military’s prestige held up the distribution of the footage to the media by several hours, defense and diplomatic officials said on Tuesday.

… Kadima MK Nachman Shai, a former IDF Spokesman who has a doctorate in public diplomacy, said that had the footage come out earlier in the day it would have dramatically changed the way the story was covered by the international press." Image from

Is Netanyahu a crypto-mullah? - ‎Hürriyet: "What benefit Tel Aviv could be hoping from an ostensibly irrational challenge of such magnitude as killing aid workers (even if they were politically motivated) and whether this benefit could materialize at any time in the future remains to be seen. But for the moment, even the public-diplomacy damage already done looks too big to be compensated by any future gain."

You be prime minister! - Dan Illouz.com: "One of the seminars I give to groups is called 'You Be Prime Minister!' ... Now, I ask you, in all honesty: What would you have done different if you were Prime Minister? Please answer on the comments section of this post! My Answer: I would have started the public diplomacy campaign in defence of Israel’s actions right after the announcement of the deaths and not a few hours later. Our enemies had already given their lies to the media who had been running them for hours before we came out with a response. I would have also ensured better intelligence before sending the brave soldiers because it would have let me give them more appropriate weapons, and also maybe made me find a way to bring the boat to shore without going in it and then sending the border police who is experienced with rioting."

The Problem with Playing Defense - ‎Noah Pollak, Commentary: "The model of hasbara or public diplomacy, that Israel has employed for decades is premised on the persuasiveness of reason, evidence, context, truth, fairness, and apology. Anyone who has been following events in Israel over the past few years understands how profoundly this strategy has failed. For obvious historic reasons, many Jews have internalized the dangerous belief that the best way to respond to condemnation and lies is to show how unthreatening and willing to criticize and investigate themselves they are. The problem is that not only doesn't this work; it actually invites further attack by rewarding those who defame and incite against the Jewish state. Israel's hasbara strategy must shift to one that is based on power, self-confidence, and an eagerness to vigorously condemn its defamers. This is the difference between driving the debate and reacting to it, refuting lies and validating them, offense and defense, setting the agenda versus being on the agenda. If the Israelis wish to see a good model for how to set the terms of a controversy, they need only look at the Turkish prime minister's brilliant performance this week."

European communication directors meeting – The Malta Independent online: "The Department of Information is this week organising the Plenary Meeting of the Club of Venice in Marsalforn.

The Club of Venice is an informal group comprising the most senior communication professionals from the governments of EU member and candidate states, the European Parliament, the Council of the EU, the European Commission, the European Central Bank, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. The plenary meeting yesterday afternoon was preceded by a workshop on public diplomacy within a communications context." Image from

Romania - Ceremony to award MFA Open prizes – ISRIA: "The award ceremony of the MFA Open prizes took place at the Diplomatic Club on Monday, May 31st, in the presence of numerous representatives of the Romanian and foreign diplomatic corps accredited in Bucharest.

At the end of three week-ends of competitions (May 15 – 30) the participants in the 8th MFA Open games – badminton, lawn tennis, table tennis and soccer – that took place under the same slogan – 'Diplomatic open: play fair, play for all' received awards from the special guests of the ceremony. The host of the ceremony was, for the second year running, Mrs. Oana Marinescu, Director General for Public Diplomacy with the MFA and coordinator of the event." Image from


EU to look beyond trade in Oman - ‎Mrudu Naik, Zawya: "In an exclusive interview to Times of Oman, Ambassador Luigi Narbone, Head of the EU delegation for the Gulf countries (Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwaiti, Oman, Qatar and United Arab Emirates), said, 'There are a number of opportunities in cooperation both in the interest of the EU and Oman.' ...

Stating that there is an increased realisation in the EU that the Gulf region is growing in importance worldwide and regionally, he said, 'We have already done a lot of work in three years to fill the gap in mutual knowledge. We have had successful projects on public diplomacy to bring together specific audience to talk about EU and the GCC.’" Image from

world of warcraft power leveling - pesssr41h, Power level you3 XleF: "Importance was that since the Beijing Olympics and Shanghai World Expo is the same as the product of the process of China’s rise, regardless of the Olympic Games two years ago and now Expo foreign diplomacy, the Chinese people should stand on its own not only the height, should also stand the height of mankind; not only should be the rise of China and the international community communication platform, but also should be the rise of China and the international community, an opportunity to sort out a common sentiment. This is not only a subject of public diplomacy, it is also a subject of dialogue between East and West thinking."

Coe visits UK Pavillion at Shanghai Expo - ‎insidethegames.biz: "Sebastian Coe, the chairman of London 2012, today visited the Shanghai Expo to celebrate the promotion of UK and London at the world’s biggest Expo event.

The UK Pavilion, run by Public diplomacy Partners the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), VisitBritain and British Council, incorporates a London 2012 legacy area in its futuristic display which features a large 'green map' of the 2.5-square-kilometre Olympic Park in East London." Image from

Edward Lucas on Central-Eastern European's Curious Discontent with "Reform" and their Politicians – Karl Naylor, Central-Eastern Europe Watch: "Naturally, the Missile Shield is never directed at Russia,

though 'public diplomacy' in Poland tried to insinuate that it was, much to Zbigniew Brezinski's annoyance with the politicians in his own nation were giving the Great Game away." Image from

Gastrodiplomacy and the Promotion of Korea - Branding Korea - Paul Rockower, Branding Korea: "Paul Rockower is a gastronomist and recent graduate of the Master’s of Public Diplomacy program at the University of Southern California. He is the Communications Director for Public Diplomacy Corps, an organization dedicated to bringing public diplomacy to the public.

This article introduces the concept of gastrodiplomacy and focuses on the Korean-Mexican fusion food as an example of how local and creative initiatives can have a strong impact in promoting Korean cuisine abroad. Apart from international campaigns aimed at promoting traditional and authentic dishes, it is also important to support local initiatives and appeal to local tastes. By doing so, Korean cuisine can be efficiently introduced to a new and broader audience and has an opportunity to associate the image of the country with an original and tasty experience. A variation of this article originally appeared in the blog of the USC Center on Public Diplomacy as well as in the Korea Times. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Branding Korea." Image from

Duoyuan Printing Enhances Corporate Governance with Appointment of ‎ Of Two New Independent Board Members - press release, PR-USA.net: "Duoyuan Printing, Inc. a leading offset printing equipment supplier in China, today announced the appointment of two new independent board members: Ms. Naoko Hatakeyama, and The Honorable Paula J. Dobriansky, effective May 26, 2010. ... . ... Ambassador Dobriansky has had key roles in the administrations of five U.S. Presidents. Highlights include serving as Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs, the President's Envoy to Northern Ireland, a Board Member of the U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy and Director for European and Soviet Affairs at the National Security Council."

Why reputation matters - ‎New Statesman: "Simon Anholt is an independent policy adviser who developed the concepts of 'nation brand' and 'place brand' nearly 15 years ago. Nowadays, he specialises in analysing the cultural perceptions of nations, cities and regions, and working out the implications for public diplomacy and international relations. In 2009 he was awarded the Nobels Colloquia for Economics. Here he talks to Sean Carey about brands and marketing, the reputations of the UK, London, China, and India, and the impact of the forthcoming FIFA World Cup on South Africa."

Welcome Stephen Johnson - ‎Will Inboden, Foreign Policy: "Today we welcome Steve Johnson to the bustling ranks of Shadow Government contributors. Steve will bolster our stable of Latin America experts (along with Jose Cardenas and Mike Magan), and also brings expertise on defense policy, public diplomacy, and energy policy. He is currently an associate at VisiónAméricas, a Washington-based consultancy. His prior positions include deputy assistant secretary of defense for Western Hemisphere Affairs, tours at the State Department, and as a United States Air Force officer who served as a pilot, military attaché, and at Southern Command."

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Saving Israel From Itself - Nicholas D. Kristof, New York Times: President Obama needs to find his voice and push hard for an end to the Gaza blockade.

He needs to talk sense to Israel and encourage it to back away from its plans to intercept other flotillas now headed for Gaza — that would be a catastrophe for Israel and America alike. Image from

Israel naval raid a folly foretold: How confused and panicky a country must be to act as Israel did - David Grossman, latimes.com: No explanation can justify or whitewash the crime that was committed off the coast here early Monday morning, and no excuse can explain away the stupid actions of the Israeli government and the army. Israel did not send its soldiers to kill civilians in cold blood; indeed, this is the last thing it wanted. And yet, a small Turkish organization, fanatical in its religious views and radically hostile to Israel, recruited to its cause several hundred seekers of peace and justice and managed to lure Israel into a trap, precisely because it knew how Israel would react — knew how Israel is destined and compelled, like a puppet on a string, to react the way it did.

The dueling videos of the flotilla crisis - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting

Times of London: VOA report "pinpoints a key ambiguity" in UN resolution about flotilla crisis - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting

Dear Israel: Better Propaganda, Please - Charles Davis, ‎Firedoglake (blog) - IDF spokesman Col. Moshe Levi–not one of Israel’s better propagandists, though I’ll concede he has a tough job–proclaimed Tuesday that Israeli soldiers had " been working non-stop for the last 24 hours examining the cargo holds of the three large cargo ships, and I can say with great assurance that none of the equipment on board is needed in Gaza. “The equipment that we found is all equipment that we have regularly allowed into the strip over the past year,” Levi continued.

“This proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that the whole premise of the voyage was for propaganda and provocation and not for humanitarian purposes.” To debunk this claim, forget for a moment the reality-based assertions of the bleating UN and those butter knife-wielding former diplomats and Nobel laureates on the “Free Gaza” boats. Let’s turn to IDF spokesman Col. Moshe Levi in The Jerusalem Post: “According to Levi, the soldiers also found construction equipment, including sacks of concrete and metal rods. He said that Israel did not allow those products to enter into the Gaza strip for fear that they would be used to construct fortifications for terrorists and for weapons manufacture.” So all the equipment the IDF found was equipment they regularly allow to enter Gaza, except for all the equipment they found that they regularly forbid to enter Gaza. I’d say Levi should lose his job for such a poor effort at propagandizing, but I have a sickening feeling he’s got a better than 50/50 chance of being the next White House press secretary. Image from

Israel's YouTube propaganda continues - ‎National Turk English

In The Great Flotilla Debate, The Facts Are On Israel's Side - Marty Peretz, New Republic: The propaganda for the flotilla has been in the works for months. Most of it was simply false. The poverty in Gaza is not qualitatively greater than that of your average Arab city. (Take Cairo. Or Amman, for that matter.) The markets are full of fruit and vegetables ... and flowers. Persistent pockets of deprivation exist in the historic refugee concentrations, which the Palestinian political class maintains as evidence of the ancient wrong. And, no, nobody is building big houses ... except again the elites, to the extent that they can smuggle materiel through the hundreds of tunnels which are perhaps less corrupt than the ordinary channels of commerce. Regarding international law, blockades are quite legal. The United States and Britain were at war with Germany and Japan and blockaded them. I can't remember international lawyers saying those blockades were illegal—even though they took place on the high seas in international waters. The law is on Israel’s side. Ethics and history are on Israel’s side. Those who are on the side of Hamas are actually enemies of civilization.

Anti-Israel Propaganda Attempt Fails! - press release, ‎NewsReleaseWire.com: "The terrorists and their sympathizers who recently provoked bloodshed attacking Israeli Defense Forces legally and humanely pursuing their defensive blockade, must fail to fool freedom loving people. Ample proof that Israelis and Egyptians have already allowed ample supplies to enter Gaza on a daily basis is irrefutable. The dastardly terrorist inspired stunt is a ploy to end the legally sanctioned blockade, so that Iranian missiles and other weapons can again be delivered to the Hamas terrorists for further attacks on Israeli civilians," stated Brian H. Davis. "At times like this, when evil propagandists, supported by OPEC oil fortunes, boldly lie, legitimate sources of the facts are most valuable. Here, please see The Israel Project" http://www.theisraelproject.org/ "Facts, video, pictures, interviews and answers are all available on The Israel Project website. They have true experts available for media interviews, and remain meticulously honest. Please seek the truth to respond to the Terrorist propaganda!"

Seoul Needs to Strengthen Its Cyber Defenses, Chosun Ilbo: South Korean intelligence agencies say North Korea

has launched a cyber campaign using stolen IDs of South Koreans to plant propaganda claims on South Korean portals. Posts made under the names of South Koreans accusing their "traitorous" government of fabricating evidence linking North Korea to the sinking of the Cheonan are more or less identical to a statement by the North's National Defense Commission posted on a website operated by the propaganda apparatus. Image from

"Garbage bags of propaganda," and other inter-Korean media update - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting

ONE MORE QUOTATION FOR THE DAY

"Ne t'en fais pas, c'est tout de suite fini."

--Advice on sex from the grandmother of Mona Ozouf, the distiguished French historian; cited in TLS (May 28, 2010), p. 23; image from