June 7

"The work of art as propaganda is transparent, invisible, pointing incessantly to its faulty god (Nazism, Fascism, Jesuitism, in short, ideology)."

--Evonne Levy, Propaganda and the Jesuit Baroque (Berkeley and Los Angeles, California: University of California Press, 2004), p. 70; image from

“I never bought a man who wasn’t for sale.”

--The 19th-century robber baron William A. Clark

Below images from Lena, Global Chaos, Gift Shop PD: "I was particularly curious to visit the UN gift shop, which, I heard, carries certain traditional 'items' from various countries. As I found out, a large number of countries was not represented at all; but many – of my interest – were there and provided a wonderful opportunity to compare the mini 'exhibits."

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

When Interests Diverge – Cordesman’s Israel as Strategic Liability- Patricia H. Kushlis, Whirled View: "[M]embers of the American Jewish community – including some politically powerful ones – have been having second thoughts about the viability of the current US-Israeli relationship as well as a result of the questionable policies the Israelis have insisted upon following. ... Skepticism about the Netanyahu government’s ever stranger and more desperate

actions to enforce these policies runs high. The country has stumbled from one military and public diplomacy catastrophe to another under this kind of leadership – essentially of its own making. ... Continuation of America’s timid status quo support for an Israel right-or-wrong policy needs to change. If not, all that was contained in Obama’s Cairo speech reaching out so eloquently to Muslims and declaring America's war against Islam dead will go for naught. Like it or not the White House needs to lead on this contentious issue and use its formidable public affairs skills to explain to the American people and the world why." Image: US display

The Ugly American – Laura McGinnis, manIC: "This week the National Council for International Visitors celebrated 50 years of promoting citizen diplomacy. According to its website 'NCIV members design and implement professional programs, provide cultural activities, and offer home hospitality opportunities for foreign leaders and specialists participating in the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) and other exchange programs.' So what, exactly, is citizen diplomacy? According to the U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy, it's 'the concept that the individual has the right, even the responsibility, to help shape U.S. foreign relations.' But I'm not a huge fan of this definition. Aside from its U.S.-centric attitude, I think it defines an attitude without addressing the actions. I would say that citizen diplomacy is the collective actions of the people of one country to communicate with people from other countries, with the objective of improving international relationships."

MountainRunner in the UK for a public diplomacy conference - Matt Armstrong, Mountainrunner.us: "MountainRunner is in the United Kingdom for the Wilton Park conference 'Public Diplomacy: Moving from Policy to Practice?' As the event is under Chatham House rules, I will not tweet or blog about it. I’m looking forward to the next several days, which will include presentations and discussions with: Jeremy Browne, Minister of State, UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office; Judith McHale, Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs; Stefanie Babst, Deputy Assistant Secretary General, Public Diplomacy Division, NATO; Jimmy Leach, Head, Digital Diplomacy, UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office; Peter Horrocks, Director, BBC Global News; Jan Melissen, Head, Clingendael Diplomatic Studies Programme (CDSP), Netherlands Institute of International Relations; and others. See the program here."

The United States and Public Diplomacy - [The United States and Public Diplomacy: New Directions in Cultural and International History, edited by Kenneth A. Osgood and Brian C. Etheridge, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers: Leiden, 2010, 380 pp., ISBN-13: 978900417611, $179.00] - William A. Rugh, American Diplomacy:

“All the studies [in this volume, a collection of articles] are historical, reporting on specific periods in the 20th century or earlier. ... In short, each of these studies is well documented from the historical record, and that is useful, but each one also has a fairly narrow subject focus and is confined to a narrow time frame in the past. It is a book that should probably be read by specialists who feel the need to read everything that has been written on public diplomacy. ... But the general reader could safely pass this book up.” Image: Russian display.

Poet diplomat Christopher Merrill to speak at Englert June 15 - press release, Media Newswire: "Christopher Merrill will tell stories about international initiatives that have grown out of his role as director of the University of Iowa’s International Writing Program (IWP) at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 15, at the Englert Theatre, 221 East Washington St. in downtown Iowa City. This talk, titled 'Through the Lens of Cultural Diplomacy: A Global Snapshot,' is free and open to the public. A question and answer session will follow the talk as well as an IWP fund-raising reception at the same venue sponsored by MidWestOne Bank. Merrill, a poet and journalist, took on the role of cultural diplomat in 2000 when he became the director of the IWP. Since 1967, more than 1,100 writers from over 120 countries have taken part in the IWP at the UI, and 2006 marked the beginning of a series of international conferences."

FM Liberman and DFM Ayalon to visit US: press release, Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs: "Deputy FM Daniel Ayalon also left for New York to conduct a public diplomacy campaign relating to the Gaza flotilla events. He will hold briefings for the major media outlets and meet with members of Congress and others. The deputy minister will join the foreign minister in his briefing to the consul generals and in his meeting with the members of the Presidents’ Conference."

Loss of Human Life - Ari Bussel, Canada Free Press: "This past week a new crisis has evolved, with a Flotilla of Lies, a Convoy of Terror against Israel, now brought about the next attack on Israel. ... What should Israel do? I would urge Israel to take action on two fronts, neither of which is Israeli PR efforts. First, Israel should have contingency plans to welcome and absorb a wave of new immigrants. ... Second, Israel must change direction and respond with like-manner and similar or greater magnitude to each attack on her. When rockets are launched at civilian centers, the response must be immediate. ... Israel is now preoccupied with her failures in PR. Public Diplomacy is not a magic wand. The infatuation with efforts on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and various other social networks is important, a necessary but insufficient condition. ...

Israel’s enemies are too far advanced, and lest Israel regroups and attacks, on each front in which she is being attacked, all the PR efforts are doomed to fail. Israel’s enemies were taught well by their Nazi mentors. They exceed their teachers’ expectation in every respect. ... Israel has found a new focus: Hasbarah (public diplomacy). There are those who would say we have begun so late in the game playing catch up will be nearly impossible. I say differently: The best PR will not do any good when the words, video clips and even parodies and songs are not backed up by a matching action. Lack of substance simply puts us in an inferior position." Image: Georgian display

Israel's Flotilla Opinion is Amazingly Unified - Ethan Perlson, Daily Beast: "In politically splintered Israel—the joke about 'two Jews, three opinions' is an understatement in a country with over thirty political parties—Israelis are massively divided about issues like settlements and the peace process. But this week, fed up with what they view as an onslaught of unfair global criticism of their country, young Israelis—the ones who don’t typically care about politics, and even many from the left-wing—were atypically unified and mobilized in full nationalist fervor in defense of Israel. Pro-Israel demonstrations have been held across the country, and huge numbers of Israelis are enlisting their Facebook pages and email accounts to present Israel’s side of the story to the world. ... It’s part of what Chen Ben Dori, 30, describes as a 'giant wave' of Israelis trying to make their voices heard. 'Most young Israelis are very indifferent about the situation' in Gaza, she said. 'But somehow this incident created a wave of people who wanted to explain our side to the world.' Ben Dori started posting articles on Facebook defending Israel’s actions and linking to Israeli Defense Force videos showing flotilla activists violently confronting soldiers with metal clubs and hatchets. Thousands of other Israelis did the same, helping make the IDF videos three of the most watched clips on YouTube this week. She forwarded emails encouraging Israelis to enlist in the cause and explain Israel’s side to friends and colleagues overseas. This effort 'wasn’t organized from above,' she said. 'Israel’s public diplomacy efforts are once again completely inadequate and we decided to take matters into our own hands.'"

China Flexes Its Soft Power - David Shambaugh, International Herald Tribune: "China’s new public diplomacy is ramping up to complement its traditional diplomacy. Chinese leaders are traversing the globe and receiving foreign leaders at home, but less noticed has been the blitz of China’s new soft-power efforts. Discussions here in Beijing indicate that the Chinese government is more aware of its tarnished international image and is undertaking numerous coordinated steps to improve it. ... Whether these new soft-power efforts will bear fruit and build a more positive image for China around the world remains to be seen. The messages transmitted abroad still often have a wooden and propagandistic flavor to them.

Moreover, as Joseph Nye notes in his seminal work on the subject, real soft power comes from a society, not from government. China’s government continues to muzzle many of its most creative and diverse elements, while China’s human rights record, its political system, economic strength, and growing military power all continue to negatively afflict its image abroad. No matter how well resourced the (state) messenger is and how much the message is massaged, it is still reality that will play the main role in shaping China’s image around the world." Image: Armenian display

Solo Batik Carnival Show at the World Cup - asyiktenan, backpacker jogja: "Solo Batik Carnival (SBC) will appear in the 2010 World Cup event to be held in South Africa, June 11 to July 11 next. After appearing in two countries, namely in the Chingay Parade in Singapore and Indonesian Night Market at Malie-veld, The Hague, Netherlands, SBC get an invitation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to perform in South Africa World Cup dalamperhelatan.' We have received a letter from the Director General for Public Diplomacy Ministry of Foreign Affairs to perform enliven the World Cup in South Africa,' said Head of Culture and Tourism (Disbudpar) Solo City, Pumomo Subagyo, Thursday (15 / 4). SBC will perform along with representatives from other regions and other countries in the Expo that was held during these World Cup performances."

Doors Open - DiploJournal: "I’ve had this huge project hanging over my head for over a month and today was the first post-completion day. I thought I’d finally be able to sleep late, but I was still up at 5:30 running through my mental check-list of what needed to get finished. Today, at least, it was just some mop up items. The project sounds pretty straight-forward: coordinate the Embassy’s participation in Doors Open Ottawa. Public and private buildings all over town open up to the public over one week-end for tours. Sounds like fun. ... The video was my biggest headache up front. I just didn’t think it was realistic to put it together in a month given that we had a limited budget and no source material. My initial effort to push back on the one item met with clear marching orders. There will be a video. It will look professional and will cover the history of the United States mission in Canada, the building of the current Embassy, and the importance of the United States-Canadian relationship. We put together a sub-committee,

found some source material from the Canadian archives and connections through our public diplomacy group, slashed the outside production company’s proposed budget, and pressed on. We saw the rough cut last week and, surprise surprise, they did an amazing job. ... Although putting together the tour itself was not trivial, the building really is beautiful. As the Ambassador noted in one of the interviews, it looks a bit like a fortress on the outside, but the interior is all light wood, glass, and lots of exterior light. We put together a four-stop tour through two floors of the building, including the Ambassador’s office. We ended up recruiting 50 volunteers willing to dedicate all or part of their Saturday to work the event." Image: One more Georgian display

RELATED ITEMS

US soap operas are no longer the guiding light as the world turns to telenovelas. - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting.

See also John Brown, Is the U.S. High Noon Over? Reflections on the Declining Global Influence of American Popular Culture (Cultural Commons, July 2004). Image: Turkish display

Cold War thinking: rock music was bad but "effective as a subversive tool," thus OK for VOA - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting

I think I finally understand why we are "paging Willis Conover" - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting: Huffington Post, 4 June 2010, Nancy Snow: "Paging Willis Conover: In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, the Bush Administration adopted a domestic-style political campaign strategy to explain the global war on terror. What may have worked for an American audience -- the use of the word 'crusade' to explain the president's resolve to a nation just attacked by terrorists -- conjured up negative historical associations overseas. Interviews with foreign media were arranged, but more interviews resulted in falling goodwill in the world. Why? Because the selling approach with words did not match actions (Abu Ghraib).

What we know today is that asymmetrical warfare needs asymmetrical communications. Wikileaks needs monitoring and response as much as any Larry King Live show. The era of the cookie cutter approach is over. If our failures have taught us anything, it's that we have to look at every operation differently -- this is jazz and not architecture." [Elliott comment:] She writes like Marshall McLuhan. As in you can figure out what the paragraph is about, but it takes an hour (that you will never have back) to do so. The upshot is that in strategic communications, free-form works better than a blueprint. All we need are bureaucrats who can -- and who are authorized to -- improvise. Image: Turkish display

The Cairo Obama, one year later: The president's speech in Cairo stirred hope in the Muslim world, but he needs to act on the Israeli-Palestinian problem or much of that goodwill will be lost - Nabil Fahmy, latimes.com: It is on the Israeli-Palestinian issue that the Obama administration's credibility has lost the most ground since last June, because there were no consequences when Israel subsequently rejected his call for a settlement freeze and expanded its incursions into East Jerusalem. Just this week, the administration offered a tepid response to Israel's killing in international waters of at least nine people in the Gaza-bound flotilla.

How Israeli propaganda shaped U.S. media coverage of the flotilla attack – Glenn Greenwald, Salon: It was clear from the moment news of the flotilla attack emerged that Israel was taking extreme steps to suppress all evidence about what happened other than its own official version. This campaign of suppression and propaganda worked to shape American media coverage (as state propaganda campaigns virtually always work on the gullible, authority-revering American media).

South Korean Propaganda Blasts - Justin Jimenez, Time: On the Korean peninsula, turning your music up too loud could literally mean war. Last week, South Korea formally accused North Korea of launching a torpedo on March 26 that sunk its warship Cheonan, declaring "psychological warfare" in retaliation. Ending a six-year suspension of state-sanctioned propaganda toward its northern neighbor, the South transmitted its first FM radio broadcast across the border on May 25. Its first message to the Hermit Kingdom? A South Korean pop song.

Grasping China's propaganda machine - ‎Economic Times: A top official at China’s official news agency Xinhua has provided a peep into Communist party’s propaganda machine. In a lecture titled Understanding Journalistic Protocols for Covering Breaking News — a session aimed at budding journalists understand Xinhua’s working — Xia Lin described the twin missions as to give Chinese leaders a fast and accurate picture of current events and

to deftly manipulate that picture for the public to ensure social harmony, and by extension, the Communist Party’s hold on power. An article in the New York Times said Xin told his audience that there were some manipulations in the footage of China’s first astronaut, Yang Liwei, floating back to the motherland after orbiting Earth 14 times in the Shenzhou 5, or Divine Capsule. The national broadcaster CCTV carried the event “live” — from Yang’s famous pleasantries uttered in space — “I feel good” — to the opening of the capsule door to reveal the hero. The Xinhua official, however, said the mission was not so perfect. According to NYT, the paper presented by the Xinhua official described how a design flaw had exposed the astronaut to excessive G-force pressure during re-entry, splitting his lip and drenching his face in blood. “Startled but undaunted by Mr. Yang’s appearance, the workers quickly mopped up the blood, strapped him back in his seat and shut the door. Then, with the cameras rolling, the cabin door swung open again, revealing an unblemished moment of triumph for all the world to see.” Image: Israeli display

UN tired of Azeri propaganda - PanARMENIAN.Net: UNICEF's Executive Board held annual meeting on June 1-4 at the UN headquarters in New York. Permanent representative of Armenia to UN, Ambassador Karen Nazaryan, as well as representative of Azerbaijan were invited to participate. In his statement, Ambassador Nazaryan emphasized Azeri Ambassador’s use of inadmissible formulations, accusing the latter of attempt to politicize the discussions. At subsequent discussions, the Secretariat deprived the Azerbaijani Ambassador of the right of reply, which proves that the UN has long been tired of Azeri propaganda. Meanwhile, Azeri media circulated reports on UN Armenian representative’s attempt at misinforming the meeting participants, with Azeri diplomats “exposing the lie” of Armenian side.

Sundayview: Mugabe's US propaganda man goes berserk - ‎Stan Mukasa, The Zimbabwe Standard:

The abhorrent behaviour by Robert Mugabe’s propagandist ambassador in the United States, Machivenyika Mapuranga, in heckling like a drunkard the US undersecretary of state for Africa, Johnny Carson, was very revealing of the barbaric nature of members of Zanu PF. While this rowdy behaviour by Mapuranga was an embarrassment to other African diplomats gathered for the briefing by the US State Department, Zimbabweans are now used to this unruly action bordering on dementia because they experience it every day under the repressive and dictatorial rule of Mugabe and Zanu PF.
Image: One more Turkish display