June 8-9

“[T]hings that are not officially called hasbara are the best hasbara.”

--Israel's Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs Minister Yuli Edelstein; image from

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY RESOURCES

Public Diplomacy: Books, Articles, Websites #51 (Courtesy of Bruce Gregory) - posted at MountainRunner.us: Intended for teachers of public diplomacy and related courses, here is an update on resources that may be of general interest. Suggestions for future updates are welcome. Bruce Gregory Adjunct Professor George Washington University/Georgetown University

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY IN THE NEWS

An Incomplete Strategic Review – Helle Dale, Heritage.org: "Among the slew of strategy documents from the Obama administration this spring, full of academic analysis and verbal flourishes, Congress has rightly detected a certain lack of substance. Case in point: The question of whether the U.S. government needs a Center for Strategic Communications and Public Diplomacy. According to the National Security Council in its National Communication’s Strategy the answer is 'No.' According to the House Armed Services Committee in its report accompanying the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011 (H.R. 5136), the National Security Council has done very little to state 'Why Not?' The lack of interagency coordination is one of the problems that beset the messaging of the plethora of U.S. government agencies with a slice of the


strategic communications, from the State Department to the Defense Department to the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the U.S. Agency International Development, the National Endowment for Democracy and many besides. Engaging with global communities is from the U.S. government perspective a piecemeal affair since the demise of the U.S. Information Agency in 1999. Coherent and strategic messaging is one of the critical components of U.S. international leadership. ... Congress has every right to demand that its requests be taken seriously. Coherent and strategic messaging is one of the critical components of U.S. international leadership, and the ball is now back in the Obama administration’s court." Image from

Military expands intelligence role - ‎Washington Post: “[I]n a 647-page House Armed Services Committee report ... the committee is assigning the Pentagon new duties while complaining that President Obama's National Security Council did not agree about the need for a new independent organization to reconcile the Pentagon's growing strategic communications activities -- which 'aim to undermine the ideological narrative of various violent extremist groups' -- with the State Department's public diplomacy role. The panel urged the NSC to reconsider that option. Meanwhile, as the panel points out in the report, the Pentagon already has multiple activities dealing with the terrorist threat, though in Pentagonese this is described as 'pursuing efforts to develop innovative, non-material, and multi-disciplinary methodologies and strategies for disrupting irregular and asymmetric threats and threat enablers.' The Armed Services panel spreads additional millions among several defense programs. It increases by $100 million the requested $43.8 million for the Irregular Warfare Support Program, which, the panel says, develops 'unconventional, creative, and multi-disciplinary (military, cultural, social, ideological, economic, and legal) approaches to counterinsurgency and counterterrorism.' It adds $10 million to $78.2 million the administration seeks for Quick Reaction Special Projects in the Rapid Reaction Technology Office 'for counter-ideology programs and to address science and technology gaps in DoD activities to counter adversarial ideologies.' The committee explained that current Defense Department strategic communications and information operations are not coordinated 'to the same extent that programs to undermine communism were during the Cold War." The committee singles out the Army's $91.2 million university research initiatives program, of which $15.3 million is for the Minerva Initiative, to 'foster' social science and humanities expertise for missions including 'irregular warfare, counterinsurgency and stability and reconstruction operations.' After two years, the panel finds that the research is 'spread too thinly to develop deep expertise in any of the current topic areas.' It adds $5 million for Minerva research directed specifically 'on how best to counter extremist ideologies.' The Pentagon's Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office, which has an $85 million budget, is given an additional $2.5 million 'for an extensive study to determine the state of the virtual

media environment occupied by today's extremists and terrorist enemies.' And the panel directs that Gates report on all department activities taken 'to counter the use of the Internet by extremists.' The government, according to the committee, 'has been slow to mobilize an effective counter-response to the proliferation of extremist websites.' To enhance the U.S. ability to 'infiltrate and combat enemy forces,' the panel calls on Gates to 'institutionalize' programs that develop 'indigenous capacity to infiltrate and disrupt local terrorist networks,' including 'mapping complex and social landscapes, understanding relationships among key actors in insurgencies, [and] identifying the key goals of marginalized groups that could lead them to be recruited by terrorists.' The committee requests to see a plan to support and sustain such programs by Sept. 1." Image from

Pakistan, US Hold Defense Dialogue - ‎Sun Yang, Crienglish.com: "Top Pakistani and American defense officials have started a four-day dialogue in Islamabad to boost defense cooperation, the U.S. embassy spokesman said Tuesday. A U.S. Defense Department delegation led by Dr. David Ochmanek, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Force Development, and David Sedney, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Afghanistan, Pakistan and Central Asia, are in Pakistan to attend the meetings from June 7 to 10 with Pakistan military counterparts, Richard Snelsire said. The working group is continuing discussions held during the U.S.-Pakistan Strategic Dialogue on March 24-25 in Washington D.C. The working group will focus on meeting shared security challenges through bilateral strategic-level defense planning, he said. Through the strategic dialogue, the United States and Pakistan agreed to intensify and expand dialogue in the fields of defense, economy and trade, energy, security, strategic stability and non-proliferation, law enforcement and counterterrorism, science and technology, education, agriculture, water, health, and communications and public diplomacy." See also

US embassy reaching out to French Minorities - chief, All the Beirut News: "When I lived in Paris, I was annoyed by American coverage of the suburb riots in 2005, which did its best to portray what was clearly a socio-economic problem into some sort of Muslim uprising. (Mark Steyn, for example, idiotically wrote of the 'Eurabian civil war.') In any case, given current attitudes about Islam in America, the nonchalance with which the country’s been calling for the assassination of Awlaki and the difficulty of getting a visa to the US from the Middle East, I’ve always assumed that the US Government has a monolithic attitude about Islam, Obama’s Cairo speech notwithstanding. So I was surprised to see this article on the American network in Le Monde (quick and dirty translation mine): ...

The ambassador of the United States in France, Charles Rivkin, has been multiplying outreach to sensitive banlieueus for a year now. But these symbolic and media-friendly operations conceal the magnitude of the networking done over the last few years in France in order to identify the elites of the banlieues and of ethnic minorities. ... The American embassy has in effect created an exceptional rolodex — today the most complete, the most pertinent and the most up-to-date on the French banlieues. To the point that neither political associations or parties nor the intellectual or media scenes — always standoffish about questions of diversity — can rival the American embassy’s network. The article continues with other young leaders from France’s ethnic communities lamenting how France, where elitism is alive and kicking, doesn’t take the same interest in them as the US embassy. This is the kind of outreach that the US should be doing, which is like a pro-active version of the Fulbright that seeks out young leaders instead of waiting for them to apply for scholarships. And this sort of networking is also smart in that it doesn’t limit itself to academics, as many similar programs do, instead forging ties with civil society groups that have roots in France’s ghettos. Unfortunately, this sort of activity might be more difficult to do outside of Europe, where association with the US embassy can be more of a problem than a blessing. But nonetheless, this is the sort of smart public diplomacy that I was hoping to see after Obama’s Cairo speech. If anyone knows of similar programs in Germany or the Netherlands, for example, I’d love to hear about it." Image from

Technology for Internet freedom and innovation at the State Department - ‎Alex Howard, O'Reilly Radar: "Unlike colleagues at the State Department like Philip J. Crowley, Ross [Alec J. Ross, U.S. Secretary of State's senior advisor for innovation] spends little to no time in public diplomacy. 'Where I think this stuff is most compelling and most effective is when pulled into a toolkit to address long-term policy challenges,' Ross said. 'I don't want a 'tech strategy,' per se. I want a nuclear non-proliferation treaty with a tech component, or a global climate change policy with a tech component. Andrew Rasiej says something important on this: 'Technology is not just a slice of the pie. It's the pan.' I'm not trying to create a new new silo.' 'Statecraft 2.0,' despite lofty rhetoric that highlights transparency and public diplomacy initiatives, still needs to preserve a few secrets, given the sensitivity of the information discussed in offices at Foggy Bottom on at embassies around the world. One element of transparency that isn't likely to emerge soon is a '@SecClinton' account on Twitter or Facebook. Ross was every inch the diplomat in answering whether his boss uses social media. 'The Department uses #SecClinton to refer to her on Twitter,' he said. 'The Secretary does not personally tweet. I will say that the Secretary is a voracious consumer of information and media across all platform types.'" Below image from



What Does Digital Divide Mean to Gov 2.0? - Alan W. Silberberg, Huffington Post: "In the industrial world, most have cell phones now; and most with at least rudimentary web access as well. In the developing world, there are areas that see huge cellphone usage growth, but still it serves as the only means of real communications. Little real web use. Few places to get online, and not many having or using email. But, there are huge implications to Public Diplomacy as was discussed at Gov20LA 2010, by Lovisa Williams, Stephen Hale, Dillon Hosier. … What recommendations should be made to bring the Digital Divide and Government 2.0 together in a a positive way? Through global foundations and Governments provide solar powered backpacks to school children in the developing world. This would provide power supplies for the basics. Here in the U.S. no Government 2.0 program should be funded without addressing the Digital Divide access issues, or at least examining alternative information distribution methods."

Press TV: Member of "terrorist organization" was introduced to the group by Radio Farda - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting

The Case for Calling Them Nitwits - ‎Christine Fair, Daniel Byman, The Atlantic:

"Current U.S. public diplomacy centers on selling America to the Muslim world, but we should also work to undermine some of the myths built up around our enemies by highlighting their incompetence, their moral failings, and their embarrassing antics. Beyond changing how the Muslim world perceives terrorists, we can help ourselves make smarter counterterrorism choices by being more realistic about the profile and aptitude of would-be attackers. More and more, as we work to disrupt training efforts, the jihadists we face are likely to be poorly prepared, and while that won’t always ensure a bungled attack, it suggests that terrorists are likely to select targets that are undefended and easy to hit." Image from

National security without religious liberty? - ‎Thomas Farr, Washington Post: "In March, the bipartisan House IRF [international religious freedom] caucus told the President that promoting religious freedom 'will lead to greater human freedom, economic prosperity and security throughout the world.' The same month a bipartisan group of scholars and human rights experts organized by Freedom House was even more explicit. They urged the President to 'articulate concrete connections and synergies ... between religious freedom policy and other key foreign policy areas, including national security (especially counter-insurgency and stability operations), development, conflict resolution/reconciliation, public diplomacy, democracy promotion and consolidation, and U.S. engagement of multilateral institutions and international law.' ... What does America's new U.S. National Security Strategy say about the U.S. policy of advancing religious freedom? Nothing. Zero. Nada."

Lieberman heads to US to explain Israel's position on flotilla: FM's aides dismiss claims speaking to Jewish communities a waste of public funds because he will be 'convincing those who are already convinced' - Roni Sofer, ynetnews.com: "Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman was set to leave for North America Sunday night to meet with Israeli diplomats, as well as with Jewish communities in the US and Canada, to explain the Israeli government's position on the Gaza flotilla affair. No meetings have been set up with US administration representatives or senior UN officials."

Israel - Summary of editorials from the Hebrew press, 8 Jun 2010 - ‎ISRIA: "Ma'ariv complains that 'Instead of using his international stature to advance Israel's public diplomacy efforts on the flotilla issue, President Shimon Peres has left for a chilly business trip to South Korea,' and recalls that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cancelled 'a no less important meeting with US President Barack Obama,' in order to deal with the flotilla crisis."

Gov't mulling int'l Israeli news channel - ‎Yaakov Lappin, Jerusalem Post -

"The government is considering the establishment of a news channel to add Israel’s perspective to the international news arena, Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs Minister Yuli Edelstein told The Jerusalem Post on Monday. 'We could have our own channel, which would at least broadcast on the Internet. We’re not there now, but we are seriously discussing that,' Edelstein said. The channel would require a combination of state and private funding, he said, adding that his ministry had secured some state funds toward the project. ... Edelstein said he was aware of 'the feeling that something is wrong, and there is an urge to point a finger at Israeli hasbara [public diplomacy]. In most cases, in this type of criticism, people don’t define what they mean by hasbara. I would have to say that hasbara is a combination of many fields – diplomatic, mass media, newspaper, new media, the Internet, social media, and working with Jewish communities and friends of Israel all around the world.' Despite the criticism, Edelstein said Israel 'did not react that badly' to the flotilla raid. ... Still, Edelstein said he agreed with critics who said there was room for improvement in Israel’s PR efforts. ... 'We’ve been working on creating an infrastructure of our friends and allies around the world, in the Jewish and Christian communities, which is not fully ready yet. It’s based on volunteers and professionals [who will coordinate the transmission of accurate information],' the minister said. Edelstein conceded that the Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Ministry suffered from restrictive budget problems. Nevertheless, he was seeking to implement ambitious initiatives based on volunteers. 'This is the 21st century, and that means things that are not officially called hasbara are the best hasbara. The moment things come from the government, the state, or ministries, they are perceived as being less reliable and as propaganda,' Edelstein said. 'There are many things only volunteers can do. Writing on Facebook, Twitter blogs, and sending e-mails to friends is second to none. The best things people can do are not about money, but about doing things in the right way.'” Image from

Israel Rejects Call for International Probe - ‎MWC News:

AMY GOODMAN: Max Blumenthal, the Israeli government has been forced to apologize for circulating a spoof video mocking the activists aboard the Gaza flotilla. The YouTube clip is set to the tune of 'We Are the World' featuring Israelis waving weapons while singing 'We Are the World' but saying, what, 'We conned the world, we conned the people. There’s no people dying, so the best that we can do is create the biggest bluff of all.' The clip featuring a group led by the Jerusalem Post deputy managing editor Caroline Glick wearing keffiyehs and calling themselves the Flotilla Choir. The Israeli government press office distributed the video link to foreign journalists this weekend, but then it emailed out an apology? MAX BLUMENTHAL: Right. The distribution of this video by the IDF general press office—and it’s also being passed around on the Facebook pages of a lot of mainstream Israeli journalists, according to my journalistic colleague Didi Remez, who monitors the Israeli media at a website called coteret.org—shows the collective insanity that’s taken hold in Israel, as the Israeli government and many people in the Israeli media apparently thought that this footage, which is just going to be clearly racist to anyone outside of this country—anti-Arab, just absolutely disgusting—was effective hasbara. Hasbara is the Hebrew word for public diplomacy or, at worst, propaganda. And they believe that their own government had failed them in terms of hasbara, so they should resort to footage like this from people who are government apologists, like Caroline Glick, but who aren’t within the government. People in—some of the Israeli journalists I refer to have been distributing Glenn Beck’s—clips of Glenn Beck mocking the Gaza flotilla, as if Glenn Beck were somehow a credible source. People here in the media don’t seem to understand that Glenn Beck is absolutely not credible and is regarded with scorn by the mainstream press throughout the world. And so, this shows not only the catastrophe of public relations, but also the mood that’s taken hold here, which is extremely right-wing and relying on American neocons and American demagogues, like Glenn Beck, to tell the Israeli side of the story. The ultimate effect is the world sees through it. The international community and the international media increasingly views Israel as in the grips of a siege mentality, and Israeli nationalism is at a fever pitch. So it’s a very, I think, dangerous and disturbing scenario, and it’s playing out on the ground here every day." Image from

Gov't disturbed by Reuters' cropping of raid photos - ‎Yaakov Lappin, Abe Selig, Jerusalem Post: "A letter was sent to Reuters chief Tom Glocer on Monday expressing the 'grave concern of the government of Israel' over the cropping of photographs taken from the Turkish Mavi Marmara ship last week by Minister of Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs MK Yuli Edelstein. The photos, which were published on Sunday in the Turkish Hurriyet daily, showed images of the commandos, their fatigues stained with blood, subdued by passengers aboard the Mavi Marmara ship but excluded the knives held by the aid activists."

Israel Is Fueling Anti-Americanism among US Allies - ‎Nicola Nasser, Palestine Chronicle: "Trying to defuse the repercussions of Israel’s blunder, the U.S. leaned on Israel 'quite a lot' to release hundreds of Turkish peace activists who were on board of Mavi Marmara, Turkey’s Deputy Under Secretary for public diplomacy Selim Yenel told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday. Fueling anti–Americanism among Arabs and Muslims

is absolutely not in the interests of the United States, but this is exactly what current Israeli policies boil down to. Soaring Israeli – U.S. relations further was the first casualty of the Israeli attack. ... Israel knows very well that its belligerency has been all along the main source of regional anti – Americanism. The U.S. knows it too. Repercussions of the Israeli attack seem to hit at the heart of what President Obama in mid–April declared as a 'vital national security interest of the United States,' i.e. solving the Arab – Israeli conflict. By escalating militarily and responding disproportionately, the extremist right – wing government of Israel is premeditatedly acting with open eyes to preempt the evolution of a united regional and international front in consensus on a two–state solution for the conflict; the best way to split the already burgeoning consensus is to fuel regional anti– Americanism as a tested ploy to disintegrate whatever Arab, Turkish and U.S. front might develop to pressure it into yielding to the dictates of peace." Image from

Turkey lobbies for broader mandate for flotilla commission - ‎Today's Zaman: "Turkey is mobilizing all of its assets to get the support of the international community for a broad United Nations investigation into the Israeli military’s deadly raid on the Freedom Flotilla, in which nine people were killed, as Israel drags its feet in cooperating with such an international investigation, offering a limited probe instead. ... Özden Sanberk, former undersecretary at the Turkish Foreign Ministry, underlined that the investigation’s mandate is very important. 'The question is what will the mandate of this international commission be? Will it also investigate the siege on Gaza and its humanitarian consequences? The investigation committee will determine the terms of reference. The terms of reference should include the embargo on Gaza. Here, Turkey’s public diplomacy will play a crucial role. It is extremely important for Turkey to keep its politically correct stance,' Sanberk told Today’s Zaman. He added that while Turkey continues with its public diplomacy efforts, it should be very careful about its image and should not give any impression that in Turkey rights and freedoms are not respected, such as by partially blocking IP addresses belonging to Google. 'These kinds of things can be used against Turkey during this process and might harm its diplomatic efforts,' he said."

Iran - Foreign Ministry Spokesman: Let's get ready for soft war's peak - ‎ISRIA: "IRI Foreign Ministry spokesman said here Monday soft war can alter minds, so countering it is in need of mighty forces and particular methods. Ramin Mehmanparast who was speaking at a gathering titled 'Public Diplomacy: Means for War and Peace' at the Faculty of Global Studies of Tehran University further reiterated, 'The glorious victory of the Islamic Revolution was the harbinger of major changes in international relations.' ... Mehmanparast

pointed out that we are now at the peak of the soft war, emphasizing, 'The soft war is capable of changing the minds and therefore, resorting to particular methods and taking advantage of expert forces, we need to stay put for countering it in order to embrace victory.' He said that public diplomacy is a method, adding, 'Any country transfers its ideal methods to the others resorting to its public diplomacy.' Pointing out that the west considers itself the sole player at the international scene today, he said, 'They resort to methods aimed at attracting the hearts and the minds of the entire people in the world towards to correctness of their own objectives.' The Foreign Ministry spokesman said that the western methods for seizing the minds of the people are exactly their weak point, arguing, 'That is exactly where we need to penetrate into their camp and the line through which we need to maneuver.' ... Mehmanparast emphasized, 'If we would manage to take optimum advantage of the words that we use, we would also be able to turn the threats into opportunities.'” Mehmanparast image from

Citizen Diplomacy -- Revised – Laura McGinnis, manIC: "I'd contacted a PD scholar for advice on narrowing the focus of my thesis, and in the course of our conversation he revealed that he'd read my latest blog post and noted that my definition of 'citizen diplomacy' was fairly broad, pointing out, 'Civil society interaction is not the same as public diplomacy.' Well, this is absolutely true, and the implications are twofold. First, it means that, despite my fervent beliefs to the contrary, I am not 100% right all of the time. This is terribly disappointing. Second, it means that I need to continue refining my definition of 'citizen diplomacy.' No doubt, I'll have plenty of time to do so in Mexico where I'll have a front row seat to observe lots of international and cross-cultural interactions that may or may not qualify as diplomatic interactions."

One Step Closer. . . Foreign Service Update - Geoff and Kim in El Caribe:

“On Friday, June 4th, 2010, I passed the Foreign Service Officer Oral Examination! I was offered a 'conditional hire' by the Department of State, basically conditional on passing medical and security clearances. ... What job will you be doing? The United States Foreign Service is a portion of the State Department that provides diplomats for over 265 embassies, consulates, and diplomatic missions in over 160 countries around the world. At the beginning of the application process, would-be foreign service officers must choose one of five career tracks: ... [including] Public Diplomacy: support the embassy’s informational and cultural programs.” Image from

Internship Programme 2010 at Brussels, Belgium Free Scholarship Info - phdscholarships: What does NATO offer? Interns will good by experiencing an general organization from the inside whilst substantiating their Curriculum Vitae. Internships have been offering in the following areas: -Defence Policy as good as Planning-Defence Investment-Executive Management-NATO Office of Security-Operations-Political Affairs as good as Security Policy-Public Diplomacy-NATO Office of Ressources-Private Office-Agencies: IMS (International Military Staff), SHAPE, NC3A, NAMA, … Read more: http://scholarshipdb.com/internship-programme-2010-brussels-belgium.html#ixzz0qHzqgdJU

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Broadcasting From Saigon: The Limits Of Culinary Diplomacy - Ren's Micro Diplomacy: "When people have asked, 'Why Vietnam?' I’ve joked, 'I’m only here for the food.' In Los Angeles, I live so close to a huge Vietnamese community that it would be a shame not to indulge at least 2-3 times a week , but so far, my Saigon food experiences have not matched the vegetarian glory I found so close to home. It’s left me a little disappointed even though I know I need to keep searching for the restaurants I’m hoping to find. This has left me wondering about the limits of culinary diplomacy, or attracting people to a culture via local foods.

It’s a great introduction, encouraging people to let their guard down and be open to influence, but it’s not substantial enough to create true understanding. Just because I love Vietnamese iced coffee does not mean that I’m going to connect with other aspects of the culture, but it might mean that I’m willing to learning more. So, practitioners should be prepared to follow up with other outreach program/activities to continue the conversation and develop a deeper culture understanding." Image from

'Islamic terrorism' and the Obama administration: Critics on the right say the administration is deliberately denying the existence of 'radical Islam' and 'Islamic terrorism' - Editorial, latimes.com: The administration has been excessively delicate in its language and has opened itself to a charge of political correctness run amok. It needs to find a way to acknowledge that at this point in history, the political extremism that poses the greatest threat is motivated by a perverted interpretation of a religion — while insisting, as the administration's new National Security Strategy does, that "neither Islam nor any other religion condones the slaughter of innocents."

Israel's Gaza blockade: It works: Abandoning the blockade now would hand a victory to Israel's enemies, and would be a blow to many countries - Jonah Goldberg, latimes.com:

The White House, which initially leaked that there would be "no daylight" between the U.S. and Israel over the flotilla, now wants to use the international furor to leverage Israel into loosening the blockade. This would rightly be seen as giving the organizers and supporters of this seaborne propaganda stunt a victory. It would signal that America can be conned. Image from

Propaganda war latest: Tehran 3 Israel 0: Iran’s tactic of portraying its enemy as facing inevitable destruction is proving successful: ‎Amir Taheri, Times Online - As Iran’s leadership prepares to dispatch a Red Crescent flotilla to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza, its propaganda organs are spreading one message throughout the Muslim world: the Jewish state, branded by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as “the Zionist stain of shame”, is heading for its inevitable destruction. Over the past three years, Iran’s Khomeinist regime has succeeded in changing the traditional perception of Israel. Instead of Israel being the almost invincible enemy that crushed the Arabs in the Yom Kippur War and the Six Day War, it is now portrayed as a waning power, a small and vulnerable enclave that, having lost the support of its powerful protector, the United States, is facing the might of a resurgent Muslim world under Tehran’s leadership.

Propaganda masks Israel's atrocities: Ordinary Americans will turn over Washington's pro-Tel Aviv policy if they are allowed to know the truth
‎ Linda S. Heard, GulfNews: Palestinian advocates are amazed that this tiny US ally gets away with perpetrating atrocities over and over again with little more than a slap on the wrist. What is equally shocking is the backing the Israeli authorities receive from large sections of the American public. You only have to tune in to US television networks such as Fox News

or CNN. Their spin reflects the pro-Israel view of Congress and public sentiment that invariably sides with the Jewish state. Image from

S. Korea dithers over punitive measures against DPRK - ‎Kim Junghyun, Xinhua: South Korea appears to have put a brake on its diplomatic drive to punish the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) for allegedly sinking a South Korean warship, as concerns rise that Seoul's tough talk against its wartime rival might not garner enough support. The government, for starters, has backed down on its decision to immediately resume anti-Pyongyang propaganda activities including sending propaganda leaflets to the DPRK and resuming loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts along the tense border. Neither of the plans has been carried out yet due to "political situations, " according to Seoul's semi-official Yonhap News Agency that cited an unidentified defense ministry official.

A destiny beyond propaganda and imperial nostalgia - ‎A. Bimol Akoijam, KanglaOnline: In war, truth is the first casualty so says Aeschylus, the Greek tragic dramatist. It may not be war but this insight equally holds true for the ensuing “Manipuri-Naga” confrontation that seems to have substituted the decades old “Indo-Naga” conflict today. Indeed, the propaganda machinery such as the one that seeks to tear apart Manipur

has come to twist and turn the facts of the pasts and or selectively present experiences to project questionable future. The campaign to tear apart Manipur has all the ingredients of propaganda as a political weapon. These ingredients, which are well-known to the political psychologists, are methods to influence the masses by (a) simplifying or reducing complex issues into black and white, (b) creating and stereotyping an enemy, (c) making that enemy a scapegoat for one’s own failures or the ills that one has, (d) omission and commission of facts or interpreting facts out of context, (e) asserting one’s own claims with an authority, especially by linking up those claims with noble or lofty ideals (such as in the service of God or the nation), and (f) influencing the individuals to suspend their individuality and rationality to follow the crowd, giving the individuals a sense that so many people are in the movement and therefore it must be right and the goal achievable. Joseph Goebbels, Adolf Hitler’s Propaganda Minister, insisted, “(propaganda) is to persuade people of what we think right... (and) conquer the broad masses...it is not the task of propaganda to discover intellectual truths”. But history cautions us against the suppression of truths. Despite the power and grandiosity, so spectacularly displayed in the Nuremburg Rallies to convince the German population, truth ultimately caught up with the Nazis from 1945 onwards. And, the people of Germany and the rest of the world, too, had to pay a heavy price because of the World War II started by the Nazis. Thus, to avoid a similar tragedy in this part of the world, we must recover the historical facts that have been steamrolled by the ongoing campaign against Manipur. The exercise can begin by looking at the problematic invocation of the “Unique History” of the Nagas in relation to certain section of the population in the Manipur hills. Image from

Stalin's banned film found after 75 years – BBC News: Stalin said literature was "the handgun of propaganda" but he described the film as his rocket launcher. Dutch journalist Frank Westerman has discovered a film that has been banned by Stalin is now going to be seen for the first time in 75 years.