June 30-July 1

“In my last three years in the [State] Department, I have not had any interaction with non-Americans.”

--Digger, A Foreign Service officer, in her blog, Life After Jerusalem: The Musings Of A Two-Spirit American Indian, Public Diplomacy-Coned Foreign Service Officer; image from

“It has always seemed to me the real art in this business is not so much moving information or guidance or policy five or 10,000 miles. That is an electronic problem. The real art is to move it the last three feet in face to face conversation.”

--Edward R. Murrow, director of the United States Information Agency (USIA), which handled outreach to foreign audiences during the Kennedy administration and the Cold War, on ABC TV’s “Issues and Answers,” August 4, 1963

IMAGES FOR THE DAY


"Compare the propagandistic photograph on the right ... used by Germans in 1941 to show that Lithuanians welcomed their invasion (depicting citizens pulling down a statue of an oppressive Communist ruler, likely Lenin), to the virtually identical, iconic photograph on the left of the staged scene of Iraqis 'celebrating' the American invasion by pulling down a statue of Saddam."

--From Glenn Greenwald, The Universality of War Propaganda; see also John Brown, "They Got It Down": The Toppling of the Saddam Statue (CounterPunch, April 12, 2003); images from article

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Kenyan MPs under fire over pay hike‎ - Sarah Wambui, Capital FM: "National Youth Forum co-convener Joshua Odhiambo on Thursday said Kenya’s leadership was tainted with self-centered individuals who are not focused on developmental issues. He asked Kenyans to vote for the proposed Constitution saying it would seal all loopholes in the law that created room for manipulation. ... The stand taken by the National Youth Forum was made after a meeting with the United States Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Judith McHale in Nairobi. Ms McHale who is on a tour to help foster US relations with the rest of the world including Kenya is also scheduled to meet President Mwai Kibaki. She applauded the country’s top leadership for its efforts in ensuring that Kenyans were educated on the contents of the proposed new law. 'This is a moment in time when Kenyans have an opportunity to go out and vote on a Constitution which will represent a law for the 21st century,' she said."

Museveni holds talks with senior US official - Anne Mugisa, New Vision – "President Yoweri Museveni has held talks with a senior US administration official who has been on a visit to Uganda. Judith McHale, the American under-secretary for public affairs and public diplomacy, met Museveni on Monday at the State House Entebbe. The two talked about trade, investment and development in Africa, according to a statement released from State House yesterday."

Technology adoption in Africa key to development, says US official - Charles W. Corey, Mshale News, African Community Newspaper: "Hailing the spirit of entrepreneurship across Africa, U.S. Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Judith McHale called on all Africans to quickly embrace changing technology and a host of transparent reforms that can aid economic growth across the continent. She pledged continued U.S. support for that effort.

Speaking in Uganda at the Verizon Symposium on Internet connectivity June 28, McHale said, 'East Africa cannot afford to be on the sidelines. The potential here is enormous.' The June 28-29 symposium in Uganda was organized by U.S. telecom firm Verizon Communications and other partners to discuss the arrival of new broadband Internet access in East Africa. The connection will link it with the rest of the world and thus stimulate educational opportunities and economic growth and development across the region."

The US Pavilion at the Shanghai Expo: The Power of that Last Three Feet - Patricia H. Kushlis, Whirled View: "[I]t’s the individual American guides personally connecting with the mostly young Chinese visitors that makes the USA Pavilion so unique from the others. It’s also likely a major reason that this pavilion is the second most popular at the fair outranked only by China’s own. Whoever was involved in making the decision to include the guides – a decision based, I might add, on the young US Russian speaking guides who had made the US government exhibits to the Soviet Union during the Cold War so popular – deserves kudos. ... In China, politics is culture. The French consider culture as power. These values are very close in meaning because, after all, power is the bedrock of politics. Yet, sadly, after all these years, the US government has seemingly not figured this simple equation out. Nevertheless, in a very real sense, the dynamism and creativity of real life American youth is, in reality, an invisible cultural linchpin in an ever changing society that we as Americans take all too much for granted."

Obama set to be a champion of geeks‎ - National: "While Mr Obama’s speech in Cairo was directed towards Muslims around the world, the fruits of his policies are focused on those living within nations that enjoy a good diplomatic relationship with the US. An entrepreneur in Damascus may aspire towards a Silicon Valley way of life and doing business but until the relationship between his country’s leaders and the US improves, he will not have access to the opportunities Mr Obama’s administration is now extending to those in Amman or Cairo. Conditions such as these may rub some of the positive shine off of OPIC’s [the government-owned Overseas Private Investment Corporation] historic investment in Arab entrepreneurs. But it also reflects the reality of American public diplomacy and the limits of goodwill."

Bin Laden eyes on Bangladesh - Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, Weekly Blitz: "Osama Bin Laden remains the un-rivaled hero and leader of Muslim youths aspiring to join the Jihadist. His efforts to inspire young Muslims to jihad against the U.S.-led West seem to be proving fruitful. Easily accessible satellite television and Internet streaming video will broaden Muslim youths' perception that the West is anti-Islamic. U.S. public diplomacy cannot negate the impressions formed by real-time video from Palestine, Iraq, and Afghanistan that shows Muslims battling 'aggressive' Western forces and validating bin Laden's claim that the West intends to destroy Islam."

Proactive Leadership in Afghanistan: Saad Mohseni - Bobak Moazami, bacharachblog.com: "Saad Mohseni is Afghanistan’s first captain of industry and chairman of Moby Group. In this week’s New Yorker, Ken Auletta profiles Mohensi who owns radio and television networks, an advertising agency, a movie production company, and many other businesses. Mohseni’s rise is important to American concerns in the region and may offer a view into what a post-occupied Afghan economy could look like. ... 'Without United States support, Saad Mohseni could not have succeeded at what he did' Auletta writes, 'He needed that infrastructure, that capital expense that the government supported.' Currently USAID sponsors 'On the Road' a weekly reality show. Starting next year the State Department will pay for another program about, in the words of David Ensor, director of communications and public diplomacy at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, 'cops who may be tempted by bribes but don’t take them.'”

The Battle Of The Logos - Ben Brophy, malariapolicycenter.org: "The combination of fragmented authorities and overlapping bureaucracies in our current assistance framework is watering down public diplomacy efforts. Foreign assistance is a crucial part of public diplomacy. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks eloquently about the need for 'smart power' in these challenging times. Her predecessor, Condoleezza Rice, emphasized the ability for 'diplomacy by deeds' to shape our image in far off lands. Whatever the terminology, the concept is straightforward: America enhances its image, and its prospects, when it is seen to be helping those in need. Words are the currency of traditional diplomacy, but tangible deeds can be more eloquent than any cable or speech or public statement."

Considering Water Diplomacy - Philip Seib, Huffington Post: "The institute's [the Institute for Water, Lee Kuan Yew School at the National University of Singapore] director, Professor Seetharam Kallidaikurichi, has set forth an ambitious agenda, which includes studies of water governance, evaluations of global water quality, and recommendations about best practices in water management.

The vitality and seriousness with which the institute addresses such issues is a reminder that water-related assistance is an underused tool of public diplomacy. Rather than an 'advertising' approach to public diplomacy ('We are wonderful! Love us!'), water diplomacy answers a crucial question often asked by recipients of public diplomacy efforts but just as often ignored by public diplomacy planners: 'What can you do for us?'" Image from

Reflections on American Academy's Report: Do Scientists Understand the Public?‎ - ScienceBlogs: "The focus on two-way dialogue and learning between experts, stakeholders, and the public is also one of the major recommendations of the recent National Academies' report on Adapting to the Impacts of Climate Change. .... The strongest recent resource I can recommend on public engagement is The Handbook of Public Communication of Science and Technology, published in 2008. Of particular relevance to the American Academy report is the chapter by Alan Irwin, dean of research at Copenhagen Business School and a leading theorist in the area of science and society. Irwin argues that the deficit model approach to communication represents 'first order' thinking about science-society relations, while the emphasis of the American Academy report can be characterized as 'second order' thinking, proposing bottom up participation, two-way dialogue, the building of trust, and the ultimate goal of reaching consensus. Yet what's still missing, argues Irwin, is 'third stage' thinking about science and society, an evolution in views and practice which involves deeper consideration about the governance of science-related issues and policy decisions. As I commented at Dot Earth, it's not clear to me that the science community realizes the full implications of public engagement and there's a useful analogy to U.S. public diplomacy. In Irwin's classification, we have yet to really approach third order thinking. Current innovative approaches designed to broker dialogue, for example, are often in practice just another version of the deficit model."

Obama’s Public Diplomacy From Haiti Wears Combat Boots – gamepirates.net: “Countries like France are exactly right to call US actions in Haiti as 'occupation' even if it is not true, because in case you haven’t noticed, every US spokesman on TV and covered in press conferences involved in public diplomacy from the ground in Haiti wears Tactical boots. ... If we want the UN and Haitian government to be in charge in Haiti, then we need a strong civilian counterpart to deal with the civilian political challenges. ... Without better US political leadership to work with the UN and NGOs ... the DoD will have to pick up the slack – again making our public diplomacy effort inside Haiti one with military boots.”

International Visitors - Digger, A Foreign Service Officer, in her blog, Life After Jerusalem: The Musings Of A Two-Spirit American Indian, Public Diplomacy-Coned Foreign Service Officer: "One of the programs I think the Department in general and public diplomacy in particular does really well is the International Visitors Leadership Program (IVLP). IVLP is designed to identify future leaders in a country and bring them to the United States for a visit. The idea is to find them early and introduce them to US culture, government, etc. One returning IV said, 'It is impossible to participate in this program and not be a friend of the U.S. forever.' I certainly hope so. So last week we learned about the program, and today, we all participated in "openings," or the first meetings for new IVs. I was alone with an individual IV. She is young, but clearly super active. I am not sure she sleeps. Getting to meet her and talk about the work she is doing in her country (which for her privacy I won't detail here) reminded me once again why I am glad to be in the Foreign Service."

At long last, broadcasting agency nominees to move forward‎ - Josh Rogin, Foreign Policy: "After months of gridlock, the Senate is finally set to confirm all eight of President Obama's nominees for the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the independent agency that oversees U.S. media efforts abroad, now that Sen. Tom Coburn has agreed to lift his holds on the nominees. ... So ends a long period of uncertainty at the BBG, where only four out of the eight board members held over from the Bush administration still remain. The full Senate could confirm all eight nominees by Wednesday night by unanimous consent, according to Senate sources. ... Last month, VOA management shook up the staffing of PNN by removing Alex Belida as director of PNN and firing PNN executive editor Hida Fouladvand. The staff at PNN, who believe they are simply pursuing balanced journalism whether or not it conforms with U.S. foreign-policy messaging, saw the move as a carrot to Coburn in exchange for him letting the board members go through. A spokesman for VOA rejected that explanation. 'VOA Director Dan Austin decided it was time to make a change and continue the progress PNN has been making,' he said. 'Alex Belida, who served as PNN director with distinction from September 2008, is now working with VOA's critical South Asia division to improve that division's programming to Afghanistan and Pakistan.'"

Finally: Broadcasting Board of Governors nominees are confirmed – Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting

On the Right Wavelength - Martha Bayles, World Affairs: "Last week the Senate actually did something good. It unanimously passed a bill (S. 3104) to authorize funding for Radio Free Asia (RFA) on a permanent — as opposed to a temporary — basis. Co-sponsored by Dick Lugar, R-Ind., Ted Kaufman, D-Del., Al Franken, D-Min., Dan Inouye, D-Hawaii, Jim Risch, R-Idaho, and Jim Webb, D-Va., the bill 'indicates the importance we place on the free flow of information, particularly in countries noted for their lack of an open press,' said Lugar."

Former Bush, Reid aides approved for broadcasting board - Paul Kane, Washington Post. Via LB

Meeting Of the US Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy‎ - US Department of State: "The U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy will hold a public meeting on July 20, 2010 from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. in the conference room of the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) located at 1850 K Street, NW, Fifth Floor, Washington, D.C. 20006. ... The Commission is a bipartisan panel created by Congress in 1948 to assess public diplomacy policies and programs of the U.S. government and of publicly funded nongovernmental organizations. The Commission reports its findings and recommendations to the President, the Congress, the Secretary of State, and the American people."

Obama Appoints McCulley as US Ambassador-designate to Nigeria‎ - Paul Ibe, THISDAY - "United States President Barack Obama on Monday nominated Mr. Terence P. McCulley


as Ambassador-designate to Nigeria. He will replace Ambassador Ms. Robin Renee Sanders [who] ... served ... as Director for Public Diplomacy for Africa for the State Department (2000-2002)." U.S. Army Gen. William E. "Kip" Ward (left), Malian President Amadou Toumani Toure and U.S. Ambassador to Mali Terence McCulley, share a moment at the presidential palace here February 26, 2008. Image: U.S. Army Gen. William E. "Kip" Ward (left), Malian President Amadou Toumani Toure and U.S. Ambassador to Mali Terence McCulley, share a moment at the presidential palace here February 26, 2008

UK - MFA - Foreign Secretary's statement on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's programmes spending - ISRIA: "The Foreign Secretary's statement to the House of Commons on the review of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's programmes spending. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, William Hague: I have decided that we will: ... - Cut our public diplomacy programmes by £1.6m this financial year, focusing on strategic communications to key overseas audiences, while seeking (resources permitting) to sustain this programme in future years."

What Is Israel Doing Wrong? No more Mr. Nice Guy. It’s time for Israel to toughen up - David Solway, pajamasmedia.com:

"[I]t is obvious that Israel has failed miserably to carry out an effective hasbara program, that is, public diplomacy, the circulation of information, pro-Israel activism. There is now a powerful psychological dimension in the war that is being waged against the Jewish state, a new media front in which the country is being demonstrably trounced. It is the Palestinians who have won the day with the clever deployment of its propaganda arsenal, in other words, disinformation, historical falsifications, and outright lies, the kind one sees animating the slanderous, campus-sponsored 'Israel Apartheid Weeks.' ... Israel should have invested — and should invest — enormous resources in a hasbara campaign, not only in an attempt to apprise people of Israel’s historical and incontrovertible legal claims to the Holy Land, but to ferret out the motives and biographical facts of its enemies, including Jewish anti-Semites and anti-Zionists." Image from

EU accused of meddling in Israeli democracy‎ - Leigh Phillips, EUobserver.com: "An archly conservative group with strong links to the Israeli government has attacked the human rights community in the Jewish state, saying that it is being bankrolled by the EU in a secretive attempt to undermine democracy. Israeli diplomats are touting in Brussels the 'investigative' work of NGO Monitor, a body which claims that a clutch of officials in the heart of the EU is plotting to 'delegitimise' Israel by funding local human rights organisations. Professor Gerald Steinberg, NGO Monitor president, was in Brussels last week speak MEPs and Israel's EU mission promoted his work among journalists. The EU gives 'public funds to a small group of opposition groups in an effort to manipulate the political process,' he told eurodeputies. ... He compared the sums, amounting to 68.8 million shekels (€15 million) since 2006 for Israeli civil society groups including B'Tselem, Peace Now, the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, Mossawa and Physicians for Human Rights Israel, whom he terms 'radical fringe' NGOs, to the €15 million annually Israel spends internationally on its public diplomacy efforts."

Europe's crisis is China's opportunity‎ - Antonaeta Becker, Asia Times Online: "When China designed the 2010 Universal Expo in Shanghai as a showcase for its new public diplomacy, it probably did not envision the exhibition would play a much bigger role as a magnet for recession-hit European businesses. A series of trade missions has traveled to Shanghai in the past two months, wooing Chinese investors in an attempt to boost Europe's weakened economies."

Human Link Is the Strongest between Syria and Venezuela‎ - Day Press News: "President Bashar al-Assad and Mrs. Asma al-Assad met on Monday members of the Syrian community in Venezuela in the presence of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. ... The President said the world only respects the strong…If we are not strong, we will not be respected and we will not be heard by mass media…We will not also have a decision or any real thing on the ground and this

is what they call 'Public Diplomacy'. President al-Assad continued 'Truly, we have built our policy on the ground and we left the 'Public Diplomacy' for them…We differentiate between this diplomacy and politics as the latter is built on the ground. We must know that the national decisions are more important than the international ones and this is what we do in Syria as we signed the United Nations Charter, but we signed it to be implemented not to be transformed into double standard.'" Image from article

‎Azerbaijani official: Country satisfied with U.S., Russian and French presidents' statement on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict - Trend News Agency (subscription): From Google entry: ... “’the three presidents are in fact committed to continue accompanying this process, or whether this was a mere exercise of public diplomacy,’ Simao noted.”

ERKÜ esimees kohtus USA Suursaadikuga Tallinnas - estosite.org: Mention of public diplomacy

Hughes: Obama 'passive' on oil spill - Daniel Strauss, Politico: "Former Bush administration adviser Karen Hughes said Tuesday that former President Bush would have handled the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico much better than President Barack Obama. The former Bush administration strategist and former head of public diplomacy for the State Department criticized Obama’s response as “almost unbelievably passive.”

Don Pablo Quijote hath been stricken down - Paul Rockower, Levantine: "I awoke in the midday hours feeling far better and headed on to my day of public diplomacy knight errantry.

A PD knight is like a medieval Cal Ripkin, always suiting up for battle." Image from

Internship - Voice of America - workforcongress.com: "Are you interested in gaining substantive experience in the fields of journalism, public diplomacy, foreign policy, or program evaluation..?" [full document by subscription only].

RELATED ITEMS

Propaganda, stir-fried and roasted - Francesco Sisci, Asia Times: Ideas and good writing may be fun, good music can be soothing, the cinema and theater are certainly entertaining, and sports and video games are heart-racing. All that is good and well, and all are the flesh and blood of the soft power that many countries try to build and whose management the United States has possibly mastered. Still, all these forms of influence on people's minds and souls come to nothing if compared to the old, solid conduit to the deeper recesses of the spirit, touching directly the deeper entrails of the body: food. China should be more than

aware of the value of food and the potential of its own cuisine in a time of competition for soft power. Yet, except for a few isolated prophets of delicacies who cater to the needs of a few of the world's rich and famous, few of the Chinese ideologues appreciate the propaganda value of food. But at the same time, the three powerful arms of the party line - the People's Daily, the New China News Agency and Central Television - have been richly financed in their expansion programs abroad. Despite the inefficiencies of official propaganda abroad, the unofficial and unintentional propaganda of food wins. Image from

China sets up news spokesman system – People’s Daily: China has established a news spokesman system in 11 CPC Central Committee departments and units, 31 provinces and half of district cities, the Central Foreign Propaganda Office announced today. "The promotion of Party affairs publicity and enhancement of the transparency of Party works are set targets that we must constantly push forward," said Guo Weimin, news spokesman of the International Communication Office of the CPC Central Committee. It is reported that currently the Communist Party of China has carried out various forms of communication and cooperation with 160 countries and 570 political parties and political organizations.

Al-Qaida Launches English Propaganda Magazine - ToTheCenter.com: Terror group al-Qaida wants to reach more people beyond the Muslim world. On Tuesday, it launched an English-language propaganda magazine that will target potential recruits in the U.S. and in Europe. The magazine is being run by al-Qaida in Yemen, the same terror group linked to the failed Christmas Day bombing attempt of a Detroit-bound airliner. "Inspire" features articles such as "How to Make a Bomb In the Kitchen of Your Mom," "What to Expect in Jihad" and a tutorial on sending and receiving encrypted messages. The magazine hit the web on Wednesday, but only three of its 67 pages were legible. The remaining 64 were garbled computer code.

We must crush the Taliban and Al Qaeda in a 'long war' in Afghanistan: Our policy chaos over Afghanistan shows that counter-terrorism's objectives are too limited to keep Pakistan's nuclear arsenal in safe hands, and its resources too inadequate to destroy the Taliban – John Bolton, Los Angeles Times

Pakistan's dual policy on Taliban: Pakistan sees the possibility of American success diminishing in Afghanistan and has a Plan B for a post-American relationship - Rajan Menon, latimes.com

After Afghan Shift, Top U.S. Civilians Face Tricky Future - Mark Landler, New York Times: The McChrystal blow-up

has reverberated through the State Department. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton instructed Ambassador Eikenberry and Mr. Holbrooke to take a hard look at the civilian team, two officials said. She is not wedded to the current lineup if it continues to bog down in internecine battles, they said. Image from

Did you hear? Did you hear the news...? - Lena, Global Chaos: No matter what the leaders say in an effort to downplay the effect of the case on the bilateral relationship, it is the public opinion, especially in the U.S., that's going to bear the loss. After all, it plays in well into the pre-existing stereotypes and nostalgia that many seem just too happy to revive. Well done, FBI, with this PR move.

Spy story pure propaganda – ex-MI5 officer – Russia Today: “There is a whole range of layers” behind the recent arrests of alleged spies in the US, believes former MI5 officer, Annie Machon, “with political being only one of them.” “The intelligence agencies in the US have been very much under attack for the last year or two, for a whole number of reasons,” Machon explained. “They were involved in things like extraordinary renditions, torture, surveillance of domestic political activists. So to go back to a good old-fashioned Cold War spy story and regain a bit of credibility, I think, is something they would probably aspire to.” In addition, Machon suggested that competition among intelligence agencies could be another reason behind the arrests. “Within the intelligence world there are competing agencies. I think at the last count, there are 17 agencies in the US, and they all vie for position and prestige and resources and staff numbers. So of course, if the FBI can produce this wonderful result suddenly, out of the blue, then their credit will skyrocket.” Image from article 1arus

Uncle Sam Needs You Now - Chris Haugh, Daily Californian: Propaganda campaigns were commonplace in the 1940s as the United States government prepared for shortages of basic materials, like foodstuffs and human capital, by launching massive propaganda initiatives. Victory gardens, or war gardens,

were intended to engage the home front to help lessen the burdens of war on troops and government coffers. People were expected to plant vegetables and fruits, enlist, or at least purchase war bonds because war necessitated a national response, as war should. Today, on the home front, it seems we have forgotten we are at war. Whether you agree with the justification for either or both conflicts, or are disgruntled with the most basic underpinnings of the Global War on Terrorism, the point still stands that we are a nation at war. Image from

[Viewpoint] Propaganda just isn't enough‎ - Kwon Young-bin, JoongAng Daily: The Cheonan tragedy [the sinking of a South Korean navy ship by North Korea] morphed into an entirely different phenomenon as midterm elections neared. Words of mourning and consolation turned into war talk. The government declared it would stage the joint Korea-U.S. military drill ahead of its previous autumn schedule and erect propaganda loudspeakers along the border for the first time in more than a decade. The North threatened to fire at the loudspeakers if they broadcasted propaganda. The war-sensitive young voters turned against the government. Their revolt at the polls during the June elections helped to defeat the ruling party, a boomerang effect of the government’s war talk.

Time Magazine: What Counts as Propaganda Against Israel? - Phyllis Chesler, posterous.com: Propaganda works, word by word when it is repeated day after day, year after year. The aim of such propaganda is to render Israel a pariah among nations — so that proposals for its elimination will seem reasonable and will achieve as welcome a reception as have the narratives about Israel murdering little Muhammad Al-Dura, committing a massacre in Jenin, harvesting Palestinian organs, and attacking non-violent humanitarians on a boat.

Perception and Propaganda – Utopia: As the blind lead the blind, the propagandist mentality becomes so commonplace and psychological deception so pervasive that it leaves modern civilization severed from any sort of order or higher sense of justice which necessarily entails the world in its completeness with everything in its proper place.

Nowhere is this more evident than in government and business, whose target audience is treated in the lowest manner possible in order to get them to buy the garbage they’re selling. The propagandist mentality has entirely rotted democracy to a mere shell, which by black magick springs back to life by its new appeal to global opinion. Use of propaganda here relies on the practice of a scapegoat to unite against some imagined evil in the hope of returning to a posited better time. In so doing, the democratic faithful must treat all dissenting opinions as insane, or that which exists outside of the accepted political ideologies as radical and dangerous. Image from