July 20

“The Marines have landed, and we now own a piece of Afghanistan.”

--General James N. Mattis, President Obama’s choice to command American forces across the strategic crescent that encompasses Iraq and Afghanistan, speaking in 2001; image from

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

In a Visit to Pakistan, Clinton Encounters a Less Hostile Reception - Mark Landler, New York Times:

"The last time Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was in Pakistan, less than a year ago, she was asked when the United States would stop killing innocent civilians in its covert drone attacks. She, in turn, suggested that officials in the Pakistani government knew where Al Qaeda’s leaders were hiding. The mood was noticeably less toxic on Monday, perhaps in part because Mrs. Clinton showed up with more than $500 million in economic aid, part of her campaign to win over a skeptical Pakistani public. Changing Pakistani attitudes toward America has become one of Mrs. Clinton’s personal challenges as secretary of state. She and her advisers seized on the less hostile reception given to her on this visit, compared with October, to assert that her public diplomacy was making a difference. 'I could feel a change,' Mrs. Clinton told reporters as she flew from Pakistan to Afghanistan at the end of the two-day visit. 'The government officials also believe we are moving the needle.' ... It is impossible to judge, based on a single meeting and an interview, whether Mrs. Clinton had changed many minds. The participants in the town-hall meeting were invited by the American Embassy in Islamabad; officials said many had worked with American diplomats. Most public opinion polls here show that Pakistanis remain deeply suspicious of the United States." Image from

Remarks with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi - Hillary Rodham Clinton, US Department of State: FOREIGN MINISTER QURESHI: "Of course we have to communicate better. Of course realizing the difficulties that we’ve had in the past, now there is a new public diplomacy effort into the dialogue. It’s been sort of weaved into. We have a set – we have – one of the sectoral engagements is about public diplomacy so that the message reaches the right place." See also.

Obsessed with Osama - Mosharraf Zaidi, The News International: "[I]t's hard to imagine that Mrs. Clinton wants to deliberately damage Pakistan in the eyes of her country's citizens. Bin Laden is not a very popular fellow in Pakistan. As Mrs. Clinton's friends in the Republican Party will testify, IRI polls have repeatedly shown that extremism and Al-Qaeda, are deeply unpopular in this country.

Repeatedly suggesting that Pakistan knowingly shelters Bin Laden seems like a poor public diplomacy move. More importantly, none of the core policy statements of the Obama Administration mention killing or even finding bin Laden's as an objective of its military and political efforts." Image from article with following content: Indian film Tere Bin Laden, which stars singer-turned-actor Ali Zafar, has not been cleared for release by the Pakistani censor board over fears of terrorist attacks.

Islamabad a destination of choice for Washington officialdom? - Patricia H. Kushlis, Whirled View: "You wouldn’t think that Islamabad would be a foreign destination of choice for Washington, DC officialdom, but it seems to be. That, according to a July 15, 2010 USA Today article citing a State Department Office of the Inspector General report from March of this year. ... That’s right, most American embassy employees in Pakistan now serve in the country for just one year. And if you're looking for a single troubling theme that is repeated throughout this Inspection report, this is one. And it's important. The Embassy’s revolving door of staff comings and goings in and of itself must be breath-taking. ... The worst of the Embassy’s human resources deficiencies are in public diplomacy where the Public Affairs Officer, Larry Schwartz, the chief of section and lone experienced public diplomacy officer who himself arrived less than a year ago, has no, repeat no, experienced officers working for him. ... The establishment in March of a number of bilateral official-to-official working groups in a variety of fields including communications and public diplomacy

as well as defense, agriculture, economics, finance and education is, I suppose, one way to engage with Pakistani officials and to force American diplomats out of fortress Islamabad (e.g. the US Embassy compound) and into contact with at least some of the people with whom they should be talking. ... It is a cumbersome, staff intensive and bureaucratic way to do business with another government. From a public diplomacy perspective, it also takes away time when public diplomacy officers, at least, should be talking and meeting with Pakistanis who work for the media or at educational institutions – a task that seems, for the most part, to have gone begging. Yet isn’t that what public diplomacy is supposed to be all about?" Image with caption: The winner of the Miss Pakistan World 2009 pageant and current reigning queen, Ayesha Gilani represented Pakistan for the first time. Gilani acquired the title ... Miss Tourism Queen International Pakistan 2009.

Updating Smith-Mundt for the 21st Century – Helle Dale, Heritage.org: "Since 1948, Cold War legislation has been tying the hands of practitioners of U.S. public diplomacy and international broadcasting. The law in question is the Smith-Mundt Act, which was intended to allow the State Department to counter Soviet propaganda in foreign media, while at the same time forbidding it from aiming propaganda at Americans at home through print or airwaves. This made sense at the time, but the world and—and the world of communication technology—has changed greatly. Considering that changed international environment, Rep. Mac Thornberry (R–TX) and Adam Smith (D–WA), both members of the House Intelligence and Armed Services Committees, have introduced the 'Smith-Mundt Modernization Act of 2010' (H.R. 5729). 'It is time—past time really—to update this law that ties the hands of our diplomats, military, and intelligence professionals. 'This bill removes legal hurdles and helps bring America’s public diplomacy and communications efforts into the information age,' Congressman Thornberry said as the legislation was unveiled this week. 'Smith-Mundt must be updated to bolster our strategic communications and public diplomacy capacity on all fronts and mediums—especially online.'"

More on MISO - NDU Press Blog:

Dr. Christopher J. Lamb, interim director of the Center for Strategic Research in the Institute for National Strategic Studies at National Defense University: “U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) recently announced that the term psychological operations (PSYOP) is being replaced with the term military support to information operations (MISO). ... In 2003, after prolonged internal debate and review, the Pentagon approved the Information Operations Roadmap that focused PSYOP on 'support to military endeavors in non-permissive or semi-permissive environments (i.e. when adversaries are part of the equation).' Many PSYOP professionals refused to accept these constraints designed to draw a clear distinction between PSYOP and public diplomacy (PD) and public affairs (PA). They argued PSYOP could be benign and employed for a wide range of information purposes and that it could include friendly forces and populations. ... [T]hose within the PSYOP community who wanted the name change have finally prevailed. It is unfortunate on several levels . ... Here, I just wanted ... to share the lament of PSYOP icons like Alfred Paddock, Jr., who argued against the change in Joint Force Quarterly and in Small Wars Journal. As NDU Press blogger Lisa Yambrick noted, 'For Paddock and many others, MISO is likely to be a no-go.' Ditto on the no go on MISO!" Image from

A funny thing happened on the way to the Expo - Paul Rockower, Levantine: "Having completed my PD long march, I set off to visit the focus of my journey- the hulking world´s fair that is the Shanghai Expo. Devil in the Red City. My companion for visiting the Expo was Cesar Corona, an expo expert who is spending the summer here working for USC CPD on expo related projects." [Entry reports on a number of pavilions; but not the USA’s, doubtless the subject of further reports].

Our Muslim Fellow Europeans - Martin Rose, Layalina Productions, Vol. II Issue 7, July 2010: "I am the director of a project run by the British Council, called Our Shared Europe.

It is an attempt to give substance to some of this thinking – the creation, if you like, of a common dinner table at which we can get to know and trust one another across precisely the divides that most deform our society. ... [T]he British Council calls ‘cultural relations’ ... the building of trust through mutual knowledge and carefully nurtured relationships. As an organization established in the 1930s to counter extreme narratives through cultural relations, we are pretty well equipped to work in this area, and we do so with enthusiasm." See also. Rose image from article.

Israel - Summary of editorials from the Hebrew press, 19 Jul 2010‎ - ISRIA: "Ma'ariv says that 'Israelis who continue to be suspicious of Obama have good reason, which cannot be erased by a month of public diplomacy.'"

Press Scanner - Messenger.ge: "Republican Tina Khidasheli

states in an interview with Rezonansi that, 'I spoke for a long time at the meeting with Bernard Kouchner. The process was rather interesting – the meeting was conducted as a question and answer session. The French Foreign Minister kept stopping us while answering the more interesting questions in order to obtain further information. ... We did not talk about the concrete strategy of holding dialogue with Russia. When you are in opposition, making recommendations on such things is pointless. We talked about public diplomacy, social contacts and relations which have been underway for years in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Kouchner was interested in whether we had been able to go there or not. I told him that I had been to Tskhinvali and Abkhazia even since the war,' Tina Khidasheli adds." Khidasheli image from

German academic agency names KU senior a 2010 Young Ambassador – The Kansas Progress: "DAAD is the German agency for the support of international academic cooperation. It offers programs and funding for students, faculty, researchers and others in higher education and provides financial support to more than 50,000 individuals annually. ... DAAD New York has three missions: to act as a bridge between U.S., Canadian and German universities, higher education professionals and students by providing information and assistance; to administer fellowships and other programs for students and scholars in the United States and Canada; and to contribute to Germany’s public diplomacy by promoting Germany’s academic, scientific, and cultural achievements in the United States and Canada."

Recommended Reading List on Public Diplomacy‎ - Renee Lee, MountainRunner.us: "The Netherlands Institute of International Relations Clingendael offers an impressive reading list on public diplomacy."

Assistant Director of Programs with The Asia Foundation (financial district) - "The Asia Foundation seeks

an Assistant Director of Programs. ... [who, inter alia] assists the Vice President in the management of the Foundation’s 'Public Diplomacy' programs." Image from

RELATED ITEMS

Petraeus’s Successor Is Known for Impolitic Words - Thom Shanker, New York Times: "General James N. Mattis, President Obama’s choice to command American forces across the strategic crescent that encompasses Iraq and Afghanistan, is a reader of philosophy who has patterned his speeches and writings on Aristotle’s famous dictum on effective communications: Know your audience. When he is speaking to Marines, he speaks like a Marine. When he is speaking to defense chiefs or senior government leaders, he uses their language."

Al Qaeda's American Ghostwriter - Daily Beast:

If U.S. intelligence officials are correct, the driving force behind one of al Qaeda’s latest propaganda initiatives is a U.S. citizen. Yemeni-American Samir Khan, 23, is believed to be the main author of Inspire, a slick, English-language online magazine published by al Qaeda’s Arabian arm and intended to instigate violence among aspiring jihadists." Image from

MORE QUOTATIONS FOR THE DAY

"Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has pledged half a billion dollars in aid to Pakistan. Clinton says the funding would be used for projects that would help improve Pakistan's economy. So, if you're an American that's out of work and want help from our government, you might want to move to Pakistan!"

--Jay Leno, cited in Bulletin News, LLC.

AMERICANA (From Boing Boing)