September 21

"I don't want any part of it."

--"Stella's comment in Rear Window (1954) (exquisitely delivered by Thelma Ritter) on the possible murder and dismemberment of a neighbor"; as cited in Mark Wollaeger, Modernism, Media, and Propaganda: British Narrative from 1900 to 1945 (2006), p. 59; image from

EVENT

Rethinking “The Great Game”: Cultural Perspectives in Afghanistan Policymaking: United States Institute of Peace: "Playing at the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, D.C. this fall, the London-based Tricycle Theatre's production of the 'The Great Game: Afghanistan' explores the complex British, Russian and U.S. engagement in the country since 1840, allowing audiences to examine parallels with the current conflict, the lessons of causality for contemporary policymaking and how the accessibility of culture can contemporary policymaking and how the accessibility of culture can can drive international engagement and intervention." Via AK

Below images from: Afghanistan Wartime Architecture September 2010 Part 3 and Afghanistan Wartime Architecture September 2010 Part 2

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Ignoring YouTube: Imam Feisal's Flawed Approach to 21st Century "Media" - Andrew Rosen, Huffington Post: "Imam Feisal's talk at the Council on Foreign Relations reveals the Imam's surprising portrayal of a monolothic Media which has lost control of his message, and has allowed itself to be 'hijacked by extremists.' He demands, 'You, the media, can fuel the radicals or you can limit their airtime.' He blames the media for creating a 'witch's brew' by shaping 'political, socio-economic, religious, perceptions' in the Middle East. But perhaps most surprisingly, Imam Feisal goes so far as proposing that the media not report on suicide attacks, an argument that naïvely underestimates the power of new digital media outlets, like YouTube, Facebook, or Twitter.

This perception of the Imam's seems outdated and misguided when, in the age of Web 2.0, media is the opposite of monolithic. There is no 'media' anymore: just many disparate channels, and an audience of hundreds of millions of empowered users. This perception seems particularly narrow-minded when considered against the Obama Administration's YouTube Diplomacy efforts. Interestingly, the Imam and YouTube Diplomacy have something in common: they have both been valuable inroads for the Obama Administration's engagement with the Muslim World. But they have been two very distinct approaches: the Imam's tour, backed by the State Department, is shoe leather diplomacy. This approach puts an American Muslim face in person to person communications with local communities in the Middle East. Alternately, YouTube Diplomacy is '21st Century Statecraft,' which actively engages with the Web for public diplomacy, and other, purposes. This approach enables US diplomats to put a virtual American face anywhere on the Web, and both control and engage around the message. Through YouTube Diplomacy, President Obama's message to the Iranian people on Nawroz, and his seminal speech in Cairo, were actively distributed in many translations across the Internet, globally. ... The lesson of YouTube Diplomacy for Imam Feisal, then, is openness, engagement and distribution successfully can counter misinformation. For all its virtues as a communications channel, the Internet presents two challenges to the Imam. First, unlike President Obama, the Imam is not an ideal messenger. He is not as comfortable speaking extemporaneously than when reading from prepared remarks. Second, he may simply not understand the Web, or be surrounded by people comfortable with the tools at his disposal. There was no mention in his talk of the blogosphere, the Twittosphere, or any other medium; instead, he simply focused on media coverage."

One of John Hughes's "Lessons from Indonesia" is to "reform the Broadcasting Board of Governors." - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting in International Broadcasting: "American Diplomacy, 20 Sept 2010, John H. Brown reviewing former VOA director and former USIA associate director John Hughes ['s book], Islamic Extremism and the War of Ideas: Lessons from Indonesia: "'[D]espite its title, its central focus is the current state of American public diplomacy — in Part I, 'The Rise and Fall of USIA,' and Part IV, 'What We Should Do.' Among the recommendations: 'Reform the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the entity that oversees US international broadcasting; use the new social media.' Specifically: 'Hughes writes favorably about senator Sam Brownback’s plan to establish a National Center for Strategic Communications that would fold the BBG and VOA into one agency.' [Elliott comment:] Creation of the Broadcasting Board of Governors in 1994 was [underlined] the reform. Before that, its USIA superiors would, alternatingly, allow VOA to report the news, or force it to toe the policy line. As a result, over the decades, VOA was not able to develop the credibility necessary for complete success in international broadcasting. If folded into a National Center for Strategic Communications, or something like it, US international broadcasting would lose it independence, forfeit its credibility, and part with its audience. By the way, VOA has a weekly audience in Indonesia consisting of 16% of its adults, about 27 million people, larger than during the old USIA days. Now that's [underlined] a lesson from Indonesia. See previous post about same subject.'"

Ambassador Highlights Accreditation in Remarks - maavn, An International Educator in Vietnam: Information, Insights & (Occasionally) Intrigue: "I was pleased to see Ambassador Michael Michalak talk at considerable length about accreditation at a recent ribbon cutting ceremony for the Embassy’s new EducationUSA advising office.

In fact, over half of his speech focused on this important topic. When I was IIE-Vietnam country director from 2005-09, this was one of my 'signature issues,' and I worked closely with the Public Affairs and Commercial Service sections of the Embassy and Consulate General, each with a somewhat different interest. ... The timing of Ambassador Michalak’s comments is not coincidental. In July and August, the Vietnamese media devoted large quantities of ink and countless megabytes to the issue of unaccredited schools operating in Vietnam, most of which are based in the U.S. As I mentioned in a June 2010 post entitled Get a Ph.D. in America Without Knowing English! … '[W]e will be doing ourselves and foreign countries a favor by taking the issue of learner protection seriously and taking the necessary steps to rein in, or at least expose, unaccredited schools. It is an issue that should also concern the US State Department because part of its work is directly related to public diplomacy and the United States’ image in the eyes of the Vietnamese and people of other nationalities.'"

Paid Abortions in Defense Bill - letschangeamerica.com: "Alongside another controversial provision in the 2011 defense authorization bill pending in Congress is language that illustrates the continuing challenge of taxpayer support for elective abortions.

Included in the version of the bill that emerged from the Senate Armed Services Committee is an amendment sponsored by Sen. Roland Burris (D–IL) that would allow the use of military facilities around the world for 'pre-paid' abortions. ... [T]he Burris amendment would put the U.S. military in the unenviable position of possibly hiring private doctors willing to perform abortions on bases in countries where the practice is limited or prohibited by law. The impact of such a policy on the public diplomacy objectives of the U.S. has not been evaluated."

Юлий Эдельштейн, министр информации Государства Израиль : Народная дипломатия, или почему израильтяне не верблюды? - echo.msk.ru: "Юлий Эдельштейн, министр информации Государства Израиль ...[:] "Прежде всего, хотел бы извиниться перед посетителями сайта и слушателями 'Эха Москвы' за то, что давно не писал: был в длительной командировке по Южной Америке.

Впрочем, в нашем министерстве не забывали и о России, и сегодня с удовольствием сообщаю о запуске русскоязычной версии проекта 'Рассказываем об Израиле'". Google translation at

A Timely Launch: Day 1 at the MDG Summit‎ - Maha Atal, Forbes (blog): "I ... spoke to Oxfam Africa Director Irungu Houghton about his organization’s push for more public support for the MDGs [Millennium Development Goals]. I will upload the video when I get back to my apartment, and comment a bit on the whole question of public diplomacy, but one point he wanted to make was that there is an inherent tension between growth and equality. I pushed back, but he was adamant. Contrast that to today’s remarks by IMF President Dominique Strauss-Kahn: 'Without growth, all other efforts to achieve the MDGs, will be frustrated, we will be treading water against a rapidly advancing tide.'”

British Withdrawal From Sangin in Helmand-Mission Incomplete - Karl Naylor. Observations from London on Britain and the World:

"Naturally, 'public diplomacy' never stresses the TAPI pipeline as no Western nation wants to admit that the casualties, both of NATO troops and Afghans are all in the cause of a pipeline. on TAPI, see.

Necessity to use public diplomacy - persianjoke.net

RELATED ITEMS


Public diplomacy broadcast at 1700 UTC: Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on INternational Broadcasting: "State Department, 16 Sept 2010, Office of the Spokesman: 'Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will formally announce the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, a new public-private initiative to create a thriving global market for clean and efficient household cooking solutions

that will save lives, improve livelihoods, empower women, and combat climate change. The announcement will occur at the Clinton Global Initiative’s annual meeting on September 21 at approximately 1:00 p.m. ... Led by the United Nations Foundation, the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves will address one of the greatest threats facing developing countries and their populations— the extraordinarily high exposures to toxic smoke from indoor fires and inefficient cookstoves which lead to nearly 2 million deaths each year, with young children and adult women suffering the vast majority of this disease burden.' With links to video.-- [Elliott comment:] 'If the State Department also wants an international audience, the UTC time of the broadcast (1700) should have been provided. Not mentioned at America.gov, so maybe an international audience is not sought at this time."

Sister Of Jailed Iran Journalist 'Charged With Anti-Regime Activities' - rferl.org: The sister of jailed Iranian journalist and human rights activist Abdolreza Tajik is reported to have been charged with "spreading lies" and "assembly, conspiracy, and disseminating propaganda against the Islamic Republic regime," RFE/RL's Radio Farda reports.

China carmaker may buy into GM's IPO - marketplace.publicradio.org:

ROB SCHMITZ: The relationship between GM and China is so cozy that the two are working on a communist propaganda film together. Coming to a theater not-so-near you: "Birth of a Party," a celebration of the 90th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party. The film's official sponsor? Cadillac.

Russian satellite channel has whiff of propaganda - Shaun Walker, independent.ie: With its slick graphics, smiling young news anchors, and round-the-clock coverage, RT is like any other news channel. But there is one major difference, aside from the content; RT, which stands for Russia Today, is paid for by the Kremlin. The channel launched in 2005, broadcasting news mainly about Russia on satellite packages worldwide including Sky in Ireland and Britain. This year, RT went even further in its attempts to infiltrate the US, when a new arm of the channel, RT America, began broadcasting from Washington. Last month, the Southern Poverty Law Centre (SPLC), a well-respected US organisation that tracks hate groups and extremists in the United States, published a report about Russia Today.

The group did not label the channel itself extremist, but said it gives undue airtime to conspiracy theorists and extremists. The top brass at the channel, including editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan, have denied this. "We don't talk about 9/11 any more than US media discusses who was behind the 1999 explosions in Moscow," she told the authors of the SPLC report, referring to the apartment block bombings that were a catalyst for the second Chechen war. See also.

Red faces over Hitler quotes in award-winning Russian wisdom programme‎ - Tom Washington, The Moscow News: Quotes from Hitler have appeared on public transport in the Ural city of Perm on stickers and leaflets exhorting citizens of a greater Russia to unite. The offending material comes from Mein Kampf, Hitler’s manifesto which was banned in Russia earlier this year, but has found its way into an NGO’s World Wisdom project. Organisers say the quote is a warning against Slavic disunity – a rather different interpretation from one the Third Reich might have used.

The Cranes are Flying (1957) - Matthew Fulton, helium.com: The film The Cranes are Flying's story is a sad one, yet it has incredibly patriotic undertones that show the brilliance of the Soviet film making industry's ability to not only draw incredible emotions out of their viewers but also spread pro-Soviet propaganda.

What is perhaps most brilliant is the way that the propaganda message is a positive one twisted right into the plot. Self sacrifice in the name of the state is viewed as noble and worthy of praise and recognition, while finding a way out of service is seen as shameful and even a cancerous means of ripping society apart

History of the German car industry 1885 to 1945 - Martin Chapman, helium.com: The Daimler and Benz firms merged in 1926 to produce cars under the name Mercedes-Benz. The merger undoubtedly saved both companies from bankruptcy in the German Depression. The company grew throughout the 1930s, becoming very successful in automobile racing. This was used as Nazi propaganda - Hitler himself never being photographed in any car but a Mercedes.

Historian: British secret agents carried out bomb attacks against Jewish emigrant ships after WWII - worldjewishcongress.org: The British intelligence service MI6 used bombs and covert tactics to try to thwart the settlement of Palestine by Jewish refugees in the aftermath of World War II, according to a new book by Keith Jeffery on the history of MI6 during the first part of the 20th century. Jeffery, a historian from Northern Ireland, notes that his book was "published with the permission of the Secret Intelligence Service and the Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office." According to the author, the British undertook the effort – dubbed Operation Embarrass – in order to curry favor with oil-rich Arab states upset over the Jewish migration to the Middle East.

MI6 planted explosives to disable ships before they could transport Jewish men, women and children from Europe to Palestine, which was at the time under British control. London, following pressure from wartime Arab allies, adopted a policy of strictly limiting Jewish migration to the region. In addition to the direct physical sabotage, the British launched a disinformation and propaganda campaign to impede the settlement. Image: A patient looks out from his room at a mental health centre in Herat, western Afghanistan, September 11, 2010. Reuters


FOUND ON THE WEB

Response to the Shared Values Initiative: Advertising as Public Diplomacy: Attitude Change Among International Audiences - Alice Kendrick, Ph.D., Professor, Termerlin Advertising Institute Southern Methodist University Dallas, Texas USA and Jami A. Fullerton, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Advertising School of Journalism and Broadcasting Oklahoma State University