"Easy writing makes hard reading."
--Ezra Pound, cited in The Times Literary Supplement (November 12, 2010), p. 34; Pound image (by Wyndham Lewis) from
"President Obama was quick to speak out against Burma’s rigged general elections. But in Afghanistan where complaints of election fraud have surfaced, the United States has stayed silent. ... [T]he United States does spend more than $104 billion a year on military operations alone to protect Mr. Karzai, who like the Burmese dictators, has robbed Afghans of their basic rights and aspirations, stolen a presidential election and is in the process of stealing the parliamentary elections. So where must the public diplomacy start? If U.S. engagement has to go beyond dealing with the Afghan government, how does the U.S. protect the rights of those not connected with the elites?" Image from
Drones Aren't the Answer in Yemen - Gregory, islamandinsurgencyinyemen.blogspot.com: "Neither the US, Saudi Arabia or Yemen have made any serious effort to ... challenge al-Qaeda’s self portrait of itself. US public diplomacy in Yemen in Arabic is a joke. Yemen and Saudi Arabia have been similarly negligent."
The Age of Leverage - David M. Anderson, The Brookings Institution: "A country which does not have to revert to bombs and sanctions but can achieve its ends with music, literature, movies, hamburgers and public diplomacy has basically shown that existing peaceful nonaggressive resources can be leveraged to achieve great ends. ... As a tool leverage
is a form of power. Professor Nye explains that 'smart power' involves using the right amounts of 'soft power' and 'hard power,' but it would appear that 'soft power' is more likely to involve leveraging resources and relationships than hard power. Suffice to say here that economic, political, and family progress in the twenty first century seems to rely more on soft power and leveraging strategies than traditional hard power. ... Not even the world’s superpower, the United States, has the liberty to leave leverage behind, although at times, to our peril, we seem to use hard power traditional military and economic strategies where we should be leveraging resources and using soft power public diplomacy strategies." Image from
U.S. Embassy Islamabad Celebrates International Education Week - PD-wali: "In honor of International Education Week (IEW), the U.S. Embassy reached out to young Pakistanis to say: Study in the U.S.A.! International Education Week is a joint initiative by the U.S. Departments of State and Education to attract foreign students to study, learn, and exchange experiences in the United States. In Pakistan, we already have the world’s largest Fulbright and professional exchange programs, and send over 200 Pakistanis every year on study experiences at high schools and universities around the United States. In total, 5,222 Pakistani students attended college in America last year, but if you figure that since 50 percent of Pakistan’s population of 170 million is under 25, there’s a lot of room for growth. So IEW was the perfect opportunity to get out the word that the United States of America wants more Pakistani students. ... About PD-wali [:] I am a State Department Public Diplomacy (PD) Officer working in the Press Section at the US Embassy in Islamabad."
Image from article: American Embassy officer in Islamabad talks with Pakistani students about attending college in the United States.
Embassy team visits key archaeological sites in advance of Ghazni 2013 - U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Courtney Witt, prtghazni.blogspot.com: Ghazni Province, Afghanistan:
"Mr. Jim Moore, Department of State’s South and Central Asia Bureau Deputy Assistant Secretary for Press and Public Diplomacy, hands candy to Kuchi nomad boys during his visit to Tepe Sardar, Afghanistan's unique monument of sacred architecture, outside Ghazni City, Afghanistan Nov. 17, 2010.
Members from the Provincial Reconstruction Team and Department of State visited two important archaeological sites. Looking to Ghazni 2013, the year which celebrates Ghazni as the Islamic cultural capital of the Asian world, U.S. Embassy Public Affairs and Mr. Moore brainstormed how best to assist Ghazni province as it strives to identify and restore particularly relevant Islamic archaeological sites that have earned Ghazni its 2013 designation. (Photo by U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Courtney Witt, Ghazni Provincial Reconstruction Team)." Top image from article; below image from
Public Diplomacy: Ohio State Study Examines the Impact of Al Jazeera on Muslim Identity, Arab Nationalism, and Views of the United States - Matthew C. Nisbet, bigthink.com: "A new study from Ohio State researchers examines the impact of Al Jazeera on public opinion across Arab states, concluding that the news network strengthens Muslim identity among heavier viewers and thereby indirectly contributes to more negative views of the United States. The tendency for the network to promote a trans-Muslim identity, poses unique challenges for public diplomacy in the region, conclude the researchers, a team led by my brother Erik Nisbet, a professor of communication at Ohio State. 'If there’s a growing transnational Muslim identity, the United State will have to reevaluate traditional foreign policy strategies that are currently based on dealing with individual countries,' says Nisbet. 'It will make diplomacy more complex.'” See also.
Speaking of "framing" III - Outrageous! - Yelena Osipova, Global Chaos: "[H]ere's the last part from Russia Today TV's 'investigative report' on the super-secret 'democracy promotion around the world' conspiracy devised by the American government. ... USAID and NED... Really?! They 'repeatedly refused' [Russia Today] interview
requests ... . Unfortunately, the altruistic and disinterested mission of 'democracy promotion' is not self-evident to everyone around the world, and therefore, a strong argument is indispensable. What were their communication representatives thinking? I'm afraid they both lost this public diplomacy challenge 'test case' for the U.S. in this instance..." Image from
Broadcasting Board of Governors meeting on 19 November: video and audio now available - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting: "On-demand video and audio of the meeting is available on this page of the BBG website. Richard Lobo, new director of the International Broadcasting Bureau, reported that the IBB Coordinating Committee (required by the International Broadcasting Act of 1994 but until now mostly inactive) will have its first full official meeting on 8 December. The committee consists of all the BBG entities, even though IBB is statutorily connected only to VOA and Radio/TV Martí. Mr. Lobo also reported on the 'strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats' of and to the IBB."
Professor P. Lal: He da Man - Patricia Lee Sharpe, Whirled View: "[T]he pain that went along with the State Department’s gleeful absorption of the U.S. Information Agency [:] U.S.I.A.’s Indian employees were being squeezed mercilessly. Collegial operations were being replaced by rigid hierarchies. Rapid response was giving way to bureaucratic sclerosis." On USIA, see.
Citizen diplomacy focus of Washington, D.C. summit - Dar Danielson, radioiowa.com: "More than 500 people are attending a summit in Washington D.C. this week to address what’s called 'citizen diplomacy.' The U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy is a Des Moines based organization that encourages every American to seek opportunities to work with people in other countries.
Board member Ted Townsend says all people of the country are responsible for foreign relations, not just the government. 'The idea of citizen diplomacy is separate of public diplomacy, related to the state department. The goal is to use people to people exchanges, eye to eye contact. The phrase that many people use is ‘one handshake at a time’', Townsend says. Townsend says this type of interaction is lost in the current electronic age." Image from
Citizen Diplomacy - Renée, IC What You Mean
Interview with Prof. Dr. Nabil Ayad - culture-multicultures: "By the early 1980s, modern methods of communication and international travel were beginning to marginalise many methods of operation and communication within Diplomatic Missions. For that reason, as long ago as 1986, my courses began emphasizing reliance on Information Technology and the importance of media management for diplomatic missions. At that time, Internet technology, branding, and news management has yet to become catch phrases of the day. In 1997, I coined the term virtual diplomacy.
Today, ITC (with appropriate security enhancements) is essential to the smooth running of all diplomatic missions. All counties today recognise the importance of outreach through public diplomacy to citizens of their own countries and to the world at large. In 2006, I organised an international symposium entitled: 'Image Projection and Reputation Management' with Foreign Affairs Canada. In 2008, I developed an international symposium entitled 'Transformational Public Diplomacy: Shaping the Future of International Relationships' in conjunction with USC Center on Public Diplomacy, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California and the United States Embassy, London. Today, many countries, including the United States, have set up a strategic communication policies which employ ITC to implement public diplomacy." Ayad image from article
Club di Venezia, il ruolo della statistica nella comunicazione - Massimo Persotti, politichecomunitarie.it: "Stefano Rolando, presidente onorario del Club di Venezia, ha sottolineato l'importanza della statistica nell'allargamento della visione professionale e culturale della comunicazione istituzionale 'così come in questi ultimi anni è stato per la tecnologia del web 2.0, il crisis management e la public diplomacy'. E', quindi, auspicabile il miglioramento sostanziale – soprattutto grazie alle tecnologie più avanzate della comunicazione interattiva – della comunicazione dei dati e la necessità di lavorare per una selezione qualitativa e comprensibile dei dati, attualmente troppi e confusi."
China Think-Tank Warned: U.S. "Trap" May Trigger the Next Round Of Crisis - Chinesestock, Day Trading: "Last week, the International Monetary Renmin University of China and the Beijing Foreign Studies University, Institute of Public Diplomacy Research Center jointly organized a 'quantitative easing U.S. economic impact on the global economy,' Finance Roundtable."
RELATED ITEMS
A False Target in Yemen - Gregory Johnsen, New York Times: Anwar al-Awlaki is a midlevel religious functionary who happens to have American citizenship and speak English. This makes him a propaganda threat,
but not one whose elimination would do anything to limit the reach of the Qaeda branch. No propaganda from the Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula group had ever mentioned his name before it was reported in January that the United States had decided he could be legally assassinated. Image from
TV Channel, Part Owned by Murdoch, Gets Threats in Iran - Dexter Filkins, New York Times: In little more than a year, the Persian-language satellite television channel beamed into Iran by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation and a prominent Afghan family has rapidly become one of the most popular stations in the country. Farsi1 has drawn the ire of Iranian leaders, who say that the Western-oriented programming represents an assault on traditional Iranian values and is even corrupting the Iranian people.
Western Sahara: Gaza Child Used In Propaganda War By Elite Media In Spain - moroccoboard.com: In an unprecedented wave of xenophobic, anti-Morocco, reporting by the press in Spain, on the Western Sahara conflict, a new milestone has occurred.
A photo of a child, war victim, from Gaza was presented as a [Western Sahara] "sahrawi" child, a "victim of Moroccan Violence" during the latest clashes between Moroccan Security forces and protesters. The crude propaganda gambit was circulated by Spain's elite media sources. Image from article: TV program on Spanish TV about Child victim of Violence in Western Sahara
ONE MORE QUOTATION FOR THE DAY
"Most academic books are influential for two or three decades at most, after which they are relegated to the history of scholarship --deserving of respect, perhaps, but no longer essential reading."
--Professor Jack Lynch, Rutgers University, in The Times Literary Supplement (November 12, 2010), p. 8; image from
RUSSICA
"Lenin BOP tattoo. A popular anti-authority tattoo but it has double meaning as do many other tattoos from that era. The letters underneath Lenin spell VOR, the Russian word for thief (which Lenin definitely was). But the letters are also an acronym that stand for Leader of October Revolution. So if an inmate was hassled by administration, he could always state that he was just really patriotic."
--From: Boing Boing
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