January 14

"We spend a lot of time trying to explain U.S. policies, for example, in the war on terror. But with many audiences - especially an Icelandic audience that has no personal experience of terrorism or war -- these days, no amount of explaining is going to win support or even sympathy for these policies. Sometimes it seems like the best we can do is distract people from policies they find repugnant with marvelous cultural and sports programming that focuses them on America's ongoing spectacular contribution to world heritage."

--From a leaked cable by American Embassy Reykjavik (December 5, 2005); image from

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Learning What Works: Best Practices in Program Evaluation - 1600report.com: "The 2010 conference on program evaluation, New Paradigms for Evaluating Diplomacy in the 21st Century, was an exciting opportunity for more than 200 professionals in international affairs to reflect on how foreign affairs agencies can make effective use of evaluation to understand progress towards global level impact. In her message to conferees, Secretary Clinton talked about the benefits of making rigorous program evaluation a central component of strategies to make the most effective use of our diplomatic and development tools and resources. Last year's conference generated discussion on the growing importance of evaluation and measurement in the work of foreign affairs agencies, and highlighted such issues as interagency coordination among agencies with similar missions, the role of public diplomacy as a successful foreign affairs strategy, incentivizing evaluation to encourage the sharing of lessons learned, and creating ways to connect with the larger evaluation community."

Looking ahead - Frank Shatz, lakeplacidnews.com: "Joseph Nye, former dean of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard and one of America’s deep thinkers, talked about the sources of America’s power and prestige in the world. 'Everybody knows that America is the most powerful country in the world. But power isn’t just about weapon systems or Wall Street. It’s also about ideas, ideals and even entertainment. Our leaders must understand one of our greatest foreign policy resources is what I call ‘soft power.’' By all indications, for the foreseeable future America would remain what former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright called the world’s 'indispensable


nation.' But in Nye words, 'Military and economic clout may make others do what we want. But soft power enables America to achieve its goals through attraction, not coercion.' He pointed out that people around the world are attracted by the values we profess to live by, such as our commitment to democracy and human rights. A fact, that best could be communicated through public diplomacy." Image from

Wikileaks: Viewing cable 05REYKJAVIK526, ICELAND: REINVIGORATING PUBLIC DIPLOMACY CULTURAL - orianomattei.blogspot.com: "DEC 05 FM AMEMBASSY REYKJAVIK ... SUBJECT: ICELAND: REINVIGORATING PUBLIC DIPLOMACY CULTURAL AND SPORTS PROGRAMS ¶1. Cultural programming is a key element of Embassy Reykjavik's public outreach, which aims to foster a positive image of the U.S. among Icelandic citizens and, especially, elites. ... ¶2. Comment: Cultural


and sports programming is particularly important at present, ironically at a time when the U.S. is using transformational diplomacy assertively to advance our political and economic values." See also. Image from

More leaks from the Beijing Olympics - blogs.canoe.ca: "Norway’s Aftenposten published this Aug. 21, 2008 situation report [from American Embassy Bejing] about the Beijing Olympics, which was obtained by WikiLeaks. 1. (SBU) The following cable provides information on security, public diplomacy, political, and consular activities related to the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympic Games as of 08/21/2008. ... 3. (SBU) The USG Delegation to the Olympics Closing Ceremony–headed by Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao and Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt–is scheduled to arrive in Beijing on 08/21/2008. Delegation members also include former State Department Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Karen Hughes and former Olympian Michelle Kwan–who are already in Beijing to attend the Games–as well as U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) President Peter Ueberroth, and the U.S. Ambassador to Beijing. ... PUBLIC AFFAIRS/PUBLIC DIPLOMACY 17. (U) Cultural Outreach: The U.S. Embassy´s Public Affairs Section (PAS) organized musical performances by two American bands as part of the effort to promote American culture during the Olympics. The first group, Sugar Mama and the Cotton Band, performed on 08/20/2008 at the U.S. Ambassador´s residence for a group of business leaders, current and former Olympians, and other guests. On 08/21/2008, Abigail Washburn and the Sparrow Trio–a well-known band with ties to China–held two performances in Beijing. The first performance at the American Center for Educational Exchange was for an audience of Chinese students from universities throughout Beijing, as well as officials from the Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, China Academy of Social Sciences and the Foreign Affairs Association. The second performance, held at the USOC´s USA House, was for U.S. athletes and their invited guests. Abigail Washburn and the Sparrow Trio are representing the United States in the Cultural Olympiad, the official cultural program of the Olympics."

Obama White House gave a banquet for the hu yao invited or by foot is absent - yihanasme321.com: "As Chicago mayor Daly said in a press conference, hu’s current visit 'will give prominence to expand the importance of Chicago and cooperative China. He will focus on second language education, we plan – Chinese as well as economic development project'. 'Want to compete in the global environment, economically must get China’s participation, whether in local and abroad. This was his (hu) visit so important to us the reason. After all, Chicago is he plans to visit except the only an outside Washington American city.' The Obama hometown mayor using somewhat satisfied. President hu is also known as Chicago


'huge Daly chance,' he wants to Chicago build for 'China economic leads to America’s Bridges'. Shanghai international issues, executive director of the institute of American research center Chun thought that wu choosing Chicago as a stand, besides economic considerations, and humanities and public diplomacy consideration. 'Before the Chinese leaders to the states, what is more, go on both sides visit although is ZiTaiXing, but reflects a trend that China to really understand the United States, must want to walk into America’s hinterland, must seriously Chinese influence extended to inland areas.'” Image from

Windows broken at Japanese Embassy facility in Beijing - AP, Japan News, posted at pillowtalkjapan.com: "The Japanese Embassy in Beijing said Friday that two windows were broken at the embassy’s public diplomacy center. The attack is possibly related to Friday being the date of commemorating the integration of the Senkaku Islands into Japanese territory. The islands are claimed by China."

Public Diplomacy has to be at the core of Taiwan’s Strategy - neouto.wordpress.com: "Inter-governmental diplomacy can only do so much. Military build up, will only lead to costly and ultimately unsustainable arm race. Public diplomacy aiming at western, regional and also the Chinese across the strait is what will bring peace and stability for Taiwan."

Israel at Crossroad, ‘To Be Or Not To Be’ - Nurit Greenger, Jewish Indy: "There is nothing remotely conservative, 'Right Wingish,' nationalistic, patriotic or Zionistic about standing up to truth against lies, justice against injustice, freedom against those who snuff out freedom and human rights. Referencing Melanie Phillips interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4dksiRW-Yg&feature=player_embedded The truth must be made known to the entire world. The deliberate process, created to bypass these so vital important, documented facts, under international law, of Israel’s legitimacy,


must be brought to the lime light and discourse of public diplomacy, unfortunately, now urgently needed to defend Israel’s existence. Reality and truth, are reality and truth that must me said, over and over again, until it fully replaces the narratives of lies and deception the Arab world and the anti-Israel camp so well formulated and embedded in the minds of people and nations." Image from

Al Jazeera "soon" to add Turkish, Swahili, and Balkans channels - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting: "This is the first I knew of Al Jazeera Swahili. Al Jazeera's senior editors should, if they are prudent, object to the characterization of Al Jazeera part of Qatar's 'public diplomacy presence.['] Whether they would be justified in that objection is a discussion for another day."

What is Evgeny Morozov Trying to Prove? A review of "The Net Delusion" - Milton Mueller, blog.internetgovernance.org: "Evgeny Morozov’s new book 'The Net Delusion: The Dark Side of Internet Freedom' deserves an extensive review here. It grapples with key questions of Internet governance in a highly original way. But it is also a frustrating book to try to make sense of. The tone of the work is urgent but the take-home message is murky, if not confused and contradictory. ... That is because a fundamental confusion lies at the very core of this book. His subtitle and much of his material identifies 'Internet freedom' as its object. But careful readers (and of course, most readers will not be) soon notice that this term means two distinct things. Most of the time, especially in the earlier pages, Morozov’s notion of 'Internet freedom' can be accurately defined as 'the support of Internet freedom by the US government as a way of meeting US foreign policy and public diplomacy goals of promoting democracy and human rights overseas.' When the book is narrowly focused on this topic, it is excellent.


I say this not because I completely agree with the critique, but because it raises the right questions and calls attention to many possible unintended side effects. On the other hand, Internet freedom can – and usually does – refer to a normative political position on how much or how little the people using the internet should be controlled by states, or some other hierarchical authority. This notion of Internet freedom recognizes that the U.S. government, like any other state, can adopt policies and practices hostile to freedom. More broadly, it denotes the debate over what is the proper role of freedom of expression, freedom of association online, and the free flow of information in society. Although it is usually universalistic, this notion does not commit its proponents to any tactical belief that freeing the Internet is inherently transformative of repressive societies. Although at times Morozov does manage to separate analytically these two approaches to 'Internet freedom,' just as often he conflates them. Worse, he repeatedly equates support for Internet freedom in the normative sense with cyber-utopianism, which is both incorrect and irresponsible." Image from

We can't blame our rhetoric for the Tucson shootings. But we can try to fix it - Karen Hughes, Washington Post: "Karen Hughes, a global vice chair at Burson-Marsteller, served as counselor to President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2002 and as undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs from 2005 to 2007."

Farmer's boy in diplomatic field - Melanie Swan, The National: "As an only child, Stuart Jones Jr was always expected to take over the farm and tractor dealerships in Arkansas that had been in the family for generations. But there was always an 'adventurous spirit' lurking inside him. Little did his parents know, he would be gripped by a longing to serve his country and later, at the age of 30, become one of the youngest people to hold the office of US Treasury attache, representing his country in Afghanistan and the Gulf.


Mr Jones won a scholarship to study for a master's degree in international security at St Andrew's University in Scotland. For his dissertation, he wrote about the role of public diplomacy in preventing terrorism. He travelled to Jordan, where, in spite of knowing no Arabic, he spoke to people on the streets, in shisha cafes, in restaurants, on their conceptions of terrorism and the West, and ways to find common ground." Jones image from article

RELATED ITEMS

Obama's Chinese Rights Huddle: The President gets some needed counsel - Review & Outlook, Wall Street Journal: President Obama has shown an unfortunate indifference to China's human rights violations during his two years in office.


So we're happy to report that the President yesterday convened a White House meeting with activists and scholars to educate himself and brainstorm about how to change course. The meeting alone is a good step. The President has very little personal experience with China, and he and his Administration have underestimated how their reluctance to raise human rights concerns would be interpreted by Beijing as carte blanche for a crackdown. Image from

Avoiding a U.S.-China cold war - Henry A. Kissinger, Washington Post: In the American-Chinese relationship, the overriding reality is that neither country will ever be able to dominate the other and that conflict between them would exhaust their societies. Can they find a conceptual framework to express this reality? A concept of a Pacific community could become an organizing principle of the 21st century to avoid the formation of blocs. For this, they need a consultative mechanism that permits the elaboration of common long-term objectives and coordinates the positions of the two countries at international conferences.

Around the world, freedom is in decline - Editorial, Washington Post: The annual report on global freedom by the human rights group Freedom House reports a decline for the fifth consecutive year.

US military MISO radio program will teach literacy to Afghan women - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting

China bans “civil society” - David Bandurski, China Media Project: Last week, Radio Free Asia and other media reported that Chinese media had received a propaganda directive instructing them not to use the term “civil society,” or gongmin shehui (公民社会), in news reports, or to build up stories around the topic. Our sources confirm the existence of a directive, but it remains to be seen just how effective such a ban might prove.

S. Korea blocks websites with N. Korean domain names: report‎ - New York Post: South Korean authorities blocked residents from accessing North Korean websites, Yonhap News Agency reported Thursday. Authorities said they blocked sites with the domain name ".kp" because they contained "illegal information" under South Korea's anti-communism and security laws.


The web censorship by the South's state-run Communications Standards Commission came a day after it emerged that the North began reusing the domain name to expand its propaganda sites. There were at least three propaganda websites on the web using the ".kp" domain name, Yonhap said. Kim Yong-hyun, a North Korea professor at Seoul's Dongguk University, said, "North Korea seems to be trying to increase public access to its sites as part of its recent online propaganda campaign." North Korea opened Facebook, Twitter and YouTube accounts in recent months. But it has since removed the Facebook page, and the Twitter and YouTube accounts were hacked over the weekend. Image from