January 18

"[T]oday, opinions are Big Macs — thrown together hastily, served by the billions and not very good for you."

--Editor Stephen Randall; image from

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

A shift on China - Editorial, Washington Post: "The Obama administration's policy toward China shows signs of a significant adjustment on the eve of a state visit to Washington by President Hu Jintao. The potential change was embedded in a major speech on U.S.-Chinese relations delivered Friday by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. ... Ms. Clinton ... spoke of the economic agenda with Beijing and the need for China to revalue its currency and enforce intellectual property laws - matters addressed in separate speeches last week by the Treasury and Commerce secretaries.


She covered the often difficult U.S.-China dialogue over North Korea, which lately appears to have achieved convergence on a strategy of supporting improved relations between North Korea and South Korea. But the novelty in the secretary's speech was the introduction of China's repression of peaceful dissent and its unjust and cruel treatment of political prisoners as a major theme in the administration's public diplomacy toward China. ... Mr. Hu's visit offers the opportunity for the United States to make clear that a liberalizing China will be far more welcome as it rises as a world power than one that continues to deny its citizens freedom and the rule of law. A freer China is also more likely to curb its nationalist and militarist impulses. Ms. Clinton has made a good start; Mr. Obama must now reinforce the message." Image from

The message should be the meeting‎ - Jean-Marc F Blanchard, Asia Times Online: "Chinese and American media have reported that aside from his visit with top American officials, Hu will meet some members of congress and subsequently travel to Chicago where he will meet with Chinese and business groups. While this type of public diplomacy is highly desirable, it would be advisable for Hu and his delegation to reach out to a wider community both in terms of sectors and geography. There are large swathes of the American public, business sector, and political community outside the elite level as well as beyond the 'big cities' and the American east and west coasts which need to understand more fully the challenges that limit Beijing's ability to respond fully or rapidly to American requests, which need to appreciate the benefits of economic and political engagement with China, and which need to grasp the diversity of factors beyond China that have caused economic difficulties for them."

Remarks by Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield Celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. - Liberian Daily Observer: Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield: "It is my pleasure and honor to be with you on this special occasion to celebrate the New Year; to commemorate the eighty-second birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.


We are also here to renew our commitment to community service to form common bonds against violence, crime, and to solve community problems in 2011 and beyond. I am particularly delighted that the Agape National Academy of Music and our Public Diplomacy Section have partnered to host this concert on this historic day, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday." Image from

SCAD Painting professors’ work in Art in Embassies program - Sandra Reed, SCAD Painting Department Blog: Information for past, present, and future members of the SCAD Painting community in Savannah: “'Established by the United States Department of State in 1964, the Art In Embassies Program is a global museum that exhibits original works of art by U.S. citizens in the public rooms of approximately 180 American diplomatic residences worldwide.


These exhibitions, with art loaned from galleries, museums, individual artists, and corporate and private collections, play an important role in our nation’s public diplomacy. They provide international audiences with a sense of the quality, scope, and diversity of American art and culture through the accomplishments of some of our most important citizens, our artists.' ~ from the Art In Embassies website [.] United States Ambassador to Serbia Mrs. Mary Warlick presided last summer over the reception for the opening of 'Why Go Anywhere Else?' in the National Gallery in Belgrade, and was very interested to learn about the exhibiting artists and their works. From this exhibition, she selected several pieces for the Art in Embassies program, including those by SCAD Professors Roger Walton, Suzanne Jackson, and Natalija Mijatovic. Works by exhibitors Craig Drennen, Blazo, and Adam Cjianovic were also selected." Image from article: Mist," by Natalija Mijatovic, acrylic on canvas, 48x60", 2010

New book about Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty will be discussed at Wilson Center event - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting

American diversity as American PD - Paul Rockower, Levantine: “I was heartened to see coverage here in India of the swearing-in of Nikki Haley as governor of South Carolina.


It was prominently covered on tv and in the news. She is the second Indian-American to be elected governor, the first woman and I think I read also that she is the first non-white gov of the palmetto state. Meanwhile, I came across this interesting article about new San Fran mayor Edwin Lee, who is of Chinese descent. America showing the world that it integrates and allows the hyphens to reach levels of prominence is better public diplomacy than any overwrought advocacy work.” Haley image from

Is Public Relations a Global Profession? - Aznan: "Look at Grunig's concept of 'two-way communication' (indeed there is symmetry here) that helps build and maintain harmonious relationship. It illustrates how public relations can exist, and function at the interface of the organization and society.


'Listening' to the audiences - via substantial, on-going research - fits into an organization's policy formation and performance, which is then subject to communication to target audiences. ... He does not agree with description of public relations as 'high-minded'. It can be pursued in the humble product news release seeking to promote, in the famous aphorism, 'commercial transactions between consulting adults'. And he says harmony is also scalable. At the other end of the spectrum, harmony is also the objective of macro public relations commitment called 'public diplomacy'. ('[P]ublic diplomacy' is a concept used by the State Department to offset the tremendous damage to US reputation abroad due to foreign policy decisions.)" Image from

Viewing cable 08REYKJAVIK8, Iceland: Russian activities in region a growing concern… - windowstorussia.com: "P 231458Z JAN 08 FM AMEMBASSY REYKJAVIK ... SUBJECT: Iceland: Russian activities in region a growing concern ... Russian Public Diplomacy: Not Quite Warm and Fuzzy[:] ¶2. (SBU) Icelandic TV Channel 2 devoted its hour-long newsmagazine 'Compass' on January 15 to Russian foreign policy, both in a global sense and regarding Iceland in particular. The first segment of the show focused on the resumption of long-range aviation (LRA) activity by Russia beginning in the summer of 2007 (Ref A) and centered on the visit of the Compass crew to Engels Air Base in Russia, where most of the recent LRA flights near Iceland have originated. ... ¶3. (U) The show’s second portion turned to the broader question of recent Russian activities on the global stage, and how President Putin plays at home and abroad. The segment gave Russian Ambassador to Iceland Viktor Tatarintsev


ample speaking room. In his most provocative comments, Tatarintsev opined: 'What we are advocating for is to have a multipolar world…there will not be any superpower that thinks it can do whatever it wants to with everybody else as its smaller servants. It will not be that way and the Americans know that. Therefore, they are concerned with the growing power of Russia, and we will become much stronger. It is a real threat to Americans, not the American population, but a threat to American military and political circles that want to dictate their political will to everybody else, and we Russians will never allow it. It is pretty simple and it is as simple as that.'” Tatarintsev image from

RT: Another Gulag Story - Yelena Osipova, Global Chaos: "It's funny that after my previous post, critical of Russia Today TV, I am now writing this one. But I think I would not be honest, if I said I didn't like this short documentary they aired a couple of days ago for the first time. Certainly recommend taking a look. 'Gone to Gulag: Diary of a Soviet Schoolgirl' is a revealing story - even if condensed and perhaps oversimplified - of a 17-year-old, sentenced to five years of hard labor in Kalyma, in the far north-east of Russia. ... This is another case of Russian public diplomacy through history 'education'. To the Western audience, it might look like another episode from the Doctor Zhivago and Ivan Denisovich series... and perhaps, rightly so. After all, this will help foreigners understand Russia and her people better (reminder: everything is relative!)."

'Experience China' debuts at NYC's Times Square‎ - Xinhua: "A video show about Chinese people made its debut on screens at Times Square on Monday, presenting Americans a multi-dimensional and vivid image of Chinese people. With China's traditional red as the theme color, the 60-second video was shown on six screens simultaneously at Times Square with a billboard written 'Experience China' on top of the screens.


The show highlights Chinese ordinary people and some important figures recognized by the international community, including Chinese pianist Lang Lang, basketball player Yao Ming and Chinese astronaut Yang Liwei, etc. ... The video is part of the public diplomacy campaign by the Chinese government ahead of Chinese President Hu Jintao's U.S. state visit. The video will be shown at Times Square 15 times every hour from 6 am to 2 am next day, totaling 20 hours and 300 times a day. It will last till Feb. 14 with a total of 8,400 times of show time." Image from article, with caption: Footages of a short film promoting China (L) are shown on the screens at the Times Square in New York, U.S.A., Jan. 17, 2011. The video will be on until Feb. 14, 2011.

'STL example of US soft war in region'‎ - Press TV: A senior Iranian commander has described the UN Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) as an example of the soft war waged by the United States in the region. 'The US and Israel have suffered unimaginable defeat and failure in two all-out and difficult wars against Lebanon's Hezbollah and Palestine's Hamas,' Brigadier General Massoud Jazayeri said on Monday.



The Iranian commander said the use of soft and semi-hard war approaches and methods have been placed on the agendas of security, political, social, cultural and public diplomacy apparatuses of the US, Israel and some of the European countries because of these failures. 'The US knows it is no match for Hezbollah, so it is trying to disturb the array of Lebanon's different social layers,' Mehr News Agency quoted Jazayeri as adding." Jazayeri image from article

British-Filipinos push for public diplomacy and stronger representation - sunstar.com.ph: "A British-Filipino company was launched in London this month to promote public diplomacy and provide programs in bringing stronger representation to Filipinos in the United Kingdom. ... One Filipino is hosting a regional town hall meeting at the Philippine embassy in London on Friday, January 21, to look at the issues of Filipinos based in the UK capital. Regional meetings will also be organized in other parts of the UK. ... For more information on One Filipino, visit the website at http://www.onefilipino.org.uk."

Canadian varsity to set up first India Chair - Sify: "Canada's Carleton University will soon have an India Chair to promote research and understanding about the emerging South Asian giant. The Ottawa-based university will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Indian government Jan 24 for setting up the India Chair at its Canada-India Centre of Excellence in Science, Technology, Trade and Policy. After launching its Canada-India Centre of Excellence in Science, Technology, Trade and Policy in February last year, Carleton


will now also become the first Canadian university to have a full-fledged India Chair. A unique institution in itself, the Canada-India Centre of Excellence in Science, Technology, Trade and Policy promotes bilateral studies and public diplomacy, and develop initiatives to build a better understanding between the two countries." Image from

Public Diplomacy - yennefer: The New Diplomacy F: A reflective group blog by some of the students on The New Diplomacy module at London Metropolitan University: "During the 20th century, with the development of mass communication methods, public diplomacy became the weapon of choice for many governments. It aims to promote the state’s interest through influencing the opinion of a population (in most cases foreign but it can be directed at the states own population). Influence is exerted through information, true or false, to either gain support for the policies the state wants to pursue or turn it against another (foreign) government or a cause which is not in line with its policies. In todays’ [sic] world of mass media and instant news – there is not politics without public diplomacy, or even propaganda. It’s all about PR. One well publicised situation can achieve more for the state’s interest than years of conferences and negotiations."

The Highs and Lows of Diplomacy - royster, The New Diplomacy D: A reflective group blog by some of the students on The New Diplomacy module at London Metropolitan University: "Multilateral diplomacy has allowed poorer countries to pool their power, as we saw by the walkouts in Cancun and Copenhagen, resisting the dominance of the powerful.


NGOs allow small groups with a vision to engage the injustices they encounter in the world, even if that might be counter to their nations immediate interest. The internet has enabled like-minded people to congregate in cyber-space, coming together to fight on a political platform, to tremendous effect, for virtually no financial outlay what so ever. There are darker sides, however. This dispersal of power has left the nation state incapable, in many instances, of reining in the larger multi-national corporations, who have in turn, gained from the power dispersal, increasing their influence through the media of public diplomacy, advertising and the lobby system. Perhaps it will fall to the NGOs to set the moral agenda using the currency of public opinion." Image from

Tuesday, 18 January 2011 - sad0469, The New Diplomacy B: A reflective group blog by some of the students on The New Diplomacy module at London Metropolitan University: "At the end of this module, my opinions about the role of diplomacy in world politics have certainly changed. This course introduced me to the concepts of public diplomacy, NGO diplomacy that I wasn’t aware of and that really interested me in terms of challenges to the practice of diplomacy. ... European missions are growing outside Europe sending European diplomats but also introducing European public diplomacy. In that case ‘public diplomacy’ cannot be define as ‘national branding’ because it is the promotion of a multinational entity. The EU public diplomacy is about influencing the way the EU is perceived but also it is about creating a EU identity as an actor. It intends to influence foreign conceptions on democracy, human rights or climate change."

What Came First – the Music or the Misery? - dtearl.wordpress.com: "Public diplomacy classes have revealed a great deal of concern about the 'say-do gap.'


Without action to support the hefty promises that are so pleasant to make both to domestic and foreign audiences, cynicism, depression and frustration can run rampant. To make an unfulfilled promise is far worse than saying nothing at all. Even if agents of international strategic communication aren’t operating daily in the rhetoric of American slogans, there is a critical choice – either tell it like it is for most, or like it should be and is for few." Image from

RELATED ITEMS

The Arab Gdansk - Roger Cohen, New York Times: Unseating through U.S. invasion -- Iraq -- did not work; it could never be a source of Arab pride. A homegrown uprising can. It is now imperative that the Obama administration and the European Union stand behind Tunisia’s democratic forces.

President Hu Comes to Washington - Editorial, New York Times: What will earn China respect as a major power is if it behaves responsibly. That must be Mr. Obama’s fundamental message.

The U.S. finds its voice on China and human rights - Editorial, Washington Post: Mr. Hu's visit offers the opportunity for the United States to make clear that a liberalizing China will be far more welcome as it rises as a world power than one that continues to deny its citizens freedom and the rule of law.

Prepping Minds for War Against China - Shamus Cooke, The market Oracle: You'd think the U.S. was already at war with China, given the immense amount of anti-China rhetoric spouting from the government and media. But selling wars takes time. The average American hasn't bought in to this false advertising yet. So the big lie will be repeated until its roots are deeply sunk into the American psyche: China, says the U.S. government, is a threat that needs to be "dealt with.” This propaganda assault is multi-faceted, taking aim from all directions.


Any China-related issue -- military, economic, and social -- is open for attack. For example, the head of the U.S. Department of Defense, Robert Gates, recently visited Asia and focused much of his trip talking about China as a "military threat.” Image from

The other side of the Chinese coin - Samuel Dowuon, ghanaweb.com: It is important to note that talking about certain aspects of the negative side of China sounds like western propaganda, because the west did more than enough to paint China black but none of that seem to have worked. But there are aspects which are based on experiences right here in Ghana, and those cannot be African propaganda. In any case what does Africa or Ghana have to gain in running negative propaganda against China?

The New Era of U.S.-China Rivalry: Beijing's leaders have concluded that the U.S. is in decline and that now is the time to seek more global influence - Aaron Friedberg, Wall Street Journal: Rather than signaling the start of a new interval of cooperation and stability, Hu Jintao's visit may mark the end of an era of relatively smooth relations between the U.S. and China.

Dealing With an Assertive China: If Beijing wants to be treated like an equal, it should act like one - Review & Outlook, Wall Street Journal: For President Obama the challenge of this week's summit is to persuade his guest that the U.S. will continue to encourage China's economic rise but is also determined to block China's power plays in its neighborhood and beyond. A China that understands that to be treated as an equal it must behave like one is a country whose progress will not be obstructed.

Obama shows courage by easing Cuba travel ban - DeWayne Wickham, USA Today: Obama's decision to relax the ban on Americans traveling to Cuba is an act of political courage and good sense.


Under the new rules, it will be easier for academics, students, religious groups and journalists to travel to Cuba. Also, when this change takes effect in a couple of weeks, Americans can send up to $2,000 a year to someone in Cuba as long as that person is not a senior member of the Cuban government or the Communist Party. Image from

Taliban Propaganda Watch (RC South) – 180155utc Jan 11 - MILNEWS.ca Blog: Tidbits from Both Sides of the Fight

BDS, Anti-Semitism's New Face - Moshe Dann, israelnationalnews.com: No need for swastikas and terrorism; Arab and Muslim countries and organizations have developed a sophisticated propaganda campaign. Anti-Semites around the world have found a new and more subtle form of attack: Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) campaigns. The Ramallah-based Palestinian BDS National Committee, an umbrella organization for dozens of Palestinian organizations supported by the Palestinian Authority, is a global movement. Behind anti-Israel actions by churches, unions and student groups, it is aided by the Muslim Brotherhood, with branches in 70 countries, and hundreds of campus and civic/social organizations and anti-Israel NGOs.


Wielding clichés like "apartheid," "war crimes," "stealing Palestinian land," "oppressing Palestinians," and "end the occupation," these groups seek to delegitimize and isolate Israel as part of their program to destroy Israel. Image from

MP: Enemies' Plots Foiled by World Envoys' Visit to Iran's N. Installations - FNA: The visit by envoys and representatives of over 120 world countries to Iran's sensitive nuclear installations defused the plots hatched by enemies to raise allegations against the country's peaceful nuclear activities, a senior Iranian legislator said on Monday.


"Such measures will show that Iran does not seek unconventional weapons," member of the parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Mohammad Mehdi Shahriari told FNA. "When the representatives of different countries witness the status of Iran's nuclear activities, it will certainly be effective in foiling the enemies' propaganda about the country's nuclear activities," he added. Image from article

Prop Two - Laura McGinnis, manIC: Items from the media pertaining to propaganda

UK Dilemma Following NATO Bombing of Serbia Detailed in Diaries - isaintel.com: Following NATO’s launch on 26 March 1999 of the bombing campaign over Serbia, Western countries were faced with a bit of a media dilemma – a dilemma into which last week we gained some more insight when the UK’s Guardian newspaper published excerpts from the diary of Alastair Campbell, then-British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s press secretary.


The entire operation was undermined with the Alliance’s inability to decide exactly what kind of message it was hoping to get out to Serbia and to the global public in general. This was particularly troubling to London as it embarked on what the Guardian has called part of the UK’s new phase of “liberal interventionism." The whole propaganda campaign was cause for concern, and Wesley Clark was uncertain whether NATO should bomb Serbia with or without warning, while then-German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder was concerned with the progress of the disinformation campaign, according to Campbell. Image from article

Preview: Propaganda And Attack At London Transport Museum - Sponsor, londonist.com: London Transport Museum continues its commemoration of the Blitz with some excellent events over the coming weeks. Newsreel footage from the Second World War can be fascinating from the modern perspective.


News bulletins were routinely used for purposes of propaganda and to boost public morale. In contrast, what we might think of as highly newsworthy events such as the first rocket attacks on the capital were often hushed up and censored. Tomorrow (18 January), the Museum will screen Propaganda and Reality, a collection of commercial newsreel, official documentaries and feature film clips portraying the London Blitz. Image from article

AMERICANA

Report: First two years of college show small gains - Mary Beth Marklein, USA TODAY: Nearly half of the nation's undergraduates


show almost no gains in learning in their first two years of college, in large part because colleges don't make academics a priority, a new report shows. Image from article

ONE MORE QUOTATION FOR THE DAY

"We have guided missiles and misguided men."

--Martin Luther King, Jr.