September 7

[T]he mission’s goal [is] taking the offense to win hearts and minds by making the stories and bringing them to journalists – and not the other way around.”

--A 2004 cable from US Mission Rome (from Wikileaks); via; image from

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Obama's "smart power" plan risks death of 1000 cuts‎ - Susan Cornwell and Andrew Quinn, Reuters: "President Barack Obama's pledge to boost America's global standing by ramping up U.S. diplomacy and development aid faces death by a thousand cuts as lawmakers prepare to carve huge chunks out of U.S. overseas spending to address budget shortfalls. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) could be chopped back significantly. ... In fiscal 2010, the amount appropriated for the State Department, diplomacy and foreign aid was $55.1 billion, up from $50.5 billion a year before, according to the Congressional Research Service. Of this, $37.5 billion went for foreign aid and the agency that administers it, USAID. ... Harvard international affairs expert Joseph Nye, often credited with coining the term 'smart power,'

said Clinton and Obama had made strides in coordinating work between the Pentagon and the State Department. But some of those gains were now at risk. 'The Pentagon is a giant while State is a pygmy in budgetary terms. Starving the pygmy will not help solve the problem,' Nye told Reuters. ... USAID has long ridden a budgetary roller-coaster. The agency was scaled back by Republicans in the 1990s after the Cold War's end. Then after the September 11, 2001 attacks, aid and public diplomacy programs were hastily rebuilt. 'I really do think this is repeating an historical mistake,' said John Norris, a former USAID field disaster expert now at the Center for American Progress." Image from

Ten years after 9/11, the world is a safer place — but not a happier one - Steven King, irishexaminer.com: "Indeed, although the removal of the al-Qaida training camps from Afghanistan was swift and successful, it is hard to think of a greater failure of public diplomacy in modern times than the presentation of the Iraq war. Osama bin Laden had no base there. Far more American lives have been lost in Iraq since 2001 than were on 9/11 itself. Still, it is important to record the successes over the past decade. Many serious terrorist plots have been foiled. Even more hearteningly, the Arab people are in revolutionary mood but al-Qaida is nowhere to be seen, even if Islamism — in milder forms — is rampant. But we cannot turn the clock back, even if we would want to. The innocence we enjoyed until September 10, 2001 has, unfortunately, proven to have been naiveté. The world is a safer place but not a happier one."

Former US Ambassador Optimistic About Arab Democracy‎ - Greg Flakus, Voice of America: "As chairman of an advisory group on public diplomacy after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Djerejian said he saw how people in the Muslim world admired the United States in many ways. But, he said, many were bothered by perceived U.S. favoritism toward Israel and U.S. support of dictators in Arab nations. He said the U.S. response to the events of the past year may help change that. 'I think that with the Arab awakening and the fall of various dictatorships and U.S. support of the forces of change, hopefully positive change,

I think that this issue of our being hypocritical in supporting dictatorial regimes will diminish,' he said. But Djerejian says the United States must take a much more dynamic approach toward Mideast peace if there is to be long-term stability in the region." Image from article, with caption: Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev (L) accepts the Enron Prize for Distinguished Public Service from former US Secetary of State James Baker (R) and Edward Djerejian (C), director of the James A. Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University, at Rice University in Houston, Texas, October 16, 1997.

Human Right Watch describes difficulties for VOA reporter in Angola - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting

Wikileaks Cables Reveal U.S. Embassy Works with Venezuelan Private Media - Tamara Pearson, Venezuelanalysis.com: "The U.S. ambassador to Venezuela, Patrick Duddy, met with Venezuelan private media companies El Nacional,

Globovision, and the Cisneros Group, to discuss their political content with them and El Nacional asked the U.S embassy for funding, according to cables written by the U.S embassy in Caracas and published by Wikileaks. ... According to lawyer and journalist Eva Golinger, Globovision has a special agreement to transmit the program 'La Voz de America' (The Voice of America), which is financed and supervised by the U.S government. 'Its objective is to promote pro-U.S propaganda in Latin America. For 2011, the U.S congress approved a multimillion budget in order to transmit the thirty minute program five days a week in Venezuela, supposedly to counteract the anti-US propaganda by the Venezuelan government,' Golinger said." Image from article, with caption: Former U.S. Ambassador Patrick Duddy met with Miguel Henrique Otero (right), the editor of El Nacional, during a visit to the offices of the opposition newspaper

Consider me Miles Davis - Paul Rockower, Levantine: "For all the brow-beating over a falling, failing American global reputation, apparently we are still numero uno. The social network site Badoo.com polled 30k people in some 15 countries, and America ranked as coolest. The rationale: 'We hear a lot in the media about anti-Americanism,' says Lloyd Price, Badoo's Director of Marketing. 'But we sometimes forget how many people across the world consider Americans seriously cool.'

'America,' says Price, 'boasts the world's coolest leader, Obama; the coolest rappers, Jay-Z and Snoop Dogg; and the coolest man in technology, Steve Jobs of Apple, the man who even made geeks cool.' On the least cool side: Canada! What I read in this is that all of these components can fit within in the parameters of American culture. Say what you will about Obama the politician, he still has cred as a cultural icon; the rest fall in within American culture. Just burnishes my own thinking that the most important thing to promote is American cultural diplomacy, because that is an area where we still are held in the highest regard." Image from

Soft power of public diplomacy is missing - Larry Anderson, theaustralian.com.au: "There is general agreement the core role of public diplomacy is to further foreign policy and to promote our national interests. The need to sustain a vibrant international education sector is clearly in our national interest. It can create a lasting foundation of ideas and partnerships and attract future leaders in the region. Australia should be the destination of choice for overseas undergraduate, vocational and research students. The Australian government has periodically boosted international student numbers in response to a political or natural disaster overseas. But reacting to events and adjusting policy settings, such as student visas and quality assurance issues, cannot substitute for a long-term strategy. The one exception is AusAid, which delivers offshore education assistance for schools and provides skills training support. Both services are highly regarded. US President Barack Obama has pointed out that international education was the most effective public diplomacy tool in the US before student visa numbers were tightened post-9/11. Yet Australia operates in a vacuum in international education and public diplomacy. Instead of being a nursery of ideas, it is virtually an empty research field."

Revitalized Arab States Should Embrace Public Diplomacy – Philip Seib, the CPD Blog, USC Center on Public Diplomacy: "The principal business of the continuing Arab revolutions is to fix the broken domestic political systems that allowed autocratic rulers to hold power for so long. But that effort should be coupled with refocusing Arab perspectives on the rest of the world, and public diplomacy can be a significant part of that process."

'Iran crucial for regional stability'‎ - presstv.ir: "Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast has highlighted Iran's influential position in the region, emphasizing Tehran's role in maintaining regional equilibrium. ... Mehmanparast, who headed a media delegation to Athens, told reporters at a news conference that the presence of foreign forces in the region poses a 'serious' threat to regional and global peace. ... The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman

underpinned media's increasing influence in helping to shape public diplomacy and pointed out that 'the news media can play a crucial role in this and we are completely prepared to boost media relations with Greece.' The senior Iranian diplomat said truly independent media would not allow the publication and broadcast of materials that serve the interests of 'big powers.'" See also. Mehmanparast image from article

Contemplating on Post-9/11 - viennita.wordpress.com: "Fear or paranoia can only be treated by giving understanding. And, as I learn, also Indonesia is taking a great role in educating the western society about the moderate Islam, as a part of public diplomacy."

Catherine Ashton for a second term at the EEAS? - Dean Carroll, publicserviceeurope.com: "A senior official at the European External Action Service [Pierre Vimont] has told PublicServiceEurope.com he would encourage Catherine Ashton to stand for a second term in office as High Representative for Foreign Affairs despite the criticism being levelled at her from all sides. ... The topics of Ashton's political style

and the alleged lack of responsiveness at the EEAS threatened to dominate the conference [at the University Association for Contemporary European Studies annual conference at Cambridge University this week], at times. Former European Commission adviser and director of the EU-Russia Centre Dr Fraser Cameron told delegates: 'The criticism one hears of Ashton is pretty strong and it will be difficult to overcome the bad press she has. It represents a problem for the EEAS, when it comes to public diplomacy, and reflects the system we have for choosing leaders." Ashton image from article

The EU And India: A Loveless Arranged Marriage – Analysis - Gauri Khandekar, Eurasia Review: "For Indian officials, the EU’s deliverables do not match its rhetoric. India in fact sees the EU as ‘Europe’ in a general and non-institutionalised sense, and constantly compares it to other major actors like the US, expecting it to accommodate India’s requirements by creating new competences. India still prefers to focus on its bilateral relationships with key EU member states.

The EU delegation in India suffers from problems of understaffing and inadequate public diplomacy efforts. Political coverage of the EU in India remains negligible. ... The partnership between these two major international powers must be properly strategic and also much more multi-faceted. To date it remains one of the world’s most below-potential relations." Image from

Campaigner for active neutrality bows out - ‎Armando Mombelli, swissinfo.ch: "During her nine years in government, Calmy-Rey’s style and actions have often drawn criticism, but Swiss diplomacy has gained in international visibility. The 66-year-old, who also holds the rotating post as Swiss president this year, said she would not put herself up for re-election in December. ... Calmy-Rey

was regularly placed at the top of the list of most highly-regarded politicians in opinion polls. Her popularity reached a peak in 2007, when for the first time she took over the national presidency. Calmy-Rey carefully cultivated her image. Too much, in fact, according to her opponents, who accused her of promoting 'public diplomacy' mainly to enhance her own visibility." Calmy-Rey image from article

DM calls claims he wanted NATO air show "lies" - b92.net: "Serbian Defense Minister Dragan Šutanovac says it is absurd and a lie that he wanted to a NATO air show to be held in Serbia. The minister

in this way denied a report in the Belgrade-daily Blic, which carried a U.S. diplomatic cable published by the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks. ... 'He commented on the Belgrade buildings that have not been repaired since the bombings of the 1990s, but mentioned that he informed Embassy Belgrade that he wants to open a new era in relations,' the U.S. ambassador to NATO wrote. 'Bearing in mind the public diplomacy challenge, Šutanovac suggested holding an air show in Belgrade that would bring in ‘NATO aircraft’ from multiple countries to be viewed by the public (he promised he could get 100,000 spectators to attend such an event),' it is said in the cable." Šutanovac image from article

Dr. Arbogast K. Akidiva on the Media and Corruption - kenyamediaroundtables.org: "The following presentation by Dr. Arbogast K. Akidiva, Principal Officer, Education, Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC), was given at the 3rd Session of the Media Roundtables on 30th November 2010 at Alliance Française. ... [']Media also has a role of public diplomacy. In this function, especially in the developed countries, there are public broadcasters such as the BBC, Voice of America, Radio China and so on. These stations have the function of projecting a certain image of their country and of their people. They are there to project a certain national ethos and national disposition; therefore there are those elements of a press agency having to give public information and which they do through a variety of ways. This is what is happening today; you find that many media houses in Kenya have these call-in programs where they engage members of the public and they tend to look for human interest topics. We remember programs like Je, huu ni ungwana, Zilizopendwa and reggae music on KBC radio station for instance.[']"

Argentina''s senate chief hails ties with Kuwait - kuna.net.kw: "Argentina's Senate President Julio Cobos on Wednesday applauded Argentinean-Kuwaiti ties, stressing his country's keenness on strengthening these relations in all fields. These remarks were made by Cobos upon receiving here the fourth Kuwaiti-Argentinean Parliamentary Friendship Group delegation to Argentina, headed by MP Dr. Massouma Al-Mubarak . ... Dr. Massouma said the main objective of the visit was 'to deepen relations, particularly at the level of public diplomacy and enhance coordination of stances within the Inter-Parliamentary Union to better serve our countries and democracy in the world.'"

آنجلینا جولی همچنان در خدمت اهداف دیپلماسی آمریکا - entezaremahdi.blogfa.com: Mention of public diplomacy

The Heybeliada Talks: Two Years of Public Diplomacy on Cyprus - ncominatgoin.blog132.fc2.com: "The Heybeliada Talks: Two Years of Public Diplomacy on Cyprus Author: Lenka Petkova

Manufacturer: Istanbul Kultur University Release Date: 2011-04-01 Publication Date: 2011-04-01." Image from article

R.S. Zaharna on Diplomacy and Relations - Public Diplomacy, Networks and Influence: "Over at Battles2Bridges Rhonda Zaharna is exploring the links between relational public diplomacy and the historical forms of diplomacy.

I think that this is an extremely promising avenue of investigation. ... [R]elational sociology and network approaches ... provide conceptual and research tools that allow us to think about what mean by relationships and their relative importance. I think that these approaches also offer insights into newer modes of doing public diplomacy, for instance the embrace of coalition building with different types of actors as a political tool rather than a cultural strategy or the question of the extent to which social media should be been seen in terms of messaging or relations." Image from

Actions speak louder than words in nation-branding‎ - The Korea Herald: "Korea must seek to improve its image through actions, and not words, nation-branding specialist Simon Anholt says. Anholt, who coined the term 'nation brand' in 1998, is one of the world’s foremost experts in nation-branding and has served in advisory roles for a number of governments on related issues. ... [Anholt:] I originally coined the term 'nation brand in an article in 1998 and have been working to develop the field ever since.

I have been involved in U.K. public diplomacy for over 20 years, sitting on the Foreign Office Public Diplomacy Board. This has nothing much to do with promoting the image of the U.K. and is more about using various 'soft power' instruments to carry out our foreign policy objectives. During the last 15 years I have advised the Heads of State, Heads of Government and governments of more than 40 other countries on questions relating to economic competitiveness, investment and tourism promotion, cultural and diplomatic relations, major events, exports, security and education." Anholt image from article

A close-up Man Agreement - Bognár Gergely, prherald.hu: [Google translation from the Hungarian:] "Europe's leading communication trainer's fifty-one of a number of Hungarian and English-language articles, studies, book chapters the author is currently an associate professor at Leeds Metropolitan University. A Nagy-Britanniában élő, nemzetközi hírnévre szert tett pr-szakértő hat nyelven beszél, s messziről jött embernek tartja magát, ki nem fogalmazhat meg véleményt a hazai szakma helyzetéről. In Great Britain, living in an international reputation for its public relations expert speaks six languages, and people came from far considers itself not formulate an opinion on the situation of the domestic industry. Szondi György mégis közelebb van, mint hinné. György Szondi it is closer than you might think. ... [Q;} - You spend your free time? [Szondi:] Tanulmányokat, cikkeket írok kedvenc területeimből, amelyek a nemzetközi pr, a 'public diplomacy', a kríziskommunikáció, a stratégiai kommunikáció es a pr mérése, értékelése. - Studies, articles I write my favorite területeimből in international PR, the 'public diplomacy', crisis communications, strategic communications and PR measurement and evaluation. Nyelveket is szívesen tanulok, az élethosszig tanulás híve vagyok."

The roots of America’s missionary zeal - Frank Shatz, lakeplacidnews.com: "Karen Hughes, the former Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs at the State Department, pointed out that in spite of its good intentions, America faces a hostile world.

'What we’re up against essentially is a death cult,' she was quoted saying in a Parade magazine interview. 'By those whose say, death to all who disagree with us. We’ve got to aggressively challenge that.'” Image from

[New] Chaos is Back - Yelena Osipova, Global Chaos: "[M]y semi-stated aspiration for the next several years will be to build a coherent and inclusive approach for studying public diplomacy (I won't go as far as calling it a 'theory', of course). This endeavor will need to incorporate elements of not just communication and international relations, but also cross-cultural communication, anthropology, psychology and perhaps sociology."

RELATED ITEMS

US Army radio station in Afghanistan: Pashto ballads, call-in, jokes, and Army's narrative - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting

Goldberg: Obama, abroad, is adrift: There's something peculiar about the president's foreign policy: There doesn't seem to be one - Jonah Goldberg, latimes.com:  Talking about Libya, Ben Rhodes, the director for strategic communications at the National Security Council, told the New York Times:

"We've resisted the notion of a doctrine, because we don't think you can impose one model on very different countries; that gets you into trouble and can lead you to intervene in places that you shouldn't." This is wildly overstated, even bizarre. A doctrine, in and of itself, doesn't compel anyone to do anything. Moreover, some doctrines — isolationism, for instance — can lead you to not intervene in places you should. More broadly, it's remarkable how Obama kept foreign affairs on the back burner and has racked up political successes. Meanwhile, by concentrating all of his talents on domestic affairs, he's made a colossal political mess for himself. Image from, with caption: Rice alumnus Ben Rhodes, right, reviews a speech with President Barack Obama.

Al Qaeda is down, not out: U.S. talk of defeating terrorism is dangerously premature - Amy Zegart, latimes.com: Yes, the United States has made great strides in the last decade to harden targets, improve intelligence and degrade the capabilities of violent Islamist extremists. Osama bin Laden's death was a major accomplishment. But the fight is nowhere close to being won, and America's most perilous times may lie ahead.

Cables Reveal Propaganda, Disinformation Efforts by US - news.antiwar.com: As the release of these diplomatic cables prove, the US government undoubtedly engages in massive amounts of conscious deception in order to coax public opinion away from a reality-based understanding of US policy.

The strategy is to spin media attention toward reporting that US policy mimics humanitarian concern, but not to actually move US policy in a more humanitarian direction. Image from

US sanctions 3 Al-Qaeda leaders in Pakistan - AFP: US officials have imposed financial sanctions on three Al-Qaeda leaders based in Pakistan, including the militant network's Libya-born propaganda chief, Abu Yahya al-Libi. Al-Libi, who is one of Al-Qaeda's most visible figures through his repeated propaganda messages, called for attacks against the the United States and Britian in 2009, according to SITE, a US jihadist-monitoring website.

Taliban Propaganda Watch: They’re baaaaaaaaaack - milnewsca.wordpress.com: The Taliban Info-Machine’s English-language web pages are back online.

'US Islamophobia campaign defeated' - presstv.com: A senior Iranian commander says Islam has prevailed despite the US support for "multi-billion dollar Islamophobia projects"

and the anti-Islam propaganda by the West's media empire. The massive spending by the United States and some Western countries to generate fear and hatred against Muslims has back-lashed and led to further popularity of Islam around the world, said Brigadier General Masoud Jazayeri, the deputy head of Iran's Armed Forces Joint Chiefs of Staff, in a press release on Wednesday. Jazayeri image from article

PA Continues Propaganda Offensive on Washington - Arutz Sheva, ‎Gavriel Queenann: Palestinian Authority officials continued Wednesday their propaganda war on the United States' position vis-a-vis the PA statehood bid at the United Nations saying the Obama Administration is showing "disdain for Arabs."

"The subject is not settlements, or Palestinian independence or the rights of the Palestinian people, or halting the criminal violations perpetrated by the settlers against the Palestinian people," senior Palestinian Liberation Organization official Yasser Abed-Rabbo told Voice of Palestine Radio. "All this is being ignored and the only issue has become the issue of us not going to the United Nations," Abbed-Rabbo said. Abbed-Rabbo image from article

Over the Horizon: From Pulp Fiction to Foreign Policy - Robert Farley, worldpoliticsreview.com: In 1903, the novel "Riddle of the Sands" was published to great acclaim in the United Kingdom. Written by Erskine Childers, the novel told the story of a secret German invasion flotilla prepared to overrun Great Britain. The best of a large genre of "invasion literature" warning in dire terms of the threat that Kaiserine Germany posed to the British Empire, "Riddle of the Sands" apparently helped convince First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill to reposition the Royal Navy to northern bases, safe from German attack. ... This and other examples concern fiction that affects state policy through influencing the mass public, with propaganda working to increase state capacity by building support for state policies. Elites, however, are people too. Journalists, experts, scholars, policymakers and politicians have the same susceptibilities to fictional and artistic portrayals as the mass public.

Most people understand on some level that a link exists between the beliefs of policymakers and the cultural milieu that those policymakers emerge from. Nevertheless, there still seems to be a tendency to dismiss cultural reporting -- and the analysis of fiction from a policy perspective -- as an interesting and amusing sidelight to genuine reporting on politics and foreign affairs. Hopefully we will come to a better understanding of how fictional portrayals in books, television and film frame and construct the way in which elite policymakers react to the world, as well as how the mass public decides what it wants in terms of policy objectives. The personal cultural tastes of individual analysts and policymakers represent more than just interesting character foibles. Until we recognize that, we will be blind to the impact popular culture has on how opinion leaders view and shape the real world. Image from

Social Scientists and the Construction of Propaganda - faustusnotes.wordpress.com: It’s worth remembering that quite often scientists are working as hard to reflect perceived wisdom as they are to uncover genuinely new ideas. Where the propaganda is needed the academics seem to be able to find a basis for it; and where it has already taken hold they are as likely to perpetuate it (or just lend it a little nuanced sophistication) as they are to challenge it.