September 17

“Why are we the only ones with the balls around here?”

 --Christina Romer, former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, regarding the White House; image from

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Moving Forward with US Security and Public Diplomacy - Jessica Zuckerman, heritage.org: "In May of this year, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) became concerned that terrorists may had been planning to exploit the U.S. visa system to enter the country and carryout an attack on the anniversary of 9/11. ... DHS promises to be able to track the location of visa overstays within six to 12 months. This progress in measuring visa overstays is a promising step for U.S. public diplomacy and foreign relations. With better data on visa overstays, the Administration may finally be able to look toward expanding the Visa Waiver Program (VWP). The VWP allows 36 member countries (that meet certain security requirements) to travel up to 90 days without a formal visa into the U.S., offering not only ease of travel for U.S. visitors but also added security, economic opportunities, and benefits in terms of public diplomacy. Nevertheless, since 2008 the expansion of the VWP has been hamstrung, leaving many key U.S. allies waiting on the backburner. The delay is due to a congressional mandate linking expansion of VWP to the implementation of a biometric exist system to help determine when travelers overstay their visas. Yet hinging VWP expansion on deployment of a biometric exit system makes little sense. DHS has repeatedly cited biometric exit as technologically and economically infeasible.

Only a small number of VWP travelers actually become overstays—the very problem that biometric exit purportedly helps to prevent. In fact, the overall VWP participant overstay rate is estimated to be around 1 percent. So why are we hinging the program’s expansion and U.S. public diplomacy on an unrealistic and expensive measure that will provide little added security? With the new system announced this week, DHS has proven once again that we can effectively track potential visa overstays without a costly and unworkable biometric exit system. So how much longer is Congress going to make our allies wait? Image from

Missing Pieces: Libya's Transition, Afghanistan's Police, and More‎ - Isobel Coleman, Council on Foreign Relations: "CFR’s John Campbell, a former U.S. ambassador to Nigeria, addresses the threat from Boko Haram, and the proper response, in a recent piece on ForeignAffairs.com. He explains that President Goodluck Jonathan has pursued 'an exclusively security-driven strategy' by installing police and military forces in the north. But this, Campbell writes, is the wrong approach. Instead, Nigeria’s government (encouraged by the United States) must tackle the roots of Boko Haram’s support: poverty and 'corruption-driven alienation.' Income inequality, military and police brutality, and the belief that Jonathan stole last April’s presidential election from his northern rival are all factors. Campbell recommends a softer approach based on better security tactics, education reform, and public diplomacy. U.S. relations with 'Africa’s largest Muslim population' are at stake."

House bill would allow US to issue no more visas to Chinese "state-media workers" than China issues to BBG - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting

Burma reportedly unblocks websites of VOA, BBC, RFA, and DVB - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting

Israel always at fault‎ -  Simon Plosker, Ynetnews: "Only weeks after its release, the Palmer Report

into the 2010 Gaza flotilla incident appears to have been consigned to the dustbin of history. Despite leveling criticism at Israel for 'excessive force,' the report could and should have been a major prize for Israel’s public diplomacy. How often, and particularly at a time of precious few PR gifts, does a UN-sponsored investigation uphold the legitimacy of Israel’s naval blockade and highlight the danger of Hamas from Gaza? Caught between a rock and a hard place, Israel’s government failed to enunciate a cogent message playing up the positives from the Palmer Report to avoid escalating tensions with Turkey." Image from

Transforming Traditional Diplomacy into Online Diplomacy - socialmediatips.new-social-media-marketing.com: "Though media has its own language and norms, there is a way to transform the message sent to traditional media outlets into online-worthy public diplomacy.

Lt. Aliza Landes – Head, New Media Unit, IDF Spokesperson. Israel’s Global Image Crisis: Public Diplomacy and Communications Strategies. Workshop 2 – Cyber Public Diplomacy For additional clips of the Second Workshop: Real Time Online Diplomacy: www.youtube.com שימושי ישראל במדיה החדשה: www.youtube.com State Diplomacy in Social Networks in the Era of 'Self Mass Communications': www.youtube.com Bar-Ilan: www1.biu.ac.il Bar-Ilan: www1.biu.ac.il [entry includes video]" Landes image from

Denmark war-peace amalgam - cph2011.mediajungle.dk: "Denmark contributed and is still doing so, both on the civilian and military levels, to various international missions, 'including the UN Interim Force mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL), NATO’s maritime counter-piracy operation, Operation Ocean Shield, off the Horn of Africa and its involvement in Afghanistan' (Danish Foreign Policy Yearbook, 2011).

Klavs A. Holm, Under-Secretary for Public Diplomacy at the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, comments on the civil-military Danish approach towards the Arab/Muslim world in the broader context of societal development there. He says, 'Combating Taliban in Afghanistan is part of the Danish foreign policy. By doing this, we also contribute to the Afghan society. What we do is we link our development system to our military operations there, so we have a civil program.'” Image from article: A Distressed Soldier at Christiansborg Palace Square

Prospects for normalization of relations between Pakistan and Israel – Paul Rockower, pakistanblogzine.wordpress.com: "About the author: Paul Rockower is a Visiting Fellow at the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, and a journalist who writes about Jewish communities in far-flung places. His series 'Tales of a Wandering Jew' was published in the Jerusalem Post and his articles have appeared in numerous Jewish newspapers.

His journalism and traveling endeavors have taken him to nearly 45 countries. Paul previously served as Press Officer for the Consulate General of Israel of the Southwest, directing media and public diplomacy outreach across the five-state region. He was also a research assistant for Harvard University’s 'Children of Abraham' project. Paul recently graduated with a Masters of Public Diplomacy from the University of Southern California. The present post is based on an extract from the chapter 'Dancing in the Dark: Pulling the Veil off Israel-Pakistan Relations' which Paul wrote for a book Muslim Attitudes to Jews and Israel edited by Moshe Ma’oz." Rockower image from article

The nature of the Arab-Israeli conflict is religious. By Gabriel Ben-Tasgal -  unsealedprophecy.wordpress.com: "Gabriel Ben-Tasgal... [is] a renowned political analyst, journalist and director of public diplomacy program Hasheni Hatzair (The Face of Truth)."

Bahrain Propaganda 101: How a US PR Firm Puts "News" in American Newspapers (Whitaker) - enduringamerica.com: "It emerged last month that the American public relations firm, Qorvis, has signed a $40,000-a-month contract with the government of Bahrain to spruce up the kingdom's tarnished image. Heading the firm's Bahrain operation is Matt Lauer, listed by Washington Life magazine earlier this year as 'one of the most influential people under the age of 40' in the US capital.

A former State Department official, Lauer joined Qorvis in 2004, bringing with him 'some of the most cutting edge tactics of public diplomacy', according to PRNewswire. 'What we have done at Qorvis is develop an agile and nimble force of public diplomacy practitioners to provide demonstratable progress and geopolitical solutions for our clients, Lauer was quoted as saying. 'We are loyal to our clients and our clients are loyal to us. This because our clients can actually witness the progress we make for them.'" Lauer image from, with caption: Matt Lauer has 24 friends on Google Plus

RELATED ITEMS

A troop drawdown that would fail Iraq - John McCain, Joseph I. Lieberman and Lindsey O. Graham, Washington Post

Advice on Debt? Europe Suggests U.S. Can Keep It - Stephen Castle and Louise Story, New York Times: Wroclaw, Poland — The United States has long been considered a financial adviser to the rest of the world. But these days, American officials come carrying baggage. Financial officials from the United States, once called “the committee to save the world” after the Asian crisis in the 1990s, now find themselves uttering apologies for the harm caused to the world by the 2008 financial crisis and coating their advice to European nations with the knowing nod of the battle-hardened.

The change in tone was on display here on Friday when Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner made an unusual appearance at a meeting of euro zone finance ministries. Mr. Geithner had been invited to offer some advice on fixing Europe’s sovereign debt and banking problems. European leaders, who have been slow to react to the root causes of the problem, emerged from the meeting dismissive of Mr. Geithner’s ideas and, in some cases, even of the idea that the United States was in a position to give out such pointers. Image from

Propaganda? The CIA Has A Pile Of Screenplay Ideas For Hollywood Features - Business Insider: Anyone looking for movie ideas now has another place to go for inspiration: the Central Intelligence Agency's website.

Under the "Entertainment Industry Liaison" page, the CIA has the treatment for a story called "The Vilification and Vindication of Colonel Kuklinski." They've had other ideas in the past. The website doesn't appear to have been updated since July 2010, so maybe the CIA's well of creativity has run dry. But Wired called attention to the page today in light of a letter from Rep. Peter King complaining that director Kathyrn Bigelow (of The Hurt Locker fame) was provided access to sensitive intelligence by the Pentagon. Image from article

American Decline: Causes and Consequences - Noam Chomsky, syriaonline.sy: In the 2011 summer issue of the journal of the American Academy of Political Science, we read that it is "a common theme" that the United States, which "only a few years ago was hailed to stride the world as a colossus with unparalleled power and unmatched appeal -- is in decline,

ominously facing the prospect of its final decay." It is indeed a common theme, widely believed, and with some reason. But an appraisal of US foreign policy and influence abroad and the strength of its domestic economy and political institutions at home suggests that a number of qualifications are in order. To begin with, the decline has in fact been proceeding since the high point of US power shortly after World War II, and the remarkable rhetoric of the several years of triumphalism in the 1990s was mostly self-delusion. Furthermore, the commonly drawn corollary -- that power will shift to China and India -- is highly dubious. They are poor countries with severe internal problems. The world is surely becoming more diverse, but despite America's decline, in the foreseeable future there is no competitor for global hegemonic power. Chomsky image from entry

Syria plans new 'counter-propaganda' channels‎ - Syrian Radio & TV Online: The leading Western media are purposefully spreading disinformation about developments in Syria, according to that country’s Information Minister Adnan Mahmoud. The minister says there is sort of an information war unleashed against his country. In response, Damascus will seek to create its own international TV channel, similar to the Qatar-based Al Jazeera whose broadcasts are equally available to both the West and Syria’s neighboring Arab countries, Adnan Mahmoud stressed. “There are some 500 internationally broadcasting TV companies presenting a particular information picture, not always impartial. Serving as an example is the coverage of our country’s situation. We plan to set up several new channels in Syria and simultaneously develop other media types like radio broadcasting. The implementation of these plans will contribute a lot to the overall development of Syrian media, enabling them to carry out counter-propaganda campaigns both domestically and abroad,” says Adnan Mahmoud.

Shoe diplomacy in North Korea - changesinlongitude.com: "Much has been speculated and written about North Korea—the government, the standard of living, etc.—but you rarely see anything about some of the more mundane aspects of life. On our recent trip to Pyongyang I found myself intrigued more by the day-to-day things than by the over-the-top propaganda machine. In particular, how does it affect the women? Something as simple as how they dress can indicate their role in society. In the early 1980′s I visited the Soviet Union. At the time denim jeans were just starting to creep into the Eastern Bloc fashion psyche and Levi’s were considered 'all that.' I was in my early 20′s and young and arrogant enough to think that strutting around in my Levi’s 501s would make a political and fashion statement all at once. I imagined envious Russian girls would be begging me to sell them my jeans for exorbitant stacks of rubles so they could own a pair of 'djeensi' and hence a tiny slice of the capitalist dream. (No one did, but I did notice a decided dearth of current fashion.)

As our flight descended into Pyongyang I wondered if I would encounter something similar. A totalitarian regime does not lend itself to chic. The whole government machine is focused on men—the 'Great Leader Kim Il Sung,' his son Kim Jong Il (merely known as 'The Dear Leader') and speculation over which of his three sons will carry on in The Leader Dynasty. Women don’t figure very largely in this whole scenario. There are few references to women—only Kim Il Sung’s grandmother (who raised him) and wife (who gave birth to the Dear Leader, then died in 1949) warrant any type of mention in the country’s history. We are not talking a matriarchal society here. Given this rather lackluster status, it is hardly surprising that women’s attire here is not exactly fashion-forward. Think a sort of 'Asian-Communism-Meets-the-Stepford-Wives' and you get the general flavor." Image from entry

United We Buy: Using Patriotism and War to Sell Products - Wendy Christensen, Sociological Images: The types of war-related advertising we see can give us insights about how average Americans are connected to, and affected by, different wars. During many U.S. wars, contributing to the war effort was the duty of every citizen; this is particularly apparent with World War II. The draft, the deployment of some 16 million Americans, and public calls to purchase war bonds and ration food meant that war was nearly everyone’s concern.

In contrast, the current War on Terrorism mostly only impacts those connected directly to it—military families. There are no widespread calls to ration, buy war bonds, or otherwise support the war effort through employment, growing vegetables, saving scrap metal, or other changes to our daily lives. Members of military families feel the war is ignored and forgotten by most Americans. They feel isolated in their daily anxieties and their efforts to support their loved ones. Image from article

‘No Language Like Song’ - Amanda Brickell Bellows, New York Times: Likening the songs of Russian serfs to those of American slaves, early 20th-century actor and slave descendent Paul Robeson observed that both groups had “an instinctive flair for music … [a] faculty born in sorrow.” But their musical traditions have striking differences, too — differences that help us understand the contrasts between the two systems.

3D Hitler album goes on sale in Germany - AFP: A new album of images of Adolf Hitler captured in 3D, once used as a propaganda tool by the Nazi regime, went on sale in Germany on Friday. In "The Face of the Dictatorship: the Third Reich in 3D", the historian and journalist Ralf Georg Reuth has assembled around a hundred images of Hitler, Nazi soldiers and major events of the era. The book by the publisher Pendo comes complete with 3D glasses. The author found the images in the archives of the National Library in Munich, where nearly 7,000 3D images taken by Hitler's personal photographer Heinrich Hoffmann are stored. Hoffmann produced his first volume of 3D images at the 1936 Olympics in Munich.

In his introduction to the new collection, Reuth, who has written several biographies of Nazi leaders, highlights how the regime used photography to promote its image. "The first 3D images of the Nazis came out in 1936 and they kept appearing for as long as there were victories to celebrate," he said. Around 20 albums were produced and went on sale between 1936 and 1942. "The annexation of Austria and special days out organised by the party were among the best-sellers." Image from article, with caption: A person in Berlin wears 3-D glasses to watch photographs printed in the book "The face of the dictature."

APSU concert to explore 'Music for the Holocaust' - theleafchronicle.com: In the early 1940s, during World War II, many of Europe's most prominent Jewish musicians boarded trains destined for the Terezin concentration camp in Czechoslovakia. German propaganda described the city's small fortress as a camp with a "rich cultural life," but when the new inmates arrived, hope quickly faded. Their beloved instruments were replaced by workers' tools, and they toiled endlessly each day as slave laborers for Hitler's Third Reich. But for a few minutes one morning in 1943, all that changed. Hundreds of Jewish prisoners gathered that day inside the camp and started singing Giuseppe Verdi's "Requiem" a powerful, somber piece of music. They'd rehearsed for weeks before hand, memorizing the complex work without the help of books or sheet music. It was a simple, yet powerful, act of defiance, but not one that uncommon in the camps. "The prisoners were always making music," Korre Foster, assistant professor of music at Austin Peay State University, said. "They were singing, they were playing violin. That highlights the importance of music as a creative and vital aspect of life." This fall, the APSU Department of Music is examining the powerful role music played during those dark times with a new choral concert, "Music for the Holocaust." The performance, which is free and open to the public, begins at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 21, in the APSU Music/Mass Communication Building's Concert Hall.