Wednesday, January 25, 2012

January 25



"Given societal definitions of masculinity that overlap with narcissism--for example, the belief that men should be arrogant and dominant--men who endorse stereotypically male sex roles and who are also high in narcissism may feel especially stressed."

--Sara Konrath, of the University of Michigan

"it's time to call a halt to the endless search for a male math gene."

--Rosalind C. Barnett, senior scientist at the Brandeis Women's Studies Research Center, and Boston University journalism professor Caryl Rivers; image from facebook, with caption: Загруженное с компьютера By: Галина Дементьева

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Green Technology: The Key to More Jobs, Higher Exports, Cleaner Environment, Better Reputation? - Stuart W. Holliday, Huffington Post: "Just off of Massachusetts Avenue in Washington, D.C, the Finnish Embassy stands out in a city that defaults to traditional. With its clean lines, innovative building materials, and extensive integration of living greenery into the climate control ecosystem, it is unlike any other diplomatic building in the capital. The building is the first embassy in the United States to receive the EPA's Energy Star for superior energy efficiency, as well as the first to be awarded the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED certification. Listening to Ambassador Ritva Koukku-Ronde speak about it, one quickly notices the pride and passion that went into setting this example.

Most people probably don't know the US has been taking similar steps in their Embassies in recent years. For decades, the US Department of State has employed public diplomacy programs as a tool of relationship building -- through American Centers abroad, English language and other educational opportunities, cultural showcases, and opportunities like Fulbright and International Visitor Leadership Programs. Increasingly, the Department has recognized the value of public diplomacy as a showcase for American innovation and technology as well -- using it as a tool for trade and economic growth."  Image from

Classroom-Powered Diplomacy - dpotteriearn, connectallschools.wordpress.com: "The recent demise of the United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy was—and not without a little irony—barely noticed. Even though the commission reports and Matt Armstrong’s efforts to explain public diplomacy may seem like inside baseball to most US citizens, the loss of the commission is a lost opportunity to help more people better understand how public diplomacy impacts their lives. We need new approaches to engage the general public about the need for a robust public diplomacy that helps us collaborate effectively with peers worldwide to address pressing global challenges. ... One definition of public diplomacy is that it 'seeks to promote the national interest of the United States through understanding, informing and influencing foreign audiences.' Public diplomacy, which is part of 'soft power,' 'smart power,' and 'civilian power,' comes in many flavors, such as 'cultural diplomacy' (arts, educational and sports exchanges), and overlaps with and supports 'citizen diplomacy.' Successes include Fulbright and International Visitor Leadership exchange programs, Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, and the Peace Corps. New efforts to engage the next generation of young people include multilingual Tweets, tech camps, the @america center in Jakarta, and mobile learning programs.

Despite its effectiveness from the Cold War through the Arab Spring, public diplomacy remains a less respected partner of a US foreign affairs approach dominated by development, defense and intelligence. How do we help raise the profile of public diplomacy? What if we tap the enormous goodwill and peer-to-peer power of 7 million US teachers and their 80 million students? What if we engaged our 130,000 schools to help build a more valued public diplomacy, one that more Americans would more clearly understand, participate in, and respect? Here is one example of the impact of global classroom connections. Last April, we were honored to host U.S. Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Judith A. McHale at the Peapod Academy in Redwood City, California with a virtual exchange between Adobe Youth Voices students in California and Pakistan. Diego Petterson, an Adobe Youth Voices educator who leads the journalism program at the Peapod Academy, observed that the virtual exchange had a profound effect on the students in California, who were immediately able to look past accents and appearances to find common ground with their peers in Pakistan." Uncaptioned Image from article shows former Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Judith McHale.

“Should diplomats learn the languages of the countries they’re assigned to?” - Candace Ren,  Ren's Micro Diplomacy ~ a public diplomacy and soft power blog: "The Department of State is often the target of cheap shots because at many posts there is a deficit of diplomats who speak the local language.

One of my favorite podcasts, PRI’s The World: The World in Words, asks, 'Should diplomats learn the languages of the countries they’re assigned to? Diplomat Sherard Cowper-Coles and translator David Bellos say yes…but try to avoid foreign faux pas.'” Image from

Serving until Replaced: the recurring story of the Broadcasting Board of Governors - Matt Armstrong, MountainRunner: "The Broadcasting Board of Governors is presently working toward updating its organization and strategy to meet America’s 21st Century needs. Whether you agree with the suggestions or not, most of the proposed changes remain just that: proposed as they await approval for many of the key changes. The BBG provided a 'narrative' but you will have to wait until next month, I’m told, for the detailed plan. ... For background, the BBG is the only federal agency run by a committee. The eight governors are appointed by the President, not more than four of whom may be from the same party, and the Secretary of State, who usually delegates his or her Under Secretary of State for Public Affairs and Public Diplomacy as the representative. These eight are part-time leaders appointed to staggered terms. The purpose was to provide fresh and state-of-the-art advice by top professionals and leaders to the Government. The staggered and overlapping terms were a bid for continuity and to avoid radical shifts in policy. The wholesale replacement of the Board in June 2010 with eight new members was a refresh that was not supposed to happen, and it was the first time since 2004 that the Board had a full complement. However, we are now looking at the likely prospect of a wholesale replacement of the board due to term expirations. Is twice in a row a coincidence or an emerging pattern of White House

neglect? Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your point of view), few in Congress and less of the general public pay attention to the BBG and truly understand the BBG’s role in international affairs. ... There were no additions to the BBG during 2004-2010, despite, as noted above, appointments expiring. The BBG is again in a situation of a majority of the Governors are serving on expired terms." Image from

Terms of most BBG members have expired - BBGWatcher, USG Broadcasts/BBG Watch: "Matt Armstrong who publishes www.MountainRunner.us, a blog on public diplomacy and strategic communication

read by senior policy makers in the the U.S. and abroad, points out in a recent post that the terms of most Broadcasting Board of Governors members have expired and there are no signs that the Obama Administration plans to replace them. The current BBG members continue to serve even with expired terms until they are replaced." Uncaptioned image from article

Changing Turkey in a Changing World - Securing the New Middle East: A Critical Appraisal-Department of Politics and International Relations, Royal Holloway, University of London - J. Peter Burgess and Costas M. Constantinou, turkishcentralnews.com: "The political landscape of the Middle East is changing and with it many of the certainties about how things are done or ought to be done in and with the region. Local regimes of power can no longer justify to their national constituencies and international audiences the necessity of states of emergency and autocratic rule. The West confronts the hypocrisies and moral discounts of its own foreign policy objectives and choices, including how its definition of regional security supported the kind of regimes, policies and human rights violations that western states traditionally define themselves against. Blogging and social networking have bypassed official and centrally organized forms of mass communication and representation and shown the limitations of state propaganda and public diplomacy. Protest movements and the visualization of dissent and violence have necessitated action beyond traditional crisis management processes and brought about unexpected transformations on the ground. Locally ‘elected’ or ‘accepted’ regimes, internationally recognized and often presented as models of stability and progress, are no longer credible and have been locally and internationally criminalized. All these major changes in a sensitive geopolitical region require sustained reflection and critical examination."

Former Taliban officials find new role - urdutahzeeb.net: "Thousands of former Taliban members have put down their weapons in recent years. Most are low-level fighters whose peace deals with the government were unceremonious and of little political consequence. But a few, like Zaeef, were offered early release from prison if they agreed to work with the government rather than against it. ... Zaeef [and others are ]struck by their newfound relevance, as the only public faces of a movement that for years has shunned public diplomacy. For Zaeef, it’s an opportunity to market his autobiography, now translated into 10 languages:

'My Life with the Taliban.'" image from

China readier to share its diverse culture with the world - Wu Xia, xinhuanet.com: "As the Chinese lunar calendar ushered in the Year of the Dragon on Monday, Chinese artists and cultural delegations are staging various performances around the world. An ancient civilization known for its tea, ceramics and silk, China has in recent decades attracted global attention on its newest trend in movies, fashion, art performances and language study. According to official figures, more than 500,000 foreigners have taken Chinese language courses offered by the 358 Confucius Institutes established in 105 countries and regions around the world. Meanwhile, traditional Chinese musical instrument shows and art performances are often sold out in Europe and North America, Chinese embassies said. As China becomes the second largest economy in the world, more economic resources become available to back up the cultural industry blossoming home and abroad in the past few years. ... For foreigners to get a closer glimpse of Chinese culture, China must step up efforts to facilitate the 'going-out; strategy proposed by the central government. It must study cross-cultural communication skills and understand the strength and uniqueness of Chinese culture among its neighbors far and near, as it takes up a more confident stance under the international spotlight. Like rainwater seeps through the earth in early spring, culture brings nourishment to life in its quiet and almost unnoticeable manner. The presence of Chinese culture in a globalized world gives people of any culture more choices, possibilities, and broader understanding of the world."

Inventory of foreign media coverage of China Keywords: aircraft carrier and the South China Sea (Figure) - Military of China, force comment: "British 'Guardian,' said China’s high-profile launch of China’s official promo

is a major public relations campaign, but also to foreign citizens of Chinese public diplomacy for the object of specific actions, intended to showcase China’s 'soft the strength.'” Image from

Arkansas:Abroad Podcast - Public Diplomacy and the Press: "Mike Chinoy has seen a lot in his life. From China's opening to the west to Pakistani political instability to the seemingly regular nuclear crises on the Korean peninsula, he has covered it all as CNN's Senior Asia Correspondent. Mr. Chinoy is currently working on a documentary series with USC's US-China institute. After showing a part of this documentary at the University of Denver, Mr. Chinoy took some time to take some questions on press, foreign affairs and even share a few anecdotes."

PublicDiplomacy [:] An anglophone term for reaching out / engaging. Any suggestions for DK or FR terms are welcome - A public list Curated by Karen Melchior, Twitter entry: [Contains listing of persons interested in PD].

Melchior image from entry

Briefing on U.S. Efforts in Humanitarian Crisis in Horn of Africa - Office of the Spokesperson, U.S. Department of State: "ON-THE-RECORD BRIEFING Via Teleconference [includes] Bruce Wharton, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Diplomacy for the Bureau of African Affairs."

Preparing for the intelligent Web with Imagining Web 3.0 - "As Lee-Roy Chetty says in the opening chapter of his book, Imagining Web 3.0, 'The internet at its current growth rate and development stands to be the greatest machine ever built in the history of humanity.' But what of the future? What developments are in store, and what changes can we expect as the web develops? ... The research for Imagining Web 3.0 formed part of Chetty's Masters degree in media studies from the University of Cape Town and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

A two-time recipient of the National Research Fund Scholarship, he is currently completing his PhD through UCT and a degree in Economics with Unisa. He is currently employed by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation in the South African government, in public diplomacy." Image from

RELATED ITEMS

Welcoming Tourists in a Post-9/11 World: Our tourism industry has been in a 10-year funk. Here's how to make the visa process safe and simple - Edward Alden and Liam Schwartz, Wall Street Journal: Since 9/11, foreign tourists, business travelers, students and others presenting low security risks have faced the same cumbersome procedural hurdles as high-risk applicants. The administration should follow the lead of countries like Australia in deploying technology to better sort those risks.

Paying for Prokofiev: Upholding a 1994 law will force the payment of royalties by those who want to publish or perform works long in the public domain in the U.S. - Editorial, latimes.com: Misreading the 1st Amendment and copyright law, the Supreme Court last week made it more difficult for Americans to enjoy foreign works of art, including decades-old musical and literary masterpieces.


It upheld a 1994 law implementing a treaty requiring signatory countries to extend copyright protection to works receiving protection in their countries of origin. Never mind that many of those works long had been in the public domain in the United States. The effect of the 6-2 decision, as Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg acknowledged in her opinion, will be to force those who want to publish or perform works covered by the law to pay royalties to copyright holders, even if the price is prohibitive. Citing a popular musical piece performed by countless community and school orchestras, she wrote: "Prokofiev's 'Peter and the Wolf' could once be performed free of charge; [now] the right to perform it must be obtained in the marketplace." That's true of all copyrighted material, of course. The difference is that belatedly protecting the works in question upsets settled expectations that they could be used without permission or payment. Prokofief image from

Stolen French artwork to be repatriated - Roland Flamini, The Washington Times: A stolen work by French impressionist Camille Pissarro is going home after 31 years, thanks to sharp-eyed French investigators and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The work, a monotype (an oil painting transferred to paper) of a bustling market scene called “Le Marche,” was taken from the Faure Museum in Aix-les-Bains, France, in 1981, then smuggled into the United States and sold to an art gallery in San Antonio, Texas.

The work is already safely under lock and key at the French Embassy awaiting shipment to France. It was handed over to a French customs official by U.S. Customs officials last week. On Wednesday, a “repatriation” ceremony at the Kreeger Museum will re-enact the handover for the media and invited guests in the presence of the French ambassador, Francois Delattre. Pissarro image from

The Cost of Free Culture: Amid controversy over attempts to thwart online piracy, a Google lawyer proposes reforms to a system that satisfies no one -  Robert Levine, Wall Street Journal: Rhetoric aside, much of the debate over copyright online has less to do with what's legal than with who has liability for what isn't.

State Department Defends Leno After Joke Offends Sikhs - Dave Itzkoff, New York Times: Though most comedians hope that their material stands on its own, some additional support from their country now and then doesn’t hurt either: The State Department stood up for Jay Leno after the “Tonight Show” host offended some Indian Sikhs with a joke

that implied that a holy shrine in India was a home owned by Mitt Romney. Via ACP III on facebook. Image from

NYPD Training Included a Scary Anti-Muslim Propaganda Film - nymag.com: One year ago, the Village Voice reported that NYPD training included "a spectacularly offensive smear of American Muslims" in the form of "a full-length color feature, with more explosions than a Transformers sequel and more blood-splattered victims than an HBO World War II series." The department's spokesman Paul Browne brushed it off at the time as some "wacky movie" that was shown only "a couple of times when officers were filling out paperwork before the actual coursework began." That isn't really true! As the New York Times reports today, the film, titled The Third Jihad, was seen by at least 1,489 officers. The video goes something like this: Ominous music plays as images appear on the screen: Muslim terrorists shoot Christians in the head, car bombs explode, executed children lie covered by sheets and a doctored photograph shows an Islamic flag flying over the White House. “This is the true agenda of much of Islam in America,” a narrator intones. “A strategy to infiltrate and dominate America. ... This is the war you don’t know about.”

Putting Pakistan first - pakistantoday.com.pk: The formation of the Pakistan First Group (PFG) comes as welcome news. The group has been created to counter negative propaganda currently being run against the army and ISI, according to Maj Gen (retd) Rashid Qureshi. The group has also warned against the repercussions of damaging the honour of security and military institutions as it would only weaken Pakistan.

Americanization of the World: Undeniable Reality? - 4thmedia.org: [Editor's note: This article was originally written and attached as an Appendix to the 2009 paper titled, "Critical Analysis on 'Soft Power and Global Politics'" (http://www.4thmedia.org/2012/01/20/critical-analysis-on-%e2%80%9csoft-power-and-global-politics%e2%80%9d/) Prof. Chung presented at the International Conference on “Soft Power and Nation Branding" in October, 2009 at Tsinghua University. The 4th Media, however, believes this article still very much relevant to the global issues of

Americanization/Westernization in today's world.] It seems definite now America’s sophistication of tactical language, popular culture and attractive ideas must have lured not only hearts and minds of the West but also now that of the East, even Chinese. Too apparently, China sits completely at the other end of Western hemisphere, cross over the Pacific Ocean and vast Eurasian Continents. Their histories, cultures, religions, languages and traditions are far from each other. Most distinctively, their ideological and political systems yet have vast differences. However, American language the English and its popular culture seem to have successfully acculturated a large part of the world including America’s former stern enemy states like China and Russia. Image from

China losing media war over self-immolation - Vishal Arora, Asia Times: series of 15 self-immolations by Tibetan monks since last March has thrown a harsh spotlight on China's Tibet policy. While Beijing insists the acts are "separatist propaganda" incited by exiles, international opinion is not swaying in its favor.

S. Korean charged with pro-North postings - AFP: A South Korean has been charged with disseminating pro-North Korean propaganda in cyberspace, prosecutors said on Wednesday.

The prosecutors' office in the western city of Incheon said the 49-year-old had violated the South's tough security law by praising the North's communist system or its leaders. Image from

UK regulator Ofcom revokes license of Iran's Press TV, until recently based in London - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting

A Message in the Landscapes - Lee Lawrence, Wall Street Journal: Despite its sweeping title, "Chinese Art in an Age of Revolution" showcases a single 20th-century artist, Fu Baoshi—painter, seal carver, teacher and art historian. Nanjing Museum director Gong Liang says that he believes Fu's writings and paintings express continued faith in Mao and hope for China's future. Fu's choices reflect, in his view, a sincere desire to help build a better tomorrow.

Anita Chung, the Cleveland Museum's curator of Chinese art and author of the show's catalog, has yet another take. "Because of the political circumstances," she says, "we cannot judge whether the artist is openly expressing himself or hiding some meaning. It is truly up to the interpretation of the audience." So perhaps Fu hoped that, by expressing ancient ideals of beauty and poetry, he could help the revolution stay true to China. Just as old masters often depicted sages and poets as tiny figures amid mountains and forests, he saw current events and players as just one more element in his vast land. As for whether he chose his subjects out of conviction or to curry favor, his motives were probably mixed; which is what makes this show particularly intriguing. Image from article, with caption: 'Heaven and Earth Glowing Red' (1964)

FAITS DIVERS

Man didn't notice 3 inch nail go into his brain - David Pescovitz, Boing Boing: Dante Antullo, 32, thought a nail gun accident last week had just left him with a surface abrasion. But the next day, he felt nauseous and his girlfriend convinced him to see a doctor.

Physicians found a 3 1/4-inch nail in his brain. Surgeons removed it and Antullo is recovering well. Image from article