February 12

"Occupy Everywhere"

--Course given by Professor Jeff Edwards at Roosevelt University in Chicago this semester; a third of the political science majors are enrolled in it; image from

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Where will the CEO of Sony Pictures find time to be acting CEO of US international broadcasting? - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting

Why would a Bahraini taxi driver have an opinion about VOA? And more Bahrain media - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting

Public Diplomacy and USG International Broadcasting - John Brown, Notes and Essays: "There's been much talk lately about the relationship between public diplomacy and USG non-military international broadcasting. As I see it, as a Foreign Service officer having been privileged to serve 'in the field' for over twenty years (mostly in Eastern Europe, during the past century) the difference is this: FSOs talk to people in the flesh, face-to-face, whereas USIB, even now via the new social media, 'communicates' to basically invisible, humanly little-known 'target audiences' without individuality. I leave it up to you to decide on what is the more meaningful dialogue -- and best for the US national interest. A mixture of both?  If so, what

is the priority?" Image from

Public Diplomacy and Political Warfare Part 4: Communication and Organization - Robin, Public Diplomacy, Networks and Influence: "[The] connection between communication and organization pops up in Cold War thinking on writings on ‘public diplomacy’ notably in W. Philips Davison’s (1965) International Political Communication. Davison argues that the key role of communication should be to support the organization of pro-US political forces rather than attacking the communists. There’s a connection with more recent arguments about public diplomacy as

collaboration (eg Cowan and Arsenault 2008, Fisher 2008), while collaboration is seen as a way of breaking down conflicts it’s important to keep in mind that historically conflict is the most powerful generator of collaboration. Political Warfare stands for the conflict strand of public diplomacy. Any comprehensive approach has got to keep both the conflictual and collaborative strands in focus." Image from

Foreign bloggers and tweeters to boost tourism in Japan - majiroxnews.com: "Japan plans to increase tourism to the country by inviting influential bloggers and Twitter users from around the world to visit areas devastated by the earthquake and tsunami and the resulting nuclear crisis, which struck last March. The number of visitors to the country dropped by 50 percent in the first three months following the triple disaster. The strength of the Japanese yen has also dissuaded tourists from visiting the country. The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs plans to use social media to jump-start the country’s lagging tourist industry, and demonstrate that it is safe to visit Japan. ... The Foreign Ministry included online social media because it exerts strong influence, reaching millions of people.

Traditionally we have invited foreign journalist, writers of magazines and newspapers and TV crews,' said Hikariko Ono, director of the public diplomacy division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs 'However, this year as part of the efforts of the Japanese government to restore confidence in the country, we decided to invite bloggers and tweeters.'" Image from

Barbary Coast - Paul Rockower, Levantine: "I went to a fascinating lecture the other day at the Wilson Center on the Barbary Coast, colonialism and identity. The lecture was given by Prof. Julia Clancy-Smith of University of Arizona. ... A few other points I found interesting from the lecture [including]: ... Tunis[i]a's public diplomacy towards Europe as projecting itself as 'mediterranean.' In this regard, it hosted the Mediterranean Games, and played an active role in the Union for the Mediterranean (Euro-Mediterranean Partnership).-some interesting tidbits I gleaned in post-lecture discussion: ... b) Edward Bernays

worked for India doing PD/PR. In the late 1940s, early 1950s, India- with minimal money in its governmental coffers put Bernays on the payroll for an exorbitant sum. He reportedly pushed India to conduct PD/PR to promote itself as the most democratic republic in Asia, and supposedly is to have advised the Indian government that all Americans knew about India was cows and snakecharmers- and that they should adopt an American-style Bill of Rights into their Constitution. Legend has it, three days after they paid his fees, such a bill was added. I need a little more confirmation and details on this story, but... Twain and facts..." Image from

derekflynch.com: Blog Updates - 2010trial.blogspot.com: "The derekflynch.com home site is currently under construction and should be properly operational by late summer. Political scientist specializing in and/or commenting on International Relations, Global Media, Public Diplomacy, Strategic Studies & Irish Foreign Policy."

William D. Flynn, USIA official - washingtonpost.com: "William D. Flynn, 87, who worked for the U.S. Information Agency from 1948 until retiring in 1980 as deputy chief of the general services branch, died Jan. 15 at a hospital in Tampa. ... Mr. Flynn was a Montgomery County Public Schools bus driver from 1984 to 1999." Via LB.

CULTURAL DIPLOMACY
(Note: Other items pertaning to cultural diplomacy appeared in PDPBRs Feb 6-11)

The State Department’s Techie Exchange Program For Teenage Girls - fastcoexist.com: "TechGirls, a new State Department program, will fly 25 Middle Eastern teenage girls to the United States this summer for an immersion course in U.S. tech culture and all things nerdy.

The goal? To build bridges between geeks worldwide. ... The program is a perfect example of cultural diplomacy--participants build ties to American firms and return home (hopefully) preaching the virtues of Silicon Valley, Redmond, the Route 128 corridor, and the rest of America’s high-tech hubs." Image from

Planet Grammy: Catskill record label Planet Arts, led by producer Tom Bellino, goes for gold a 3rd time with ‘Nasty Dance’ - W. T. Eckert, thedailymail.net: Musician, composer, producer, educator and arts administrator Tom Bellino is no stranger to being recognized for his contributions to music. Bellino, who calls Catskill home, is the director of the recording label Planet Arts, a Grammy and ASCAP award winning nonprofit 'dedicated to working with artists and educators on the development, production and documentation of culturally diverse projects that explore the creative process,' according to the organization’s mission statement, has been nominated for yet another Grammy. ... Bellino’s

involvement in art education has given him contacts in the State Department and it was during a European tour with VJO [Vanguard Jazz Orchestra] in 1997, after their first Grammy nomination, that gave him the opportunity to arrange a cultural diplomacy tour in Egypt and Tunisia for the group, not unlike the 1972 Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Big Band State Department tour to the USSR which Bellino is currently working on making a documentary about." Image from article, with caption: Planet Arts Director Tom Bellino in his Catskill home surrounds himself with current and former projects and the benefits reaped from the labor of his love. His Grammy Award can be seen at left, near the laptop.

7 Ways The U.S. Government Wastes Money - sfgate.com: "These are seven ways that the U.S. government wasted tax dollars in 2011. [including] ... $550,000 - A Movie on How Rock 'n' Roll Helped Defeat Communism [:] This documentary, directed by Jim Brown, is scheduled for release in May 2012. The 90-minute documentary will focus on the arrival of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

in the Soviet Union during the late 1970s. This was shortly after the release of their album Will the Circle be Unbroken, and the reception they received was reminiscent of the Beatles. Rock the Kremlin emphasizes the benefits of soft power and cultural diplomacy, and intends to show how music imported from the West contributed to ending the cold war." Image from

Latin America: Iran's New Front Against the U.S. - Joseph Puder, Frontpage Magazine, posted at aina.org: "Appearing before The Orthodox Union Presidential Forum in a Boca Raton, FL synagogue on Monday, January 30, 2012, former Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) stated that, 'When President Ahmadinejad recently toured the capitals of Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua and Ecuador, it was not a form of cultural diplomacy; it was primarily to increase the tempo of preparations for the war against America.' He then added, 'It is long past time for us to respond, but instead our president declares imminent victory.'"

Musical exchange with North Korea - Charlie Crooijmans, newsandnoise.wordpress.com: "Who hasn’t seen the video yet of the performance of five young North Korean accordionists playing A-Ha’s Take on me on Youtube? This weekend the quintet from the Kum Song (Gold Star) Music School Ensemble played at the Barents Spektakel in Norway. It’s rare to hear or see anything from the most isolated country in the world. Even after the death of the Great Leader Kim Jong-il and the succession by his youngest son Kim Jong-un, North Korea remains a secluded communist dictatorship. What made this musical exchange possible? The invitation of the North Korean musicians to Norway is part of multi-genre project The Promised Land by director and artist Morten Traavik. Traavik frequently goes to North Korea. ... Even though most of the people in North Korea hasn’t access to the internet, uriminzokkiri (meaning: on our own as a nation), a government-run website, has a Youtube channel containing video’s [sic] to glorify the system, but also a facebook and a twitter account.

It’s weird for the ones who can understand the language, except for the South Koreans, aren’t able, nor allowed to use social media. However it shows the need of North Korea to communicate with the world. One can tell, for there is a Spring Friendship Art Festival annually held in Pyongyang to celebrate the birthday of Kim Il Sung. The festival brings together international and national artists. ... It’s an absurd situation as the musicians improvise in a country where every thing is written out in a protocol. In a country where even composing of music is state controlled." Image from

A new challenge in the Gulf - Javid Hassan, deccanherald.com: "Old cultural ties bind India and the Gulf. ... Dubai-based Indian journalist Omar Shariff ... observes [that] 'There’s a tendency in India to underestimate its soft power.

Bollywood, for instance, is wildly popular throughout the Arab world. It is in India’s interest to ensure that this cultural affinity translates into more mutually-beneficial economic and strategic ties.' Here, the US, whose bilateral trade with the kingdom, had plunged in the aftermath of 9/11, has relied on cultural diplomacy to turn the tide in its favour. It has organised food festival, comedy night and arts exhibition featuring the works of both Saudi and American artists. The US Art Show, held in Riyadh last month, included exhibits like 'The Door of the Kaaba' by Soha Alzaid, 'The Pocket of the Holy Kaaba' from the era of Sultan Mohammad and David’s View (1989) to be on the same wavelength." Image from

India’s soft power: A regional necessity - Ali Bluwi, arabnews.com: "I call to reinforce the Indian soft power at a historical time where prevailing values at the international politics has been on the decline. I also call to benefit from the cultural relations with the Arab and Muslim world as the historical partnership between Arabs/Muslims and Indians had lasted for 800 years. This historical partnership cannot put aside as it constitutes an aspect of the historical and cultural Indian character."

A superb showcase! - Farah Khan, gulf-daily-news.com: "Well done Pakistan Embassy [in Bahrain] for arranging a superb fashion show highlighting our young designers' talent and creativity, of which there is no dearth in Pakistan.

Whereas Pakistan is well known for having the best doctors, engineers, accountants and scientists the world over (re unveiling the truth), the 'softer side' of our country often goes unnoticed. Cultural diplomacy in terms of theatre, movies, cuisine and fashion is vital for promoting Pakistan's image. The show was a fraction of what Pakistan has to offer to the rest of the world." Image from

Minister hails institute - Ozolua Uhakheme, thenationonlineng.net: "The Minister for Tourism, Culture and National Orientation, Chief Edem Duke, has hailed the National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO) for its programmes, saying they promote the country’s rich cultural heritage. The Minister, who spoke at the Second NICO Management Retreat in Owerri, Imo State, said programmes, such as the Nigerian Indigenous Language, Promoting Nigerian Dress Culture, the Reading Culture Campaign, Cultural Clubs in Schools, the Annual Round Table on Cultural Orientation (ARTCO), and the Training School are veritable platforms to achieve cultural heritage. ... In his address, the Executive Secretary, Dr. Barclays Foubiri Ayakoroma, said the retreat with the theme, Consolidating the gains of the past: Taking NICO to the next level, was for NICO to take a critical look at its objectives, vision and mission statements, to agree on the strategies to adopt in furtherance of its mandate. Dr. Ayakoroma added that the need to examine issues critically was informed by the fact that NICO is a strategic Institute with pivotal role to address the unfortunate degeneration of culture in society. According to him, 'The realisation of this informed the conceptualisation of key programmes which are designed to promote our cherished cultural values. In the past couple of years, NICO has engaged various stakeholders and government in various cultural content initiatives in the pursuit of our mandate, such as Quarterly Media Workshop for Art Writers to align our reporters with cultural matters that are essential for Nigeria’s national integration and cultural diplomacy. We have also engaged in establishing in concrete terms Nigeria’s dress culture. We are focusing extensively on the establishment of Cultural Clubs in secondary schools to catch them young, and as a follow-up on this, we have also established the bulwark for the reawakening of Nigeria’s reading culture. The Nigeria Indigenous Language Programme is where we re-energise and revitalise beyond the current educational policy level on languages.'"

Book and author events calendar for Feb. 12 - timesdispatch.com: "TUESDAY [February 14]:

'Showcasing the Great Experiment: Cultural Diplomacy and Western Visitors to the Soviet Union, 1921-1941' by Michael David-Fox – Book talk and signing at noon in the Mumford Room, Library of Congress, Washington. (202) 707-5221" Image from

In Afghanistan, a Soviet Past Lies in Ruins - Graham Bowley, New York Times: "The starkest illustration of thwarted imperial ambition is the Soviet House of Science and Culture, near the Russian Embassy and the Kabul zoo. It is a modern, angular, concrete hulk where Soviets and Afghans gathered for lectures, films and the propagation of modernizing ideas that for a while refashioned Kabul, including a time when women could work outside the home in Western clothing. But during the civil war of 1992-96, the House of Science and Culture was occupied by one faction and wrecked as another lobbed shells down from a nearby hill.

Today, the auditoriums are littered with rubble; cold air comes in through rocket holes; and once-bold Soviet murals of men and women, Afghans and Russians, are hidden in the squalid darkness near cartoon images depicting a Taliban fighter instructing children to become suicide bombers. 'This used to be very luxurious,' said Mohammad Elyas, a heavy man with a big smile who was more intent on parking cars on the waste ground outside for 20 Afghanis each (about 40 cents) than contemplating the cultural center. 'It is nothing now.'” Image from, with caption: Two Soviet Army soldiers struggle to carry a heavy box full of ammunition past a Soviet military poster at a base in Kabul, Afghanistan, in this 1989 file photo. Preparations were underway at the base for the Soviet withdrawal from the region. Twenty years after bloodied Red Army troops pulled out of Afghanistan, their one-time general says the Soviets' devastating experience is a dismal omen for U.S. plans to build up troops there.

RELATED ITEMS

Audit: ND university awarded unearned degrees - AP, cbsnews.com: Facing pressure to bring in more students as North Dakota's booming oil industry made it tougher to coax new high school graduates into college, Dickinson State University began looking overseas to boost its enrollment. China, which sends more students to U.S. universities than any other nation, became one of the school's more reliable suppliers of young people.

But as an audit made public Friday revealed, lax recordkeeping and oversight resulted in hundreds of degrees being awarded to students who didn't finish their course work. Others enrolled who couldn't speak English or hadn't achieved the "C" average normally required for admission. The report depicts Dickinson State as a diploma mill for foreign students, most of whom were Chinese. Of 410 foreign students who have received four-year degrees since 2003 — most of them in the past four years — 400 did not fulfill all the graduation requirements, it said. Image from

Targeting Iran - Ghali Hassan, just-international.org: In addition to sanctions and a series of state-sponsored acts of terrorism and sabotage directed against the people and the nation of Iran, the U.S. and Israel are threating Iran with unprovoked aggression. Iran is unfairly accused of having an “ambition” to develop nuclear weapons and poses a “threat” to world peace and stability. Of course, Iran is legally obliged to defend itself against any foreign aggression. To begin with, the allegation is a U.S.-Israel manufactured pretext promoted and disseminated by the mainstream Zionist media, including the main propaganda organs, BBC, the Murdoch media, Al-Jazeera, abc, New York Times, CNN, etc. For years, Iran has been the target of a vicious and a hostile media campaign of distortion and demonization, including the demonization of Islam. The media coverage is the second front of the U.S.-Israel war against Iran – propaganda war – and mirroring the media coverage in the lead-up to the U.S. aggression against Iraq.

Drowning in War: President Obama leads War Chariots against Iran - Mahboob A. Khawaja, The International News Magazine: "If Iran develops the nuclear capability so what, would the sky fall upon America

and Israel or the waters of the Red Sea and Persian Gulf dry out? There are 23 or more states including Israel possessing the nuclear weapons and collaborating fear of the unknown devoid of any unilateral action as a common status-quo." Image from, with caption: Persian War Chariot with Crescents

Propaganda Alert: Iran’s Arsenal Of Sunburn Missiles Is More Than Enough To Close The Strait of Hormuz - dancingczars.wordpress.com

Syria: Foreign mercenaries and weapons spread violence and terror - syrianews.cc: Jerry Dandridge, During the bomb attacks in the Syrian city of Aleppo on Friday, at least 28 people were killed and over 200 people were injured. This was another act of terrorism, no question.

The attacks in Aleppo were directed against institutions of state security, military and civilian buildings. Some U.S. sources published the opinion that al-Qaeda is behind the acts of terrorism in Aleppo. Not to mention that one moderator of al Jazeera (Qatari Propaganda Channel) mentioned live on TV, that this bombing in Aleppo never really happened and has been faked by the Syrian government. Image from

Making the Future by Noam Chomsky – review - John Gray, guardian.co.uk: The picture Chomsky presents of the US is, in effect, a negative version of exceptionalism. For him as much as for the neocons, America is the centre of the world. Chomsky views global politics through the same Manichean lens: you are either for America or against it.

The fact that much of humankind has aspirations that have nothing to do with America is not even considered. Anti-Americanism is fading along with American power, but Chomsky hasn't noticed. Image from article, with caption: Unhinged by hubris? George W Bush addresses coalition forces near Kuwait City, January 2008. Via GR on facebook

Berlin Daily Spotlight: Russian Cinema - Nick Roddick, variety.com: Back in the USSR, the film industry's chief export was propaganda -- a rousing celebration of the achievements of the first socialist state. Nowadays, the Russian industry's chief export seems to be money. And, where once the Soviet frontier was firmly closed to all but a handful of Western films, now the crossborder traffic is mainly incoming. This year's Berlinale will celebrate Soviet master Sergei Eisenstein with a special screening of his revolutionary masterpiece "October."

Another sidebar fetes the extraordinary career of a German-Soviet studio, known as the Red Dream Factory, funded by communist media entrepreneur Willi Muenzenberg, which lasted from 1922 to 1936. Media entrepreneurs are still involved in the Russian film business but their aims are rather different now. The main backer of Billy Bob Thornton's Berlinale competition entry "Jayne Mansfield's Car" is Russian billionaire Alexander Rodnyansky's AR Films, giving the country a foothold in the main lineup. Image from

Theater Review: Pesky Radio Russians, Defying Marauding Robots - Rachel Saltz, New York Times: The robots are coming! The robots are coming! In “Samuel and Alasdair: A Personal History of the Robot War,” an imaginative riff on atomic age fears (have they ever gone away?) robots wiped out the United States in 1959, killing its people and leaving it unfit for habitation. But sometime in the middle of the 21st century a small outpost of Soviet Free Radio in Irkutsk keeps bits of American culture alive, broadcasting a play about two Iowa brothers, Samuel and Alasdair, and their lives before the robot holocaust. Noirish jazz and twangy country songs (“Back in the Saddle Again” and “She’s Got You”); boys in trees in flannel shirts; crab apples, sarsaparilla and popsicles; Friday night football games, first kisses and the Sadie Hawkins dance: all are part of Samuel and Alasdair’s story as sent over the airwaves by four intrepid Russians, hunkered down in the studio. The team also delivers news, trivia (“brought to you by borscht”) and “This Day in History” segments. The team consists of a guitarist called Alexei (Tumbleweed) Petrovya (Michael Dalto); Anastasia, an actress and girl singer (Stephanie Wright Thompson, first rate); the trying-to-keep-it-all-together host (Joe Curnutte, also excellent), who takes the role of the golden-boy quarterback Alasdair and also pitches in on vocals; and Dr. Mischa Romanav (Marc Bovino), a science guy who also plays Samuel, the brother in Alasdair’s shadow. A Mad Ones production at the New Ohio Theater, “Samuel & Alasdair” has some of the larky excitement of a Russian let’s-put-on-a-show, even as its can-do spirit becomes

infected with a feeling of creeping dread. Those occasional power outages, which send the theater into pitch-black darkness, don’t bode well. The robots, it seems, are nearing Irkutsk. Written by Mr. Bovino and Mr. Curnutte, and fluidly directed by Lila Neugebauer, the show doesn’t burlesque its pop culture sources but honors them. When Ms. Wright Thompson’s Anastasia sings, the music has real power. (Then Anastasia clicks her performer’s switch off and slinks over to a chair to brood with a cup of tea.) References and allusions stack up and ricochet around in a way that is evocative and even at times poetic. Clever too. At some point you realize that “Samuel & Alasdair” itself resembles a cold-war artifact, a disaster movie with apocalyptic overtones. The robots, it seems, have reached the door. Image from

Casablanca – review - Philip French, The Observer: Seventy years old. The most enjoyable non-western ever made. A tribute to what the Hollywood studio system could achieve at its most finely tuned.

The propaganda film that best captures what the second world war was about and expresses it in attractive characters whose style embodies their politics and morality. It has got better and better as time goes by. Here's looking at you kid! Image from article

AMERICANA

"They [unclear who 'they' is] determined that the Marines in the photo were ignorant of the connection of this symbol to the Holocaust and monumental atrocities associated with Nazi Germany."

--Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Amos; via

“Recent studies tell us that nearly one in five high school seniors think that Germany was an ally of the United States in World War II.”

--George W. Bush