February 21-22

“We have a lot of faith in the Russian military-industrial complex.”

--US Ambassador to Russia Dr. Michael McFaul, in an interview on Russia Today

"Medvedev takes on Russia's outdated military-industrial complex: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Tuesday that the Defense Ministry should open its contracts to bidding by foreign firms if Russian products didn't fit the bill"

--Fred Weir, Christian Science Monitor, July 13, 2011; image of Russian fans at a national-team soccer match from

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Twitter Diplomacy: State Department 2.0 - Michele Kelemen, NPR: "Alec Ross, the State Department's senior adviser on innovation ... points to ... ambassador ... Michael McFaul in Russia, who is using social media to counter what's being said about him in the Russian press. ... McFaul seems to be online 24 hours a day, batting back rumors, writing about his reset of relations with Russia or talking about date nights with his wife. John Brown, who teaches public diplomacy at Georgetown University, wonders if the ambassador can keep up that pace. 'I'm concerned about this, as someone who was involved in public diplomacy for over 20 years on behalf of our government, mostly in Eastern Europe, and ultimately, what's most important about public diplomacy in my view is not Facebook to Facebook, but

face to face,' he says. Brown also says that the State Department still seems to be of two minds, promoting social media while also trying to control the message and keep tabs on personal blogs of foreign service officers. As well, he says that given the 140-character Twitter limit, the State Department should hire a modern Emily Dickinson: 'We could have these wonderfully short messages, but at the same time poetic and full of meaning,' he says." Image from

Conversation with Self About Serial Blog Killers and the 21st Century Statecraft - diplopundit.net: "Mr. [Alec] Ross [State Department's senior adviser on innovation] said not too long ago that 'the 21st century is a lousy time to be a control freak.' If that is really so, there are a lot of folks within the State Department who are having a pretty lousy time right now. The fact of the matter is that in the last several years we have witnessed the State Department’s organizational schizophrenia manifest in its handling of social media use by employees and family members. These are private blogs written by employees and family members in their private capacity and on their own time. ... Teaching the State Department cultural learnings to benefit the internets is not going to be a walk in the park. I certainly do not envy Mr. Ross’ job of institutionalizing the 21st Century Statecraft. Remember what happened to Transformational Diplomacy a term ago? Yep, he will need more than luck. Anyway, I’m thinking — how can you promote 21st Century Statecraft and sit back when bloggers and social media practitioners are penalized by other parts of the organization?"

From Social Media Week: Bringing public diplomacy into the social arena - Kara Hadge, smartblogs.com: "At an event on Public Diplomacy in the Age of Social Media held at the New America Foundation during Social Media Week in Washington DC, panelists from the U.S. Department of State explained how they are using social media to broaden the scope of U.S. public diplomacy, but their advice can apply just as easily to many other professions. ... Here are a few guidelines the panel discussed that can be applied to many internationally-aimed social media strategies. Use the right platforms. ... Listen to your audience. ... Measure, measure, measure. ... Build trust. Nicholas Namba observed that his mission is to 'build America’s reputation overseas,' and by listening to what aspects of American culture interest local audiences, local offices can tailor the cultural programming they provide. But building trust goes beyond just listening to opinions, and in a similar panel discussion the British Council hosted in the fall, a variety of speakers concluded that trust-building often comes from a deep understanding of the audience’s needs offline. Aim to move online engagement offline.

In public diplomacy and cultural relations, it’s easy to take engagement offline in a foreign country when you have staff there, as the panelists all noted. But one of the questions from the audience was whether online communities would ever have a say in decisions taken by the State Department. While the panelists were optimistic in their replies, they were also, not surprisingly, noncommittal about when and how that could happen. And for good reason. There are realistic obstacles to how far online engagement can impact offline decision-making. You wouldn’t expect a significant role for online communities in government-to-government diplomacy, but in cultural relations, creating opportunities for engagement offline is the end goal of our involvement in online communities. 'Social media is one venue,' said Namba. 'You’ve got to link to traditional media and offline [opportunities] to make it useful.'” Image from

Nice Social Media photos - deerweathervane.in: "The Social Media Hub is an internal Department of State site to centralize information

on the use of social media for public diplomacy. It was developed in WordPress and included a number of custom plugins." Image from entry

Want to spruce up your tired old concept? Put a 2.0 on it! - Joshua Keating, Foreign Policy: "It's hard to find a political concept that hasn't been 2.0'd these days. There's public diplomacy 2.0, counterinsurgency 2.0, Jihad 2.0, war 2.0, Islam 2.0, Christianity 2.0, Judaism 2.0, communism 2.0 and capitalism 2.0, feminism 2.0, Europe

2.0, India 2.0, conservatism 2.0, Obama 2.0, Putin 2.0, Tories 2.0, democracy 2.0, energy 2.0, nuclear 2.0, Zionism 2.0, al Qaeda 2.0, multilateralism 2.0, IMF 2.0, NATO 2.0, and environmentalism 2.0." Comment by Efe Sevin on Facebook: "Did I tell you that I am a trend-setter? Stay tuned for public diplomacy 2.1.1a" Image from

Husain: Let the Europeans lead on Syria - globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.co, Ed Husain, CFR.org: "As in Egypt and Pakistan, the U.S. State Department's public diplomacy initiatives [in Syria] should encompass Syrians. This can start with those who are based in Turkey and Europe to help them mobilize Syrians in Damascus and Aleppo with a vision of a pluralist, but peaceful, Syria."

Debating U.S. Options in Syria - cfr.org: "Elliott Abrams calls for the arming and funding of the Syrian opposition forces, arguing that the fall of the Assad regime should be a U.S. policy goal. Robert M. Danin, Ed Husain, and Micah Zenko caution against arming the rebel forces given the lack of a united, coherent opposition. Danin recommends fortifying the emerging coalition encompassing the Arab League, Turkey, and others in the newly formed 'Friends of Syria' contact group. Husain says Washington must let the Europeans take the lead while focusing on public diplomacy initiatives. Zenko calls for the United States to support the delivery of humanitarian assistance through independent organizations like the Red Crescent, and to provide policymakers with verifiable information regarding on-the-ground developments."

The Easiest Legislation Congress Can Pass this Year: The Ticker - bloomberg.com: "The Persian News Network, the U.S. government's broadcasting arm to the Iranian people, was the topic of a Bloomberg View editorial today. If you haven't heard of it before, that's probably because of an antiquated clause in Public Law 80-402: the U.S. Information and Educational Exchange Act of 1948. Popularly known as the 'Smith-Mundt Act' -- named after Senator Alexander Smith and Representative Karl Mundt -- the law pertains to U.S. public diplomacy efforts that seek to engage and inform global citizens about the U.S. It authorized U.S.-sponsored international broadcasts like Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. But through the course of the Cold War, legislators who wanted to shield Americans from possible disinformation and propaganda modified the law to include a ban on the domestic distribution of U.S. content created for non-American audiences. Today, this clause seems nonsensical. It's caused frustrating, often laughable, roadblocks for U.S. officials working in an otherwise transnational, digital media landscape. For instance, when the January 2010 earthquake hit in Haiti, VOA wanted to make its Creole broadcast available to Haitians through satellite radios donated by Sirius. But it couldn't due to the chance American citizens might hear it. U.S. citizens can watch a panoply of news channels from around the world, including Russia Today and the BBC. But the benign, journalistic programming of U.S.-sponsored international broadcasting is off limits.

In 2009, a local Minneapolis radio station wanted to replay VOA news programs in the Somali language for their Somali diaspora to counter extremist propaganda from al-Shabab, a militia associated with al Qaeda. When the station sought VOA's approval, it was denied in the name of Smith-Mundt. As Matt Armstrong, the former executive director for the now-defunct U.S. Public Diplomacy Advisory Commission, pointed out in an August 2009 Foreign Policy article, 'the same professional journalists, editors and public diplomacy officers whom we trust to inform and engage the world are considered more threatening to Americans than terrorist propaganda.' Most everyone involved in U.S. public diplomacy policy seems ready for the Smith-Mundt Act's overhaul -- especially the Broadcasting Board of Governors, who oversee U.S. international broadcasting efforts. They included the repeal of the domestic distribution ban as a goal in their recently-released strategic plan for 2012-16. In July 2010, Representative Mac Thornberry, a Republican from Texas, and Representative Adam Smith, a Democrat from Washington, introduced the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act. It would have, among other things, removed the statutory prohibition against the dissemination of State Department and BBG material within the U.S. But with just five months to pass it during an election year, the bill died in the 111th Congress. More than a year into the 112th Congress, the bill has yet to be re-introduced. Rep. Thornberry's office told Bloomberg last week it plans to offer a new version of the bill sometime this year. It would be wise to do so as soon as possible. Even an obvious, bi-partisan initiative like this will need time if it is going to pass during another election year." Image from

Bloomberg editorial skewers VOA Persian News Network - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting

New Pressure on Jammers of International Broadcasts - Press release, Broadcasting Board of Governors: "The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has called upon the world’s nations to take 'necessary actions' to stop intentional interference with satellite transmissions. The change in ITU regulations, which was approved at the just-concluded World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-12) in Geneva, Switzerland, came after numerous

complaints that international satellite TV programs in Persian and Arabic were suffering from deliberate interference, known as 'jamming'. Two satellite operators that have been targeted, Eutelsat and Arabsat, said the interfering signals originated from Iran and Syria. 'We are gratified to see the World Radiocommunication Conference take a position on this vital issue,' said Richard M. Lobo, Director of the United States International Broadcasting Bureau." Via;  image from

Iran's Press TV says that it is jammed, and that its website was unsuccessfully attacked - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting

The USIB-to-Russia elephant as described by different reports - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting: "NPR, 20 Feb 2012, Michele Kelemen: "Russian anti-corruption crusader Alexei Navalny has been the victim of many dirty tricks by pro-Kremlin media. But when the U.S. government-funded Voice of America published an online interview that had him criticizing other Russian opposition figures, Navalny quickly tweeted that the interview was a fake. 'It seems the VOA has gone nuts,' he wrote to his Twitter followers. VOA director David Ensor apologized for the incident and said the Russian service has tightened its procedures. ... Outside reviews of VOA's Russian service have raised concerns. A Senate staffer familiar with them says the reviews mostly call on VOA to provide more coverage of corruption and human rights. But the staffer says there is 'no smoking gun' to indicate a deliberate pro-Putin bias. There's another problem, says Lipien, who co-founded the Committee for U.S. International Broadcasting. 'Russian service has no radio or television programs, so their audience in Russia is minuscule because of that,' he says.' [Elliott comment:] The NPR story overlooks the

800-pound gorilla in the room. The United States funds another Russian-language service, RFE/RL Russian, that revels in its 'coverage of corruption and human rights,' as well as having more reporters, and a larger audience. In the increasingly complex Russian media environment, difficult enough for one US player, why is the United States trying to compete with two entities, with divided and overlapping resources? The chance for mishaps, such as we have been reading about recently, is doubled. As for 'no radio or television programs,' it was the Kremlin, not VOA or BBG, that took those off of Russian domestic stations. VOA Russian could resume on shortwave and satellite, but given the popularity of those two media in Russia, the VOA Russian audience would remain 'miniscule.'" Image from

Former employee grumbles about Alhurra and Radio Sawa - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting

Taiwan media say VOA "broke the story" on the apparent defection of Chongking's deputy mayor - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting

Israeli PM Netanyahu attacks Gen. Dempsey as Servant of Iran - "john caddidy says: ... 02/21/2012 at 8:06 am 'Here’s what Haaretz says Netanyahu’s office told the Americans: 'The Iranians see there’s controversy between the United States and Israel, and that the Americans object to a military act. That reduces the pressure on them.' Frankly, this is normal discourse between allies when they disagree. Whether Dempsey [General Martin E. Dempsey current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff] is a 'war hero' or not is immaterial. Israel doesn’t think his public diplomacy is wise and has a right to express its displeasure to Washington."

Israeli PR, dumb and dumber - Donn Torossian, thejewishreporter.com: "Owning one of the 25 largest public relations agencies in the U.S., I watch Israel’s PR machine and media reports with a close eye. Same random musings: ■The French Supreme Court acquittal of Dr. Yehuda David, an Israeli physician who was accused of slandering a Palestinian man who claimed he was injured by the Israeli Defense Forces was largely ignored by the mainstream media – the same mainstream media who championed the claims of the Palestinian man, Jamal al-Dura, and his 12-year-old son Mohammed who were the symbol of the second Intifada. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said that David’s victory in court is an Israeli victory over 'Palestinian propaganda’s long tale of lies.' Now wouldn’t it be great if mainstream media would actually recognize it? ■Netanyahu celebrated this PR hero at yesterday’s weekly cabinet meeting and thanked him for what he said was his noble fight 'on the public diplomacy battlefield in the great battle for the truth.” Netanyahu

also called David, a French immigrant, an “Israeli hero.' ■Media reports in Israel proudly had Public Diplomacy Minister Yuli Edelstein proclaim that his ministry plans to send 100 Israelis from different sectors in society abroad to represent and defend the state during Israel Apartheid Week. The participants of the 'Faces of Israel' mission have 'undergone several weeks of training in the Public Diplomacy Ministry.' WOW – a few whole weeks? Could one imagine Israel sending lawyers, doctors or IT experts who have a few weeks of training? Israel is in a war – and communications today is a part of that war, and Israel needs to do a much better job of managing crisis public relations to be effective. A few weeks doesn’t make a PR expert who can defend, or speak for a country. Absurd. ■Excellent commentary on Israel’s PR on a Christian blog: 'There are few reasons why Israel or Israelis should have to apologize or be embarrassed for anything. Except their PR!' I agree." Image from

When Netanyahu Crossed the Line - Deepak Tripathi, Palestine Chronicle: "The bombing of an Israeli embassy car in Delhi threatens India’s diplomatic maneuvers between Israel and Iran, and has put India’s discreetly nurtured ties with Israel since 1992 through a severe test. ... The Indians are normally too polite to engage in crude public diplomacy. But when ministers of a country of under 8 million, albeit advanced and heavily militarized, try to dictate policy to a nation of 1.2 billion people, it is perhaps too much for the Indian sensitivities."

G20 Young Entrepreneurs Alliance: Celebrating India's youth - "Yi or Young Indians whose vision is - wanting to be the voice of young Indians globally. Yi hosted young people from 20 most dynamic countries in the world which engages in discussion and debates. ... On the panel are ... Navdeep Suri, joint secretary (Public Diplomacy) Ministry of External Affairs."

No gains, but no losses, either - No gains, but no losses, either - armradio.am: " Ruben Safrastyan, Director of the Oriental Studies Institute of the Armenian National Academy of Sciences, told reporters ... [that] what has been

taking place between Armenian and Turkey on the level of public diplomacy during the past three years, should be considered from several viewpoints. ... As for the prospects of Armenian-Turkish normalization, Safrastyan believes the Armenian diplomacy should continue working ... more actively. 'We are ready to normalize interstate relations with Turkey without any precondition,' he said, adding that the question is about interstate relations, not good-neighborly ties." Image from article, presumably of Safrastyan

Jordan’s Arab spring: To ‘spring’ or not to ‘spring’? - en.voice-yemen.com: "[Jordan's] King Abdullah II

belongs to a different league of new Arab rulers who brought youth, public diplomacy, fluency in English, image and unabashed Westernism, particularly pro-Americanism, in all key issues shaping both Arab-Arab and Arab-Western relations." Uncaptioned image from article

Water Vulnerability: A Challenge for Public Diplomacy - Naomi Leight - PD News – CPD Blog, USC Center on Public Diplomacy: "How can public diplomacy become the go-to tool for water diplomacy practitioners from all sectors of society?

The USC Center on Public Diplomacy, through our Water Diplomacy Initiative, seeks to answer these questions." Image from

Update: CGPR Spring Initiatives - centergpr-globalwiki.blogspot.com: centergpr-globalwiki.blogspot.com: "This spring, the Center for Global Public Relations has developed new initiatives and programs to get students, practitioners, scholars, and educators involved in the global dialogue about international public relations. ... CGPR will host its Second Annual Global Research Conference on Friday, April 20.

Last year, at the first annual conference, approximately 60 people were in attendance; this year, we're expecting around 75 attendees. The participants come from all around the United States. Last year, we also had participants from Indonesia and Russia. During the morning session, the conference will include roundtable discussions as scholars and practitioners present their research on topics including public diplomacy, corporate social responsibility, social media, and globalization. Following the keynote speaker, there will be a global panel featuring scholars and practitioners speaking on public relations in various cultures." Image from article

Two ‘Remarkable Scholars’ Earn Asia Study From Luce - alumni.unc.edu: "Cody Mitchell Poplin ha[s] earned 2012-2013 scholarships from the Henry Luce Foundation in New York. ...Poplin received a fellowship to study with the department of war studies at King’s College London, where he researched the effectiveness of U.S. information and democracy promotion programs in foreign countries during the Cold War. Now he is using his work to write his honors thesis on the impact U.S. public diplomacy has on the understanding and international support of U.S. policy goals. Poplin spent his most recent summer as a cyclist and volunteer for Push America’s Journey of Hope, an outreach program that raises awareness and understanding of people with disabilities. For this cross-country trip, he raised more than $9,000 and volunteered for 1,000 hours with people with disabilities."

RELATED ITEMS

The American Century Is Over — Good Riddance - Andrew J. Bacevich, chronicle.com: The would-be masters of the universe orbiting around the likes of Romney and Obama won't be content to play a modest role. With the likes of Robert Kagan as their guide—"It's a wonderful world order," he writes in his new book, The World America Made (Knopf)—they will continue to peddle the fiction that with the right cast of characters running Washington, history will once again march to America's drumbeat. Evidence to support such expectations is exceedingly scarce—taken a look at Iraq lately?—but no matter. Insiders and would-be insiders will insist that, right in their hip pocket, they've got the necessary strategy.

Strategy is a quintessential American Century word, ostensibly connoting knowingness and sophistication. Whether working in the White House, the State Department, or the Pentagon, strategists promote the notion that they can anticipate the future and manage its course. Yet the actual events of the American Century belie any such claim. Remember when Afghanistan signified victory over the Soviet empire? Today, the genius of empowering the mujahedin seems less than self-evident. Image from article. See also John Brown, "Intellectual Diplomacy: Deflating a Buzzword," Huffington Post and "[Comments] on 'Culture Vs. Strategy'" in Notes and Essays

The test of talking to Iran - Editorial Board, Washington Post: It appears that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has not changed his long-standing refusal to come to terms with the West. In fact, it appears likely that Tehran perceives talks as an opportunity to undermine sanctions.

U.S., Israel send mixed messages on Iran: As the U.S. seeks to tamp down talk of an Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear sites, some analysts and officials see a campaign to wring concessions from Tehran - Paul Richter and Edmund Sanders, Los Angeles Times: he administration

has struggled "to find the right mix of threat and persuasion," said Suzanne Maloney, a former State Department official now at the Brookings Institution's Saban Center for Middle East Policy. "Wildly oscillating" messages "are playing out in the media in ways that are not helpful to whatever the diplomatic aims of the Israelis and the Americans might be," she said. Image from

How to Talk Down Tehran's Nuclear Ambitions: Before deciding on war or containment, the West should offer a good-faith compromise to the mullahs and the Iranian people [subscription] - Richard Haass and Michael Levi: After months of escalating tensions, Iran has indicated a willingness to restart talks over its nuclear program with the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and Germany. The United States and the other countries should take Iran up on its offer with a firm proposal of their own.

Containing Israel on Iran: General Dempsey sends a message of U.S. weakness to Tehran - Review and Outlook, Wall Street Journal: Is the Obama Administration more concerned that Iran may get a nuclear weapon, or that Israel may use military force to prevent Iran from doing so? The answer is the latter, judging from comments on Sunday by Chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey. Appearing on CNN, General Dempsey sent precisely the wrong message if the main U.S. strategic goal is convincing Iran to give up its nuclear ambitions. He said the U.S. is urging Israel not to attack Iran—because Iran hasn't decided to build a bomb, because an Israeli attack probably wouldn't set back Iran by more than a couple of years, and because it would invite retaliation and be "destabilizing" throughout the Middle East.

Israel's risky option on Iran: Worse than a nuclear-armed Iran would be a nuclear-armed Iran that has been attacked by Israel - Dalia Dassa Kaye, latimes.com: Talk of a military strike on Iranian nuclear facilities is not subsiding.

If diplomacy can't head off Iran's nuclear ambitions, advocates for a military strike in Israel and the United States will only gain strength. While proponents may believe that Israel can endure the short-term military and diplomatic fallout of such action, the long-term consequences are likely to be disastrous for Israel's security. Image from article

Egypt’s Step Backward - Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times: The transitional government in Egypt on Sunday will put on trial 43 people, including at least 16 U.S. citizens, for allegedly bringing unregistered funds into Egypt to promote democracy without a license. Some members of the U.S. Congress are talking about cutting off the $1.3 billion in aid the U.S. gives Egypt’s army if these Americans are actually thrown in prison. Hold off on that.

Helping Syria Without War - Marc Lynch, Foreign Policy: The diversion of the debate about Syria towards military options has been counterproductive. If the goal is to help the Syrian people and not just to hurt an Iranian ally then the international response to the Syrian crisis must focus less on whether to use military options than on ways to improve the prospects for a "soft landing" after the fall of the Assad regime.

Reporting Syria propaganda style - Les Louis, onlineopinion.com.au: While claiming no originality, having drawn heavily on other commentaries, this is an attempt to clarify critical issues lost or distorted by selective reporting and propaganda that is served up as news about the conflict raging in Syria.

Ex-Syrian news anchor slams state ‘propaganda’ - france24.com: Once the face of Bashar al-Assad’s evening news bulletin, Hani al-Malathi

publicly resigned from Syrian state TV last week over what he calls “state-orchestrated misinformation”. Hani al-Malathi image from article

Afghans protest disposal of Muslim holy books at U.S. base [Video] - An angry protest erupted outside a sprawling U.S.-run military installation on Tuesday after base personnel allegedly improperly disposed of religious materials, including Muslim holy books. Gen. John Allen, the U.S. Marine who commands Western forces in Afghanistan, apologized and promised the incident at Bagram Air Field, north of Kabul, would be fully investigated. Protests over desecration of the Koran have sparked serious violence in the past.

Drones in Afghanistan, Drones in … Akron? - Room for Debate, New York Times: In Afghanistan, the American military uses Raven drones for reconnaissance. Civilians in the U.S. are now allowed to use similar unmanned aircraft for commercial purposes.

Now that American civilians have wide latitude to use drone aircraft, the potential is dizzying: shooting Hollywood films, crop dusting, monitoring weather, spying on neighbors, photographing celebrities. Should the government restrict where drones can fly and film, to protect people’s privacy? Or should we all assume that if we are outdoors or near a window, we have no privacy? Image from entry

Uncle Sam Is No Imam - Samuel J. Rascoff, New York Times: When American officials intervene in Islamic teachings — interpreting them to believers in a national-security context and saying which are or are not acceptable — they create tensions, both legal and strategic.

America’s Global Anti-Corruption Strategy: Time for a Reset - Ben W. Heineman Jr., Power and Policy: The great conundrum of corruption for well-meaning outsiders like the United States is that each nation has its own unique history and culture and meaningful change can only start from within, often in fraught conditions of political division and conflict.

The U.N. Threat to Internet Freedom: Top-down, international regulation is antithetical to the Net, which has flourished under its current governance mode - Robert M. McDowell, Wall Street Journal: A top-down, centralized, international regulatory overlay is antithetical to the architecture of the Net, which is a global network of networks without borders. No government, let alone an intergovernmental body, can make engineering and economic decisions in lightning-fast Internet time.

Productivity, rising living standards and the spread of freedom everywhere, but especially in the developing world, would grind to a halt as engineering and business decisions become politically paralyzed within a global regulatory body. Mr. McDowell is a commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission. Image from article

Independence of Russian broadcasters Ekho Moskvy and Dozhd TV threatened by Putin's "steamroller" - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting

Accreditors Caution American Colleges as They Create Academic Programs Abroad - Karin Fischer, chronicle.com: Universities are entering a brave new world when they set up collaborative degree or academic programs overseas, and they must be vigilant in ensuring proper academic standards.

That was the message accreditors were delivering at a conference of senior international officers -- along with a reminder that the accrediting organizations are watching. Image from

Support makes reaching success that much easier - Angela Boskovitch: young-germany.de: International students face a unique set of challenges from struggling with homesickness to the pressure of meeting family expectations. What if all of this just becomes too much? YG talks with Swantje Wroble, director of the Psychological-Therapeutic Counseling Center at the Studentenwerk Bremen.

East German propaganda art gathers dust - Yannick Pasquet, AFP: Beeskow, Germany — Piled-up, forgotten and gathering dust, 23,000 artworks from the former East Germany fill a vast warehouse 90 kilometres (56 miles) from Berlin, testimony to an oppressive past. From busts of Karl Marx to paintings glorifying the "Heroes of Socialist Labour", this communist art in a rundown building formerly used to store animal feed arouses little interest

in today's Germany. One enormous picture among the many catches the eye -- it shows Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet Union's last leader, posing with long-term leader Erich Honecker on East Germany's 40th anniversary. Several weeks after the meeting, the Berlin Wall would fall and communism be swept away in eastern and central Europe. "Very poor quality," comments Kristina Geisler of the Beeskow art archives in charge of the collection, amid the 1,500 paintings and myriad propaganda objects crammed, floor to ceiling, over three floors. Image from article

AMERICANA

In 1950, about 4 million Americans were living solo.

A half-century later, the number had risen to 31 million, with women outnumbering men 17 million to 14 million — figures that have had little public attention. Image from

--Carl Hartman, USA Today

ONE MORE QUOTATION FOR THE DAY

"Counterterrorism is ultimately about ideas."

--Samuel J. Rascoff, director of intelligence analysis at the New York Police Department from 2006 to 2008, is an associate professor of law at New York University. Image from

IMAGE - DREAM MAN

--Transmitted by Olga Soldatova on facebook, with comment: "мужчина моей мечты" (my dream man)

WHY IT IS IMPOSSIBLE NOT TO LOVE CYBERSPACE (EMAIL FROM YOUR PDPBR COMPILER'S HOTMAIL IN-BOX)

Dear Dr. John Brown,

Hope this email finds all the best on you.

I am Sarah, the Program Coordinator of 2nd Annual Symposium of Antiparasites (SAP-2012). I'm writing to follow-up my last invitation.

In accordance with the great demand of developing antiparasites biotechnology, the organizing committee launched the 2nd Annual Symposium of Antiparasites (SAP-2012), which will be held from 30 July to 1 August, 2012 in Guangzhou, China.On behalf of the organizing committee, it’s my great pleasure to welcome you give a speech at the congress. If you are interested in joining us, would you please kindly give me a tentative reply? Thank you very much. 

Detailed program is followed:

SAP-1: Global Epidemiology, Public Health and Emerging Parasite Infection

SAP1-1: Prevention and Control of Parasitism

SAP1-2: Public health and Clinical of Parasites

SAP1-3: Strategy and Policy for Malaria Control

SAP1-4: Eliminate of Lymphatic Filariasis

SAP-2: Basic Research and Technology of Parasitology

SAP2-1: Biology and Ecology of Parasites

SAP2-2: Genetics and Functional Genomics of Parasites

SAP2-3: Epidemiology of Parasites

SAP2-4: Mechanisms of Innate Immunity and Acquired Immunity of Parasites

SAP2-5: Molecular Basis of Pathogenesis

SAP2-6: Transmission of Parasites from Host to Vector

SAP2-7: Parasite Proteomics and host responsiveness

SAP2-8: Parasite Molecular and Cell Biology

SAP2-9: Veterinary Parasitology

SAP2-10: Zoonotic Parasitology

SAP2-11: Aquaculture and Aquatic Parasitology

SAP2-12: Ectoparasites

SAP2-13: Host-parasite Interactions

SAP2-14: Kinetoplastida

SAP2-15: Protozoa and Other Parasites

SAP2-16: Diagnostics of Parasite Infections

SAP-3: Antiparasite Drug Discovery

SAP3-1: Chemotherapy and Drug resistance

SAP3-2: Development of New Compounds against Malaria

SAP3-3: New Chemotherapies for Parasites

SAP3-4: Malaria Vaccines

SAP3-5: Novel Approaches to Malaria Vaccine Development

SAP3-6: Parasites Vaccines

SAP-4: Other Re-Emerging Parasite Infectious Diseases

SAP4-1: Cryptosporidium Infection

SAP4-2: Plasmodium Parasite Infection

SAP4-3: Plasmodium Falciparum Infection

SAP4-4: Leishmania, Trypanosomes and Chagas Disease

For the program details: http://www.bitlifesciences.com/wcm2012/fullprogram_sap.asp

I am looking forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely Yours,

Ms. Sarah Fu
Program Coordinator
Organizing Committee of SAP-2012, China
East Wing, 11F, Dalian Ascendas IT Park
No. 1 Hui Xian Yuan, Dalian Hi-tech Industrial Zone
LN 116025, P.R.China
Tel: 0086-411-84799609-813
Fax: 0086-411-84799629
Email:sarah@bitconferences.com

Web: http://www.bitlifesciences.com/wcm2012/