February 9

“When you deputize someone to represent you who doesn’t eat unless he brings you warm bodies, you can expect all kinds of unfortunate practices.”

--Barmak Nassirian, an associate executive director of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers and one of the most outspoken critics of commissioned agents paid to recruit foreign students. See also; image from.

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Deadline Nears in 'Serving Abroad' Photo Contest‎ - Terri Moon Cronk, American Forces Press Service: "The contest deadline to submit photos is fast approaching for an exhibit titled 'Serving Abroad … Through Their Eyes,' which will depict the daily life of military deployments and overseas assignments.

The contest’s focus is to show the most compelling photos of friendships, places, faces, losses and triumphs of deployment as captured through the camera lenses of military members, veterans and diplomats, said Army Lt. Col. Luke Knittig, a coordinator for the joint Defense Department and State Department project.  ... The exhibit will comprise 1,000 winning pictures that will commemorate the State Department’s Art in Embassies program’s 50th anniversary. The 'Serving Abroad … Through Their Eyes' exhibit is slated to be displayed at the Smithsonian Institution’s American Art Museum, U.S. embassies around the world, the Pentagon and other prominent international venues this year, officials said. The State Department’s Art in Embassies program, formalized by President John F. Kennedy’s administration, is one of the premier public-private partnership arts organizations in continuous operation in 180 countries worldwide, State Department officials said. It plays an important role in U.S. public diplomacy through a culturally expansive mission that creates temporary exhibits and permanent collections, artist and cultural exchange programming, and publications, they added." Image from

VOA harms Putin opposition in Russia‎ - Ted Lipien, The Washington Times: "[T]he BBG [Broadcasting Board of Governors] hired a highly respected independent journalist in Russia to review the VOA Russian news. He warned that the website had a pro-Putin bias and downplayed reporting on human rights issues. BBG executives did nothing to correct it and failed to show the study to BBG members. Instead, VOA hired another Russian journalist who used to work for the

pro-Putin media while seasoned editors with experience in American journalism were leaving, disgusted with the VOA management. ... The BBG should be abolished, U.S. international broadcasting placed under new management, perhaps as part of another larger government agency, and it should have a strong advisory and supervisory board that would allow for greater public scrutiny. An independent investigation should be launched to determine how the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty became victims of an apparent disinformation campaign and to make sure it does not happen again. Image from article

Polish president "spontaneously visits" the former studio site of Radio Free Europe in Munich - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting

Editor-in-Chief Receives Officials from Carter Center‎ - Muawad Mustafa Rashid, Sudan Vision: "Khartoum – Sudan Vision Editor-in-Chief, Saif Addeen Al-Bashir received in his office, Tuesday, each of

Mr. Owen Mcdougall, Assistant Deputy Director, Mr. John Young, Political Advisor, Mr. Khalid Abdallah Al-anasri, Programme Officer who are officials from Carter Center International Observation Mission, Democracy Programme in Sudan. ... He [Saif Addeen Al-Bashir] related the good relations of the paper with the public diplomacy department of the American embassy and the benefits of that distinguished relations being that in forums or courses or publishing interested articles." Image from article

Advertising USA - Jian (Jay) Wang, PD News–CPD Blog, USC Center on Public Diplomacy: "Brand USA, a non-profit, public-private partnership, is to launch a global advertising campaign next month, as part of the country’s concerted effort in marketing tourism to the world.

As its core mission, the organization, created in 2010, is to 'encourage and inspire travelers to explore America’s boundless possibilities.' While America’s image in the global political imagination has experienced ups and downs over the last decade, the U.S. has remained as a leading destination for international investment, education and, yes, tourism. It will be interesting to see how the Brand USA initiative unfolds and how the upcoming campaign will be received by its overseas audiences." Image from

Japanese Government to determine the nuclear accident caused localized damage to four - hedybrandon.blogspot.com: "WikiLeaks and global diplomatic culture _ antipyrine November 28, 2010 ... [T]he 25 million copies of original [Wikileaked] documents, is bound to eventually leak again, that is, completely destroyed the United States established diplomatic system year-round country diplomats, experts, reporters, NGO people's trust circle - the so-called 'final three feet' diplomatic circles. Hou Weiji decryption era [?] circle of trust remedy can only make such a 'public diplomacy' more transparent. However, it can slowly be done in the West, but in non-Western societies, there is a certain distance to achieve: freedom of expression is the basis for a more transparent environment for foreign affairs."

India, Korea, Brazil Now at Heart of Battle for Internet Freedom - Adam Clayton Powell III, PD News–CPD Blog, USC Center on Public Diplomacy: "Those countries, along with Indonesia, the Philippines

and others described as worrisome, are issuing new laws and regulations that may limit free expression online and free access to information." Image from

2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit D-50, Korea now striving for successful opening of the summit - superkorean1111.blogspot.com: "2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit D-50, Korea now striving for successful opening of the summit 'The biggest summit in the field of security aiming for safer and more peaceful world' 'It's D-50, and now focusing on promotion of the summit to communicate with the public.' 1. To successfully host upcoming (D-50) Nuclear Security Summit, NSS Preparation Committee (Head : Kim Sung-Hwan, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade) is not only closely cooperating with 4 international organizations including UN and more than 50 nations' governments, but also making progress in public diplomacy and diversely promoting the importance of nuclear security or expected achievement of the summit, etc [.]"

Now is the time to fight for Jewish refugees‎ - Lyn Julis, Jerusalem Post:  "Israel’s failure to fight for the rights of Jewish refugees has been a catastrophe of public diplomacy – one that the government is at last trying to remedy after 60 years of neglect."

View From The Top: A Book Party for Charlotte Beers‎ - Elise Knutsen, New York Observer: "Monday evening, the conversation was split between women in the workplace and the Super Bowl, largely though not exclusively down gender lines. Society women and their husbands had gathered at the sumptuous townhouse of Kathy and Billy Rayner to celebrate the publication of Charlotte Beers’ book 'I’d Rather Be In Charge.'

In a living room filled with paintings and sculptures of Japanese dogs, Martha Stewart, Hilary Geary Ross, Celerie Kemble, Somers Farkas, Cathie Black, and Tonne Goodman sipped champagne and greeted their friends. Ms. Beers, a businesswoman who served as an undersecretary for public diplomacy in the Bush administration, held court in the room, discussing the role of women leaders and signing books for admirers." Image from article, with Beers on the right

RELATED ITEMS

U.S. and Israel Split on Speed of Iran Threat - Mark Landler and david E. Sanger, New York Times: Amid mounting tensions over whether Israel will carry out a military strike against Iran’s nuclear program, the United States and Israel remain at odds

over a fundamental question: whether Iran’s crucial nuclear facilities are about to become impregnable. Image from

It's Time to Bypass Iran's 'Supreme Leader' - Mehdi Khalaji, Wall Street Journal: The Revolutionary Guard, guilty of acts of terror at home and abroad, is by no means a natural partner for the West. But its leaders, with their myriad economic interests and sensitivity to sanctions, are far more inclined than Khamenei to strike a deal on Iran's nuclear program. Considering the alternatives, it's an opportunity worth pursuing.

The Afghanistan equation: U.S. + Taliban + Pakistan = peace? A peace negotiated by outsiders will never hold, but there is a role for the United States - Peter Tomsen, latimes.com: For all their differences, Karzai and the Afghan Taliban have one thing in common: a distrust of outside initiatives aimed at knitting Afghans together.

A Jan. 24 statement bythe U.S. Embassy in Kabul after a visit to the region by Marc Grossman, the administration's special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, had it right: "Only Afghans can decide the future of Afghanistan." This guideline should dominate U.S. policy on intra-Afghan reconciliation. Image from article, with caption: Taliban fighters walk with their weapons after joining the Afghan government forces during a ceremony in Herat province.

General: ‘Use drones to kill’ the Taliban in Pakistan: Keane fears loss of Afghanistan progress - Rowan Scarborough, The Washington Times: A longtime adviser to U.S. commanders in Afghanistan says now is the time for President Obama to change strategy and target Taliban leaders ensconced in Pakistan, using drones and other tactics employed to kill al Qaeda operatives over the past 10 years.

“We kill them. We use drones to kill them, just like we did al Qaeda,” said retired Army Gen. Jack Keane, just back from a two-week tour of the battlefield and consultations with U.S. commanders. “The president has to change the policy and issue a ‘finding’ that this is a covert operation under the province of the Central Intelligence Agency.” Keane image from article

Why the U.S. should resist stoking the chaos in Cairo - David Ignatius, Washington Post: What kind of democratic revolution brings charges against 19 American workers who have been advocating democracy? The answer is that Egypt’s is a confused revolution, looking for people to blame for its troubles. The United States should stifle its anger for now -- and avoid a hasty cutoff of aid that would make a bad situation worse.

Obama's Palestine Test: Will the U.S. send money to a government that includes Hamas? - Review and Outlook, Wall Street Journal: It may not be too late for the U.S. to tell the Palestinians that they cannot bring a terrorist organization into government while continuing to expect American money and sympathy.

But that would require sharp and public statements from Mrs. Clinton and President Obama of the kind they have used to rebuke Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Administration likes to tout itself as the best friend Israel has ever had. Its attitude toward Palestinian "reconciliation" is a test of that boast. Image from

Report of Arab League mission to Syria contradicts Western propaganda‎ - Chris Marsden, World Socialist Web Site: As in their eight-month war for regime change in Libya, the US and its NATO allies in Western Europe have claimed in their present buildup toward intervention in Syria to be acting in the name and at the behest of the Arab League. The resolution on Syria vetoed at the United Nations Security Council by Russia and China was moved by the Arab League, citing the failure of the regime of Bashir al-Assad to abide by its demands for an end to violence against the opposition. The veto has been followed by hysterical official denunciations in the West and a media propaganda campaign portraying the developments in Syria as an entirely one-sided and indiscriminate massacre carried out by the Assad regime against its own people.

N Korean 'pilgrimage fever' ahead of Kim birthday - thefinancialexpress-bd.com: North Korea's propaganda mills are going all out to encourage pilgrimages to the alleged birthplace of late leader Kim Jong-Il

ahead of his birthday next week. Despite freezing winter weather, thousands have been travelling to Kim's so-called birthplace at Mount Paekdu near the border with China, according to Pyongyang's official news media. Image from

Illegal in U.S., Paid Agents Overseas Help American Colleges Recruit Students - Tamar Lewin, New York Times: In the United States, it is illegal to pay recruiters for each student they bring in — a practice outlawed 20 years ago because of widespread abuse by agents who signed up anyone they could, regardless of academic potential. But the use of commissioned agents to recruit international students remains a highly divisive, hotly debated issue in higher education circles. See also.

The attacks on the Constitution continue... - Saman Mohammadi - howthehellshouldiknow-wallyworld.blogspot.com: “The Constitution has seen better days,” declares Adam Liptak, the Supreme Court correspondent of The New York Times, in his new piece called: ‘We the People’ Loses Appeal With People Around the World. Liptak won’t tell you, but the Constitution is dead thanks in large part to the fact that the New York Times has judiciously covered up the Bush administration’s crimes against the Constitution, beginning on day one when G. W. and company stole the White House. The article seems mild and tame on the surface, but once you scratch away the sugar-coated propaganda you see the total contempt for the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights. It is obvious why the “paper of record” is not interested in sticking up for the foundation of the United States of America: it wants to destroy the United States of America.

is 1984 BBC anti-government propaganda? - jrfibonacci.wordpress.com: If George Orwell and the entire BBC create anti-government propaganda

to incite anti-government sentiment, so be it. Image from article

Soviet Russia & Propaganda - keepcalmcarryon.me.uk: Propaganda is often thought of in negative terms, although simply put it’s the manipulation of public opinion carried out by using the media to reach as many people as possible and persuading them to be either ‘for’ or ‘against’ something. This makes it an important tool in any war and the Second World War was no exception. In fact in many ways propaganda was at the height of its power during World War II.

Propaganda was everywhere – on the radio and newsreels, in papers and magazines, distributed as leaflets, and of course on every street corner in the form of posters. Whilst the American’s used ‘mom’s apple pie’ imagery and the British a slightly cosy, stiff-upper-lip feel to their posters, the Russians took a more direct and passionate approach. Sometimes the posters were close to being horrific; a stark picture of a Russian soldier bayoneting a serpent shaped like a Nazi swastika with the words “Death to the beast”. At other times they were instructive and simple: “The shovel is the soldier’s friend” and “The sniper hits from afar but for sure!” Good advice it seems, as many historians believe that Russian soldiers were better prepared for the terrible winters, digging in to the deep snow with their shovels, and in the majority of Western countries, including Germany, snipers were regarded as dishonourable, so few German soldiers signed-up for sniping training. Image from article

German Wehrmacht propaganda poster from WWII - Infanterie - Königin aller Waffen (Infantry - queen of all arms) - archivesofkhazad-dum.blogspot.com:

Image from entry

The Art of Nazi Hunting: How Israel’s Mossad Found Adolf Eichmann - Karl Vick, Time:

Image from article, with caption: A wooden chair inside a bullet-proof booth where Adolph Eichmann sat in during his trial in 1961 is part of the display in the "Operation Finale" exhibit at Beit Hatfutsot, the Museum of the Jewish People, in Tel Aviv, Israel on Feb. 7, 2012.

IMAGE

--Denis Dragunsky's photo on facebook via IL