"[T]he European Union allows pink slime only in pet food."
--Editorial, "Pink slime perspective," Los Angeles Times; image from article
VIDEO
Video: Spoof of "Like the ‘IDF’ on Facebook!" brings dose of reality - Jalal Abukhater, electronicintifada.net
PUBLIC DIPLOMACY
World Leaders to Strengthen Nuclear Security: Statement Text – BusinessWeek - "Following is a reformatted version of a joint declaration of leaders attending the 2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit in the South Korean capital today. ... International Cooperation 13. We encourage all States to enhance their physical protection of and accounting system for nuclear materials, emergency preparedness and response capabilities and relevant legal and regulatory framework. In this context, we encourage the international community to increase international cooperation and to provide
US envoy Stephens visiting Algiers, Doha, Amman, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv - kuna.net.kw: "US Acting Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Kathleen Stephens is traveling to Algiers, Doha, Amman, Jerusalem, and Tel Aviv through April 5 to meet with a cross-section of government officials, students, NGOs, and exchange program alumni, the State Department announced on Monday evening. In Algiers, she will meet with the ministers of Foreign Affairs; Culture; Youth and Sports; and Higher Education and Scientific Research. She will also visit with the director of Muslim Scouts and cut the ribbon for the new American Corner at the American Language Center in Hydra, Algiers. In Doha, she will participate in a workshop for Public Affairs Officers at US Embassies in the Middle East, meet with the leaders of the Al Jazeera Network and speak at Qatar University. In Amman, Stephens will meet with the ministers of Social Development and Education, and a group of alumni from various State Department exchange programs, including the Fulbright Program, International Visitor Leadership Program, Middle East Partnership Initiative Student Leaders Program, YES High School Exchange Program, and the Access English Program. In Jerusalem, she will participate in discussions with students at An Najah University and Palestinian media, and visit the America House. In Tel Aviv, she will meet with civil society leaders and exchange program alumni. She will also meet with public diplomacy counterparts at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs."
Women’s Education is Women’s Empowerment - Special Representative for Global Intergovernmental Affairs Reta Jo Lewis, humanrights.gov: "Thank you Deputy Director Peterson (U.S. Mint) for the kind introduction and thank you Michele Satchell (EEO Program Manager, U.S. Mint) for asking me to deliver today’s keynote address as the U.S. Mint observes and celebrates women’s history month. ... Building these peer-to-peer relationships can be invaluable. I am sure that many of the women in this room can attest to its benefits.
Ambassador Alberto Fernandez Appointed Coordinator of the Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications (CSCC) - Media Note, Office of the Spokesperson, State Department, Washington, DC: "Ambassador Alberto M. Fernandez today assumed the position of Coordinator of the Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications (CSCC), which was established in September 2010 to coordinate, orient, and inform government-wide public communications activities directed at audiences abroad and targeted against violent extremists and terrorist organizations, especially al-Qaida, its affiliates, and its adherents. CSCC is an interagency effort based in the Department of State and operates under the broad policy direction
Tweeting diplomats drive culture shift in US - abc.net.au: "ELEANOR HALL: In the United States, diplomats are transforming the way they work using social media, and, according to a report released today by the Lowy Institute, the contrast with Australia is huge. The US State Department now has 600 social media platforms with a global audience of more than 8 million people. But the Lowy Institute's Fergus Hanson says that in Australia there is concern about letting even a single ambassador loose on Twitter. The Federal Parliament though is now conducting an inquiry into the use of online technologies in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Dr Hanson says Australian diplomats have plenty of
Yelena O @LenaOsipova - "wow. 'I don’t think of myself as a public diplomacy official. I think#publicdiplomacy is more old-school American propaganda.'
Foreign Service Officer Blogs to Love - Peter Van Buren, We Meant Well: "As alert readers of this blog know, I am in the process of being fired from the Department of State in large part because of this blog. The firing part revolves around me 'writing about matters of official concern without authorization,['] 'identifying myself as a foreign service officer,' not using the required disclaimer, and 'poor judgement and notoriously disgraceful conduct.'A big one was that bit about 'poor judgment and notoriously disgraceful conduct,' which the State Department defines helpfully for me as 'lack of discretion which may reasonably affect an individual or agency’s ability to carry out its responsibilities or mission.' The idea is that if a blog has, well, undiplomatic things on it, the writer will not be able to represent the US, be taken seriously as a professional diplomat, that sort of thing. The blog’s message in other words will get in the way of the State Department job, distract from the professionalism required to represent the United States. At least that’s what is bothering State about me and my blog.Fair enough I guess, at least if State applied the rules equitably. On its own 'careers' web page, State lists dozens of Foreign Service blogs which quite obviously talk about matter of official concern and, given how they often post daily updates, do not appear to have gone through any authorization or clearance process. Some do, and some don’t, have the required disclaimer. And then of course, there is the blog of budding Foreign Service Officer Jennifer Santiago, who self-identifies online as 'diplomat, photographer and world traveler.' Ms. Santiago was apparently many other things before joining the Foreign Service, and helpfully includes a number of pictures of herself online. ... I have no way to verify it and make no claims to its veracity, but Ms. Santiago’s Wikipedia entry (doesn’t everyone have one?), which says her birth name is 'Jennifer Klarman,' claims she also once posed unclothed in Playboy. It is a not safe for work type of link, but the Playboy
photos are here, so you can judge for yourself if care to do so. ... I don’t know Ms. Santiago, and we have never spoken. I found her blog online as anyone might; after all, it is online, subject to worldwide availability just like mine, via a Google search or two. Everything here came through some online searches, all subject to the whims of the web as to content and veracity. Just as State claims my blog renders me ineffective as a Foreign Service Officer, the blogs of other FSOs are hanging out there too waiting to be discovered by anyone dealing with us professionally.The point here is to suggest that the Department of State willfully chooses to enforce its blogging rules when it spies a blog whose content it dislikes (mine) and then ignores those same rules for a blog that it does like. Or, that the State Department can’t possibly locate, monitor and assess all the Foreign Service blogs out there, and thus selectively picks some (mine) for multi-month forensic investigation through its Diplomatic Security Stasi while remaining purposely ignorant of the others, a case of highly selective persecution, er, um, prosecution.Or, maybe it has something to do with the photos on my blog.
Maybe if I hit the gym more often the State Department would let me keep my blog unfettered as they obviously are doing with others?" Santiego image from; Van Buren image from entry
Chew on This: US Embassy Oman Celebrates 4th of July (in February) with Fast Food Sponsors - Domani Spero, DiploPundit: "We’re late on this but last month, the US Embassy in Oman celebrated the 236th year of the independence of the United States of America. We were once told that heat is the reason for these early 4th of July celebrations at various overseas posts, even at one EUR post.
The U.S. Embassy marked the 236th year of the Independence of the United States of America with a festive celebration on the Embassy grounds on February 28, 2012. Timed in conjunction with the U.S. President’s Day holiday which is celebrated each February, the event featured a ceremony by the Embassy’s Marine Color Guard and food and beverages from ten American franchise outlets. I had the honor of welcoming the official delegation of the Government of the Sultanate of Oman, led by the Honorable Shaikh Khalid bin Sultan bin Saif al-Hosni of the Majlis al-Dowla, and the Chief of Protocol at the Ministry ofThe embassy’s Flickr account includes two sets from the event including 564 photos here, and 150 photos here.
Foreign Affairs, His Highness Sayyid Mohammed bin Salim al Said ... . The event highlighted this year’s 40th anniversary of the establishment of the first U.S. Embassy in Oman, which was opened on November 1, 1972 on the seafront in Old Muscat. More than 500 guests joined us for this year’s celebration.
Unfortunately, both sets are photo dumps with none of the photos appropriately labeled. Even with no captions, the photos below are clear as day, of course, since they all feature popular American fast foods. The brief explanation above makes it sound like the fast foods were on exhibit, doesn’t it?" Images from article
Beyond China's public diplomacy - Suti speaks: Exploring the World of Public Relations, International Affairs and Social Media: "It is not that the world has suddenly taken interest on China. Over the last decade China has invested large amounts on public diplomacy to educate the world about Chinese culture. It has established 356 Confucius institutes in fifty different countries. In the UK alone there are ten. This is at the back of huge aid and foreign investment in dolls out to other developing countries particularly in Africa. On the digital sphere, China Central Television (CCTV)
SAGE: independent strategic communication for America - Matt Armstrong, MountainRunner.us: "Public opinion has always had a major role in foreign policy, national security, and a strong economy. And yet, there is little argument that the United States lags in its ability to effectively understand, inform, engage, and empower people in the conduct of foreign affairs. The notable exception is domestic politics, but success in the global arena has typically been the product of a few smart people often working around the system. Call it public diplomacy or strategic communication, the ability to communicate and empower is essential to diplomacy, development, and defense, all of which are the foundation for any country’s, or organization’s, physical and economic security.
SAGE - Paul Rockower, Levantine: "I attended a program this morning at the Wilson Center on SAGE (Strengthening America's Global Engagement). The project is meant to combine a number of previous public diplomacy reports and recommendations, and help set up an indy strategic communications organization for America's stratcomm needs. Sagacious, indeed. Somewhere along the way, the project lost its connection to 'public diplomacy' but I will not harp (too much) on such things at present, even if I am not exactly fond of the stratcomm label (too militaristic; also, when is communication not strategic?). Anne Marie Slaughter gave a nice discussion of the interactions between government and civil society, and how State is playing a role in facilitating such interactions. She mentioned how State is facilitating gov-to-civ society interactions, and building relationships with nongov actors (polylateralism, by Wiseman's definition). Slaughter mentioned some interesting projects that State is convening such as the tech exchanges. I had heard good things about her, and read her previous pieces on the role of pd in the public sphere, and came away impressed. She noted that the SAGE project could increase the impact of what gov is already doing, but with independence that is vital for success. I applaud the initiative in theory, and think that a public-private organization is a great idea. I like their mission to promote independent media entities, and I would like to hope that when I previously chatted with the project director Brad Minnick about pd public/private initiatives, my highlighting of The Tiziano Project as strategic might have had some resonance. Apparently SAGE will be a grant-making organization, so perhaps this will be a stratcomm kickstarter. (Take note, Naomi and Jewcer, we need a PD crowdsourcing platform!). They also have an interesting proposal for IhearU, some kind of cyberdiplomatic social network (perhaps?).
Public Diplomacy and Place Branding: The link? - snowlion98, Public and Cultural Diplomacy 6: A group blog by students at London Metropolitan University "According to Edmund Gullion, Public Diplomacy deals with the influence of public attitudes on the formation and execution of foreign policies. It is seen as encompassing elements of international relations
Head of Communicaticatinos [sic], Public Diplomacy Division, NATO - communication-summit.eu: "Dr Gerlinde Niehus leads the Corporate Communications Section within NATO’s Public Diplomacy Division. After directing communication strategies for the European Commission’s External Relations and Information Society departements, she joined NATO in 1999 and assumed her current position in 2008.
Events show power of individuals to make history - Karl Ritter, gazettetimes.com: "In France, a motorcycle gunman throws a presidential campaign into turmoil. In Afghanistan, one U.S. soldier’s alleged slaughter of civilians shifts the narrative of the Afghan war more than any policy conceived by the Obama administration. The past month exposes the limits of leaders who try to shape the world — and how unexpected actions by individuals can influence the course of history. 'The drama of a singular event can supersede years of policymaking,' says Philip Seib, director of the University of Southern California’s Center on Public Diplomacy. And in the information age, there is more space for individuals who are not in positions of power to make a footprint in history, by design or by accident. Consider how the Arab awakening started: a Tunisian fruit seller’s self-immolation following a public humiliation by police triggered protests that spread across the Arab World, fueled in part by social media."
LA County sheriffs search for missing USC student - Daniel Rothberg, Daily Trojan: "An investigation is underway into the disappearance of a student who left the university after last semester, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s detective Tamar Abraham said. Elgin Stafford, 23, who was last seen on March 20 leaving his home in Carson, was pursuing a graduate degree in public diplomacy."
RELATED ITEMS
Targeted killings: Who's checking the executive branch? Congress should stop asking for memos and just take a hard look at targeted killings - Vicki Divoll,latimes.com: The real issue facing Congress: Should the president of the United States be able to order the killing of an American citizen with no review outside his own executive branch advisors?
In the Middle Kingdom's Shadow: Americans worry about competition from China. So do some of its Asian neighbors - Yukon Huang, Wall Street Journal: The West is obsessively asking how China's economic rise will affect it. The less-asked—but equally significant—question is what China's meteoric growth will do to the rest of Asia. The answer to this question has changed in the last decade. In the late 1990s, as Asia was coming out of its financial crisis, the consensus view held that China was a threat. Asian powerhouses such as South Korea and Thailand, with their battered economies, couldn't compete with the unscathed Middle Kingdom. But as these countries revived, the
Cavernous propaganda and Pakistan - Alam Rind, thenews.com.pk: "US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta in an interview with an American TV channel claimed that, ‘someone in Pakistani authority knew of Osama bin Laden’s whereabouts prior to the operation carried out by US Navy Seals to kill him on May 02, 2011.’ He also made it clear that it was his hunch and he had no solid proof to substantiate his claim. But the damage was done. It must have triggered publication of thousands of articles in international print media portraying Pakistan as supporter of al-Qaeda and Taliban. Continuing spat of propaganda against Pakistan supports the point of view of those subscribing to conspiracy theory professing that foreign forces in connivance with others wish to harm Pakistan. They may construe the congressional hearing of the issue by the US Committee on Foreign Affairs on February 8, 2012 and tabling of resolution on Balochistan in the US Congress on February 18, 2012 to seek the right to self-determination for the people of the province as a major step in this direction."
Not just propaganda - Bong Austero, manilastandardtoday.com: Despite all the complicated theories that have been formulated and forwarded, two things remain the hallmarks of what comprise successful propaganda: Simplicity and truth.
AMERICANA
Callista Gingrich, wife of Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich, poses with her mother, Bernita Bisek of Whitehall, during a gathering of supporters Monday night at Northwoods Brewpub and Grill in Eau Claire. Photo: Shane Opatz, Leader-Telegram.
--From: Princess Sparkle Pony's Photo Blog
"We [in California] spend more money on prisons than we do on colleges. Costs for the prisons are borne by the taxpayer, while costs for the colleges are increasingly borne by the students. California spends $6 billion for fewer than 30,000 prison guards and employees to incarcerate 170,000 inmates. According to the Legislative Analysts’ Office, that cost per prisoner averages $47,000 each year.
--Wendi Maxwell, "California: The Greece of the US?" Whirled View
"Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who presided over the rise of the United States to world eminence, was content to write off the Foreign Service as a bunch of 'striped-pants boys.'
--Hannah Gurman, The Dissent Papers: The Voices of Diplomats in the Cold War and Beyond (New York: Columbia University Press, 2012), pp.7-8
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