June 12

"[T]he great killing machines are disguised as inoffensive objects, they have been 'camouflaged.'"

--Robert de la Sizeranne, L'art pendant la guerre, 1914-1918, Hachette, 1919, p. 259 (cited at); image: USS Leviathan (ID # 1326), 1917-1919 -- Camouflage Views, 1918

"Assassination by drone has its charms."

--Washington Post pundit Richard Cohen

KIND INVITATION (sent to your PDPBR compiler by email)

"Please find attached an invitation from The Secretary of State for an announcement of The Kindle Mobile Learning Initiative with special guest, Mr. Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com Founder and CEO, on Wednesday, June 20, 2012.  ... Thank You, Office of the Chief of Protocol."

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Pakistani Cookie Monster no more - Sesame Street leaves Pakistan - J. Brooks Spector, dailymaverick.co.za: "After agreeing to underwrite a local Pakistan version of the ubiquitous children’s television show, Sesame Street, USAID officials pulled the funding for this project after corruption rumours began to appear in local newspapers. ... The initial funding commitment had been for a total of $20-million, of which $6.7-million had already been disbursed – although state department sources say project funding had actually been cut in half before problems began.

The show had been on Pakistani television for the past six months – and it was due to run for a total of four years - when the US halted funding for the programme, citing allegations of corruption by the Pakistani partner organisation, Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop. This theatre group is now saying it hopes it can find the money to continue from somewhere else, otherwise it will come to an end - well before it was planned to, and well before millions of Pakistani children learn to sing 'Rubber Ducky'. ... Sadly, the US-Pakistan tie is now charged with suspicions and counter-suspicions. The ill will pervades this relationship so profusely that even an innovative effort to deliver a socially relevant, educationally useful children's television programme can become a casualty. Cookie Monster is replaced by... just Monster." Image from article

Enabling Communication in Afghanistan - Matthew Wallin, americansecurityproject.org: "Yesterday, Reuters reported on a very interesting radio project in Afghanistan. Nari Radio is a small operation broadcasting from a ‘plywood hut’ within a U.S. base in Kunar Province. It has a single reporter, a single microphone, a single telephone line and a reputation for impartiality. To get a look at how small this operation is, check out Reuters’ video here. The station takes calls from anyone, including Taliban members, and is open to discussion about anything, ranging from religion to politics or music.

In Afghanistan, radio like this is equivalent to ‘new media,’ as the article’s author, Rob Taylor, points out. In a time when most excitement about public diplomacy revolves around the new media on the internet, this is an example of applying the lessons of internet communication to low-tech public diplomacy solutions. As the internet enables the average person to communicate, radio call-in shows can provide a similar effect. They give individuals a voice. The radio station also provides American military officials with a means of communicating directly with the Afghan public, and allows Afghans to ask challenging questions of them. As part of the method to increase the reach of the station, American troops have distributed wind up radios, negating the need for electricity or extra batteries to power them. In a place like Afghanistan, this is an effective form of public diplomacy. It is open, honest, low-cost, and gives voices to opposing views in legitimate fashion. It doesn’t rely on printed materials that have little effect on a population with low literacy rates. It doesn’t rely on technology that people don’t have or can’t easily be distributed, and employs the population themselves to do the communication. It allows Afghans to have their own voice. It’s a demonstration of democratic communication, and done on a small scale that’s appropriate for Afghanistan’s decentralized, tribal structure.” Image from article, with caption: An American soldier hands out a wind-up radio in Afghanistan.

Oppose the Smith-Mundt amendment - David Perera, fiercegovernment.com: "A lot of paranoia about an amendment to the fiscal 2013 House national defense authorization that would loosen Smith-Mundt Act limits on domestic distribution of public diplomacy is just that--paranoia. As Adam Weinstein, a former crafter of public diplomacy himself and now a reporter for the liberal Mother Jones magazine, noted in a May 22 article, most public diplomacy 'is mundane boilerplate about America's purple mountains' majesties' and laughably ineffective. I can vouch for the mundane bit, having been on the receiving end of some Voice of America broadcasts (in the now defunct Croatian news service). The news headlines were good enough, but the 10-minute exegeses on Georgia O'Keeffe, Dixieland jazz, Ernest Hemingway and other obvious touchstones of American middlebrow culture that most people appreciate, at best, at a theoretical remove, was a bit much. I stopped listening pretty quickly.

Smart mobile devices are clearly on their way to pervasiveness in federal agencies. The notion that the government can adopt consumer technology on its own terms - that individual employees can even bring their own devices - is gaining once unthinkable currency. Register Now! Sign up for our FREE newsletter for more news like this sent to your inbox! Which brings up a big reason why the amendment should be opposed--we don't need it. American popular culture is ascendant throughout the world. American movies, American music, American television dominate pretty thoroughly. Proponents say that the United States is at a disadvantage compared to other countries that run well-disseminated state-media outlets, such as China and Iran. Ironically, these also tend to be the same people who decry government intervention elsewhere--but here, the argument that the private sector has done a far better job of disseminating American values than the government could ever possibly do seems pretty on point. Of course, proponents will also no doubt say that public diplomacy is meant to target specific populations with specific messages. As GovExec notes, an oft-cited case is VOA's 2009 decision to turn down a request from a Minneapolis-based radio station serving the Somali-American community to rebroadcast an anti-al Qaeda program. I can imagine the scene, as depicted by the vivid imagination of VOA executives. VOA EXECUTIVE (plaintive): If only we could broadcast our 100 percent effective radio program and prevent al Shabaab from recruiting alienated young men turning to extreme Islam and fighting in Somalia! AL SHABAAB RECRUITER (with a maniacal laugh): Ha ha! Your weapon is defeated by Smith-Mundt! They are mine! VOA EXECUTIVE (hangs head in shame). Proponents also say that any information distributed under the loosened restrictions would be 'fair, factual, prepared for, and aimed at a foreign audience.' But of course, what constitutes 'fair and factual' material is often in the eye of the beholder--consult the coverage of Fox News. Weinstein notes that Americans are already subjected to domestic propaganda, especially anyone who has ever 'watched a Pentagon press conference, viewed a Marine recruiting ad, or seen an admiral justify his budget in a congressional hearing.' True--but that's no excuse to let VOA or the State Department turn up the volume. Given the pervasiveness of American media, doubts about public diplomacy media's effectiveness and a legitimate desire not to be exposed to more of it thanks to the indeed slippery slope between state-funded 'further dissemination of the facts' and propaganda, the amendment deserves our opposition. - Dave." Image from article

Fulbrights share the Omani story at Muscat - Mrudu Naik, timesofoman.com: "Nine Fulbright scholars, fellows and teaching assistants shared their experiences and research conducted at Omani higher education institutions, during the first annual Fulbright conference held at the US Embassy here yesterday. The objective of the conference was to recognise the academic and community service completed by US Fulbright fellows, teaching assistants, and scholars in Oman this year. In his opening address, Richard J. Schmierer, the US Ambassador to Oman, said, 'I am delighted to welcome our US Fulbright fellows, teaching assistants, and scholars here today for our first annual Fulbright conference. The Fulbright program, started by Senator William J. Fulbright in 1946, is the premier public diplomacy

programme to enhance understanding between the US and countries all over the world. We are grateful to our host institutions here in Oman for supporting this important programme, which also includes scholarships for US study and research to Omani scholars and students.- All the nine participants affirmed the cooperation they received from the affiliate institutions. They also spoke of some challenges they faced during the course of their stay.' Image from article, with caption:
Fulbright scholars, fellows and teaching assistants participated in the first annual Fulbright conference." Image from article

U.S. and Chinese Officials to Discuss Partnerships for Development and Diplomacy at Roundtable Event - Notice to the Press, Office of the Spokesperson, U.S. Department of State, Washington, DC, June 12, 2012: "On June 13, the Global Partnership Initiative in collaboration with the Center for Strategic and International Studies will host a roundtable discussion about the value of public-private partnerships for strategic diplomacy and development outcomes. The event will focus on China’s recent announcement that it will join the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, a public-private partnership of leading countries and private sector  representatives working together to reduce one of the leading causes of death amongst women in the developing world -- exposure to harmful cookstove smoke. The Secretary’s Special Representative for Global Partnerships Kris Balderston, Economic Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in the U.S. Li Bin, the Environmental Protection Agency’s Assistant Administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation’s Gina McCarthy, and Executive Director for the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves’ Radha Muthiah will participate in the roundtable discussion. The Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves is a public-private partnership that seeks to save lives, improve livelihoods, empower women, and combat climate change by creating a thriving global market for clean and efficient household cooking solutions. The roundtable discussion is open to the press. Wednesday, June 13, 4:00 – 5:00 p.m. The Center for Strategic and International Studies B1 Conference Room,  1800 K St NW, Washington, DC

Rugged Individualism Fades from National Character - Marion Smith, heritage.org: "Enemies of the United States also noticed America’s exceptional national character and, in particular, John Wayne. Wayne’s rugged individualism challenged the idea of collectivism.

Although Soviet leader Joseph Stalin enjoyed watching American westerns, he recognized them as an ideological threat, and the Duke’s vocal anti-communism made him a clear target. According to multiple accounts, Stalin ordered John Wayne’s assassination in the 1950s. Wayne reportedly survived two assassination attempts by Soviet agents, in Los Angeles and on a movie set in Mexico. For similar reasons, China’s Communist leader Mao Tse Tung also put a price on the actor’s head. It turns out that his fictional portrayals of a very real American idea were an important element of U.S. public diplomacy and useful to the success of America’s foreign policy. The political culture and societal values reflected in his movies are slipping.vIncreasingly, Americans look to government as a source of financial, physical, and emotional well-being. Americans’ growing dependency on government is both a symptom and a cause of the move away from constitutional government and toward an ever-greater role for government in the daily lives of ordinary citizens." Wayne image from article

4. Israeli Diplomats: “Remarks about Foreigners Are Hurting Us” - Headlines From the Izraeli Press: "Consuls in US sent request to Foreign Ministry according to which they are finding it difficult to deal with Israeli public diplomacy in light of Minister Yishai’s and MK Regev’s comments. 'This is seen as display of racism and xenophobia by the government'.”

Sushi Diplomacy: Japan in the World - Nancy Snow, tokyonancysnow.wordpress.com: "Japan is playing catch-up with other nations in the region in making public diplomacy an integral part of its foreign relations. It has always had a “soft power” agenda in the aftermath of WWII when Japan’s new constitution (Article 9) forbade any military aims. Japan’s core strength is in cultural diplomacy, Cool Japan (manga, anime, J-Pop, J-Fashion) as well as traditional Japanese culture (rock garden, Zen architecture, tea ceremony, Kimono culture). The global appeal of manga and anime has everything to do with globalization and global consumer tastes and nothing to do with the Japanese state.

So the challenge remains: how does the state expand and exploit its new 'hip and cool' soft power image and reconcile that positive image with Japan’s East Asian mixed reputation. ... It is ... plainly obvious that Japan’s public diplomacy suffers from the lack of a CNN International or BBC-like global media presence. The Prime Minister’s Office recently opened an Office of Global Communications to strengthen its presence with international media and to reestablish the credibility of the Japan brand. But a closed society image persists. Japan’s government policies favor ethnic homogeneity to maintain social order over a more open immigrant policy. If you add in the fact that Japanese is not a global language either in business or diplomacy, then you have a recipe for a more sluggish soft power nation. ... The Japan Foundation is celebrating its 40th anniversary. Some, but not all of its staff, prefer a more human touch and less statist trytouch approach to cultural diplomacy, what might be called “The Personal (Kizuna) is Public Diplomacy.” Image from entry

Country’s fall from grace is greatly exaggerated - williamchislett.com: "Governments since the end of the Franco dictatorship in 1975 have successfully 'sold' abroad the smooth transition to democracy, but little of the other changes that have taken place. As a result, the old stereotypes of a country of fiesta and siesta have re-emerged with a vengeance.

José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, who was prime minister from 2004 to 2011, aimed to correct the negative image by creating a public diplomacy commission in 2009 – along the lines of other countries, such as the UK and Germany, which have successfully re-branded themselves- but it failed to take off. One problem is that Spain needs to speak with one voice. However, its 17 autonomous regions pull in different directions and create confusion abroad." Chislett image from his blof

Euro 2012: A Hard Power Tool of Sports Diplomacy? - Alex Laverty, PD News–CPD Blog, USC Center on Public Diplomacy: "The use of sports for achieving political purposes and strengthening diplomacy between nations seems to be waning since the fall of the Berlin wall. However, the Euro 2012 will be a good indicator on how viable the coercive aspect of sports diplomacy is in the 21st century."

Ediplomacy: A powerful supplement - lowyinterpreter.org: "There seems to be a perception in some areas that social media is a replacement for public diplomacy, and a related view that just having a Facebook page or Twitter feed means you're all done and dusted, no strategy or work needed. Anyone who holds those views is likely to be very disappointed. Murrow's emphasis on the 'last three feet' is as relevant today as it was back in the pre-social media world. ... Social media can certainly help reach the influential, but it is also one of the best tools embassies have ever had to speak directly and daily to a wider audience. Social media certainly has its limits, but the reaction of governments around the world to the Arab uprisings, particularly the sharp ramp-up in filtering and monitoring of these tools, suggests they at least see them as powerful platforms. And while not everyone uses social media, reach through these platforms is pretty staggering. There are now over 900 million active monthly users on Facebook. And while most of the world does not yet have smart phones, that is rapidly changing as costs decline. ... [T] hese tools are only a supplement, not a replacement for diplomacy."

Annenberg Press achieves major milestone early; accepted for indexing by Thomson Reuters - Jackson DeMos, blog.uscannenberg.org: "Annenberg Press publishes  .... Information Technologies and International Development (ITID), founded by USC Annenberg Dean Ernest J. Wilson III and co-edited by Wilson, USC Annenberg professor François Bar and Georgia Tech’sMichael L. Best; Media, War and Conflict, co-edited by USC Annenberg professor and director of the Center on Public Diplomacy Philip Seib; and The Image of the Journalist in Popular Culture Journal (IJPC), run by co-founding editor Joe Saltzman, a USC Annenberg journalism professor. cWhat do the four publications have in common? ‘Their standards are all extremely high. The editors are some of the most renowned scholars in the world. And each journal is absolutely unique in its field,’ Luck says. Annenberg Press also supports PD Magazine, a print and online journal run entirely by students interested in public diplomacy. ‘The key to communication in the 21st century is convergence, and the quality publications of the USC Annenberg Press reflect that fact,’ says Jerry Edling, the magazine’s editor-in-chief and a public diplomacy master’s candidate. ‘PD Magazine, which is squarely in the cross-currents of communication and international relations, is honored and proud to be among them.’”

[SSJ: 7513] [Temple ICAS Event] 10 July 2012 "Japan's International Relations and the Politics of 3/11" - ssj.iss.u-tokyo.ac.jp:v "MARK J. DAVIDSON [:] Minister-Counselor for Public Affairs United States Embassy, Tokyo, Japan *Mark Davidson has served as U.S. Embassy Tokyo's Minister-Counselor for Public Affairs since March 2012. A career Senior Foreign Service Officer, he leads the U.S Government's largest array of media, information, cultural, and educational programs in the East Asia-Pacific region. Mr. Davidson has spent more than half of his career working in or on East Asia. His previous diplomatic tours in Japan include Cultural Affairs Officer in Tokyo (2002-06), Public Affairs Officer at Consulate General Sapporo (1993-96), and Deputy Director of the Tokyo American Center (1991-92). In Washington, he has been Senior Advisor in the Bureau of East Asia and Pacific Affairs, Public Diplomacy Desk Officer for Japan and Korea, and Special Advisor for Asian Affairs to the House of Representatives International Relations Committee and Rep. Lee Hamilton (D-IN). Other Washington positions include Director of Global Policy, Planning, and Resources for Public Diplomacy; Director of White House and Military Liaison for Public Diplomacy; Deputy Chief of Staff to the Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs; and Director of International Information Programs for the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia."

RELATED ITEMS

Obama’s ‘kill list’ is unchecked presidential power - Katrina vanden Heuvel, Washington Post: A stunning report in the New York Times depicted President Obama poring over the equivalent of terrorist baseball cards, deciding who on a “kill list” would be targeted for elimination by drone attack. The revelations — as well as those in Daniel Klaidman’s recent book — sparked public outrage and calls for congressional inquiry. The problem isn’t the leaks, it’s the policy. It’s the assertion of a presidential prerogative that the administration can target for death people it decides are terrorists — even American citizens anywhere in the world, at any time, on secret evidence with no review. Most Americans support the drones — after all they’re going after terrorists. But the administration is claiming the right to charge, try and execute an American citizen without a hearing or a trial and conviction. The Constitution, Attorney General Holder argues, “guarantees due process, not judicial process.” But once more, this tramples the entire framework of the Bill of Rights, which was devised to limit the power of the state to lock up political dissenters without an independent tribunal.

Bad judgment on Guantanamo: The Supreme Court, in refusing to review a lower court's rulings limiting the rights of detainees, abdicates its responsibility - latimes.com: Four years ago, the Supreme Court did its duty as a guardian of the Constitution by ruling that Congress couldn't prevent inmates at Guantanamo Bay from filing petitions for habeas corpus, a venerable feature of Anglo-American law that allows prisoners to challenge their confinement in court. This week, the justices walked away from that responsibility by refusing to review lower court rulings that have narrowed the protections of its 2008 decision to the vanishing point. More than three years after President Obama promised to close Guantanamo, the facility remains in operation, with a population of 169 (down from nearly 800). Beginning in 2004, the Supreme Court has ordered Congress and the presidency to provide due process to inmates, Americans and foreigners alike, yet progress toward that objective has been sluggish and grudging. The result is justice deferred for inmates and a continued embarrassment for the United States.

NATO’s lost lessons from Libya - Marc Garlasco, Washington Post: The action in Libya was launched for principled ends, succeeded in protecting Libyans from Moammar Gaddafi’s atrocities and did so while causing very few civilian casualties. Still, NATO is wrong to say it does not have to investigate civilian casualties.

The Americas' watchdog: Independence is key to the continued human rights success of the IACHR, and the Western Hemisphere's nations should rally to protect the OAS-created body - Editorial, The commission's powers have remained unchanged for more than 50 years for good reason. Its independence is its strength.

Hollywood gripped by pressure system from China: To appease China and gain access to moviegoers and financing, movies include positive references to the nation (no Chinese villains!) and face censorship - Steven Zeitchik and Jonathan Landreth, latimes.com: references to the Middle Kingdom are popping up with remarkable frequency in movies these days. Some are conspicuously flattering or gratuitous additions designed to satisfy Chinese business partners and court audiences in the largest moviegoing market outside the U.S. Others, filmmakers say, are simply organic reflections of the fact that China is a rising political, economic and cultural power. Meanwhile, Chinese bad guys are vanishing — literally. Western studios are increasingly inclined to excise potentially negative references to China in the hope that the films can pass muster with Chinese censors and land one of several dozen coveted annual revenue-sharing import quota slots in Chinese cinemas. MGM, the studio behind the remake of the 1984 movie "Red Dawn," last year digitally altered the invaders attacking the U.S. to make them North Koreans instead of Chinese, as originally shot.

I Think, Therefore I Yam: When farmland is scarce, will we all eat roots and tubers? - Will Oremus, Slate: Today about 1 billion people “eat like Westerners,” in the words of University of California-Berkeley resource economist David Zilberman. That means, basically, that they wolf down historically unprecedented quantities of meat and dairy—getting up to half their calories from animals rather than plants. Meat consumption appears to be reaching a plateau in the United States and Europe, but it’s only now taking off in many poorer parts of the world.

Image from article, with caption: A farmer holds up a bunch of cassava roots, dug up from his farm in Osogbo, in Osun State on Aug. 26, 2010.

AMERICANA

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