June 16

"America is formed for happiness, but not for empire."

--Andrew Burnaby, British clergyman, in Burnaby's Travels Through North America, 1775; image from

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PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

The Margins of Time; Public Diplomacy, Two Straws - Paul Rockower, Levantine: "Perhaps the hallmark of American gastronomy and gastrodiplomacy is the diner. Nothing gives a more iconic and tangible taste of Americana than the diner.

I would turn American Corners [link -- JB] into a diplomatic Sock Hop. Greasy spoon gastrodiplomacy. A cultural diplomacy diner with the jukebox on, while the ambassador is slinging hashbrowns, the PAO [Public Affairs Officer - JB] flipping pancakes and the CAO [Cultural Affairs Officer - JB] making milkshakes." Image from

Why senior BBG executives take extended European vacations while important business on Capitol Hill needs attention? - BBGWatcher, USG Broadcasts/BBG Watcher: "Why are senior BBG executives taking extended European vacations while important agency business on Capitol Hill needs attention? — is our first question in BBG Watch’s new 'Just Asking' feature. The surprising answer is: it may not be a bad thing. It seems that the BBG meeting in Prague gave some senior BBG officials an opportunity to take a few weeks of vacation in Europe afterwards. Does that mean that BBG staff’s plans to get Congress to modify the Smith-Mundt Act and to get approval for a CEO position that would not require a Senate confirmation are dead? We hope so. These actions, if successful, would diminish transparency, accountability and public and Congressional scrutiny. We’ve heard reports that following some kind of a directive from the Board in January to pursue the creation of a CEO position via legislation that would eliminate the requirement that the person selected for the job be nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate — thus limiting Congressional and public oversight — the BBG senior executive team identified 'a short-fuse opportunity' to include this proposal in a 'legislative vehicle' that is about to move through the House, a foreign affairs bill expected to pass both houses of Congress in some form. We were told that the House Foreign Affairs Committee staff is looking at the legislation now. We are wondering who on the BBG senior executive staff is now looking after this really bad piece of legislation on Capitol Hill? What is the status of the International Broadcasting Innovation Act? We were also told that prior to the start of the vacation season, BBG Public Relations and the General Counsel’s office worked with the office of Rep. Mac Thornberry on his proposal to ease the legal restrictions on domestic dissemination of materials produced with public diplomacy funding — known as the Smith-Mundt Act. We learned that the BBG executive staff has been working on this project and coordinating it with the State Department for nearly two years. They could not have done a worse job. BBG executives gave the Board an glowingly optimistic report: Their activities picked up in April as Mr. Thornberry finalized the bill. The amendment was attached to legislation that passed the House in May. Were BBG Governors told in any detail about a firestorm of media and other public protests over this proposal? Were they informed, we wonder, that the version of the defense appropriations bill that passed through markup in the Senate Armed Services Committee DID NOT include an amendment to 'strike the current ban on domestic dissemination' of propaganda? Buzz Feed quoted Glen Caplin, Communications Director for

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D – NY), who is a member of the committee: 'Senator Gillibrand is hopeful this troubling language will remain out of the Senate bill and stripped out in conference committee when the House and Senate bills are reconciled,' Caplin said. [BuzzFeed – Senate Bill Drops “Propaganda” Amendment.] BBG Governors were apparently only told that one of them has led the effort in contacts with the Senate, which is now considering the legislation. Does the BBG’s International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) senior executive staff perhaps have a tendency to keep bad news from reaching BBG Governors? Let’s hope BBG members read the papers and surf the web." Gillibrand image from

Move to change propaganda laws opens up Cold War argument – Anne Sorock, legalinsurrection.org: “An old Cold War argument has been resurrected with the news that an amendment allowing U.S. propaganda to be broadcast within our borders has been passed out of the house along with the Defense Authorization Act. Should the State Department be authorized to allow its propaganda to be broadcast to us in the U.S.? Or, should we maintain the separation barring U.S. propaganda produced for foreign audiences from being broadcast in the U.S.? Representatives Mac Thornberry (R-TX) and Adam Smith (D-WA) in their ‘The Smith-Mundt Modernization Act of 2012’ (H.R. 5736), suggest the former–that it is time to free up the authority to broadcast U.S.-produced foreign propaganda in the U.S. Their bill was included as amendment 114 to the Defense Authorization Act and passed out of the House on Friday, May 18. It would amend two existing acts: the Smith-Mundt Act of 1948 and the Foreign Relations Authorization Act (1987). The Smith-Mundt Act of 1948 provides for the terms of public diplomacy (non-military) by authorizing the State Department to communicate with foreign audiences through a variety of means, from broadcast to publishing of books, media, and online sources of information. Its original supporters argued that it was needed during the Cold War in order to combat Soviet propaganda. In the 1990s, the mission took on the form of the Broadcasting Board of Governors. In 1972, it was amended to prohibit domestic access to the information that was intended for foreign audiences. The text of the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act (2012) provides: [']Sec. 501. (a) The Secretary and the Broadcasting Board of Governors are authorized to use funds appropriated or otherwise made available for public diplomacy information programs to provide for the preparation, dissemination, and use of information intended for foreign audiences abroad about the United States, its people, and its policies, through press, publications, radio, motion pictures, the Internet, and other information media, including social media, and through information centers, instructors, and other direct or indirect means of communication. (b)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the Secretary and the Broadcasting Board of Governors may, upon request and reimbursement of the reasonable costs incurred in fulfilling such a request, make available, in the United States, motion pictures, films, video, audio, and other materials prepared for dissemination abroad or disseminated abroad. ['] A press release from Representative Thornberry stresses the need to modernize the law: 'We continue to face a multitude of threats and we need to be able to counter them in a multitude of ways.

Communication is among the most important,' said Rep. Thornberry.  'This outdated law ties the hands of America’s diplomatic officials, military, and others by inhibiting our ability to effectively communicate in a credible and transparent way. Congress has a responsibility to fix the situation,' Thornberry said. 'While the Smith-Mundt Act of 1948 was developed to counter communism during the Cold War, it is outdated for the conflicts of today.' Because the amendment was attached to the Defense Authorization Act, it didn’t garner much attention. Michael Hastings at Buzzfeed writes: [']The new law would give sweeping powers to the State Department and Pentagon to push television, radio, newspaper, and social media onto the U.S. public.['] 'It removes the protection for Americans,’ says a Pentagon official who is concerned about the law. ‘It removes oversight from the people who want to put out this information. There are no checks and balances. No one knows if the information is accurate, partially accurate, or entirely false.' Historically, there were concerns about the powers it the Smith-Mundt Act originally provided the federal government, especially in times of peace. According to the book The Voice of America and the Domestic Propaganda Battles, 1945-1953: ['] Underlying Truman’s actions was the liberal proposition that the federal government could promote peace and correct misunderstandings about the United States by disseminating 'full and fair' information to foreign publics… . Truman’s executive order challenged the argument that propaganda was required only during war. ['] From the conservative point of view, liberal Democrats had spread, at great financial cost, the powers and responsibilities of the federal government into areas in which it had no prerogative, and the VOA was just another exa[...]mple of this encroachments. And, take a look at the Broadcasting Board of Governors website. There is an error in their mission statement. While it may seem insignificant, if they’re in charge of communicating, among other things, American values, they ought to be more specific:  [']To inform, engage, and connect people around the world in support of freedom and democracy. ['] As we have seen with the Occupy protesters, who are calling for 'democracy,' there is a world of difference between democracy and representative republic. But Matt Armstrong at MountainRunner argues that Smith-Mundt 'creates and encourages opposing views in how we operate and organize.' Would you like to have greater access to U.S.-produced foreign propaganda, or does that allow the federal government powers it ought not have?” Image from: "Smith-Mundt, an Infographic" – Candance Ren, rensmicrodiplomacy, with comment: "I sampled the press coverage related to Smith-Mundt from the last few weeks to visualize the most common vocabulary used when discussing this issue. Surprise – 'propaganda' is a prominent feature."

Images: A matter of Perspective - To Inform is to Influence: IO, SC, PD, what's in a name?:  "The same image, here presented three different ways, can present three entirely different stories. The original in the middle seems to portray a US soldier or Marine giving water to a soldier from another country while being 'covered' (for security) by another soldier.  It is unclear to me where the photo is from but it appears to be over ten years old.  What appears to be 'US soldiers' are wearing BDUs or Battle Dress Uniforms, which were phased out about ten years ago. One of the 'soldiers' is wearing a gortex jacket, a desert camo helmet cover and an NVG mount on his helmet.  The soldier holding the rifle has either a laser designator or a 'scope' of some type, but it is not mounted on a piccatiny rail system or on the carrying handle on the M-16, and not even an M-4 carbine.

Now, let’s look at the other two pictures. The one on the left could be judged anti-US, the soldier has his M-16 pointed at the 'prisoner's ['] head. The canteen with the water cannot be seen. Here we clearly can say pointing the rifle at the other soldier’s head is an aggressive action. The one on the right shows a ‘US soldier’ giving aid (water) to a soldier in a foreign uniform. The rifle pointing at the soldier’s head cannot be seen. This is a good example of how the same photo can be clipped to show a different message. There is nothing illegal or immoral about this, but it does show manipulation of the truth. So what? In many cases pictures speak more powerfully than words, but, like the words we use, they can be manipulated and only selective elements of the truth might be presented. Question everything, don’t allow yourself to be blindly manipulated, seek the truth, the whole story behind the picture. When presenting the truth, to build long term trust, present the whole and complete story. Attempt to show the whole truth."

Examining Current Industry Trends – as compiled by U.S. Travel Outlook - Press release, bellingham.org: “In this period of slow growth, promotion of the U.S. around the world is more important than ever. During the 29th annual National Travel and Tourism Week (May 4-12, 2012), the Obama Administration announced its National Travel and Tourism Strategy. The strategy is a Department of Commerce and Interior led effort to outline a long-term plan for increasing both domestic and international tourism. This is a blueprint for the Federal government to reach the goal of attracting 100 million international visitors, who will bring an estimated $250 billion, annually by the end of 2021 to the U.S. economy. According to Roger Dow, CEO of the U.S. Travel Association, ‘This important step officially elevates the travel industry to what it should be: a national priority. It also recognizes the industry for its fundamental contribution to our economy, national security and public diplomacy. In the wake of the GSA scandal, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget has proposed cutting travel budgets for government agencies by 30 percent every year through 2016, which is 10 percent deeper than previously ordered cuts. The directive comes a few weeks after the U.S. House and Senate passed separate bills to cut and freeze for the next five years some federal travel and meeting spending. In a June 1, 2012 letter to the industry, U.S. Travel’s CEO, Roger Dow, warned that cutbacks on government travel continue to present a threat to the industry and reviewed current developments. He outlined a number of U.S. efforts actions to lead the fight against overly restrictive policies on travel.’”

China’s Foreign Policy: Continuity and Change - Aoyama Rum, nippon.com: "The changes in the international environment China confronts did ... force it to make some minor adjustments to its foreign policy. Chinese-US relations are becoming increasingly confrontational, and as it grows aware of the increasing backlash against its expanding global presence, China has redoubled its efforts in the area of public diplomacy. ... While working to avoid diplomatic friction, China is strengthening economic cooperation with a large number of regions and countries and exercising leadership on hot-button international issues and at multinational forums as it works to enhance its global influence.

To achieve this goal, in recent years the Chinese government has focused on the diplomatic policy issues of national sovereignty, security, economic cooperation, public diplomacy, and the protection of overseas Chinese companies and citizens. ... Groups that have not previously been involved in important foreign policy matters have also begun to express their desire to be included. For example Yin Hong, deputy administrator of the State Forest Administration and a national CPPCC member, has asked for the forestry industry to be included as a target of Chinese foreign aid, asserting that it can contribute to China’s national image and its public diplomacy." Image from article

Ten ways lobbyists can help Israel - Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi - azjewishpost.com: "It’s time for pro-Israel leaders, organizations and activists to ask themselves not only, 'are we doing things right?' but also 'are we doing the right things?' Sadly, many pro-Israel groups and leaders are focused on the wrong things. Thus, here are some ideas for what American leaders, non-profits and philanthropists can do to help Israel. ... 3. We must support America having a more robust public diplomacy effort in Arabic. It’s not enough just to end the negative material about America and Israel that is being disseminated in Arabic. It must be replaced with factual, three-dimensional positive information that can model the ways in which coexistence and cooperation can help promote, create and secure good jobs and a better future for Arabs. For example, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton went to Morocco recently and led a fabulous program on how to create jobs and economic success. Tragically, the program was not posted online in Arabic and made accessible to the millions on the 'Arab Street' who are on Facebook every day. American taxpayers made the investment of hosting a great conference that was attended by hundreds. For those there on the ground there was simultaneous translation into Arabic of Clinton’s excellent remarks. The King of Morocco spoke in Arabic. But if you google the event in Arabic, you can’t find it, because the U.S. Department of State only posted it under an English title and with the English soundtrack. Thus, a program that could have had the force multiplier of millions of Arab viewers was only heard by those who were lucky enough to be in the room."

Students, Faculty and Alums join Mexican Amigos for Public Diplomacy and Civic Engagement program in Rosarito, Baja Mexico - bajatimes.com: "At the beginning of May 2012, students, faculty and alums of Emerson College met with their counterparts in the beachside community of Rosarito, Mexico to commemorate the 5 year ongoing public diplomacy projects in the wake of the drug cartel crisis. Highlighting the visit was an Art festival by native Rosarito artist, David Silva, who visited and displayed his work in Boston at an Emerson student event last fall. The Emerson students included two Chinese students, who joined in the Chinese Baja Cultural Exchange, and served as Ambassadors of the festivities as invited by the San Diego Chinese Community. ... For more information visit www.rediscoverosarito.org"

Two Maine Students Named Inaugural CIEE and Mitchell Institute International Fellows - agriinfotv.com: "CIEE and The Mitchell Institute are proud to announce the winners of the inaugural CIEE and Mitchell Institute 2012 International Fellowships: Amanda Hall of Farmington, Maine, and Spencer Traylor of Brownville, Maine. In the next few weeks, Hall, a Yale University rising junior majoring in American Studies, will travel to Belfast, Ireland, and Traylor, a Colby College rising sophomore with an interest in Middle Eastern Studies, will travel to Amman, Jordan. Both students will participate in the unprecedented opportunity of examining firsthand the public diplomacy and peace process in two of the worlds most contentious regions. As CIEE and Mitchell Institute Fellows, Hall and Traylor will study the elements of conflict resolution and international peace efforts by meeting with local experts and government officials, attending lectures, exploring local communities and culture, and engaging with faculty participants of special CIEE International Faculty Development Seminars. Few skills are as important to our world today as the ability to bridge cultural gaps, increase understanding, and foster mutual respect, and these fellows will gain hands-on global experience that will aid them in meeting their future academic, career, and personal goals. ... About CIEE [:] Established in 1947, CIEE is the world leader in international exchange. For 65 years, CIEE has helped thousands of students, professionals, and educators gain the knowledge and skills necessary to live and work in a globally independent and culturally diverse world by offering the most comprehensive, relevant, and valuable exchange programs available.

About The Mitchell Institute [:] Since 1996, The Mitchell Institute, Maines premier foundation promoting access to higher education and research, has created scholarship and grant programs that recognize Maine[']s best and brightest students." Image from

Leaks aren’t the problem. We need more disclosure, not less - P.J. Crowley, Washington Post: "National security media elites ... have rich relationships with current and former government officials. If there is information they need, they know who has it, along with that person’s e-mail address or phone number. That’s how 'leaks' — disclosures of details about ongoing operations — happen. ... Leaks happen for all kinds of reasons: altruistic, bureaucratic, personal and political. ... Leaks can harm and support a functioning democracy at the same time. ... The intelligence committees are suggesting that we should say less. But there is a strong argument that we must communicate more. ... The real problem is not ... spiking the ball, but about pretending to hide it — in plain sight. P.J. Crowley served as assistant secretary of state for public affairs in the Obama administration from 2009 to 2011. He is a fellow at the Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication at George Washington University."

‘Real-Time Diplomacy’ by Philip Seib, explores diplomacy in the social media age, Arab uprisings - Jim Landers, "The Obama administration was not ready for the Arab uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt. This disturbed Philip Seib, a professor of journalism and public diplomacy at the University of Southern California, and seems to be the reason he wrote this book. 'Policymakers cannot be mere spectators. Stunned surprise is an inadequate response to transformative events, and yet that is what we saw from the United States and other major powers as events in the Arab world unfolded,' he writes in the early pages of Real-Time Diplomacy. Seib ... argues that the reason for the lagging response was a failure to appreciate the importance of social media in modern politics. Twitter, Facebook, Google, YouTube and like Internet sites in the Arab world captured atrocities, inflamed public opinion and emboldened people to act.

They galvanized discontent. Traditional diplomacy, where exchanges occur in foreign ministries, was left behind. This seemed more startling a year ago than it does today. Politics in the Arab world is retrenching. Egypt’s presidential election, with its final two candidates championing Islam and public order, doesn’t seem to bode well for democracy. Uprisings in Libya, Yemen, Bahrain and Syria have been answered by mass bloodletting and repression. One important aspect of the earliest uprisings — spreading the images that inflamed publics abroad — has had mixed results in these later conflicts. It is difficult to draw conclusions about public diplomacy and social media in this post-euphoric period. Seib, in what is really a textbook more than a work of analytic history, is often reduced to truisms. Diplomats should realize Islam is critically important; force trumps fervor; direct personal contact supersedes social media as a diplomatic tool; and communications in this new era are not going to be totally secure. The best section of this short text is Seib’s look back at diplomacy as media accelerated." Seib image from

RELATED ITEMS

The problem drones don't solve: Technology has improved since Vietnam and Cambodia. But we still can't bomb our way to victory - Terry McDermott, latimes.com: We live in an age when American might can overwhelm the defenses of entire countries with barely a drop of American blood spent. It is, in a way, too easy. Because there is so little risk, there is no political cost to be paid for the drone wars. Presidents Bush and Obama could deploy drones by the dozens with the certain knowledge it would do nothing but enhance their political causes. Radical Islam is a cult within the larger body of the religion. It is not going to be defeated with bombs or bullets.

It must be attacked and rooted out from within Islam, at the village and mosque level. Our main role in this fight is to embolden the Muslim majority to rally against the radicals. Right now, we're harming that goal more than helping. Image from article, with caption: American technology -- B-52s in the past, drones now -- makes it far too easy to unleash holy hell on our enemies.

Negotiating a nuclear bomb - Ray Takeyh, Washington Post: The United States and its allies must impose serious curbs on Iran’s nuclear ambitions. This implies that Iran cannot maintain enriched uranium and must export all of its accumulated stock for reprocessing abroad. There must similarly be significant restriction on not just the number but also the type of centrifuges that Iran operates. In essence, Iran cannot be permitted to upgrade its centrifuges beyond its IR-1 machines, which are primitive by today’s standards. As a price for such an accord, Iran has to abide by all U.N. Security Council resolutions and come clean about all its weaponization activities.

Pressing Egypt on democratic change - Editorial Board, Washington Post: The administration must now be clear in its public and private communications to Cairo: If the democratic process is not restored, U.S. relations with the Egyptian military will be ruptured. See also.

The Houla Massacre Redux - John Rosenthal - nationalreview.com:  “In their “Assad’s Houla Propaganda,” responding to my recent NRO post on the Houla massacre, Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi and Phillip Smyth fail ... to address  ... that religious minorities are in fact being threatened and persecuted in rebel-controlled territories and that as Christian missionaries they are bound to be concerned by this?”

What Is Meant By “The Land Of Israel” Today? The Hasbara, Stupid Propaganda For People Who Don’t Check - First, find out what isn't true… : talknic.wordpress.com: “How many times have you heard the expression 'the Land of Israel' referring to Israel today? They’re weasel words, without any meaning in the eyes of the Laws and UN Charter Israel obliged itself to uphold. Israel was '… proclaimed as an independent republic within frontiers approved by the General Assembly of the United Nations in its Resolution of November 29, 1947' … to … ' become effective at one minute after six o’clock on the evening of 14 May 1948, Washington time' It was recognized as such by the USA within minutes. Put quite simply, the 'Land of Israel' is territory sovereign to the State of Israel. The acquisition of territory by war is illegal and [...] as Israel has never legally annexed any territory, the ‘Land of Israel’ is the same as it was when Israel was recognized as the Jewish people’s homeland state in 1948. I.e., before being admitted to the UN and before Israel officially claimed on the 31st Aug 1949, territory it had previously stated was “outside the State of Israel”. It’s [sic] claim was rebuffed."

Go, Fight, but Don’t Win! - Clemens Wergin, New York Times: Re the soccer world cup: "The painful fact is that a German victory over the rest of Europe would strengthen a notion that many Europeans harbor already: that the Continent is ruled by a new regional superpower."

Image from. See also.

AMERICANA

Harley-Davidson Museum celebrates the black leather jacket - Laura Bly, USA Today:  It started out as practical protection against the elements for early 20th century pilots and "horseless carriage" drivers. But by the time bad boy Marlon Brando modeled one in the 1954 biker classic The Wild One, the black leather jacket had become the ultimate symbol of outlaw cool. That evolution is chronicled in "Worn to be Wild: The Black Leather Jacket," a new exhibit that opens today at Milwaukee's Harley-Davidson Museum. Curators gathered more than 60 jackets from such celebrated models as Elvis Presley (who bought his at J.P. Penney) and Arnold Schwarzenegger (the XL version on display is among two dozen he wore during 1991's Terminator 2: Judgment Day).

IMAGE

--A royal (slightly shopped) view of Kilchurn Castle in Scotland. Via Fancy. Via FW on Facebook