June 7-9

(ABBREVIATED EDITION)

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PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Culture Posts: A New Frame - The U.S. Public Diplomacy Act of 2014 - R.S. Zaharna, PD News–CPD Blog, USC Center on Public Diplomacy: "The very name of the bill – the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act of 2012 – resonates strongly and positively with future orientation that has long been a prized American value. Anthropologists have documented it. American politicians have catered to it. And, American immigrants who left the 'old country' behind have embraced it. As a young nation, vision meant looking forward to the quest for the new, the improved, the opportunity for change, or the challenge of innovation. While there may be the tinge for nostalgia here and there, the appeal for Change and Hope (of the future) tend to triumph. So, in the one corner, there is the appeal of future orientation. This explains the 'history lessons' about Smith-Mundt as well as the references to 'modern', 'advanced' communication technologies and the need to 'update' or 'modernize' the 'obsolete' or 'outdated' 'decades-old' 1948 bill. On the other corner is an even stronger American value orientation: individual freedom. If one peels back the language about ‘propaganda’ it is about the fear of a loss of individual freedom and autonomy. The government will ‘take control,’ the public will be ‘vulnerable’ or ‘fall prey’ to ‘brain washing’ and other powerful forms of control. If one looks closely, propaganda is often linked to an authoritarian or totalitarian regime, as was the case of the Thornberry press release. The anti-authoritarian appeal goes back to the American colonists and their rebellion against the King. Propaganda is also associated with deception, or more bluntly, lying by the authorities. Deliberate deception on the part of the government? Heaven forbid. America’s Founding Fathers built ‘checks and balances’ into the foundation of the U.S. government structure. And lest the government forget its place, there are ‘the people’ and of course, the ‘watch dog’ press. While U.S. public diplomacy may be okay for ‘foreign’ publics – including specifically targeting the youth of other countries, to expose the U.S. public to U.S. public diplomacy is a call to arms.  ... The Smith-Mundt debate Illustrates how unexplored historical and cultural dynamics can have direct policy implications in public diplomacy. So long as the debate remains framed as a battle against two iconic cultural values – the appeal of the future versus the threat to individualism – the legislation may struggle." Below Zaharna image from

Culture Posts: A New Frame - The U.S. Public Diplomacy Act of 2014 - R.S. Zaharna, PD News–CPD Blog, USC Center on Public Diplomacy: "U.S. public diplomacy needs not just a new amendment, it needs a new mindset. With that mindset lays the promises of a new U.S. Public Diplomacy Act. The first feature of the new mindset and goal of the U.S. Public Diplomacy Act is to think globally. ... With today’s advanced communication technologies, there is no longer a domestic public or even truly foreign publics; but rather one global public. What one hears; they all hear albeit differently. The challenge is not how to separate the two; but how to speak to so many simultaneously. ... A second feature of the new mindset and goal of the U.S. Public Diplomacy Act is monitoring and transparency. ... First, for those who worry about U.S. government takeover of the American people, unfettered access to U.S. public diplomacy is exactly what’s needed to monitor it and make sure it doesn’t get out of control. Helle Dale of the Heritage Foundation picked up on this point early. It needs underscoring. Second, U.S. public diplomacy could benefit from domestic feedback, especially from one as ethnically diverse as the American public. ... A third feature of the new mindset and goal of the U.S. Public Diplomacy Act is moving from the old public diplomacy to the new public diplomacy. Once upon a time it was enough to craft messages and shoot them into stationary target audiences. It worked once. It doesn’t now. Governments are no longer the only players competing against each other. And radical activists rarely play by the rules. Soft power is transforming into what Anne Marie Slaughter called 'collaborative power.' Public diplomacy is becoming more networked, more collaborative public diplomacy. To be effective or even stand a chance in such a dynamic communication arena U.S. public diplomacy needs an expanded vision beyond its official itself. The U.S. public needs a voice in the conversation that is U.S. public diplomacy. ... More than ever, the U.S. public needs effective U.S. public diplomacy. And, more than ever, U.S. public diplomacy needs the U.S. public. Rather than competing against each other, both can embrace the challenge of change and innovation in a new U.S. Public Diplomacy Act of 2014. That is, if it can be achieved sooner."

Reagan’s View of Democracy Remains Valid - Philip Seib, PD News–CPD Blog, USC Center on Public Diplomacy: "Today, the United States sometimes seems uncertain about what it stands for and what example it wants to set, particularly for those emerging from many years of grinding repression. Reagan’s Westminster speech is instructive: 'We must be staunch in our conviction that freedom is not the sole prerogative of a lucky few, but the inalienable and universal right of all human beings….The objective I propose is quite simple to state: to foster the infrastructure of democracy, the system of a free press, unions, political parties, universities, which allows a people to choose their own way to develop their own culture, to reconcile their own differences through peaceful means.' If the United States is to make democracy the hallmark of its public diplomacy, Reagan’s words, and those of the former policy makers at his library’s conference, can provide a valuable foundation for those who seek to build a new political world."

"The BBG expands the reach of Voice of America" with affiliate deals in Bosnia, Indonesia, and Uganda - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting

BBG "upset" by VOA deal in Burma, orders cooperation between VOA and RFA - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting

RT (Russia Today) "most-watched foreign news channel in five key US markets" - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting - [Elliott comment:] "Why this apparent success for RT? There might be parallels here to CNN versus Fox and MSNBC. RT's competitors are merely news channels, whereas RT itself is edgier, appealing to a coalition of groups with motivations to view like-minded content. The RT coalition consists of the far left, the libertarian right, conspiracy theorists, UFO believers, adherents of the gold standard, and perhaps a few who want to meet Russian ladies."

Propaganda, Public Diplomacy, and the Most Watched Foreign News Channel ... -- John Brown, Notes and Essays: "Re the success of the Kremlin-sponsored Russia Today (RT) television in the US of A -- pointed out by Kim Andrew Elliott ... -- I would suspect that many of the quite clever and sophisticated RT propagandists are the cosmopolitan, multilingual, quite cynical sons and daughters of the now dying Red Cold War Russian upper bourgeoisie whose family privileges under the communist regime allowed them and their offsprings to travel/live abroad in style (by Soviet standards). These jeunesse dorée westernized Russian RT propagandists are, doubtless with an ironic smile on their perfumed faces, turning our putative USA's belief in free speech 'against' us, by suggesting all along that opinions expressed by Americans themselves on RT are mostly ignored by US mainstream media. It's the old 'surrogate' public-diplomacy game, used (with the most honorable of intentions, of course) by RFE/RL during the Cold War information circus ... May I note, hoping that my sense of humor will offend no one, that the Broadcasting Board of Governors consider hiring these russki impropergandists -- bright, young, savvy, English-speaking RT experts who would love to have a Madison Avenue PR job but who doubtless would settle working here in America for the USG's dinosaur-like international media outlets, if only to get out of Russia."

Russian "soft power" in Armenia - Yelena Osipova, Global Chaos: "I have written, on multiple occasions, about Russia's "soft power" (and hegemony) in its near abroad. The post I would suggest you go back and read, through, is one from more than two years ago. Clearly, having lived outside of Armenia for perhaps too long now, and having studied public diplomacy and ‘soft power’ a little, I cannot but read into instances of those, especially in the region. Things that many people would take for granted, look very peculiar (and sometimes amusing) to me. This billboard is the perfect example of that. It is in downtown Yerevan and I saw it last summer, when I was back, visiting. It was still there this year. What's so amusing about it? Well, firstly, it advertises an Armenian cognac (a product the country is very proud of) named ‘Kremlin Award’ (you can't even see the ‘Award’, so let's just call it ‘Kremlin’).

Perhaps more important, however, is that the line in the bottom reads, in Russian: ‘Reviving Imperial Traditions’. Coming from Armenians themselves, and given the context (whether historical, or the current military-political one), this is all too ironic. The most interesting fact is that it does not even seem to occur to many that there might be something wrong with this billboard, or such statements. Armenians are, after all, all too proud of their ‘special relationship’ with Russia, even if it's still semi-colonial one. Yet, arguably, there are some very good reasons for that. For those who are still in the dark about what soft power (or, I would argue, total hegemony) is, this is a case in point. The question is, how long will this billboard be there? To read more about the ‘Kremlin Award’ cognac itself, see here. Image from entry

“Screw Business as Usual” and the Rest of my Corporate Diplomacy Summer Reading List - Cari Guittard, PD News–CPD Blog, USC Center on Public Diplomacy: "Summertime is always an excellent time to reflect, recharge and catch up on the books you’ve been meaning to read for longer than you can remember.

My reading list this summer is longer than in years past due to the sheer volume of new work critical to those in the global engagement, corporate diplomacy and public diplomacy spheres." [Entry lists recommended books, including the one displayed above.]

RELATED ITEMS

Being realistic about Iran's nuclear program - Daniel Kadishson, latimes.com: On numerous occasions during the Cold War, Democrats and Republicans worked together to prevent countries from developing nuclear weapons; the situation with Iran calls for lawmakers once again to prioritize the nation over politics.

Image from article, with caption: In this 2007 file photo, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaks at Iran's nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz, 300 kilometers south of Tehran.

Corruption is still Tunisia's challenge: The nation's biggest problem isn't veiled women but graft and cronyism - Sarah Chayes, latimes.com: Many predict that if Tunisia does not use its remarkable post-revolutionary moment to impose accountability, then a frustrated people may truly radicalize, turning to militant, puritanical readings of Islam to afford a recourse the post-revolutionary democracy did not. Actions of Westerners — conscious or unconscious — matter. Our support for Arab nations in transition, our behavior as investors and visitors, should break with past habits of contributing to corruption.

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