August 7-8

"Why languish as a giantess, when it is so much fun to be a myth?"

--Towering, 6'2" American food writer Julia Childs; image from

NEW BOOK

William P. Kiehl, ed. The Last Three Feet: Case Studies in Public Diplomacy (Public Diplomacy Council Series) [Kindle Edition]

WHITE PAPER

The New Public Diplomacy Imperative By American Security Project - PRNewswire-USNewswire: "Today [August 7], the American Security Project released its report on the strategic necessity for strong American public diplomacy. The New Public Diplomacy Imperative examines many of the issues in contemporary public diplomacy, and recommends best practices for policy makers and public diplomacy practitioners. This white paper provides insight and guidance to strengthen the effectiveness of American messaging overseas."

NEW BLOG

ViewPoint: Dick Lobo On International Media - Broadcasting Board of Governors: "International Broadcasting Bureau Director Dick Lobo has launched a blog called 'ViewPoint' to share some opinions and ideas about international media. ... ViewPoint will share an insider’s view of 21st-Century challenges for the BBG’s global news gathering operation within a worldwide distribution network of radio, television, Internet and mobile platforms. It also will focus on the innovations, reforms and adaptations the BBG is making to meet its public diplomacy mission and contribute to U.S. national security." Via JF on Facebook

VIDEOS

(a) The Mayor of Rawanduz, Serwan Sereni, of the Kurdistan region of Iraq and American Voices Education Director Marc Thayer perform "Concerto for 2 Violins in D Minor," by J.S. Bach with the YES Academy Orchestra at the Gala performance; via PR on Facebook

(b) Madonna in Moscow [more on Madonna in Russia in below "Related Items"]

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY IN THE NEWS

Promoting Occidental Values And Objectives In Cyberspace - venitism.blogspot.com: "For Hillary Clinton, modernizing U.S. diplomacy is a strategic imperative. The widespread diffusion of technologies such as broadband Internet, social media and mobile phones requires updating policies and practices.

Connection technologies now increase our impact across the range of diplomatic activities, from public diplomacy to commercial outreach, from disaster response to democracy promotion. Clinton is promoting Occidental values and objectives in cyberspace." Image from entry

Time to think strategically about America's message - Matthew Wallin, thehill.com: "Fundamentally, public diplomacy needs to be about more than explaining American policies to the world, explaining American ideals or telling foreigners about how the United States is a great country. It needs to demonstrate to foreign publics that their concerns, desires, aspirations and opinions are relevant to America. Foreign publics need to be made partners, and experience action by the United States that indicates its understanding of their issues. America needs to deliver on its promises. To address this, America first and foremost needs to listen. ... Since the end of the Cold War, the U.S. has exercised neither coherent nor strategically minded communication with foreign publics. The world has changed, and American strategic messaging needs to reflect this change. Wallin is a policy analyst at the American Security Project and holds a master’s in public diplomacy from the University of Southern California."

Stopping the “Tet” Effect: Counters to the Insurgent’s Attack of Choice (Part 2) - Joshua Frey, PD News–CPD Blog, USC Center on Public Diplomacy: "Social media allows the government, military and public to become part of the information sharing, which also builds trust because it is a mutual action. Thus, the more the populace has a share in the information flow, the more credible the information will become. In future conflicts, the will of the civilian populace will likely remain a crucial center of gravity." Part 1 at

Reporter Attacked in Northern Mali - From the [VOA] Director: "On August 5th in the city of Gao, local reporter Malick Maiga, a regular contributor to VOA, was viciously beaten by armed men. The attackers burst into the studios of radio Adar Koima as Maiga was about to broadcast details of a demonstration that prevented Islamists from cutting off the hand of an alleged thief. Maiga, one of the very few independent journalists still reporting from Northern Mali, was beaten with rifle butts and stomped on until he passed out. The Voice of America condemns this vicious attack and urges an end to the targeting of journalists. The assault is another troubling sign of the lawlessness that has descended on Northern Mali." Via JT on Facebook

Confucius Institutes In America: Soft Power Or Propaganda? – Analysis - Narayani Basu, eurasiareview.com: "Since their launch in 2004, the Beijing-backed Confucius Institutes have been no strangers to controversy. While their defenders liken them to the Chinese equivalents of the Goethe Institute, the Alliance Francaise and the British Council, their critics have christened them fonts of espionage and propaganda – charges which, though salacious, are still unsubstantiated."

Brazil's African Flex - Paul Rockower, Levantine: "Brazil is starting to flex its economic muscles in Africa in aid and developmental diplomacy. The article also mentions some Brazilian academic exchange diplomacy to bring lusophone African students to Brazil: 'Other projects are intended to lure Africans to study in Brazil. A new university began offering classes last year for students from Portuguese-speaking countries, including Angola, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, and São Tomé and Principe.' I am still waiting to read more about more robust Brazilian cultural diplomacy to Africa, and a more active niche diplomacy role in sorting out some problems on the continent. Brazil has a considerable amount of soft power in Africa, but still I don't think it is doing enough to bring its pd clout to full potential."

Pierogie Diplomacy and other tidbits - Paul Rockower, Levantine: "It would really be some wonderful cultural diplomacy on Poland's part to help introduce its cuisine far and wide. I feel like Polish cuisine's heartiness could be popular in the South. I would introduce it as Central European soul food for its stick-to-your-ribs quality. ... I am quickly finding that New York is a gastrodiplomat's paradise. Maybe this is where i will set up my base of operations for the Gastrodiplomacy Institute. PS: The beauty of the @gastrodiplomacy twitter feed is that all sorts of people tweet me fascinating articles related to food, politics and international affairs."

Living the Brand: The Olympics and The Workplace - Felix Wetzel, People, Brands and Random Thoughts: "These Olympic Games are just wonderful. What strikes me most, is once again the impact that they have on individuals and nations. Now we all know about the positive internal impact, the new role models, and the pride in a nation and its performance that can bring a real uplift and increases the desire of the people of a nation to work together, to do better, and to move to the next plane. The national identity becomes alive and forms the social cohesion. It allows a nation to believe, to believe in their achievements, in a better future and in the knowledge that determination, concentration and creativity still can lead to success and that success doesn’t corrupt.

It also hopefully gets everybody to remember that they are ‘owners’ of this nation and to behave accordingly. As internal and external are intrinsically linked, the virtuous circle described above also influences the external perception. It influences what other people think about a nation, how they perceive it. I have mentioned in in several blog posts before, that public diplomacy – the person to person, citizen to citizen interaction – is the strongest form of diplomacy. The individual is the single most important brand ambassador. But it needs to be reinforced with every single act, watching Jessica Ennis, is not enough, it needs to be backed up by the next personal interaction. That is another reason why volunteers are such an invaluable part of the Olympic experience and the nation brand creation. The effectiveness of this public diplomacy depends on the level of pride, ownership and voluntary participation of the individual citizen towards his or her own nation brand, which is exactly what the Olympic Games are achieving in the UK." Image from entry

RELATED ITEMS

Syrian rebels feel abandoned, betrayed by U.S. - Liz Sly, Washington Post: America, once regarded by the Syrian opposition as a natural friend

in its struggle for greater freedoms against a regime long at odds with the West, increasingly is being viewed with suspicion and resentment for its failure to offer little more than verbal encouragement to the revolutionaries. Image from article, with caption: Fighting in Syria:  Violence escalates between government and opposition forces in the key Syrian cities of Aleppo and Damascus.

What the U.S. should do in Syria - Zalmay Khalilzad, Washington Post: The time has come for greater U.S. engagement in Syria. By forging a coalition of the relevant (a select group of like-minded countries that have significant leverage and influence in Syria), Washington can facilitate a political transition that ends the bloodshed, precludes an array of crises — from terrorism to proliferation of weapons of mass destruction — and lays the groundwork for a stable, democratic Syria.

Victims of Syrian propaganda‎ - Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed, Al-Arabiya: A significant variable of the on-going troubles in Syria, propaganda has been used by both President Assad’s regime and the rebel forces in order to gain support and achieve their goals. It would appear however that the former has been more successful in effectively using it. This is evident in the manner in which, despite failing to stop the uprising, the regime has managed to clench its reign for this long with the support of a well-executed propaganda strategy.

Al Arabiya, an instigator of Syria unrest: Analyst - presstv.com: A political analyst says the Saudi news channel, Al Arabiya is an instigator of the unrest in Syria due to its ties with insurgents in the latter country, Press TV reports. In an interview with Press TV on Sunday, Kamel Wazne commented on the reason the armed groups, which kidnapped 48 Iranian pilgrims in Syria, had issued a video footage of the Iranians to the Saudi-run channel. “They wanted to provide it to Al Arabiya because Al Arabiya is one of the instigators of what is taking place in Syria. It is part of the division that is taking place in Syria. It is part of the propaganda that is taking place in Syria and they think they can do a smear campaign against the Islamic Republic and against the Iranians,” he said.

Prime minister latest Syrian official to defect - Mona Alami, Yasemin Ergin, and Ruby Russell, USA Today: The defection Monday of Syria's prime minister will not slow a brutal military operation against the opponents of Bashar Assad but may expose Assad's propaganda about the uprising, experts and dissidents say. Prime Minister Riyad Hijab said he had defected with his family to Jordan, branding Assad a "terrorist" and swearing allegiance to the "dignified revolution" that began nearly 17 months ago.

Is the CIA using Syrian Propaganda to frame Iran? - Susanne Posel, posted at mysticpolitics.com: The CIA-controlled Free Syrian Army (FSA) are claiming they have captured 48 Iranian spies after the FSA received US intelligence that Iran had planted people in Syria on reconnaissance missions. Abdel Nasser al-Shumair, Commander of the al-Baraa Brigade for the Free Syrian Army, said, “This operation took action after we received intelligence information revealing that Iran has sent groups on a reconnaissance mission in Damascus. And after two months of investigations, we managed to capture some members of an Iranian revolutionary guards group.”

An Iranian official pointed out that the “revolution in Syria” is a false claim because the Syrian people are in support of their government and opposed to the FSA who have infiltrated their country and are carrying out missions in favor of the US and Israeli agenda to over-throw their government. Uncaptioned image from entry

Backfire in Bahrain - Editorial Board, Washington Post: Bahrain’s repression doesn’t approach the murderous violence used by the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad against its opponents. But many in the Middle East understandably wonder why the United States demands the removal of Mr. Assad, an ally of Iran whose Alawite sect is close to Shiism, while continuing to back a Sunni regime that represses its Shiite opposition. The administration’s answer is that it is not, like Bahrain’s neighbor Saudi Arabia, pursuing a sectarian agenda, but attempting to steer its ally toward peaceful reform. Yet U.S. policy, with its focus on encouraging moderates such as the crown prince, is clearly not working. What’s needed is not just support for Bahrain’s reformers but greater pressure on its hard-liners — especially those who are complicit in torture and other illegal acts.

Obama’s empty Asia pivot: Soft-power diplomacy needs military backing - Eddie Walsh, Washington Times: The United States cannot rely on soft-power diplomacy alone to promote our interests in Asia. We need to establish a strong forward presence in the region that sends the right signal to potential regional competitors that the U.S. is not going to allow others to challenge peace and stability in the region through coercive actions. This is not about containing others but it is about maintaining primacy. We should not shy away from saying that is our objective.

State Department Action: Azzam Abdullah Zureik Al-Maulid Al-Subhi Now a Specially Designated Global Terrorist - Peter van Buren, We Meant Well: After only ten years of careful memo writing, the Department officially struck its blow: it designated Azzam Abdullah Zureik Al-Maulid Al-Subhi (better known as Mansur al-Harbi) as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. What does it mean to now be a Specially Designated Global Terrorist?

Can you be shot on sight? Beaten to within an inch of your life by Hillary Clinton in dominatrix thigh boots (“Bill, Hils. I need those back. Yeah, yeah, I’ll get them cleaned first.”)? No. The actual meaning, according to the State Department itself, is “The designation blocks all of Mansur al-Harbi’s property interests subject to U.S. jurisdiction and prohibits U.S. persons from engaging in transactions with or for the benefit of al-Harbi. The action taken against this individual demonstrates the United States’ resolve in eliminating al-Qa’ida’s ability to execute violent attacks.” Image from entry

Madonna Offers Prayer For Pussy Riot - robertamsterdam.com:  Pop icon Madonna has become the latest musician to lend her support to imprisoned feminist punks Pussy Riot. Having described the girls’ potential imprisonment as a ‘tragedy’ in an interview with Reuters, at her Moscow concert last night, she paid tribute to the Putin critics, by writing the words Pussy Riot on her back and donning their signature balaclava in front of thousands of fans. The superstar, who in the 1980s famously danced in front of a burning cross and kissed a black Jesus in an affront to Catholic heterodoxy in her

video for ‘Like A Prayer’ also told the audience, ‘I mean no disrespect to the church or the government, but I think that these three girls — Masha, Katya, Nadya — have done something courageous, have paid the price for their act, and I pray for their freedom.’ Back in March the singer had also waded into Russian freedom of expression issues by stating that she would use the occasion of her St Petersburg concert to speak out against the city’s ‘gay propaganda’ law which has effectively criminalised all displays of homosexual behaviour. Now the U.S. Embassy has issued a warning that this event (at which displays of ‘gay propaganda’ are highly likely) could be marred by violence, perpetrated by those offended by the singer’s outré performance and political views. While Madonna exults fans to “express themselves," it is a sad reality that this may come at a high price. Image from entry

Artsakh Defense Ministry debunks Azeri “seized territory” myth - panarmenian.net: Azerbaijan’s recent propaganda suggesting Azeri forces seized strategically important territory

in the direction of Mrov mountain on July 27, with Armenian soldiers yielding themselves prisoners is just a myth, Artsakh Defense Ministry’s statement reads. Uncaptioned image from article

Never Ever Joke About North Korea's Olympics Team - John Hudson, theatlanticwire.com: In today's tour of state-sponsored propaganda, we survey the Olympics coverage from propaganda outlets around the world. The most important takeaway this morning? Never ever mock North Korea's Olympics team. MX, a tiny Australian newspaper, learned that lesson the hard way this morning after it published a joke in an infographic scoring each nation's medal count. Instead of using the traditional names of the two Koreas, it labeled the South "Nice Korea" and the North "Naughty Korea."

Shocking, right? Well, instead of ignoring it (this was published in a free city paper in Brisbane after all), North Korea's propaganda outlet KCNA responded with one of the most hysterical rebuttals imaginable: "The Australian newspaper Brisbane Metro behaved so sordid as to describe the DPRK as 'Naughty Korea' when carrying the news of London Olympics standings. This is a bullying act little short of insulting the Olympic spirit of solidarity, friendship and progress and politicizing sports ... The Brisbane Metro will remain as a symbol of [a] rogue paper for its misdeed to be cursed long in Olympic history. The infamy is the self-product of the naughty paper Brisbane Metro which dared challenge the spirit of Olympic, common desire and unanimous will of mankind." Whoa there! In deeming the Brisbane paper "naughty," North Korea has essentially adopted the rhetorical device: I'm not stupid, you're stupid. We shudder to think what might happen if an even more well known paper, say, Time Out Chicago, speak ill of the proud country. Image from entry

War Propaganda, Olympics-Style - Peter Hart, fair.org: NBC's Olympics broadcast last night included a profile of Grenadian runner Kirani James. The small island is peaceful now, viewers learned, thanks in no small part to Ronald Reagan's decision to invade. The U.S. invasion is described as an attempt to "put down an Communist coup and restore the Grenadian government"; the broadcast goes on to refer to the U.S. "liberation" of the country. In reality, the Grenada invasion was something very different. Before the internal coup that was the pretext for the invasion, the Reagan administration claimed that the left-wing government of Maurice Bishop was building an airport for Soviet fighter planes. They also claimed that U.S. citizens on the island were at risk. Media were barred from covering the early part of the Grenada invasion, so broadcasts were left airing Pentagon-supplied footage and, as is so often the case, parroting the claims of U.S. officials about the threat to national security posed by, among other things, Cuban soldiers in Grenada. As Robin Andersen detailed in her book about wartime propaganda Century of Media, A Century of War (excerpted in Extra!, 1-2/07), most of the claims made by the Reagan administration to justify the invasion were false. Americans were not in danger, and there was no secret Soviet military airport. But in NBC's propagandistic re-telling, Ronald Reagan saved a democracy.

War propaganda - Rev. Marty Troyer, blog.chron.com: Clearly our war propaganda

has evolved into such a fine tuned machine that the US military has folks who will do it for them for free! Image from article

1948 Olympics: Day 12: Communist propaganda of East European radio broadcasts - guardian.co.uk: While East European athletes excelled at the 1948 London Olympics, a leading article in the Manchester Guardian bemoaned the propagandist tendencies of the radio reports being broadcast by Russia's allies. Hungary's commentators described American wins as "arrogant and militant", while the Romanians called the International Olympic Committee "old men...and war criminals"

and accused Britain of covering up "all dirty aspects of these dirty sports competitions." Three years on from the second world war, the Cold War was already in full swing. Image from article, with caption: Radio commentators at Wembley Stadium during the London Olympic Games in 1948

Flashback: U.S. propaganda in the run up to the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Propaganda alert - Cem Ertür, globalresearch.ca. Among the images:

WWII Italian Propaganda Posters in 1/35... - Robin Buckland, militarymodelling.com: Another set of propaganda posters in 1/35 from Archer Fine Transfers, but this time a set of Italian ones.

As the header card tells us, there are 22 individual posters included in the pack, and ideal for dioramas wherever the Italian army fought in WW2, including Italy, Sicily or North Africa if that is where your diorama is taking you. Image from entry

Russian Propaganda Poster Yesterday and Today - Misha Beletsky, tdc.org: Russian Constructivists once pioneered a visual language that has profoundly affected the course of graphic design in the 20th century. Largely thanks to them, the poster became a primary tool of political persuasion and propaganda.

In the wake of current political turmoil, the poster once again becomes a viable medium of political agitation in Russia. Russia Rising: Votes for Freedom, an exhibition on view at the School of Visual Arts September 4–22, highlights 30 original posters created in support of democracy in that country. The show’s co-curator Misha Beletsky will examine the century of Russian propaganda poster to place these works in historical context. Image from entry

The Dark Knight Rises: and so must We - leapspiral.org: "Last night, I followed some friends into see The Dark Knight Rises. Little did I know that within 30 minutes the film would leap into explosion of anti-socialist propaganda, replete with cartoonish characterisations of Bolshevik fascists and a pitiful portrayal of poor rich people held hostage by the will of ‘other’ mindlessly violent poor people. Luckily I expected this. I had been warned by the status updates of recent days, and the unprecedented media coverage that comes with a Columbine-style Colorado tragedy. ... What then developed was one of the clearest anti-Occupy images I have seen from Hollywood yet. Bane [the evil character in the film - JB] attacks Gotham’s Stock exchange (which looks oh so similar to that one on Wall Street)

with a host of bearded, cargo-pants wearing Occupy look-a-likes on steroids. Then he and his gang Occupy Gotham city, overcome the 'oppression of the police' and give the city back to the People. He establishes corrupt People’s courts, evokes the brutal acquisition of the rich’s accumulated spoils and administers their heavy handed executions. All the while, 'the people' are seem [sic] to be mindlessly supportive of Bane’s oppressive and fascist rule. It is an image of Anarchy pumped out of like one of those funny pre-war propaganda films with Gorilla’s [sic] and Dragons attacking people." Image from entry

The characteristics of propaganda of the web game “Need for women” - runescapegoods.com: "Today, society is crazy, 'Sister Lotus', 'Feng of the best of attention, do not worry about the impact of digestive problems. Both of these, just want to tell the classic lines: 'Ugly is not your fault, but out of scary, is that you do not.' Scary normalized scary, but like even if the ghosts also want to see the ghost of the two Need Girl 'still sought after by everyone.

The game makers also have to battle to pull their own game endorsement, but the majority of the players or sober, and watch the fun is one thing to play them endorsement game is another back, do not want something to do with them countless relationship, so the joint letter of protest to finally put an end to this farce." Image from entry

RUSSICA

Via GC on Facebook