John Brown's Public Diplomacy Press and Blog Review: August 19

“11.4. 38: One egg. 11.5.38: One egg. 11.6. 38: Two eggs.”

--From George Orwell's Diaries; image from

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Armed with U.S. education, many leaders take on world - Ben Wolfgang, Washington Times: "The State Department lists nearly 300 world leaders, current and former, who chose U.S. institutions, a trend that analysts say reinforced the nation’s status as the global leader in higher education but also underscores the figures’ desire — or, in many cases, need — to familiarize themselves with the United States, its politics and its culture. ... The federal government’s Fulbright Program, analysts say, deserves significant credit for the influx of foreign students — both future leaders and typical undergraduates — coming to the U.S. The program awards money to academically eligible Americans to study overseas and offers grants to foreigners to attend U.S. institutions, assuming that they have the necessary grades to do so. That, along with other efforts by the government and the universities, has opened the international floodgates and dramatically raised the number of students leaving home for American colleges. ... Chinese students accounted for much

of the recent growth, with the total number from the burgeoning Asian power increasing by 23 percent overall and by 43 percent at the undergraduate level. In the 2010-11 school year, 157,558 Chinese were studying at American schools, far more than from the No. 2 country, India, which had 103,895. Other nations with rocky relationships with the U.S. — Russia, Pakistan and Afghanistan, among others — also have sent their young people to the U.S." Image from

Conference outlines public diplomacy strategy - Li Huiru, china.org.cn: "Charhar public diplomacy conference 2012, China's most influential non-governmental public diplomacy conference, kicked off in Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province, on Aug. 18. Nearly 200 high-ranking government officials, business leaders, diplomats, experts on international relations, media and other related fields, and top media representatives are attending the two-day conference. The theme of this year's conference

is ‘International Communication of Chinese Culture'. Charhar Institute president Han Fangming explained in his opening address the reason for choosing culture as the meeting's core focus. 'Culture is one of the most focused aspects in public diplomacy,' he said. 'The ways a country relates to other countries have been multiplied. Based on the principle of coexistence of multiple cultures and accommodation of divergent views, cultural communication can help us resolve the misunderstandings and reach consensus.' Han is also deputy director of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC)'s foreign affairs committee. Zheng Wantong, vice chairman of the National Committee of the CPPCC, delivered an opening speech titled 'Public diplomacy involves all of us.' ... In his keynote speech, Zhao Qizheng, director of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the CPPCC, stressed Chinese enterprises' role in the export of Chinese culture. 'There are increasingly more Chinese enterprises doing business outside the country,' Zhao said. 'The Chinese government has given great support to these enterprises. The ‘go global' strategy helps them expand [into] the international market. It is their responsibility to carry out public diplomacy.' ... Charhar Institute is China's foremost public diplomacy think-tank. Founded in Oct. 2009, it is a non-partisan independent research organization. The institute is headquartered at Charhar

Ranch in Hebei Province and has offices in Beijing and Guangzhou." Above image from article, with caption: Charhar public diplomacy conference 2012, China's most influential non-governmental public diplomacy conference kicked off in Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province; below image from

Joint China-US publication a boon for diplomacy - Li Huiru, china.org.cn: "A seminar on cross-border dialogue through books and television, part of the two-day Charar Forum on Public diplomacy in Hebei Province, emphasized how cooperation on joint media projects can strengthen bilateral ties. On the first day of the two-day forum, a seminar titled Cross-border Dialogue through Books and Television drew great attention from experts and scholars attending the Forum. Co-hosted by the Center for International Communication Studies under China International Publishing Group (CIPG) and the International Public Opinion Research Center under Beijing International Studies University (BISU), the seminar presented with the audiences with four successful cross-cultural communication cases for book publishing and TV production. ... In the first case study, Huang Youyi, member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee and vice president of CIPG, shared with the audiences the experiences and lessons learned on the publication of a book series titled The Culture and Civilization of China.

A planned ten-book series, jointly published by CIPG and Yale University Press, will focus on the culture and civilization of China. The deal, the largest cooperative publishing effort between China and the US to-date, is winning a great deal of attention in international publishing circles. ... Though the project is a non-governmental effort, many top leaders from both sides lobbied to push the project forward. High-profile supporters include former president George H.W. Bush, former secretary of state Henry Kissinger, and Joseph Verner Reed, undersecretary-general and special adviser to the United Nations. China appointed Rong Yiren, former vice president of the People's Republic of China, as honorary chair on the China side." Image from article, with caption: Yu Yunquan (l.), deputy director of the Center for International Communication Studies, hosts the seminar titled Cross-border Dialogue through Books and Television at the Charchar Forum on Public Diplomacy in Zhangjiakou, Hebei province. The center is engaged in systematic research on international communication theories and practices.

Zheng: Public diplomacy 'involves the whole nation' - Li Huiru, china.org.cn: "In his opening speech titled 'Public diplomacy involves all of us,' Zheng Wantong, vice chairman of the National Committee of the CPPCC, said China's soft power initiatives must build 'a solid domestic base' before they can be effective abroad. ... To promote China's public diplomacy efforts, Zheng suggested the government copy the example of the country's National Fitness Regulations to develop a public diplomacy strategy which mobilizes the whole nation.

Under the guidance of the professional diplomats, with the promulgation of social elites, working together with the general public, a public diplomacy human resource system will gradually be built, he said. He also stressed the CPPCC's important role in pushing forward public diplomacy. He also encouraged the NGOs and multinational corporations to get involved in the public diplomacy in ways which play to their strengths. Additionally, researchers, especially in the fields of diplomacy and international relations, should place more emphasis on the theoretical and practical study of the public diplomacy." See also. Image from article, with caption: Zheng Wantong, vice chairman of the National Committee of the CPPCC, spoke at the Charhar public diplomacy conference 2012 in Zhangjiakou, Hebei province, on Aug. 18.

The Image of Lithuania in Spain: Progress Achieved and New Ways to Explore - Jordi Arrufat, The Lithuania Tribune: "[A] brief mention of actions performed by Lithuanian diplomacy in Spain, an area where some interesting steps have been taken but certainly more could be done. At present the scope of the Embassy of Lithuania in Spain is limited, so their cultural activities, a source of highly valued public diplomacy, are few and far between. However, I should point out that the Embassy has had a Facebook page since March 2011 where they post news about Lithuania in Spanish a positive development enabling dialogue with followers. ... [P]rogress has been made, Lithuania is no longer seen as a grey corner of the Soviet Union like [sic] it was 20 years ago. The country has a great basketball team, an embassy in Madrid with no fear of engaging in dialogue through social networks, thereby giving the country a fresh and modern image It has an integrated diaspora within Spanish society, and the mayor of its capital city has huge potential. Now all Lithuania needs is to come up with a unified and appealing message while simultaneously increasing the cultural projection of the country."

US Embassy Job Vacancies~Tanzania August 2012 - sokonibongo.blogspot.com: "The US Embassy is seeking an individual for the position of Information Resources Center Director in the Public Affairs section. BASIC FUNCTION OF POSITION Directs and manages the Information Resource Center (IRC). Oversees the research, reference, cataloging and outreach services conducted by the IRC staff. Coordinates services and programs with American Corners. Plans and implements outreach programs to advance the Mission's goals. Develops and maintains continuing personal contact with the highest level target audience members."

RELATED ITEMS

Al Jazeera English documentary on Baltimore, with "boarded-up rowhouses, drugs, death, crime scenes," won't be seen on cable in Baltimore - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting.

Image from article

The Once and Future War - James Traub, New York Times: We will not be able to figure out how to alter Iran’s behavior unless we understand its motives. If Iran’s orientation is fundamentally defensive, it can be contained, as the Soviet Union was. And if Iran is a rational calculator, it can be moved, as other states can be moved, by a combination of blandishments and threats. But the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, insists that Iran is a messianic state obsessed with annihilating its enemies, above all Israel. In that case, almost any price, including war, would be worth paying to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. President Obama has agreed that Iran cannot be contained, and thus that patience is not a workable policy. But he also seems far more concerned than Netanyahu — or Mitt Romney — about the potentially cataclysmic consequences of a military strike. It may be, in fact, that a contained Iran is less dangerous to the global order than an Iran with nothing to lose.

Syria's fault lines: Amid the violence, religious and ethnic strife is on the rise - Eden Naby and Jamsheed K. Choksy, latimes.com: the outcome in Syria need not be one of sectarian fracture. Most Syrians do not support or engage in violence along religious and ethnic lines. Leaders of the Free Syrian Army and other indigenous opposition groups have attempted to keep sectarianism at bay, knowing it is detrimental to their cause. Their efforts need to be bolstered from the outside. The United States and the European Union should make their political and fiscal assistance to the rebel groups conditional on respect for human rights and religious freedom.

Likewise, the United Nations must insist that the legitimate rights recognized by international charters and conventions be protected. The Free Syrian Army and other indigenous rebel groups, if held firmly by the international community to support rights, can turn the tide against Sunni militants and other intolerant factions, thereby ensuring that a post-Assad Syrian society is a multiethnic and multireligious one. Image from

Egypt’s new leaders must accept reality - Dennis Ross, Washington Post: The Muslim Brotherhood is wedded to its ideology and cannot admit anything that might call its basic philosophy into question. But the United States and others should not accommodate the Brotherhood’s alternative reality. This is not to say that we have to agree on everything. Policy differences are understandable — but it is not acceptable to deny reality and foster a narrative and policies based on untruths and fictions.

Don’t Fear All Islamists, Fear Salafis - Robin Wright, New York Times: American policy recently had its own awakening after 60 years of support for autocratic rulers. The United States opted to embrace people power and electoral change in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Morocco and Yemen. Yet Washington still embraces authoritarian Gulf monarchies like Saudi Arabia, tolerating their vague promises of reform and even pledging the United States’ might to protect them.

The time is right for ‘rules of the road’ in the cosmos - Michael Krepon, Washington Post: What happens in space will heavily influence whether relations between China and the United States become more dangerous or more cooperative. The absence of rules of the road in space jeopardizes international, national and economic security.

Here's How China's Propaganda Machine Wants Journalists To Cover Food Safety Concerns - Mamta Badkar, businessinsider.com: After the devastating floods hit Beijing last month, China's propaganda machine went into overdrive to stop negative coverage of the disaster. One of the latest directives from China Digital Times shows Chinese government authorities instructions to journalists and bloggers on reporting about food safety concerns:.