October 8

"[W]omen need to focus not on acting 'womanly' but instead focus on being 'leaderly.'”

--Statement by former Bush II Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Charlotte Beers, as reported in Pennsylvania Conference for Women Recap #PennWomen .@PennWomen; Beers image from

"Did she say 'elderly"'or 'leaderly'"?

--An aged PDPBR subscriber, regrettably hard of hearing and formerly a member of the Cold-War USIA (United States Information Agency), commenting on the above

EVENT

Exchange 2.0: The Science of Impact, the Imperative of Implementation With Her Majesty Queen Noor Al Hussein and Tara Sonenshine, Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy Webcast - United States Institure of Peace: "This event will be webcast live beginning at 2:00pm EDT on October 15, 2012 at www.usip.org/webcast. Online viewers will be able to engage panelists and each other through live chat and Twitter discussions (Hashtag: #exchange20) [.] Exchange 2.0

is a critical next step in international education and exchange that leverages the power of new technologies to vastly increase the number & diversity of students who have a profound cross-cultural experience as part of their education. The pressing need to multiply constructive people-to-people connections and build bridges across divided cultures is clear. And yet, in recent years, the pressure to expand exchange opportunities has collided with a resource-constrained environment in which all programming outside core priorities has come under renewed scrutiny." Image from

VIDEO

Oppa Gangnam Afghan-style:  Via PVB

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Collaboration is for the Collective Good, not for the National Interest - Marc Hedman, fourtherecordpd.wordpress.com: "[S]tate governments seem to be especially ill-suited to wielding collaborative power as Anne-Marie Slaughter would define it. There are many reasons why non-governmental groups, civic organizations, private citizens and even companies excel at harnessing collaborative power while governments do not. First, the sheer size of a government makes it an unwieldy beast of an organization with multiple levels of multiple bureaucracies. Governments are not quick to act, not quick to decide and any public diplomats on the ground are not going to be able to act in the organic matter that genuine collaboration usually requires. NGO’s (even the very largest) are dramatically smaller and this can allow them to act more quickly and allow more independence to their staff working overseas. This doesn’t always apply, but it is generally true. Secondly, as Ali Fisher points out, governments are often hamstrung by their domestic constituencies. There is not only budgetary concerns in times of a tight government wallet, but citizens (and politicians) want to make sure that their side of the story is being told. This is unhelpful in any kind of dialogue and can be downright harmful in cases of attempted collaboration. If our foreign partners see our government saying that they are interested in collaborating and then receive a lecture on how they should live (e.g. [Former Under Secretary of State

for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs during the Bush II administration Karen Hughes]), the attempt will seem disingenuous and hurt credibility. NGOs have no such constituency and are not beholden to a population of millions and hatchet men who may have no expertise regarding the issues with which that NGO works. ... I think the greatest reason why states are having trouble approaching public diplomacy with a collaborative bent is that collaboration is by its nature universal and not particular to any state. Is a Congress willing to pay for the universal good? Perhaps if it was framed differently."

8 Oct 2012, Mon, SoS Clinton and Staff Schedule - rushlimbaughreport.blogspot.com: "UNDER SECRETARY FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS TARA SONENSHINE 12:45 p.m. Under Secretary Sonenshine delivers remarks at a World Teachers’ Day event for teachers in Department of State Educational and Cultural Affairs programs, at the L’Enfant Plaza Hotel in Washington, DC. (OPEN PRESS COVERAGE)"

The week that was - Paul Rockower, Levantine: "Monday I was up and out early to pick up Act of Congress

on their way back from their American Music Abroad tour. They were back from Thailand, the Philippines, Palau and East Timor, and they were a bit exhausted. They were back in DC for a brief de-brief, and some wrap-up programs. On Tuesday, Act of Congress had their debrief back at State, then headed over to American University to play and discuss their tour with Prof. Hayden's Applied PD class. The class was keen on the show, and enjoyed chatting about their tour." On American Music Abroad, see. Image from

Joint Publication 3-13.2 Military Information Support Operations December 2011 - From Joint Publication 3-13.2: "Within the military and informational instruments of national power, the Department of Defense (DOD) is a key component of a broader United States Government (USG) communications strategy. DOD communications strategy and the separate and unique capabilities of military information support operations (MISO), public affairs (PA) (to include visual information), and defense support to public diplomacy (DSPD)

address a variety of communication roles and specific audiences as permitted by operational parameters and policy. DOD informational activities can be used to inform, direct, or persuade. To be effective, all DOD communications efforts must inherently support the credibility, veracity, and legitimacy of USG activities." Image from entry

Polish Public Diplomacy - Beata Ociepka, e-ir.info: "For the middle-sized country as Poland, striving for the position of a middle power in European politics, the implementation of public diplomacy results from the adoption of the means of strategic communication and of the strong belief in the importance of perceptions, images and brands in international politics. The realization of the importance of public diplomacy supported the country’s efforts to present itself as a reliable and stable partner and as a good citizen of international community. The implementation of public diplomacy in Poland makes a shift to modernization in the field of foreign policy and at the same moment means acceptance of the logic of mediated political communication internationally. Identity and visibility problems forced the country to implement branding as a first tool. At this stage, non-state organizations participated in elaborating promotion strategies. In Poland they played the role of a go-between MFA and business and nowadays many of them specialize in development aid. Thus, the Polish model of public diplomacy includes NGOs. Official development aid and democracy promotion become gradually niches the country specializes in, as well as the European Neighborhood Policy with the Eastern Partnership as its main project. As the main target countries are defined as members of the EU and other European neighbours Polish public diplomacy, despite its recent implementation in Afghanistan and North Africa, should be seen in the European context. ... Professor of International Relations and Head of the Section of International Communication at the Institute of International Relations, University of Wrocław, Poland. She is the editor of the first Polish book on public diplomacy (Dyplomacja publiczna, Wrocław 2008)."

Japan protests S. Korean trip for foreign media to Dokdo - asiadailywire.com: "As tensions run high between China and Japan, Seoul pulled at Tokyo’s strings after organizing a trip for foreign journalists to disputed islands at the heart of historical relations. South Korea commissioned an excursion to the Dokdo islands

in the East Sea (Sea of Japan) for six US and European media groups – including the Financial Times – in an attempt to gain support for its claims over the islands. Japan saw Thursday’s visit as a 'new provocation' and lodged a formal complaint. ... 'We were happy to keep quiet, but Japan kept making regular provocations,' ambassador for public diplomacy at South Korea’s foreign ministry Ma Young-sam [said]." Uncaptioned image from article

India’s nuclear shift to get academic scrutiny - firstpost.com: "Veterans from the Indian policy community, scholars, international historians and experts will meet here Wednesday to debate on why and how India made a dramatic shift in its nuclear policy in the early 1970s and in the process challenged widely-held assumptions that are largely shaped by literature from Western sources. ... The seminar will open with a keynote address by Pinak Chakravarty, special secretary (Public Diplomacy) in the external affairs ministry.

The address 'will be significant considering the fact that the ministry has recently catered to a long-standing demand by academics and scholars for greater access to its archival records by releasing over 70,000 documents pertaining to India’s diplomatic and foreign policy history.'" Image from article, with caption: Pic used for representational purposes only.

APO Ends Partnership with PR Newswire and Becomes Sole Supplier of Press Release Wire Distribution in Africa - The African Press Organization (APO) (http://www.apo-opa.org), the leading press release wire in Africa, announced today the termination of its partnership with PR Newswire. ... APO is the exclusive supplier for pan-African press release distribution of France Télécom . ... It offers a complete range of services such as press releases wire and monitoring services, online press conferences, interactive webcasts, media interactions, strategic advice, public diplomacy, government relations, and events promotion."

Pennsylvania Conference for Women Recap #PennWomen .@PennWomen - beezuskiddo.com: "The Pennsylvania Conference for Women was exactly the shot in the arm of motivation and inspiration that I needed. At PennWomen, amazing, powerful and INSPIRATIONAL women shared their insight for making the most out of your career and your life. This conference was all CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT. It was quite a lot to be packed into one day, and far too much for me to recap effectively in a blog post. The morning kicked off with Charlotte Beers, advertising executive powerhouse and former Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs.

She shared the story of her ascent to success, and explained that in the business world, women need to focus not on acting 'womanly' but instead focus on being 'leaderly.' That, yes, there are differences in how women and men perceive and do things, but for career success, a woman should approach challenges from a perspective of leadership and fearlessness." Image from entry, with caption: Cheryl Strayed sharing her amazing story, explored more fully in her memoir “Wild.”

CULTURAL DIPLOMACY

Madeleine Albright on Jazz, Diplomacy, and Vaclav Havel’s Rhythmic Deficiencies  - Larry Blumenfeld, blogs.artinfo.com [see below "Document" for full text].

See also. Image from, with caption:  In this 2011 photo provided by The Monk Institute, former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, center, poses for a photo with Herbie Hancock, far left, and New World School of the Arts students at Miami Dade College in Miami, Fla.

Minnesotans heading to Russia for hockey exchange - letsplayhockey.com: "A group of American youth hockey players from Minnesota and California will take part in a U.S. Department of State-sponsored ice hockey program in Russia, beginning this week. The program supports the U.S.-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission’s efforts to strengthen relationships between the people of the United States and Russia. The program will send 24 Americans – 10 boys, 10 girls and four coaches – for 10 days of sports and cultural diplomacy with their Russian counterparts.

The participants were selected in coordination with USA Hockey. The exchange is organized by the U.S. Department of State’s Sports United office and the Russian Ice Hockey Federation, under the auspices of the U.S.-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission." Image from entry, with caption: Emilie Brigham (Andover/Anoka HS) is one of 10 Minnesota players heading to Russia this week for a U.S. State Department-sponsored hockey exchange. Let’s Play Hockey photo by Mike Thill

Ambassador Kagimu is the icing on the Uhuru cake - Dismas Nkunda, observer.ug: "I have just agonizingly - sometimes covering my face in shame - watched a YouTube video gone viral. This is on Uganda’s Ambassador to Switzerland and the Permanent Representative to the United Nations and the World Trade Organization, Maurice Peter Kagimu Kiwanuka, speaking at a symposium of the institute of Cultural Diplomacy.

His topic was 'The role of cultural diplomacy in furthering sustainable development.' I should not have watched it. I had been warned that 'it was too graphic' (in a tongue-in-cheek sense) but I wanted to know who represents us out there and what the rest of the world thinks about us. But if what I heard on this YouTube is not a birthday present for Uganda’s 50 years of independence, then there will be none at all. I have never witnessed such a bullish low level of intelligence being ably displayed at the world stage than what this ambassador was doing for Uganda." Image, presumably of Kiwanuka, from article

RELATED ITEMS

No escape from the Middle East - Fred Hiatt, Washington Post: Sept. 11, 2001, was a wake-up call, and not only to the dangers of al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. A crucial arc of the world is unstable as one of the world’s great religions debates how and whether to accommodate to globalization and international norms of human rights. This isn’t America’s struggle, but it is a struggle America can’t ignore. That doesn’t mean the United States needs to send troops into conflict, as Obama believed President George W. Bush did too readily. But when opportunities arise, the United States needs to be ready — to support democrats in Egypt, Libya, Bahrain and Tunisia, for example, or to help the Syrian opposition organize and equip itself. If the stakes in Afghanistan are worth sending U.S. troops into battle, as Obama proclaimed, then those troops should be fighting toward a goal, not a timeline.

Romney Strives to Stand Apart in Global Policy - David E. Sanger, New York Times: Beyond his critique of Mr. Obama as failing to project American strength abroad, Mr. Romney has yet to fill in many of the details of how he would conduct policy toward the rest of the world, or to resolve deep ideological rifts within the Republican Party and his own foreign policy team. The specific descriptions of what Mr. Romney would do, on issues like drawing red lines for Iran’s nuclear program and threatening to cut off military aid to difficult allies like Pakistan or Egypt if they veer away from American interests, sound at times quite close to Mr. Obama’s approach.

Romney’s Missing Foreign Policy - Danielle Pletka, New York Times: Mr. Romney needs to persuade people that he’s not simply a George W. Bush retread, eager to go to war in Syria and Iran and answer all the mail with an F-16. He needs to understand that even though Mr. Obama’s so-called pivot to Asia is more rhetorical flourish than actual policy, it responds to a crying need. Any new vision for American greatness in the world must flow from an understanding of how the country has changed since 2001. We are still one of the richest nations on earth, but Americans are poorer, war-weary and irritated with what appears to be the ingratitude of nations for which we have sacrificed a great deal in blood and treasure. There are substantial wings of both the Democratic and Republican parties that wish to wash their hands of the world’s troubles.

In that environment, Mr. Romney must give a clear explanation of how American power since the end of World War II provided the foundation for the most prosperous and successful era in human history; how our domination of the world’s most trafficked waterways has permitted the flourishing of trade; and how exporting our principles of political and economic freedom has opened and nourished markets that buy American goods, employ American workers and allow Americans to enjoy an unmatched level of security. Image from

The Great Reversal - Robert J. Samuelson, Washington Post: What’s happening in America is different in degree, but not in kind, from what’s occurring in Europe. Stalled economic growth there is straining the political system’s ability to meet all expectations. People take to the streets; extremist parties expand. To avoid Europe’s fate, we should reduce people’s claims on the system and strive for faster economic growth. That’s the lesson. If we ignore it, history may slip into reverse.

AMERICANA: US POPULAR CULTURE "SPUKES" FOR ITSELF OVERSEAS

Lady Gaga Pukes on Stage: Doesn't Miss a Step; image from

DOCUMENT

Madeleine Albright on Jazz, Diplomacy, and Vaclav Havel’s Rhythmic Deficiencies - Larry Blumenfeld, blogs.artinfo.com:

"When Madeleine Albright took office as the 64th U.S. Secretary of State on January 23, 1997, she was at that moment the highest-ranking woman in the history of the U.S. government. But at the Kennedy Center on Saturday, she was just another performer awaiting a rehearsal cue in preparation for a Sunday night Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz gala. Her magenta dress was adorned with a large pin, as has long been her style; in her book, 'Read My Pins,' she called the jewelry 'part of my personal diplomatic arsenal.' This one depicted two clarinets and a G-clef.

The Monk Institute event carried a theme, 'Women, Music, and Diplomacy.' On Sunday, following a jazz drumming competition and some star-studded performances, pianist Herbie Hancock and singer Aretha Franklin presented Albright with the Institute’s Maria Fisher Founder’s Award. Standing at a podium, she spoke about jazz’s influence during Soviet rule in her birthplace, Czechoslovakia, and its relevance for cultural diplomacy today. She then sat down at a drum kit and joyfully wielded mallets while trumpeter Chris Botti performed an instrumental version of 'Nessun dorma,' the aria from the Puccini opera 'Turandot.' By evening’s end, Albright could be seen in the lobby, chatting up musicians and clutching the drumsticks she’d taken as a keepsake. In the dressing room on Saturday, we discussed how she ended up onstage, and why.

So, you’re getting ready to play the drums?

Yes, can you believe it? I can’t.

When did your performance career start?

Well, my drumming performance career began last year, when Chris Botti was playing a concert at the Kennedy Center. I had heard him play at the White House at a State dinner for the Chinese president. We went to see Chris backstage before his concert and he said, 'Sometimes, when someone well-known is in the audience, I ask them to play drums. Would you play drums?' And I said yes.

Had you ever sat at a drum kit before?

No. I sat up in the box during the whole performance, thinking about the rhythms and how they were played. But my performance career began long before that. I’ve done lots of things you’d never think a Secretary of State would do. Right after I took office, there was a meeting in Asia. Someone in the State Department told me, 'You realize that each year, everyone puts on a skit. And the U.S. always does poorly.' Someone gave me lyrics to 'Mary Had a Little Lamb,' and I said, 'No, I won’t do this.' We decided that I would sing, 'Don’t Cry for Me, Asia.' I dressed up like Madonna. We had fabulous lyrics, very funny. And that was the beginning of my performance career.

Can you carry a tune?

I can. I studied piano as a girl. And when I was quite little, my parents took me to “Madame Butterfly,” and I decided that I wanted to be an opera singer. But I wasn’t good enough. I did sing in glee clubs, though.

Did you have any other notable performances as Secretary of State?

The Russian Prime Minister, Yevgeny Premkov [sic], had some skit that wasn’t much good. We decided to do a duet. We sang our version of 'West Side Story.' It was the East-West Story. I came out singing, 'The most beautiful sound I’ve ever heard…Yevgeny…' And he came out singing, 'Madeleine Albright, Madeleine Albright, I just met a girl named…'

When did jazz enter your life?

Jazz entered in a very different way. As somebody who had always studied diplomacy, I could see what jazz did during Cold War. There was no question that Louis Armstrong and others going to the Soviet Union and other places had a real impact.

I was born in Czechoslovakia. I used to go back in the 1980s, under auspices of the United States Information Agency, when I was a university professor. In that stage, during the Cold War, there was a group that had started as musicians and then became a political movement, called the Jazz Section. During one trip, around ’86, the people at our embassy arranged for me to meet the guy who was the head of it. It was the only sort of cloak-and-dagger thing I ever did. The embassy told me to go to a particular square in Prague. They told me, 'Stand in front of this big wooden door and a man in a raincoat will come up to meet you. He will take you where you’re supposed to go.' So the man came up to me. We got on the metro in Prague and he took me to the Jazz Section headquarters. Both jazz and rock-and-roll were potent symbols there. I visibly saw the role of American music, jazz specifically, in terms of revolting against the regime. It was a way of expressing support and wanting to be part of the West without going out there and marching. And of course, Vaclav Havel loved music.

Yes, didn’t he and President Clinton bond famously through music?

I was ambassador to the U.N. at the time. Vaclav Havel had invited Clinton. President Havel wanted to bring President Clinton a saxophone. So the three of us, and others, went to a jazz club called Reduta. Havel gave Clinton the saxophone. President Clinton got up and played 'My Funny Valentine' and Havel got up there with a pair of maracas. Now, I never thought of maracas as a jazz instrument. But Havel had absolutely no rhythm.

Have these experiences changed how you think about the relationship between jazz and the kind of things you represented when you were in office?

First of all, I think jazz is obviously the most American kind of music. It has a very interesting history. It represents so much of the diversity of our roots, if you look at it from a diplomatic perspective. And then, if I were to analyze it philosophically, there’s so much freedom in its form. And there’s the fact that it comes from African American roots but is played by some many different kinds of people. For me, it represents the best picture of America. Now, people talk about soft power. I’m a naturalized American. I’m very patriotic, and proud of American history and culture.

How did you get involved with the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz?

My chief of staff brought the organization to my attention. When I was Secretary of State, we arranged to host the whole operation the night before the gala concert at the State Department. I had decided it was worth pushing something we call cultural diplomacy. We spent a lot of time on that. I love doing cultural diplomacy. The hard part for anyone involved is that it may look to some as though you’re not serious. I think it’s a very serious form of diplomacy. It is part of a diplomatic toolkit. One can go into a country and have very tough conversation. You may use or threaten to use force. But one thing you do first is try to get to know people through their culture.

During the Clinton administration, was the president’s love of jazz infectious?

The thing he’d do is, whenever there was a State dinner, he’d have some musician in the first row. He just loved music, period. In Russia, in 2000, Putin hosted a concert for President Clinton. They played a lot of jazz, there were a lot of older Russian musicians. Putin sat dead straight but President Clinton, he couldn’t keep still."

--Image from interview