Thursday, November 29, 2012

November 29


"America is approachable."

--Digger, Life after Jerusalem: The Musings of a Two-Spirit American Indian, Public Diplomacy-Coned Foreign Service Officer: I think you know I love being a Public Diplomacy officer; image from

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Reaching People - Digger, Life after Jerusalem: The Musings of a Two-Spirit American Indian, Public Diplomacy-Coned Foreign Service Officer:  "I think you know I love being a Public Diplomacy officer. And while a few years back, I'd never have thought I would be saying this, but I really like public speaking. And in this job, I get to do it a good bit. I often end up talking about study opportunities in the United States, and Tuesday's talk at the Estonian School of Business was one of those times...it a catch. ... Anyway, the talk went well, and after I was done, a guy walked in late. At the coffee break, he said he wanted to talk to me about the elections. ... We chatted for a good ten minutes. ... He said he wanted to talk more so I gave him my email address.



Because this is Public Diplomacy. This is reaching an individual and explaining America, one on one. And he told a member of my staff that he had been surprised I had been so approachable. This is Public Diplomacy. I got to do two things by having that conversation with him. I got to reach an individual, explain our country and our values, and make Americans seem less remote to him. But you know what else? I also sent a message to the other students in that room who watched me talk to him that America is approachable. The Embassy is approachable. That an American diplomat will sit down and talk turkey with a 20-something year old student. Because that is how we reach people. Because THAT is Public Diplomacy." Image from

Turkmenabad - Paul Rockower, Levantine: "[W]e headed on to the American Corner. The American Corner was full of teens on the internet or reading American books. There were about 20 of them in the little conference room to have an opportunity to practice their English in a chat with Della Mae. The Dellas introduced themselves, their states and their music. It was a fun interchange, and I am quickly becoming a fan of the American Corner initiative. In a place like Turkemenastan, where internet penetration is probably counted on one hand, the American Corner is a phenomenal way to draw in youth and indirectly connect them with America. ... The concert was great. The crowd loved them [the Dellas]. There were a lot of students on hand from the morning program, and they were dancing to the music. It is funny, I watch the Dellas play everyday, and I love their music a bit more each day. I find I have a new song stuck in my head on a daily basis."

Public Schedule for November 29, 2012 - U.S. Department of State: "UNDER SECRETARY FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS TARA SONENSHINE [:] Under Secretary Sonenshine is on foreign travel


to Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Ankara and Istanbul, Turkey." Image from

How to Get Along with Your State Department Person - Peter Van Buren, We Meant Well: "Following our guide for State Department personnel deployed with the military, we offer this set of tips for military working with State Department people. Everyone is special in his/her own way, so take what applies below and leave the rest. ... All Statie’s are assigned to 'cones,' area of specialty. The formal ones are political, economic, consular, public diplomacy or administrative."

Persuasion and Power: The Art of Strategic Communication Book Review Essay - Patricia H. Kushlis - Whirled View: "James Farwell’s soon to be published book Persuasion and Power: The Art of Strategic Communication (Georgetown University Press) is a 'how to book for professionals and wannabe professionals as well as an interesting read for those who simply want


to learn more about how governments and politicians (elected and non-elected) have informed and influenced publics about their policies and candidates. ... Farwell is a long-time political campaign and US military strategic communications consultant. ... Farwell's basic argument is that the overriding goal of any information campaign is not only to inform but also to influence the people who matter."

Interview on Public Diplomacy with a Dubrovnik mass medium (Dubrovacki list) - John Brown, Notes and Essays: "4. Can we notice public diplomacy making effect on our lives? How does it differ from cultural diplomacy? [John Brown:To some, public diplomacy deals with fast-media, getting hard-hitting headlines to brand a country positively, moving the 'needle' of foreign public opinion to promote national interests. Cultural diplomatist enthusiasts argue that they deal with long-term processes -- e.g., educational exchanges – that will eventually bring universal harmony. Having been a US public diplomacy practitioner for over two decades, I believe that this craft is an often uneasy mixture of both these points of view."

The Voice of America is a different kind of animal – Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadasting:  “Washington Post, 13 Nov 2012, Voice of America director David Ensor as interviewed by Tom Fox: ‘Our staff hails from countries all around the world. It’s a bit like the United Nations. Generally, people tend to share two passions. One is about this country, which so many of them have adopted as their new home. The other is the desire to provide people in the lands of their birth with accurate and balanced information, something that’s quite often in short supply. What they seek from VOA management is a sense that we understand and support what they’re doing, and some strategic guidance from time to time on how to reach audiences better.’ Broadcasting Board of Governors Budget and Strategy Committee meeting, 15 Nov 2012, Bruce Sherman, BBG director of strategy and development, discussing VOA broadcasts to Latin America: ‘I would just add that the mission of the Voice of America, as we talked about during the closed session before, is representing America and presenting and discussing US policy is, in addition to the news, a good part of what The Washington Bureau program effort accomplishes for VOA in places like Peru, and Colombia, and Mexico, all across the region. And the fact that in these even advanced media markets in places like Mexico, we're able to secure affiliations, suggests that we're adding value. That even with the competition VOA today is able to find a very productive niche that generates not only mission fulfillment but actual audiences that we can count.’ [Elliott comment]: So, from no less than BBG senior staff, this public reminder (goodness knows what they said during the closed session) that VOA is the duckbill platypus of international broadcasting.



VOA is a news-providing mammal and a US-policy-presenting bird. Do Latin American stations rebroadcast The Washington Bureau because of the mammal or because of the bird? How is the audience for this program supposed to know when it is getting the mammal and when it is getting the bird? Compare, regarding content and audience numbers, with CNN en EspaƱol and BBC . Image  from

Public diplomacy delegates to head to Cairo - ethsat.com: "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is to send a delegation drawn from various sections of the society to Egypt to explain that the Millennium Dam Project would not have any negative impact on the flow of the Nile waters to Egypt. The delegation that included Reporter newspaper editor Amare Aregawi, Dr. Yacob Arsano and and Miss Ethiopia winner Hayat Ahmed will travel to Egypt next month to tell the Egyptian government and people that the dam will not affect lower riparian states. The acting Minister of Foreign Affairs Ambassador Berhane Gebrekirstos briefed the delegation on the efforts of the late Prime Minister to improve the once frosty relations between Egypt and Ethiopia which had been strained under the previous regimes. He further explained that Meles had ordered a research on the dam to show empirically that the construction of the dam would not negatively affect the outflow of the Nile Waters to Egypt, which still maintains monopoly over the Nile water outflow. Some critics viewed the so-called public diplomacy effort as a futile and awkward exercise aimed at pleasing the Egyptian government while the government claimed that Ethiopia would assert its rights for equitable share over the Nile Waters."

Master of Arts Degree in Diplomacy, Sarajevo School of Science and Technology - infocentar.gradjanske.org: "In cooperation with the renowned University of Buckingham in the United Kingdom, the Faculty of Political Science and International Relations at the Sarajevo School of Science and Technology announces its second call for applications for the postgraduate study for a Master’s Degree (MA) in Diplomacy Studies for Spring Semester 2013. The


Master in Diplomacy Studies is a two year program, designed in such a way as to offer students in-depth practical and theoretical knowledge of the craft of international diplomacy and the role played by diplomats in advancing their governments’ objectives. Accordingly, the program will offer eight courses that include segments on foreign policy making and the forces that drive it, history of diplomacy, public diplomacy, EU Diplomacy, diplomatic negotiations, as well as the practice of diplomacy." Image from

Evaluate the Success of the Obama Administration's Public Diplomacy - buyan-essay.blogspot.com: "Evaluate the success of the Obama Administrations customary diplomacy  [.] By Venita Subramanian [.] Abstract Public Diplomacy is seen by many as a governing factor of Obamas foreign policy, the soft mogul president. In an attempt to improve the public double of the United States, Barrack Obama addresses his global audience through his several(a) speeches and campaigns in support of his foreign policy agenda. Although the speeches seem to be over ambitious and targeted, the administration is often seen struggling to deliver. This analyze has been premised around the argument that there exists a direct affinity between the impact of foreign policy of a rude and its public diplomacy, and the alert imbalance between the two in glance of the U.S foreign policy under the Obama administration.


This essay has been organize into three main analyses, with the first one focusing on the incoherence of the U.S. foreign policy and its scrutiny by scholars in this field of research. The second focus is predicated based on the existing imbalance between policy and public diplomacy, and finally the view on Obamas message to the Arab world. The essay further concludes with more or less key recommendations. The argument in this essay is in isolation from the Wikileaks cable leakage to maintain strict focus on the role played by the Obama administration in maintaining their strategic relations. ... If policies are unpopular, no amount of snazzy marketing will make them beloved. If national interests are fundamentally at odds, no amount of dialogue will... If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website: Ordercustompaper.com Ordercustompaper.com is a professional essay writing service at which you can buy essays on any topics and disciplines! All custom essays are written by professional writers!"

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Obama’s challenge: Thinking big - David Ignatius, Washington Post: Can America think bigger during the next four years — not in the usual terms of expansive foreign policy but in terms of rebuilding its economic and technological mastery? It’s likely that Obama will get a budget deal that builds a sound macro-economic foundation for growth, but how will he build on it?

Morsi as Master: The West underestimates the Muslim Brotherhood. Yet again - Bret Stephens, Wall Street Journal:


Even now, Western analysts continue to misread Mr. Morsi, imagining that his primary political challenge is to improve the Egyptian standard of living. Not so. His real challenge is to consolidate the power of the Brotherhood. Image from

German lawmakers call Google campaign 'cheap propaganda' - Madeline Chambers, Reuters: Senior German politicians have denounced as propaganda a campaign by Google (GOOG) to mobilize public opinion against proposed legislation to let publishers charge search engines for displaying newspaper articles. Internet lobbyists say they are worried the German law will set a precedent for other countries such as France and Italy that have shown an interest in having Google pay publishers for the right to show their news snippets in its search results.

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