“I don’t even remember how old I am. I wake up each day with a thousand problems, so why should I remember that?"
--Abdullah Fadil, who has sold tea since 1982 outside a mosque in Adhamiya, a predominantly Sunni neighborhood in Baghdad; image from
VIDEOS
Iraq War 10 Years In - live.huffingtonpost.com. Your PDPBR compiler participated in this discussion.
New crazy North Korea propaganda video shows White House under attack - rawstory.com. Below image from entry
PUBLIC DIPLOMACY
Diplomacy, public diplomacy to mingle during Obama's visit to Israel, West Bank - globaltimes.cn: "As US President Barack Obama's visit to Israel and the West Bank draws near, political instability in the region is believed to be a major talk during his three-day stay, besides his wish to introduce his new team and to garner more popularity among the Israelis after re-election. Obama's trip is 'a combination of diplomacy and public diplomacy,' Prof. Eytan Gilboa of the Bar-Ilan University said of the landmark visit, Obama's first to Israel as president. Gilboa said the Israeli public likes Obama as a person but disapproves his relations with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well as his policies toward Israel and the Mideast. Obama knows this and he needs the Israelis to support his policies on the region.
Yet, the US president knows his trip cannot only be a friend- making tour. He has tasks. He has to talk with Israeli leaders over such regional issues as Iran's nuclear aspiration, the Syrian unrest, and the Israeli- Palestinian peace deadlock. Zalman Shoval, who served twice as Israeli ambassador to the United States in the 1990s, said the No.1 issue will go to Iran's nuclear activities, 'on which Israeli and the US stances have come closer in the last few months.'" Image from
Obama's Mideast trip: how he plans to win over the Israeli public, and why: Obama's four-day Mideast trip will include hours of meetings with Prime Minister Netanyahu, but it's his overture to the Israeli public that may help him address regional issues in the future - Howard LaFranchi, Christian Science Monitor: "President Obama’s visit to Israel, the West Bank, and Jordan this week is scheduled to include more than five hours of meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as the president seeks to reduce tensions with the leader of America’s closest Middle East ally on issues ranging from Iran to peace with the Palestinians. But the trip, which begins Wednesday morning when Mr. Obama lands in Tel Aviv, is also about repairing relations with another audience that will be key to the president’s prospects for advancing important regional goals for his second term: the Israeli public. 'This trip is very much focused on the public diplomacy side [of relations with Israel], much less on the hard substance,' says Natan Sachs, an expert in Israeli foreign policy at the Brookings Institution in Washington. ... Obama is 'bound to get a bounce' in Israel from his public diplomacy offensive, Sachs says, adding that improved public views of Obama could make a difference down the road.
'The Israeli public will punish a prime minister who has a poor relationship with a popular American president,' he says. Thus a more popular Obama could lead to 'a more pliant Netanyahu,' he adds, for example on issues related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The sense that Obama’s trip is really more about improving the climate for future initiatives than about setting down an ambitious agenda is prominent in White House pre-trip commentary." Image from
A Snapshot of Public Diplomacy in Action - Tara D. Sonenshine, Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, campaign.r20.constantcontact.com: "Greetings! It may be a cliché but it's true: young people are the future. And we know that when we give them educational or economic opportunities, or support civil society organizations in their countries, they have a chance to develop into leaders, productive members of their societies or advocates for rights, representation and freedoms. As you will see below, we are doing that in so many ways. In Moldova, we trained journalists and civil society activists to increase and enhance their ability to make government more transparent. In Malaysia, we partnered with a leading youth group to engage and inform more than 200 Malaysian youth about trafficking in persons. And a group of nearly fifty American mentors and alumnae of our programs from the Middle East and North Africa gathered in Jordan to promote careers in science and technology among women and girls and to share best practices using technology for entrepreneurship. Through its debate club, U.S. Mission Kampala recently engaged young Ugandans to debate topics in entrepreneurship, so we could encourage critical thinking, personal expression, and tolerance for others' opinions. And in South Africa, where gender violence continues to be a challenge, our Public Affairs Section in Durban joined with community organizations across the South African city in support of the global initiative 'One Billion Rising.' [In this link], you will see these activities in greater detail, as well as other initiatives we are doing for public diplomacy. Enjoy. Sincerely, Tara Sonenshine"
Department of State Public Schedule, Tuesday, March 19, 2013 - posted at rockycoastnews.blogspot.com: "UNDER SECRETARY FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS TARA SONENSHINE 9:00 a.m. Under Secretary Sonenshine delivers opening remarks at the Global Counterterrorism Forum Countering Violent Extremism working group meeting, at the United States Institute of Peace. 12:00 p.m. Under Secretary Sonenshine hosts a lunch with public diplomacy scholars, at the Department of State. 2:00 p.m. Under Secretary Sonenshine meets with a group of Yemeni Imams, visiting on an International Visitor Leadership Program, at the Department of State."
Fundamentally Freund: A bit of hasbara heresy - Michael Freund, Jerusalem Post: Why, oh why, can’t Jews do as good a job at selling the Jewish state? Complaining about Israel’s hasbara, or public diplomacy, has become a favorite national pastime of pro-Israel activists. Whenever I speak to Jewish or Christian audiences in Israel and abroad, there is inevitably someone who feels it necessary to launch into a harangue about just how terrible the Jewish state is at explaining itself. Jews are among the most successful marketing and public-relations executives worldwide, the questioner might ask, and excel at promoting a variety of consumer products. Why, oh why, can’t Jews do as good a job at selling the Jewish state? Having been involved in hasbara in one form or another for more than two decades, I certainly share the sense of frustration. ... Whatever the true cause of our troubles, there is no doubt that our standing in the eyes of international public opinion remains a matter of grave concern. Amid rising calls for boycotts and sanctions from radical anti-Israel forces, and the hurling of slurs such as 'apartheid,' it seems imperative to redouble our efforts at explaining the justness of Israel’s cause. Nonetheless, I am beginning to wonder if perhaps our heightened focus on what is wrong has led us to overlook a lot of what is right. Consider the following.
As President Barack Obama prepares to arrive in our region and snarl traffic over the next few days, Israelis received some good news regarding our oft-maligned international public image. According to a survey conducted by Gallup, US support for Israel is at the highest level seen in nearly a quarter-century, with 64 percent of Americans saying they sympathize more with Israel than with the Palestinians. A mere 12% said they favor our foes. ... But this raises an important question: if the mainstream media is so profoundly against us, then why are we doing so well in the arena of American public opinion? If the image being conveyed of Israel is so consistently negative, then why do people there seem to like us so much? To be sure, there are a number of possible answers, ranging from the groundswell of evangelical Christian support for Israel to the penetration of the Internet and its ability to circumvent traditional media outlets. Either way, the fact remains that we must be doing something right in how we explain ourselves if our public standing in America is so strong and resilient. Some may view this as a bit of hasbara heresy, a form of violating the nearly sacred belief that our public diplomacy is simply putrid. But I prefer to think of it as a healthy dose of reality. After all, in order to put together an effective communications strategy, the first thing one must do is assess the playing field and get a good sense of what one’s position is in the eyes of the public." Image from article, with caption: Jerusalem Day celebrations
Commander Brian O’Lavin/PRT Ghazni Challenge Coin (Ver. 2) Circa 2012 - commanderschallenge.wordpress.com: "Introduced shortly after the beginning of Operation Enduring Freedom, the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) was established with the goal of empowering local Afghan leaders and providing the necessary resources for Afghan self-governance. Consisting of a variety of military officers, enlisted soldiers, diplomats, and reconstruction experts; a US-led PRT typically will also include representatives from the Department of State, Agriculture and Justice, as well as USAID.
The success of the PRTs lay in its ability to develop public diplomacy while working in close conjunction with local and tribal leaders. Those public perceptions maintain the United States is there to assist the Afghan people thru its local leaders, Afghan security forces, and social engagement programs (including the development of schools, clinics, and alternative farming). Critical to public diplomacy is also the development of information operations, both in independent military operations and networking through the local population." Image from entry, with caption: PRT Ghazni CDR Coin – Reverse
U.S. Speaker and Specialist Program for India - grants.gov: Estimated Total Program Funding: $200,000 Award Ceiling: $200,000 Award Floor: $15,000 CFDA Number(s): 19.040 -- Public Diplomacy Programs ... Agency Name U.S. Mission to India Dscription The U.S. Embassy Public Affairs Section in New Delhi is soliciting proposals for cooperative agreements that fall into the area specified in Section II below from non-governmental organizations, and other legally-recognized non-profit institutions that meet U.S. and/or Indian technical and legal requirements to develop and implement educational and cultural programs as specified in Section II below. Information about the Public Affairs Section can be found at: http://newdelhi.usembassy.gov/."
Spectrum Dance Theatre from the US to perform in Colombo - sundaytimes.lk: "In a much anticipated performance, The Spectrum Dance Theatre will be performing in Sri Lanka this week.
‘An Evening of Excerpts from Repertory by Donald Byrd’ is presented by the American Centre in Colombo together with Dance Motion USA and will include a selection of five among the company’s most impressive dance creations." Image from article
MA TU TO - Paul Rockower, Levantine: "An update from Matuto - an American Music Abroad ensemble on tour in Africa: 'just played our first show in Abidjan. Nothing in this world quite like 800 Côte D'Ivoirians chanting MA TU TO, MA TU TO, MA TU TO, before spilling into the streets singing the Matuto Chant. J'aime l'Afrique!!!' How Cultural Diplomacy is done..."
ABT Cocktail Reception in DC - fashiontographer.com: "Peacock Cafe, Fashiontographer, and TTR Sotheby’s Jennifer Harlow, will be hosting a Cocktail Reception in honor of the American Ballet Theatre on Monday, April 8, 2013, 8pm to 9:30pm, at Peacock Cafe in Georgetown. The exclusive one night event warmly welcomes American Ballet Theatre to Washington D.C. ahead of their much anticipated performance at the Kennedy Center.
Guests will have the exceptional opportunity to meet American Ballet Theatre dancers and staff members. ... Guests will be treated to cocktails and hors d’oeuvres created by Chef Maziar Farivar, who has been featured at the prestigious James Beard Foundation Dinner in New York in 2010 and 2012. Just recently, Chef Maziar was selected as part of a group of 60 chefs across the country to the U.S. State Department’s, 'Diplomatic Culinary Partnership Initiative,' an initiative designed to elevate the role of culinary engagement in America’s formal and public diplomacy efforts." Image from entry
A quote on Cultural Diplomacy – Yelena Osipova, Global Chaos: “Not that I didn't have enough to do... but well, next month the International Studies Association (ISA) will be holding its Annual Convention, again, and as a good aspiring academic I have two paper presentations and a panel to prepare for. So, while everything else is put on hold, I'm now frantically doing last-minute brush-ups (all right, and last-minute writing) on issues that, among other things, include cultural diplomacy research. While looking for more articles on the subject today, I came across this piece by Helena Finn, published 10 years ago in Foreign Affairs: ‘The Case for Cultural Diplomacy: Engaging Foreign Audiences’. Here's, then, the quote du jour: [‘] During the 1990s, an isolationist Congress, its understanding of the world singularly unsuited to the new realities of American power, challenged the idea that the United States should disseminate information through educational and cultural exchange. Foreign Service positions were cut, leaving many embassies with skeletal public-diplomacy staffs. American Centers, crucial organs of local outreach, shut their doors. The general sentiment in
So much has changed since, especially in terms of the American understanding of the importance of public diplomacy... or has it? Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose...” Image from, with caption: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton holds a small US-made drone drone that the Ugandan military uses in Somalia to fight al-Qaida linked militants
Is The CIA Trying to Kill Pro-US Venezuelan Opposition? - Daniel McAdams, lewrockwell.com: "That is the claim made by Acting President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro, who served as vice president under the late president, Hugo Chavez. Maduro claims that the US is plotting to assassinate the opposition candidate for president, Henrique Capriles Radonski, who polls suggest has almost no chance to win, and then pin the blame on the Venezuelan government. This, Maduro asserts, will bring about the kind of instability and public protest that the
What Happened to the US Press Corps? - Robert Parry, opednews.com: "Though some people cling to the myth that American reporters are warriors for the truth and that tough editors stand behind you, the reality is very different. It is a corporate world where pleasing the boss and staying safely inside the herd are the best ways to keep your job and gain 'respect' from your colleagues.
That lesson was driven home during the early 1980s. Some of us actually tried to do our jobs honestly, exposing crimes of state in Central America and elsewhere. Almost universally, we were punished by our editors and marginalized by our colleagues. ... There was really no way to win, no way to pick through all the minefields surrounding the most sensitive stories. If you pressed forward into the ugly scandals -- like the Reagan administration's protection of Nicaraguan Contra drug traffickers or the secret arms deals with Iran and Iraq -- you would surely be 'controversialized,' a phrase favored by Reagan's 'public diplomacy' operatives." Image from
Falling Out of Love With China - David Shambaugh, New York Times: "Now that China is becoming a world power, it is beginning to recognize the importance of its global image and the need to enhance its 'soft power.' It is tracking public opinion polls worldwide and investing huge amounts into expanding its global cultural footprint, 'external propaganda work' and public diplomacy. Unfortunately for China, that’s not enough. ... While the decline in China’s image may be global, the reasons differ from region to region. ... Mounting suspicions and growing frictions are part and parcel of being a global power. But China would be better advised to substantively engage foreign criticisms than to reflexively dismiss them or respond with unconvincing public-relations campaigns."
A Superficial Death of Soft Power: It’s another Made-Up Term - blog.hiddenharmonies.org: "Joseph Nye first defined and popularized the notion of 'soft power' as the ability to attract and influence others. But somewhere down the path of popularity, such a general idea became shrouded in numbers and PR. Now, it is no longer enough to merely 'attract', no longer enough to be 'soft'. 'Power' and 'Influence ['] twisted the essence of the notion until 'soft power' became a plan of attack, like a soft drink overloaded with caffeine and sugar and double spiked with rum and turned into a 12 hour Energy Drink. Mr. Nye may have defined 'soft power', but he certainly did not create it. He merely sought to coin a word and define what he thinks was missing from Western traditional exercise of 'hard power'. But that means, Mr. Nye may himself be wrong in what he perceived, and he cannot give all the answers. Worst of all, it is now being used to PR against China to prove rhetorically silly media lines like 'China doesn’t have Soft Power Afterall.' Well, I don’t think any one can say China has lost that Pixie Dust of Magic, because I don’t think China ever claimed that it had it in the first place! ... Nye and others, incorrectly assumed that China had 'soft power', or was wielding 'soft power' as a 'power' in the traditional Western sense of the term. They cannot fathom the possibility that ordinary Chinese would want to move to Africa to do business, for no particular collective reason OTHER than mere knowledge, profit and opportunities. (Hard to image that 1000′s and 1000′s of Chinese would want to go to far away foreign places, just for new opportunities?? Try consider when Chinese came to America and help built the railroad system.)
No, for Nye and others, China must have a collective agenda to wield that Pixie Dust of 'soft power', generally to the detriment of the West. But that is precisely where the Myth of the 'Soft Power' has gone awry. China’s REAL 'soft power', (if there is such a thing), is in the plain ordinary and personal goals of its 1.3 billion People, who can mobilize themselves without collective edicts, who don’t need 'aid programs' to go to new places to adapt to new ways, who don’t need protections of armies and drones to build roads and hospitals. Nye and his disciples, (among them Hillary Clinton), are unfortunately stuck in the mindset of 'State-Sponsored Influence in Geopolitics,' where they can only see that to counter China, the West must pour vast resources into its own version of 'soft power', and that means, PR movies, marketing, etc., to balance the Hard Power of the 'State-sponsored collateral damages.' As usual, 'Soft Power' in the Nye sense, is turning into another Orwellian Newspeak term that means almost nothing at all, because it was afterall, Made-up." Image from
Chinese investors are eyeing on Africa - China.org.cn: "Li Zhaoxing, President, China Public Diplomacy Assoc., said, 'China and Africa are good friends, good brothers and good partners. China has actively supported African countries in developing their infrastructure and economy.
China will speed up investment in Africa. China's new president Xi Jinping will attend the fifth leaders' summit in BRICS countries in South Africa. The visit by the new president will give impetus to the strengthening cooperation between China and African countries.' China has been Africa's largest trading partner since 2009, surpassing the United States and Europe. Image (evidently of Li Zhaoxing) from article, with caption: Chinese investment in Africa has been booming in recent years with trade seeing a tenfold increase in less than a decade. See also.
New Faces, Same Agenda: Incoming Israeli government will intensify push to colonize the West Bank - Adam Horowitz, mondoweiss.net: "There is a solid consensus within the governing coalition behind the ongoing colonization of the West Bank. ... Haaretz's Barak Ravid says the settler movement is the overwhelming winner in the new government: ... 'As opposed to the last four years, settler leaders will have an open door to the defense minister’s office. They will find one of their own in the next office, too, that of the deputy defense minister. MK Ze’ev Elkin, a settler himself, is slated for that job, and will be in charge of the whole matter of settlements. The list goes on – as industry, trade and labor minister, Naftali Bennett can redraw the map of national priorities and give government benefits to more settlements. Wearing the hat of public diplomacy minister, Bennett will try to persuade the world that there is no Palestinian people and the settlements are actually legal.'"
Bar Refaeli’s Pro-Israel Ad Campaign Upsets IDF: Israeli Defense Forces writes a letter to the Foreign Ministry urging them to drop Bar Refaeli from PR campaign - Ashley Baylen, shalomlife.com: "Supermodel Bar Refaeli was recently hired by the Israeli Foreign Ministry to appear in a pro-Israel PR campaign to boost the country’s image around the world. Refaeli’s international modeling success, recent Superbowl commercial, and appointment as Maxim’s Sexiest Woman in the World make the gorgeous Israeli a smart choice as the face of her native Holy Land… except the Israeli Defense Forces argue that she’s not a true Israeli. In 2003, Refaeli sparked a lot of controversy by opting out of her mandatory military service by marrying a family acquaintance- whom she divorced shortly afterwards.
Refaeli argued that army service would interfere with her blossoming modeling career, while her fellow countrymen labeled her a traitor and have still not forgiven her choices. In a letter written from IDF Brig. Gen Yoav Mordechai to the Foreign Ministry, he urged them to consider 'the negative message sent out to Israeli society from the inclusion of Bar Refaeli, who did not complete national service, as Israel’s representative in a public relations campaign. In recent years, the IDF has been trying a variety of methods to improve the value of military service and to combat draft evasion, in order to preserve the moral dimension whereby the IDF is the people’s army,' the letter read. Two years ago, the IDF led a campaign against celebrities who avoided military service, specifically mentioning Refaeli and asking nationalists not to buy the products she promotes. The Foreign Ministry has released a statement in response to the IDF’s letter. 'Refaeli is considered one of the most beautiful women in the world and is widely recognized as an Israeli,' the ministry said. 'There is no reason to bring up the past when it comes to a campaign of public diplomacy of this kind.' ... So far, Bar Refaeli has only responded via her Twitter account by posting a message in Hebrew reading 'You can use the clip for the Foreign Ministry or drop it, but my Instagram feed has more readers than Israel’s most popular newspaper [Yedioth Ahronoth]!' The tweet linked to a picture of a banner calling on US President Barrack Obama to free imprisoned Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard." Refaeli image from. See also.
The infallibility of David? On anti-semitism and criticising Israeli foreign policy - Moritz Pieper, opendemocracy.net: "Criticizing Israeli foreign policy must not be a taboo topic. Not for European and EU public diplomacy, still less for journalism in Europe - the freedom of which is fundamental in paving the way for necessary critical discourses, ultimately informing European politics."
India blots out Israeli issues - S Samuel C Rajiv, atimes.com: "India and Israel established formal diplomatic ties in January 1992. In the more than two decades since, the relationship has seen enormous growth. Broadly, these have encompassed three pegs - defense, trade and people-to-people contacts. Despite opposition from some quarters, the positive growth in the trajectory of the relationship has not suffered. This is both due to India's foreign policy "balance" as well as Israel's active public diplomacy and outreach activities. ... Israel's public diplomacy [:] Israel on its part has tried hard to 'polish its image' in India - as noted by a March 2008 US Embassy cable revealed by Wikileaks - by sponsoring trips to Israel of prominent Muslim religious/educational/political leaders, organizing seminars/exhibitions on Israeli life in prominent cities like Lucknow, and publishing newsletters in Hindi and Urdu, among other such outreach activities.
The Israeli Ambassador Alon Ushpiz hosted an Iftar dinner for over 50 prominent Muslim personalities in August 2012. In 2010, the embassy hosted a similar feast in Amber. To a certain extent, such Israeli outreach activities seem to be succeeding in molding public opinion. ... A 2009 survey sponsored by the Israeli foreign ministry, involving 5,200 people in 13 countries, reportedly ranked India as the most 'pro-Israel country' in the world (58%), higher even than the United States (56%). The Israeli Embassy in June 2012 proudly noted that the 'Israel in India' Facebook page has received over 20,000 'likes' since its launch in August 2010, a figure only surpassed by similar pages belonging to US and UK. ... Apart from the robust public diplomacy, an important Israeli strategy in recent times has been to reach out to the Indian states for developmental and business opportunities." Image from
Catalonia, tweet by tweet, by Òscar Palau - newscatalonia.com: The Catalan government is promoting, through its Diplocat office, the Twitter account @CatalanVoices, in which they will invite a different Catalanophile each week to promote and discuss the situation in Catalonia, in English. It's an initiative that already has been successful in Sweden and Scotland. The world gets smaller every day thanks to new technologies and Catalonia wants to take advantage of these opportunities and trends in order to help spread the word about the sovereignty process. The Council on Public Diplomacy of Catalonia (Diplocat), which depends on the Secretary of Foreign Affaris, has just opened a new Twitter account, @CatalanVoices, which hopes to add one more grain of sand to the pile, if you will, a new tool to the network in order to explain the reality of the situation in Catalonia and at the same time to promote its assets.
For Australia Network, it's never safe - Annmaree O'Keeffe, lowyinterpreter.org: "You've got to feel sorry for Australia's public international television service, Australia Network. Launched by the Keating Government in 1994 under the name Australia Television, its short life has been blighted with funding cuts, death threats, name changes and a failed out-sourcing effort. Its most recent adventure was the messy tender tempest to determine who should be awarded the new contract to manage the network. The tender process started in 2011 and morphed into a protracted, interrupted and revised process that was finally laid to rest last September when the Government announced that it would award the contract to run Australia Network to the ABC for 10 years. Now, questions about Australia Network's long term residency inside Australia's public broadcaster are again circulating. ... In a Lowy Institute report, International Broadcasting and its Contribution to Public Diplomacy, which I co-authored in 2010 with Alex Oliver, we analysed the lessons coming out of the experiences of other countries' international broadcasters as well as our own.
We concluded that
Public Diplomacy: Georgian Folk Ensemble Ersioni entertains Kremlin - links-dar.org: "The Georgian Folk Ensemble 'Ersioni' was earlier this month given a standing ovation when it performed in the Kremlin, a sure sign of the thaw in Georgian-Russian Relations.
Since the election of Bidhzina Ivanishvili as prime Minister last October the two sides have moved to resolve some of the outstanding issues between them. However restoration of diplomatic relations remains impossible as long as Russia continues to recognise Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent countries, according to Georgian officials." Image from entry
No longer for elites: KONY2012, Invisible Children, and new public diplomacy - Nicole Audette, Public Diplomacy student, Syracuse University, Exchange Journal: One year ago, KONY2012 became the most viral video campaign in history. Designed to make warlord Joseph Kony famous, the video received over 100 million views in just 6 days. Created by the non-profit Invisible Children (IC), this film and the foreign policy reaction—specifically from the
The Challenge of Civil Society and Democracy Assistance - Public Diplomacy, Networks and Influence: "Democracy assistance programmes are often run by aid agencies and hence tend to get ignored in discussions of public diplomacy but if you follow Nick Cull in embracing a minimal definition of public diplomacy as engagement with foreign publics in pursuit of foreign policy objectives it certainly ticks the box (Cull 2008: xv).
Democracy assistance in sometimes thought of as having top down and bottom up elements; the former focuses on working with state institutions the latter with civil society actors. The latter activity raises a set interesting issues given that public diplomacy theory and practice has embraced working with civil society actors." Image from
What is Discourse Analysis? - watchingmedia.wordpress.com: "It’s worth ... to see how culture – something many of us would say we value without really understanding why, something we might think grows organically rather than be constructed, something closely tied to our identities – is used for a particularly [sic] purpose of public diplomacy, and what effect this use has on that precious but elusive thing."
Diplomacy Isn’t About Friendships - Robert Loftis, New York Times: As a well-regarded ambassador once explained early in my foreign service career, diplomacy is about persuading people to do what you want them to do; it’s not about getting along and mouthing pleasantries. Celebrity ambassadors can play a helpful role when they draw attention to neglected populations and bother to educate themselves.
The danger with many 'celebrity ambassadors' is that they do not understand the distinction and often arrive on their self-appointed mission with no plan for follow through and little conception of the overall complexity of the situation. ... In today’s world, celebrity ambassadors aren’t going to disappear. What we can, and must, demand of them (and of those who make a living following their every move and utterance) is that they adopt the physician’s oath: first, do no harm." Image from
Celebrity spokespeople are doubled-edged swords - Micheal Duffin, PD News–CPD Blog, USC Center on Public Diplomacy: "High-profile endorsers and spokespeople may get in trouble, die suddenly, or simply become irrelevant. ... Michael Duffin is a graduate student concluding a Master's degree in Public Diplomacy from USC's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism."
Former US Ambassador Visits Westminster - wccglobefm.com: "Robin Sanders, former U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria, will spend a week on the Westminster College campus in Fulton, MO March 19-22 meeting with students and faculty in formal and informal settings as part of the Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow program. 'Robin Sanders will be a perfect fit for Westminster College,' says Jorden Sanders, Student Government Association President.
'Our students will have a chance to meet a world-class leader with a deep knowledge of foreign affairs, helping to create better understanding and new connections between the academic and nonacademic worlds.' ... Sanders has served twice as the director for Africa at the National Security Council at the White House. She has a range of foreign and public policy analytical experience; technical expertise in public diplomacy; and best practice expertise on energy sector reform." Image from
RELATED ITEMS
Low expectations for Obama's Israel visit: Expectations are understandably low. But the U.S. must keep pressing for a two-state solution - Editorial,latimes.com: These days, some wonder whether the U.S. will lose interest in the region now that deep reserves of oil and gas have been found in North America, potentially reducing American dependence on Middle East oil. Others wonder aloud whether the time for a two-state solution has come and gone. Two states for two peoples may be a messy and imperfect solution, but no one has offered a realistic, workable alternative. In the months ahead, Secretary of State John Kerry, with strong backing from Obama, should press forcefully for progress on this important international challenge. Image from
President Obama’s to-do list for his Mideast trip - Editorial Board, Washington Post: Mr. Obama’s interest lies in persuading Israel not to launch unilateral operations but rather to trust that the United States will intervene when and if that is needed. But trust — as opposed, say, to a road map for a two-state solution — is what is most missing from the current relationship. U.S. support for incremental steps, including unilateral actions by both sides to prepare for Palestinian statehood, remains important. There, too, it will matter whether Mr. Obama can connect with average Israelis and Palestinians — and reset his personal relations with their leaders.
Does Obama have a plan for Syria? - Richard Cohen, Washington Post: Britain and France might well break the European arms embargo and send weapons to the rebels. The United States should not only do the same but also take a leadership role. At the same time, a no-fly zone should be imposed to ground the Syrian air force. The war cannot continue to go on. It is a humanitarian disaster and a looming security risk.
Mideast seeks a new commitment from Obama - Michael Singh, Washington Post: Obama's trip will be about the
Obama’s foreign policy and the risks of retreat - Michael Gerson, Washington Post: The United States remains strong in absolute terms, but the trend is toward disengagement. This could easily shade or shift the strategic calculations of other nations. A nation that is economically stagnant, weighed down by debt, politically congested, militarily retrenching and conflicted about its global role is not becoming safer in the process. These trends feed our rivals’ destabilizing dreams of global realignment. This, in the long run, invites challenges we might have avoided.
2003 to 2013: A wide-angle look at Iraq - Washington Post: Iraqis say they feel better about their security but worse about economic and political stability since the U.S. military left in late 2011. Image from article
10 Years Later, an Anniversary Many Iraqis Would Prefer to Ignore - Tim Arango, New York Times: The war that arrived a decade ago is still too painful and too controversial to be taught to schoolchildren or subjected to serious academic study at universities, and the local news media are too busy reporting on the latest bombings, protests and political disagreements to care much about an anniversary. So as historians, pundits
and former government officials in Washington and London produce a wave of reminiscences on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq — symposiums have been held, books written, new studies published on the conflict’s toll, human and financial — Iraqis are more concerned with the present. The central legacy of the war, many experts say, is a political system midwifed by the United States in which the spoils of power are divided along sectarian and ethnic lines. As such, compromise — in the streets and in Parliament — has been nearly impossible. Today, the notion of a national identity that supersedes the sectarian seems a fantasy. Image from article, with caption: A market in Baghdad last week. A decade after the start of the Iraq war, which led to Saddam Hussein’s downfall, Iraqis are still grappling with bombings and political strife.
What we Lost: Top Ten Ways the Iraq War Harmed the US - juancole.com: 1. The US invasion and occupation of Iraq harmed the US in bringing into question its basic competency as a world leader. 2. The United States has irrevocably undermined that structure of international law, and any aggressor can now appeal to Bush of 2003 as a precedent. 3. The Iraq War revived al-Qaeda’s fortunes and prolonged its life as an important actor.4. The US permanently lost its chance to achieve a two-state solution. The Clinton administration had come very close in 2000 to achieving a permanent solution to the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Like the Clinton economy and budget surpluses, however, the Bush administration completely undermined its predecessor’s achievement. 5. The US, which once prosecuted Japanese generals for water-boarding, and which had laws against torture and against assassination, became an international symbol of torture pornography when some of the Abu Ghraib photographs of the mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners were released. 6. The motives of the US in attacking Iraq were presumed by the rest of the world to be getting that country’s petroleum on the world market. That the most powerful country in the world might just fall upon any victim it chose alarmed other nations and provoked their suspicions. 7. The long Iraq War did much more than the 9/11 attacks to promote Islamophobia and to make promoting hatred and fear of Muslims a common political tactic by American politicians, especially on the Right. 8. The Iraq War allowed Iran to rise as a regional power, so that a Tehran-Baghdad-Damascus-Beirut political axis was created. 9. The financial cost of the Iraq War to the US will rise over time into the trillions. 10. If the Iraqi government does ever manage to get its act together enough to produce substantially more petroleum, that will hurt green energy by lowering the cost of hydrocarbons, and so will contribute to ever more global warming.
Washington Post Anti-Bolivarian Propaganda - Stephen Lendman, mostlywater.org
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Video: Windsor, Missouri, Officials Ask Male Public Workers To Bring Own Toilet Paper To Work - huffingtonpost.com: Male public works employees in
Favorite Albums, 1969 - Princess Sparkle Pony's Photoblog: "Amon Düül II: Phallus Dei. Incredible hard-psychedelic Krautrock masterpiece. Garage prog with lots of guitars and a sound which ranges from lunatic pounding to stately and beautiful. I think this is a concept album about God's penis. ... Cromagnon: Orgasm. A futuristic noise-rock concept album about... I think... cavemen having sex and dying? Trust me: it's a lot better than that sounds. Impossible to explain, ridiculously ahead of its time, apparently without precedent. It's American! Features lots of yelling and grunting. ... The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World.
Probably the greatest album ever recorded. The ultimate denouement of the girl group craze. So naive and yet so, so painful. When I listen to the Shaggs, I fixate on Helen, the drummer, and keep marveling, 'How does she do that?'" Image from entry
A Third of U.S. Seniors Die With Dementia, Study Finds: Report tallies enormous medical, financial and caregiver toll of conditions like Alzheimer's - Serena Gordon, health.usnews.com
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