“I think of well-sealed windows! No other country can make such well-sealed and nice windows [dichte und schöne Fenster].”
--German Chancellor Angela Merkel, answering a question about what feelings Germany awakes in her; image from, with comment: He [Minnesota ressident John Eckfeldt] says the thick exterior walls and German windows keep the inside temperature so even that when he looks outside and sees it's snowing, he reminds himself: "It must be cold!"
“Too big for Europe, too small for the world.”
--Henry Kissinger on Germany
PUBLIC DIPLOMACY
Is the West ready for the rise of the Russian elite? - Pavel Koshkin, Russia Beyond the Headlines:
"According to a recent report from the Valdai Discussion Club, an influential Russian think tank, members of the Russian elite have been growing increasingly suspicious about the global ambitions of the United States over the past few decades. Already, these effects are starting to impact Russian foreign policy toward the West, especially as anti-Americanism becomes widespread in Russian academia. As might be imagined, the Valdai report ('Russian Elite – 2020') spurred debate among both Russian and American experts, especially about the ability of these elites to influence Russian domestic and foreign policy. ... The report involved a number of high-profile researchers from both Russia and the U.S. , including University of Michigan professors William Zimmerman and Ronald Inglehart and Eduard Ponarin, a professor of sociology from the Higher School of Economics in Russia . The authors of the report argue that authoritarianism will remain 'more and more popular among members' of the Russian elite born in the 1980s despite the increase in the number of pro-democracy supporters. This trend may be relevant in the context of Russia ’s future foreign policy. Increasing suspicions toward the U.S. might become commonplace for the Russian elite by the 2020s, according to Eduard Ponarin, one of the authors of the report. During the presentation of the report at the Valdai Discussion Club, he noted that the members of the Russian elite have been looking at the U.S. very suspiciously since their disappointment with the policy of perestroika in the 1990s. ... At the presentation of the Valdai Discussion Club’s report, University of Michigan professor William Zimmerman said China’s rise may become a good reason for the Russian and American elite to team up. According to him, by 2035 China may have become strong enough to pose a threat for Russia and the U.S. Meanwhile, Mukhin [first name/position not provided] warns against an anti-Chinese union between Moscow and Washington and assumes that it may result in negative consequences. 'We shouldn’t team up against China ,' he said. 'Instead, we should work more on public diplomacy.'"
The Leaderboard: Robert Blake, Jr. - cogitASIA: "President Barack Obama on July 30 nominated Blake to be the next U.S. ambassador to the Republic of Indonesia, replacing Scot Marciel, who has held the position since August 2010. U.S. ties with Indonesia have improved significantly in recent years under President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s tenure, and Blake will play a pivotal role in ensuring that they continue to grow through Indonesia’s 2014 presidential and legislative elections. ... His public diplomacy experience
in
World Leaders Rarely Connect With Their Followers Says Twiplomacy 2013 Study. @PMOIndia Is No Exception Too - "Twitter, the 140 character social network, is not about having millions of followers but it is also about connecting, informing and acknowledging them. But most of the world leaders don’t seem to connect with their followers and only use the channel as a broadcasting medium. According to Twiplomacy 2013, a study of the use of Twitter by world leaders conducted by global PR firm Burson-Marsteller, has concluded that most of these Twitter accounts which are handled by official staff rarely make personal tweets or connect with their followers in any meaningful way, first reported by TOI. ... The study highlighted the fact that the governments of more than three-quarters (77.7%) of the 193 UN member countries have a presence on Twitter: Almost half of the 505 accounts analysed are personal accounts of heads of state, heads of government and ministers of foreign affairs; a third of these world leaders tweet themselves, but very few on a regular basis.
U.S. President @BarackObama is still the most followed world leader on Twitter with 33,510,157 followers as of 1 July 2013 and is the fourth most popular account in the Twitterverse followed by Pope Francis with 7,200,332 followers on his nine different @Pontifex accounts. ... Our [India's] PM – Dr. Manmohan Singh has an official presence on Twitter from late January 2012. The account is managed by the PMO’s Office with almost 5 tweets a day. The tweets are mainly government news and announcements, quotes from statements made by the prime minister and what is 'happening now' at the Prime Minister’s Office. It comes as no surprise that the engagement on the PMO Twitter account is extremely limited. ... In comparison to the PMO Twitter account, The Public Diplomacy Division of Ministry of External Affairs Twitter account – @IndianDiplomacy has been doing well. With over three tweets a day @IndianDiplomacy shares content about key political and economic issues, culture, art and sport, including numerous videos from the ministry of foreign affairs YouTube channel and live-tweeting from events like the BCIM Car Rally 2013. The Public Diplomacy Division engages with other users; 40% of the tweets are retweets and 7% are direct @replies." Image from entry
Victor Ashe got things headed in the right direction at BBG, Radio Liberty - BBGWatcher, BBG Watch
Israel se suma a una batalla que se intensifica: la de la propaganda por TV: Sale a competir con Al-Jazeera en el mundo árabe; en la última década, se multiplicaron las cadenas financiadas en distintos idiomas por los países para fortalecer su influencia - Luisa Corradini, lanacion.com.ar: "Con el lanzamiento de una cadena de televisión en tres idiomas, Israel acaba de sumarse a la despiadada batalla mundial de propaganda que libran los grandes países para justificar sus opciones políticas, imponer sus ideas, difundir sus modelos sociales y facilitar la penetración económica de sus empresas. Pero ¿se trata de una estrategia con futuro? I24 News (Israel 24 de Información) comenzó sus programas el 17 de junio con la difusión de un reportaje sobre el encuentro entre el papa Francisco y su amigo de infancia el rabino Abraham Skorka. ... La dimensión histórica hay que buscarla en la tradición de la 'public diplomacy' o 'soft power' norteamericano. Durante la Guerra Fría, esa política era aplicada a través del lanzamiento de radios internacionales. Por ejemplo, Radio Free Europa, que emitía hacia los países detrás de la Cortina de Hierro, o Radio Martí, cuyo objetivo era desestabilizar el régimen de Fidel Castro. Hoy, las cadenas de televisión de información continua suelen estar pensadas, por ejemplo, para 'ganar los corazones y las conciencias de los musulmanes' en Medio Oriente. Ese método de acción mediática, destinado a dar 'una buena imagen' de un país o defender los propios valores ante públicos extranjeros, cada vez ha sido más imitado."
Online video shows IDF soldier kicking 12-year-old Palestinian boy - Lilach Shoval, israelhayom.com: "An IDF soldier from Kfir Brigade was filmed kicking a 12-year-old Palestinian boy in Hebron over the weekend. The video, which was uploaded and distributed by Palestinian activist group International Solidarity Movement, shows the soldier cursing at the boy, though the circumstances to the incident were not provided. The IDF Spokesperson's Unit released a statement calling the event 'anomalous' and said the incident will be investigated. Two weeks ago a video showing a group of soldiers in Hebron detaining a five-year-old Palestinian child for rock throwing went viral, causing the IDF and Israel serious public diplomacy harm."
Israeli Attitudes Toward Arabs Soften — But the Feeling's Not Mutual: Arabs Harden Opinions Towards Jews - Nathan Jeffay, forward.com: "Despite widespread perceptions, Israeli Jews aren’t becoming more antagonistic toward Israeli Arabs. So concludes a new survey that also shows how Israeli Arab attitudes toward Jews have turned harsher. ... The survey, which interviewed 700 Jewish citizens and 700 Arab citizens, is co-sponsored yearly by Haifa University and the Israel Democracy Institute, a think tank that declares its mission as advancing democratic values in Israel. ... [S]ome academics have dismissed the survey’s findings.
'If the political system does not reflect the will of the people, then Israeli politics is different in its politics than any democratic country, and I don’t trust that,' said Amal Jamal, author of the 2001 book 'Arab Minority Nationalism in Israel: The Politics of Indigeneity.' Jamal, a member of Israel’s Druze minority and head of Tel Aviv University’s graduate program in political science and political communication, told the Forward in an interview that he thinks the statistics show only that Israeli Jews have become savvier in telling pollsters what they think people want to hear. 'Public diplomacy is part of the Israeli political culture; people want to be seen abroad as a prosperous democracy and peaceful society,' he said." Image from article, with caption: Not the Norm: Israeli Arab children play next to wall daubed with racist graffiti. Hate crimes grab headlines but a new study suggests that Jewish attitudes towards Arabs have moderated slightly over time.
Does anyone have a spare 2.6 million shekels? - 5mfi.com: "Like millions of viewers I tune in regularly to Eretz Nehederet (lit. A
India's Buddhist diplomacy falters - Bangkok Post: "India is seeking to connect with Southeast Asia by reviving an ancient Buddhist university, but the effort is just limping along, with little support from regional nations. ... Though a communist nation, China has been pursuing aggressive public diplomacy using Buddhism. And since China seeks to keep India out of Southeast Asian arrangements, New Delhi also wants to assert its place in Buddism. ... Many scholars believe Buddhists in India were persecuted by the Brahmins, or India’s priestly class, who were keen to assert their caste supremacy."
The New German Question - Timothy Garton Ash, New York Review of Books: "[S]oft power? Yes, as that twenty-five-nation BBC poll suggests, the Federal Republic has considerable power to attract—Joseph Nye’s classic definition of soft power. Yet this still does not compare with the cultural pulling power of the land of Harry Potter, David Beckham, the Royal Shakespeare Company, the BBC, English-language universities with students from all over the world, the royal family, the London Olympics, and Mr. Bean."
Foreign policy tries to shed its elitist image - Khulekani Magubane, bdlive.co.za: "The Department of International Relations and Co-operation is seeking to do what does not always come naturally for implementers of foreign policy.From Diepsloot to Gugulethu, the department is looking to fill community halls as it works at encouraging engagement by civil society over the objectives and ideals of the country’s foreign policy. Such consultation would make South Africa
something of a first, as most foreign policy decisions around the world appear to be imposed on citizens, with little room for input from communities. ... Views on foreign policy at times have political ramifications, as leaders who have struggled to address domestic issues could 'gain easy wins' through diplomacy to win the favour of citizens, says the head of economic diplomacy at the South African Institute, Catherine Grant-Makokera. ... She also says engagement on foreign policy creates a positive image of transparency in South Africa. 'I think it’s a part of the strategy by the department as far back as 2009 where they identified what they call ‘public diplomacy’ as a priority. It has taken a long while to get going. I think it’s very important.'" Image from article
Tsvangirai: The political mouse that roared? - Itayi Garande, herald.co.zw: "THE MDC-T has always been feeble in its public diplomacy, and involved in pitch-rolling to convince the Zimbabwean public that they were the only party that can deliver change to them. The mistakes made in the inclusive Government at party level sealed the party’s fate with the public; and at the individual level, Tsvangirai’s personal problems with various women
was a reputational disaster because it challenged, with diametric precision, the MDC-T’s claim that their leader was an infallible man." Tsvangirai image from article
Seib (ed.), “Religion and Public Diplomacy” – posted by Jessica P. Wright, clrforum.org: "This July Macmillan published Religion and Public Diplomacy edited by Philip Seib.
The publisher’s description follows. [‘]Mixing religion and public diplomacy can produce volatile results, but in a world in which the dissemination and influence of religious beliefs are enhanced by new communications technologies, religion is a factor in many foreign policy issues and must be addressed. Faith is such a powerful part of so many people’s lives that it should be incorporated in public diplomacy efforts if they are to have meaningful resonance among the publics they are trying to reach. This book addresses key issues of faith in an increasingly connected and religious world and provides a better understanding of the role religion plays in public diplomacy.[']” Image from entry
Social Media for Public Diplomacy - civic.md: "About Social Media for Public Diplomacy[:] 7th and 14th September 2013 [.] The Social Media for Public Diplomacy Workshop is an intensive two-day course designed to improve professional capabilities to develop and implement successful social media campaigns. Through a balanced series of discussions, workshops, and on-line training sessions it provides master level insight and knowledge necessary to develop strategies and tactics to enhance the ability to efficiently communicate and influence the public opinions using social media outlets. The forum will provide a platform for interaction and knowledge sharing and allow the participants to exchange experiences and effectively implement the skills acquired during the training. Two follow –up meetings within 1 and 4 months will allow to evaluate and correct implemented social media strategies. The workshop is specifically designed for diplomats, government representatives and civil society stakeholders, and is tailored to provide expert level knowledge, hands-on training, and individual coaching to develop and master social media communication tactics and techniques. ... The Social Media for Public Diplomacy Workshop specifically targets public diplomacy professionals from a diverse background of specializations and come from both within and outside EU countries. The diversity of social and political backgrounds across the network of the Social Media for Public Diplomacy participants ensures robust networking possibilities on a personal and professional level."
RELATED ITEMS
Tied up for years in U.S. red tape, Afghan aides are Taliban targets: Interpreters risking their lives fear they may be left behind - Kristina Wong, Washington Times: Thousands of Afghan interpreters whose visa applications are stuck in bureaucratic backlogs at the State Department are terrified that they will be Taliban targets when most
In Afghanistan, a second Guantanamo - Kevin Sieff, washingtonpost.com: Of all the challenges the United States faces as it winds down the Afghanistan war, the most difficult might be closing the prison nicknamed “The Second Guantanamo.” The United States holds 67 non-Afghan prisoners there, including some described as hardened al-Qaeda operatives seized from around the world in the months after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. More than a decade later, they’re still kept in the shadowy facility at Bagram air base outside Kabul.
Closing the facility presents many of the same problems the Obama administration has encountered in its attempt to close down the Guantanamo Bay detention center in Cuba. Some U.S. officials argue that Bagram’s resolution is even more complicated — and more urgent. The U.S. government transferred the prison’s Afghan inmates to local authorities this year. But figuring out what to do with the foreign prisoners is proving to be an even bigger hurdle to shutting the American jail. Bagram image from article
A Chance for the New Iranian President to Prove He's a Reformer: Western diplomats at the Rouhani inauguration Sunday should challenge him to release political prisoners - Linda Frum and Michael Ledeen, Wall Street Journal: The inauguration of Hassan Rouhani as president of Iran on Sunday has stirred considerable hope among some Western observers for the start of a new era of liberalization in the Islamic Republic. When bringing pressure on a draconian regime, it helps to point to a particular political prisoner, giving a face to countless victims who remain unknown. The Western diplomats couldn't do better than to focus on Ayatollah Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi, who has been incarcerated in Tehran's infamous Evin prison since 2006. The 55-year-old religious leader is routinely tortured, according to Amnesty International.
New channel not a propaganda tool: SABC -- The SABC's Jimi Matthews says all "checks and balances" are in place to ensure its new 24-hour news channel does not become a propaganda tool - Glynnis Underhill, techcentral.co.za: The SABC’s Jimi Matthews says all “checks and balances” are in place to ensure its new 24-hour news channel does not become a propaganda tool. The satellite channel launched on Thursday evening, with South African president Jacob Zuma in attendance for its kick-off.
On Not Buying into Ancient Propaganda - Aidan Kelly, patheos.com: There were standard forms of propaganda used to attack enemies back then; even the Romans accused the early Roman Christians of eating babies, having incest, etc. I propose that in every case where a Church Father is accusing “heretics” of having “promiscuous intercourse” and “common wives” and so on, what he was attacking was a faith community that believed sex is sacred, our greatest blessing, and essential for salvation. We can see such propaganda continuing into the Middle Ages, as in the Holocaust perpetrated against the Cathars.
From Psycho-Linguistics to the Politics of Psychopathy. Part 1: Propaganda - kittysjones.wordpress.com: While the term propaganda has acquired a strongly negative connotation by association with its most manipulative and jingoistic examples (e.g. Nazi propaganda used to justify the Holocaust), propaganda in its original sense was neutral, and could refer to uses that were generally benign or innocuous, such as public health recommendations, signs encouraging citizens to participate in a census or election, or messages encouraging people to report crimes to law agencies, amongst others.
So the exact definition of propaganda is constantly debated, and no specific definition is completely agreed. Some argue that any persuasive communication is propaganda, whilst others hold that propaganda specifically alters political opinions. However, it is doubtless that propaganda is material which is meant to manipulate or change public opinion, and though it may vary in form and technique, it always serves this same purpose. In the context of this article, propaganda is generally to be defined as a calculated, coordinated campaign carried out through media that are capable of reaching a large amount of people, to further a primarily political agenda, (although principles of propaganda can be applied equally to further a religious or commercial agenda also). Image from article
Vintage-styled propaganda posters for the imminent robot uprising [4 pictures] - twentytwowords.com: Among them:
PUBIC DIPLOMACY SECTION
Have an orgasm instead of doing a crossword, it's better for your brain, says scientist: Orgasms could be better for our brains than doing a crossword or a Sudoku puzzle, an academic has claimed - Rosa Silverman, telegraph.co.uk: The sexual climax gives the whole brain a good workout, rather than just one area of it, Professor Barry Komisaruk said. The sensation can, moreover, block pain and could therefore be used to alleviate the agony of childbirth, among other things, he suggested.
Depression, anxiety and addiction could also benefit if scientists can harness the pleasure-producing mechanism in the brain that produces orgasm and put it to other uses, he believes. The 72-year-old US researcher has been studying female sexual pleasure since the 1960s, beginning his experiments on rats before moving on to women in 1982. Prof Komisaruk has reached his conclusions after studying female volunteers in his brain scanning laboratory at the university’s Department of Psychology, measuring the blood flow in their brains as they climax. For this, the women must lie in a narrow tube called a functional magnetic resonance imaging machine and achieve orgasm despite the clinical surroundings. Image from article; via MT on Facebook
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