September 5

“To hell with them. If this guy wants this war, then let him have it."

--A U.S. military officer, evidently referring to President Obama's intervention plans in Syria; image from

VIDEO

See the Assads on Instagram - USA NOW video: "Syrian President Bashar Assad and his wife have been posting controversial photos on Instagram. Host Carly Mallenbaum talks about how the images seem to be a 21st-Century propaganda effort."

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Syria's military intervention: A comedy in three acts - George Friedman, euractiv.com: "US President Barack Obama was forced to walk a tightrope over Syria after he was drawn into calling for a military intervention after France, Britain and Turkey called for action. Now he has to deal with being a reluctant coalition leader . ... Over the week, Washington turned into the main advocate for intervention. This is because the United States is the major global power. Its mere presence in the coalition focuses the coalition on the United States. In part, this is military: The United States has capabilities others don't. In part, it is political: The United States might be able to organize a global coalition while no one else can. Obama was prepared, given his red line and given pressure from key advisers, to participate in a coalition. He was, I think, surprised when the United States stopped being part of the coalition, but its leader and instigator, and then further, when others became disillusioned with its leadership.

Then the British Parliament voted against going to war, and Prime Minister David Cameron had to bow out, with many members of parliament saying the United Kingdom was no longer the Americans' lapdog. In addition to this public diplomacy, behind-the scenes-diplomacy also went on. The focus was Russia. Russia had supported the al Assad clan since Hafez al Assad's coup in 1970. The Russians are completely committed to the survival of the regime. Despite Obama's desire to do a minimum to satisfy his human rights impulse, Washington also didn't want to see the regime fall given what might follow al Assad." Image from

Northern Nigeria and the U.S. Response to Syria - John Campbell, blogs.cfr.org: "[Comment] Posted by Chike September 4, 2013 at 2:29 pm [:] As an aside, US is doing very little in the way of public diplomacy and public diplomacy starts from foreign policy. There are costs to a blind defence of Israel and a perception of bias towards Israel. This is a mill stone around America’s neck. But other aspects of public diplomacy are totally neglected. There’s very little person to person contact between the US Govt and the global public. The US should learn from the British with their British Councils or the Germans with their Goethe Institutes or even the Chinese with their Confucius Institutes. For example, most of the travellers from Nigeria to China come from the South East (Igbo). So the Chinese already have a Confucius Institute at Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka (which can help teach traders the basics of the Chinese language). In contrast, the US basically has no strategic outreach or serious plans to do so. Public diplomacy doesn’t have to be expensive, but there has to be commitment – and neither the US government nor the US people have that commitment."

Foreign audiences looking for original Voice of America reports get news analysis from Reuters on VOA’s ‘unattractive’ website - BBGWatcher, usgbroadcasts.com: "[Q]uite a few top U.S. and international news stories on the VOA website are not from Voice of America but from Reuters.

They at best get between one and ten Facebook 'Likes,' while similar stories on BBC, Al Jazeera, and Russia Today websites get hundreds, thousands, and even tens of thousands of Facebook 'Likes' and hundreds of comments from readers. Indeed. Why would Internet users abroad go to the VOA website to read short news items from Reuters? Web audiences abroad are also ignoring many of the video reports being produced on orders from Ensor and Redisch, both former CNN staffers. Some recently produced videos have gotten 0 (zero) Facebook 'Likes' and very few views on YouTube, while VOA’s online news reporting plunged further into disarray. The VOA management has now gone one step further. In addition to using Reuters news reports, the VOA English news website is now posting long-format news analyses from Reuters." Image from

Anna’s Story – ‘Anna Karapetian: a woman against the System’ by Veronica Sulla - BBGWatcher, usgbroadcasts.com/bbgwatch: "A documentary essay, Anna Karapetian: a woman against the System, was posted recently in Russian (Аннa Карапетян : женщина против Системы) and English at the personal blog of a young Russian writer Veronica Sulla. The essay was also highlighted on the writer’s Facebook page. ... In her essay, Veronica Sulla tells the story of a former RFE/RL journalist Anna Karapetian. Anna is one of many former and current RFE/RL foreign journalists who are denied the protection of the Czech labor law and can be fired by the American management at any time for any reason or no reason at all. Anna is one of two former RFE/RL employees who are suing the American public media institution for engaging in discrimination.

Anna’s lawsuit is now before the Czech Constitutional Court. A lawsuit by another former RFE/RL employee, Snjezana Pelivan, is before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty has a new chief executive Kevin Klose who was president of National Public Radio (NPR) from 1998 to 2008. ... In her essay, Veronica Sulla mentions by name former Radio Liberty’s Russian Service director Mario Corti and former Broadcasting Board of Governors member Ambassador Victor Ashe, both of whom she praises for their courage to stand up to the bureaucracy. ... Kevin Klose is not mentioned. But it is our hope that this powerful essay will move him to act now, in his upgraded capacity, to resolve this longstanding issue–an international disaster for U.S. public diplomacy–and to put a stop to injustice and discrimination at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty." Sulla image from entry

Why American students still go to Russia - Pavel Koshkin, Russia Beyond the Headlines: "Despite another decline in U.S.-Russian relations, interest in Russia among American students is steadily growing. This indicates that exchange programs remain a powerful tool for rooting out the Cold War mentality. ... According to data from American Councils for International Education, around 900 American university students come to Russia annually, while the total number of high school students is approximately 250 (not counting tourism and short-term, teacher-led visits of less than one month). Out of the 30,000 students who study Russian in college, about 9,000 continue to study the language beyond four semesters. Remarkably, nearly 10 percent of these students go on to continue their study of Russian language and culture at Russian universities for a summer, semester, or academic year. ... While there has been a slight decrease in the number of Russian students coming to the U.S. (related to cost issues and competition with Europe), this is not the case with American students going to Russia. 'The U.S.-bound Russian student numbers are down in comparison to 10 years ago. The American numbers to Russia have benefitted slightly from increases in scholarship funding available to them over the past 5-8 years, through programs like NSLI-Y [National Security Language Initiative for Youth], CLS [Critical Language Scholarship] and Flagship — programs for which American Councils is the primary overseas administrator,' Dan Davidson, president of the American Councils for International Education, told RBTH.  that, despite some differences at high government levels, U.S. interest in Russia remains stable. 'American students, teachers and researches will remain interested in Russia, in Russian culture, and in dialog with Russian people, regardless of the tenor of official, government-to-government relations at any particular moment,' Davidson said in an interview with RIA and RBTH. 'This has been the case for many decades and it will not change.' Likewise, Carter Johnson, director of the American Councils for International Education in Russia, argues that political differences between the countries have not affected bilateral

ties on educational and cultural levels. This indicates that people-to-people communication has remained a very crucial tool for bolstering bilateral relations and mutual interest. ... Exchange programs for American and Russian students [:] 1. The National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) program sends 80 American high school students to Russia for a summer or for a year. It is directed by American Councils and funded by the U.S. Department of State. 2. The Critical Languages Scholarship (CLS) program sends 50 American undergraduate students to Russia each summer, on full scholarships funded by the U.S. Department of State and administrated by American Councils. 3. The Flagship program annually sends 20 graduating seniors in various disciplines to St. Petersburg University to train in Russian (advanced–professional level). The program is administered by American Councils. 4. The Russian Language Advanced Studies program places 200 American students, graduate students, and teachers of Russian language in leading universities and centers in St. Petersburg, Moscow and Vladimir. Participants study with assistance from the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of State. The Open World program brings more than 800 Russian business and municipal representatives to the U.S. each year for short-term meetings with their American counterparts. The program is funded by the U.S. Library of Congress.  6. The Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX), now in its 20th year, brings over 300 Russia high school students to the U.S. for a year to live with American families and study in American schools. The program is funded by the U.S. Department of State."Image from article, with caption: Ambassador Michael McFaul with the 2013-2014 exchange students at his Moscow residence.

Rising Experts Task Force: Seeing Beyond the Bear – Selective Processing and Russian Public Diplomacy in the West - globalinterests.org: “Read Yelena Osipova’s working paper here: Russian Public Diplomacy in the West [.] During the Cold War, a deficit of objective information between the West and the Soviet Union led both sides to view each other in a distorted and negative light. But today, more than

20 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall, many of the West’s old perceptions about Russia still remain. Why have negative attitudes persisted despite the free flow of information, and how has Russia tried to change this trend? Comparative public diplomacy scholar Yelena Osipova addressed this topic in her August 15 presentation, ‘Seeing Beyond the Bear: Selective Processing and Russian Public Diplomacy in the West.’ Osipova, a Ph.D. candidate in International Relations at American University, noted that Russia’s use of public diplomacy has become an increasingly prominent topic in Russian foreign policy as the importance of soft power has gained traction there. Having realized that negative public opinion hampers its pursuit of foreign policy objectives, the Kremlin has invested billions of dollars into a large-scale public diplomacy campaign that uses educational outreach and media—including the television network RT and Voice of Russia radio—to project a more positive image abroad. However, these efforts have thus far failed to produce significant results.” Image from entry

Iran’s Rosh Hashana Twitter diplomacy stirs amazement, disbelief - Laura Rozen, backchannel.al-monitor.com: "Iran’s new Foreign Minister Javad Zarif joined President Hassan Rouhani in tweeting 'Happy Rosh Hashanah' greetings Thursday, on the occasion of the Jewish new year’s holiday, setting

off a new wave of amazement, and some disbelief, in both the social media and policy universes. ... The outreach from Rouhani and Zarif, particularly to the Jewish people, signals the 'most significant public diplomacy outreach since the revolution,' journalist Robin Wright said Thursday on Twitter. 'It signals intent for a serious [diplomatic] effort, even if issues [are] no easier.'" Uncaptioned image from entry

China Is Increasingly Seen As The #1 Power, And That's A Problem For China - Andrew Hammond, Forbes: "China’s image would ... benefit from enhanced public diplomacy to win more foreign ‘hearts and minds.’ At a symbolic level, example measures might include utilizing the country’s growing capabilities in space travel for high-profile international cooperation projects.  Surveys underline that many around the world admire China’s strength in science and technology. A broader reform needed is reducing the role of the central government, whose communications often lack legitimacy and credibility with those not Chinese. Here, the country would benefit instead by expanding the role of non-state groups – including from civil society networks, Chinese diaspora communities, sporting groups, student, academic groups and business networks."

Pakistan, Chinese spokesperson to coordinate on public diplomacy - Tahir Khan, newspakistan.pk: "Foreign Ministry spokespersons of Pakistan and China have agreed to maintain close contact and encourage regular exchange of media delegations between the two countries, the Foreign Ministry said on Thursday. They further agreed that the two Spokespersons would coordinate public diplomacy messaging on key foreign policy issues of mutual interest and would also liaise on the sidelines of important international events, a Foreign Ministry statement said. ... The objective of the Dialogue was to discuss ways of harmonizing public diplomacy messages of the two Foreign Ministries at a time when the leadership and governments of Pakistan and China have embarked on tangible economic cooperation for the common benefit of the peoples of Pakistan and China and the region."

Australian author Damien Brown at the Open Book Festival: The Australian High Commission is proud to be supporting a visit to South Africa by acclaimed Australian author, and medical doctor, Damien Brown - openbookfestival.pressdoc.com: "The Australian High Commission is delighted to be supporting Australian author, and doctor, Mr Damien Brown through our public diplomacy program."

The dangers of "voting for a better yesterday" - Tony Leon, politicsweb.co.za: "Of course being an [South African] ambassador abroad [in Argentina] was not

simply a three year course in comparative history, trade promotion and public diplomacy. I had to promote our foreign policy." Leon image from article

The morning read - Paul Rockower, Levantine: "-The brief golden age of US pd to Mexico via US Ambassador Dwight Morrow. When I was traveling through Mexico a few years ago, I stopped in Cuernavaca to see a mural that Morrow had commissioned on Mexican history as a gesture of PD. -Consular corruption leaking out.   Poor pd, to say the least."

PEM appoints new curator of Chinese and East Asian art - Juan Cajigas Jimenez, boston.com: "The Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) announces the appointment of Daisy Yiyou Wang, Ph.D., to be its new curator of Chinese and East Asian art. ... Dr. Wang’s scholarship and leadership in U.S.-China museum collaboration have earned her a Smithsonian Valuing World Cultures Award, a Smithsonian Post-Doctoral Fellowship and a Getty Museum Leadership Fellowship. She has served as a grant reviewer for the Getty and an advisor to the Terra Foundation for American Art, the Getty Conservation Institute and the Public Diplomacy Programs of the U.S. Department of State."

In Abuja: Vacancy at the Australian High Commission - insidetrack-abuja.blogspot.com: "The Australian High Commission (AHC) in Abuja seeks to appoint a RESEARCH AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICER.

The successful candidate will become a key member of the political team and will be responsible for monitoring, researching and preparing high quality reports on political, economic and social issues of interest to Australia in Nigeria and West and Central Africa. The person will also support Australia’s public diplomacy, aid and commercial activities." Image from entry

RELATED ITEMS

A war the Pentagon doesn’t want - Robert H. Scales, Washington Post: None of the White House staff has any experience in war or understands it. So far, at least, this path to war in Syria violates every principle of war, including the element of surprise, achieving mass and having a clearly defined and obtainable objective. Today’s soldiers know war and resent civilian policymakers who want the military to fight a war that neither they nor their loved ones will experience firsthand.

The Right Questions on Syria - Nicolas D. Kristof, New York Times: The central question isn’t, “What are the risks of cruise missile strikes on Syria?” It’s this: “Are the risks greater if we launch missiles, or if we continue to sit on our hands?”

Syria Is Not Kosovo - James P. Rubin, New York Times: Mr. Obama should stick to the issue of weapons of mass destruction, despite the inevitable echo of Iraq. By using chemical weapons against innocent men, women and children, Mr. Assad has breached one of the oldest international laws — the 1925 protocol banning the use of poison gas — to which Syria is a party. Although there are no enforcement mechanisms authorizing force in that treaty, much of the world would likely accept that a limited use of military force aimed at Syria’s chemical weapons capability is a legitimate and proportionate response to such a blatant violation. And although it is not certain, airstrikes should be sufficient to deter the Assad regime from using chemical weapons again. Image from

Analysts warn of risk from extremists in Syria -  Louise Osborne and Jacob Wirtschafter - USA Today: The Obama administration insists that the vast majority of rebels in Syria are Sunni Muslims seeking to end a tyranny, not impose Islamic law. But it admits that al-Qaeda loyalists who would do such things are operating in Syria. Extremist groups have released videos over the past few months in which they kill locals in towns they say have violated Islamic law. Extremist groups are better funded, equipped and trained than local fighters, says the Free Syrian Army, which itself is made up of hundreds of independent units. The extremist fighters have made headway in some areas of Syria such as Idlib province.

Don't use U.S. credibility as a reason to attack Syria: It's an unsound — and dangerous — argument - Rajan Menon, latimes.com: Obama made a bad decision by publicly, and needlessly, warning a brutal strongman that the United States would resort to military force were he to use chemical weapons. With the White House having announced that Assad had done just that, Obama appears tangled in his own red lines. But he should not make another mistake now just because he made one earlier. Yet that's what those who invoke credibility in effect recommend because they don't explain convincingly why it's important for him to prove his resolve in this instance. They present credibility as an end in itself, not as a means to achieve a desired outcome, which is what it is. Adding to the instability of Syria and its neighborhood would scarcely add to America's credibility.

Blurred Red Lines: Harry Truman, please call Obama - Review and Outlook, Wall Street Journal: Mr. Obama still hasn't figured out after five years in office that America is the only enforcer of world order, and thus that there is no substitute for the President of the United States. Mr. Obama can't default to "the international community," whatever that is, much less to Congress. He has to lead. If he loses on Syria, it will be because he hasn't.

The Hawk's Case Against Obama on Syria: Changing the murderous regime in Damascus should be the goal. A 'limited,' 'tailored' attack doesn't merit support - Stephen F. Hayes, Wall Street Journal: It isn't at all unreasonable to wonder whether Mr. Obama's decision to go to Congress is little more than an attempt to share responsibility with Republicans for authorizing an intervention that goes badly, or to blame them for constraining him if they don't. If President Obama exercises the authority he claims and launches a serious campaign to end the slaughter in Syria and change the regime in Damascus, Republicans should support him. Until he does, they should oppose him.

How Not to Persuade Congress on Syria: Presidential ambivalence isn't a winning strategy - Karl Rove, Wall Street Journal: The bottom line is that Americans are not eager for military action in Syria. Presidential ambivalence won't convince the public they should care what happens there. But it isn't too late. Mr. Obama can bend opinion and the will of Congress his way.

The Benching of Uncle Sam A GOP Syria vote shouldn't ratify U.S. decline at home and abroad: Obama is trying to drive the Republicans into a "no" vote on the Syria resolution - Daniel Henninger, Wall Street Journal: Obama is shirking presidential responsibility for the U.S.'s role in the world. He doesn't want that responsibility. Barack Obama's view of the U.S. role in the world is that the time has come to bench Uncle Sam.

Obama Needs Serious Plan For Syria - Charles Krauthammer, courant.com: Deterrence depends entirely on perception and the perception in the Middle East is universal: Obama wants no part of Syria. Unless Obama can show the country that his don't-mock-me airstrike is, in fact, part of a serious strategy for altering the trajectory of the Syrian war, Congress should vote no.

The Syria question Congress must answer - Eugene Robinson, Washington Post: If Assad and his government are ever to be held accountable for the use of forbidden weapons to murder hundreds of civilians, the only realistic way for that to happen is a punitive, U.S.-led military strike.

A stand for Syria — and Obama - Michael Gerson, Washington Post: A limited military strike may be symbolic. But for Congress to block that strike would be more than symbolic. It would undermine a tangible element of American influence: the perception that the commander in chief is fully in command.

Quagmire at Home Did Obama even have a war plan for Capitol Hill? - Wall Street Journal: James Taranto, Wall Street Journal: Obama's strategic languidness has put lawmakers in a position such that many of them will be unable to vote either "yes" or "no" in good conscience. And with his failure to develop even a political strategy for approaching Congress on this matter, he has managed the dubious achievement of leading the U.S. into a foreign-policy quagmire without firing a shot.

War — what is it good for? - Andrew P. Napolitano, Washington Times: The president wants us to think that the Assad regime intentionally gassed 1,000 Syrian innocents who were of no military value to the rebels or threat to the regime — and among whom were, according to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, “hundreds of children.” Even if all this took place as Mr. Obama claims, can he lawfully bomb Syria to punish its government for violating international norms or to deter it from doing so again? In a word: No. Image from

What Sir William Would Do in Syria - Alex de Waal and Bridget Conley-Zilkic, New York Times: An American assault on Syria would be an act of desperation with incalculable consequences.

Can Iran Help the U.S. in Syria? - Room for Debate, New York Times: While some have said attacking Syria for allegedly using chemical weapons would warn Iran not to build nuclear weapons, others still want to pursue talks with Tehran. But by engaging more directly with Iran, could the United States defuse the situation in Syria and help bring about peace? Could an attack on Syria damage prospects for negotiations with Iran?

U.S. loses focus on Egypt - Editorial, Washington Post: The Obama administration has been pressing the government to reconcile with the Islamists, release Mr. Morsi and other political prisoners and carry out a transition to a genuine democracy. That these appeals are ignored while the government indulges in grotesque anti-American propaganda reflects the generals’ conviction that the administration will ultimately tolerate a new dictatorship while maintaining U.S. aid. It follows that the only means to exert U.S. leverage is to suspend the aid programs, while linking their resumption to the restoration of democracy.

Assad's Bizarre Instagram Account: Propaganda With a Comments Section: Is propaganda really propaganda when any old web user can challenge its message? - Megan Garber, theatlantic.com: The syrianpresidency feed is, to state the obvious, propaganda. It is also, to state the even more obvious, propaganda of the worst kind -- propaganda that insinuates and misleads and lies. It's not this that's going on in Syria right now, the feed insists; it's this. It's not neurotoxins and explosions and the violent deaths of civilians and children; it's science competitions and basketball games and, as my National Journal colleague Marin Cogan points out, Tiffany-blue fitness-tracking bracelets. An Instagram, as a bundled little unit of information, does not consist merely of pictures and post dates and captions; it consists, also, of follower feedback. Instagram's images come, by default, with comments. Which is perfectly natural -- most Internet Things come with comments fields these days -- but which is also, when a picture you've posted is propaganda, remarkable. Because, in the case of syrianpresidency, below the grotesque episodes of The Real Housewives of Damascus that play out on the feed, there are comments. Lots of them. Some of them insightful, some of them hateful, some of them both at the same time.

Assange decries WikiLeaks film as “massive propaganda attack”: The Toronto International Film Festival première’s Bill Condon’s dramatization of Assange and WikiLeaks, “The Fifth Estate” - mybroadband.co.za: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange may be holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, but he’s very present at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Opening this year’s festival on Thursday is the premiere of Bill Condon’s dramatization of Assange and WikiLeaks, “The Fifth Estate” – a film with which Assange refused to cooperate. It’s the only movie at Toronto that has the distinction of being called “a massive propaganda attack” by its primary subject. That was the opinion Assange dished out on the film in a video link in January in which he waved a supposed copy of the film’s script. But the film, which stars Benedict Cumberbatch as the Austrian activist, isn’t the character assassination Assange feared, but rather a layered, complicated portrait as laudatory as it is critical. Uncaptioned image from article

AMERICANA

Who Stole Miley's Tongue? - whostolemileystongue.tumblr. com. One of the images from entry:

MORE AMERICANA

The Map That Lincoln Used to See the Reach of Slavery - Rebecca Onion, Slate: "Map showing the distribution of the slave population of the Southern states of the United States. Compiled from the census of 1860. Drawn by E. Hergesheimer. Engr. by Th. Leonhardt." Library of Congress, American Memory Map Collections. Via DRH on Facebook

AND MORE AMERICANA (video)

Assault rifles in schools part of proposal - usatoday.com