April 27

"As some one once said, the Lodge mind was like the soil of New England -- highly cultivated, but naturally sterile."

--George Creel, head of the WWI Committee on Public Information, regarding Republican Senator Henry Cabot Lodge (1850-1924) from Massachusetts; cited in Creel's How We Advertised America (1920), pp. 59-60; Lodge image from Wikipedia

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Who Decides? - levinehank, Behind the Curtain:

"In the US we see a clear distinction between government and non-government actors such that the government does not concern itself with the kind of image of the US that Hollywood is projecting to the rest of the world. The Public Diplomacy bureau of the State Department and other agencies work to explain US policies and introduce others to US society. But the US government does not see itself as the protector of the overall US image abroad." Nonlinear Image Resizing Tool Image from

Torture, Boyd, and Strategy – AE, Rethinking Security: "We hear all the time about the need to win the 'information war,' but the battle of perception cannot be separated from the normative battle to define the structures, beliefs, and codes of conduct that guide theory and practice in the international arena. To pretend that we can engage in public diplomacy or information operations while straying from norms that we helped create is the height of folly. The issue goes beyond the canard that Obama supposedly favors 'civil rights for terrorists.' Whether or not to torture is ultimately a choice about what America is and the role we want to play in the world." Image from

New organization wants RFE/RL restored in Kyrgyzstan - Kim Andrew Elliott Discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy

RFE/RL, VOA now reaching Azerbaijan via Türksat - Kim Andrew Elliott Discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy

Up with USIA: In Which a Skeptic Is Converted to the Cause of a New, Independent U.S. Information Agency – Paul D. Kretkowski, Beacon: "I'm now fully on board with the new-USIA program. Extract the former USIA's functions from their current agency homes, and pour them into a new agency. Give nouveau USIA the authority to ask for its own budget. And let it start the quiet, decades-long business of rebuilding the U.S.'s reputation abroad." On USIA, see.

Sam B #82 - Pete M., hband: "From 1949–1953, the federal government cre­ated the information organizations that would form the backbone of America's PD efforts until the fall of the Berlin Wall—specifically, Radio Free Europe and the United States Information Agency. From the beginning, U.S. officials distin­guished America's truthful approach from the lies and deceptions of classic Nazi and Soviet propa­ganda; the term 'public diplomacy' came into general use by the 1970s to reflect this critical dif­ference. With a mandate for action, these organiza­tions were primed to battle Communist ideology and propaganda head-on. However, several events in the early Cold War caused Eisenhower and other American policymak­ers to scale back their original ambitious expecta­tions." Image from

PDiNgarde – Paul Rockower, Levantine: "I picked up a research internship with the Center on Public Diplomacy for the summer and following year. I will be helping to research and aggregate news on Public Diplomacy for the PDiN service. Also write some analysis of PD trends for a media monitor post."

Ambassador Chris Hill in Baghdad - souljah boy, Mister Mayor goes to Iraq: "Ambassador Chris Hill comes to Iraq with an extensive history of public diplomacy. I recently had the chance to pose with the Ambassador in the Chancery of the New Embassy Compound in Baghdad." Image from cited blog

State Department official on campus April 28-29 - Skidmore College News: "Harry J. O’Hara, a counselor in the Senior Foreign Service who is a specialist in European Affairs with the U.S. Department of State, will visit Skidmore Tuesday and Wednesday, April 28 and 29, for a public lecture and visits with International Affairs students and faculty. … [He received the] Benjamin Franklin Award for public diplomacy, while serving in the Department of State, 2002.”

Cardboard Crazy! – Ryanlds, I got Worms!: "I was born in Provo, Utah, but lived most of my early life in Oregon (Salem for seven years, Bend for eight years). I then lived in Russia for two years learning Russian and serving as a missionary. I married at 21 and now have three children ages seven, four, and one. I am currently in the middle of the examination process to become a foreign service officer in public diplomacy."

RELATED ITEMS

Ironies of 'a Devout Non-Ideologue' - E.J. Dionne Jr., Washington Post:

Without question, the pragmatic Obama is winning the United States new friends in the world. He will need to show how this new affection translates into support for American positions and material help for American undertakings. Image from

Barack Obama and the new place of American power
A new spirit of humility is clearly evident, but will the Obama administration agree to expand the 'Big Five' on the UN Security Council? - John Hughes, Christian Science Monitor

Kafka meets Orwell - Roger Simon, Washington Times: In organizing the Durban Review Conference, the United Nations -- besides wasting everyone's money -- emphasized and actually reinforced this marginal racism, providing developing nations and their representatives an excuse for their situation and a "distraction" from it (anti-Semitism above all).

So they blame others and don't bother to improve themselves. Orwell and Kafka would not have been surprised." Image from

Dispatches From Durban II: A Week Of Israel-Haters, Human Rights Abusers, And Other UN Shenanigans - Zvika Krieger, New Republic

Diplomacy Over National Security?: Obama may be planning to release some Gitmo detainees in U.S. - Thomas Joscelyn, Weekly Standard

Yale Richmond’s From Nyet to Da (4th edition), Book Review Essay - Patricia H. Kushlis, Whirled View:

What Richmond does best is to 1) explain the importance of understanding cultural and historical differences and nuances when negotiating with Russians; 2) describe these differences by comparing and contrasting American and Russian cultures highlighting how our respective cultures influence our respective negotiating behaviors – so this book should be useful to Russians interested in dealing with Americans too; and 3) provide practical suggestions for reaching successful outcomes.

INVENTIONS

Magnetic poetry-writer automaton - Cory Doctorow, Boing Boing: "Today in London's Spitalfields Market, I was blown away by [a] wonderful little automaton, a tiny mechanical poet who writes graceful magnetic poetry when you spin a magnet beneath him. The proud maker -- who goes by Alefs in Wonderland -- let me shoot a little video of it."

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