May 18

"The investigation determined the park's content was vulgar and that it was neither healthy nor educational. It had an evil influence on society and had to be torn down immediately."

--One propaganda official in the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing, regarding its "Love Land" park over-sized statues of naked genitalia and how-to workshops; image from article

"The more Big Brother watches, the less he seems to see."

--British journalist Ross Clark, in his book "The Road to Big Brother."

NOTE FROM YOUR PDPBR COMPILER

As noted in an earlier blog, mention of "public diplomacy" in the media appears to have decreased considerably in recent weeks. See also

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

‘Hillaryland’ is reborn at the State Department - Carol Eisenberg, Muckety: "Hillary Rodham Clinton may have reinvented herself as secretary of state, but she hasn’t exactly started with a blank slate. The former New York senator has taken along some of her most loyal staffers from 'Hillaryland,' the nickname given to the tightknit group that coalesced around her in the White House, and which advised and supported her as she charted her own political career. …

[L]ongtime Clinton loyalists joining her in the State Department include … Judith A. McHale, a longtime Clinton friend and donor, and former president of Discovery Communications, who has been nominated as undersecretary for public diplomacy. After two decades building Discovery, McHale, the daughter of a foreign service officer, helped found the GEF/Africa Growth Fund, a private equity fund that makes investments in consumer goods and services in Africa." Image from

UC Santa Barbara Professor Spams Class With Graphic "Jews Are Nazis" Email – Omri Ceren, Mere Rhetoric: “'Jews are Nazis' is exactly the line toed by the State Department's flagship Arab public diplomacy outlet."

Ixnay on the "oreignfay olicypay upportsay" - Kim Andrew Elliott discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy: "The priorities of US international broadcasting should not necessarily coincide with the priorities of US foreign policy."

China Lecture Tour - Week Two: Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai & Suzhou - Robert Percival, Global Environmental Law: "On Saturday night I arrived back in D.C. after finishing my two-week lecture tour of China. The trip was sponsored by the U.S. State Department’s Undersecretariat for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. … This trip gave me a rare opportunity to interact with faculty, students, environmental professionals and government officials from all over China. I got a clear sense that the Chinese intelligentsia is starting to understand the importance of controlling their country’s GHG emissions, even if their government continues to reject efforts to get them to agree to controls at the upcoming Copenhagen conference." Image from

From Washington D.C. – jwithington, USNI blog: "Last Sunday, I packed my bags for DC and reported as an intern to the CNO [Chief of Naval Operations]’s Executive Panel. Composed of civilians who range from business executives to analysts from RAND, the panel functions to give the CNO 'outside the box' thinking on a wide range of issues. I work with the panel’s staff of officers and civilians who assist in the research and writing of papers. I’ve heard GEN Conway speak about the state of the Marine Corps and its upcoming challenges (how amphibious should it be?), attended a talk on media and public diplomacy, and met with the author of the recently published study on 'Social Media and National Security,' discussed by Christiaan and Galrahn."

Visit to Nato HQ Members of Parliament from Estonia, Latvia And Lithuania 18-19 June 2009 - Menetlusinfo - "Program 18 June Arrival of Delegations 19.00-21.00 Dinner hosted by the Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy, Jean François Bureau with participation of National Delegations[.]19 June … 12.40-14.00 Lunch discussion at the NATO Restaurant, hosted by Dr Stefanie Babst, Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy with participation of Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian Permanent Representatives to NAC." Image from

Don't expect public diplomacy from Syria, top analyst says - Yaakov Lappin, Jerusalem Post: "Hours after President Shimon Peres asked Syrian leader Bashar Assad to give Israel a clear sign that he is interested in peace, a senior analyst of Syria told a French Israeli forum at Tel Aviv University on Sunday that such a signal was unlikely to materialize. Prof. Eyal Zisser, director of the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Tel Aviv University, told a conference organized jointly with the French Embassy that Assad would not engage in the type of public diplomacy Peres had requested."

Less 'kultcha', more creativity - Steve Dow, Watoday: "Today, arts administrators in foreign cities wishing to engage Australian artists will often have to deal instead with public relations flaks at Australian embassies who possess 'limited knowledge or passion for the arts', the former Adelaide and Melbourne festival director Robyn Archer, now an arts festival adviser, says from Montreal. … Is culture a dirty word in federal cabinet? Many arts academics and practitioners fear so and see Australia as struggling with a stereotyped ocker image abroad, to its cultural, artistic and economic detriment." Image from

Ambassador Alexandros Mallias in an interview with Greek News he addresses the status of the Greek - Apostolos Zoupaniotis, GreekNews: After leading for almost 4 years the Greek diplomatic delegation to the United States, Ambassador Alexandros Mallias is returning to the Foreign Ministry as a senior advisor of FM Dora Bakoyianni, on Balkan issues. … A proponent of public diplomacy, Ambassador Mallias has made people-to-people diplomacy an integral part of his mission in the United States, reaching beyond the bounds of Washington politics. He traveled extensively throughout the United States, meeting with state officials and citizens, speaking at universities, colleges and think-tanks, not only on issues relating to Greece, but the broader Southeastern European region, to create links between the people of that region and the United States."

NA Reviews Strategic Plan - Staff Reporter, New Era: Newspaper for a New Namibia: "Speaking at the official opening of a one-day stakeholders’ conference on the strategic plan on Friday, Speaker of the National Assembly, Theo-Ben Gurirab, said parliamentarians have an obligation to serve the people of the country. … Gurirab said, 'The idea of a strategic plan for the NA was endorsed as a deliberate strategy to better envisage the role and engagement of a democratic parliament in a highly challenging economy, streamlining service delivery and widening public diplomacy within a competitive geopolitical environment in the 21st century.'” Image from

Indian General Elections 2009: Results - Consulate General of India, Vladivostok – Russian Federation: "On May 12, 2009, Foreign Secretary Mr. Shivshankar Menon along with Chief Election Commissioner Mr. Navin B Chawla released a documentary film, Indian Elections – A Mammoth Democratic Exercise in the presence of scores of Heads of Missions, members of the media and other invited guests. … The documentary directed by Laxmana Dalmia and produced by Public Diplomacy (PD) Division of the Ministry has since been posted on MEA website in the section, In Focus – General Elections 2009."

Off topic: updates on some of my friends… - Matt Armstrong, MountainRunner: "As author Dave Berry said, not writing is easy and it gets easier the more you don’t write. So, I’ll start of this first post in a while with something completely different: updates from friends that have nothing to do with public diplomacy or strategic communication." Image from

RELATED ITEMS

Obama and human rights: Even as the U.S. joins a U.N. panel on human rights, White House stands on torture photographs and military tribunals raise doubts – Editorial, Los Angeles Times

Not a war for apologists - Ahmed Quraishi, The News International, Pakistan: "But the point here is: Washington is not helping where it really matters, in the propaganda war and inside Afghanistan itself."

Your Turn: Uncle Ahmad wants you! - The Age : "Since July 2002, the US Army has been recruiting a new generation of soldiers to help win 'the war on terror' using a video game. America's Army has been one of the most effective recruitment aids the US Army has ever utilised, 'opening up entirely new channels of communication between young adults and the army' according to the game's originator, Lt. Col. Casey Wardynski. … Today Joka, a South Australian teacher in his late twenties, asks whether games with a blatant political agenda are more insidious than those with more subtle messages."

The State of Surveillance: Britain is one of the most watched societies in the world—from cameras to communications. Can it happen here? – Jacob Sullum, Wall Street Journal: "[H]igh-tech systems that seem at first to be outrageous invasions of privacy turn out to be outrageous boondoggles that don't succeed at their official goals and actually get in the way of catching the bad guys and protecting the public."

AMERICANA

Slideshow: Onward Christian soldiers! These never-seen-before documents from the Rumsfeld Pentagon mixed Religion and War, GQ; Via


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