June 27

"Twitter, Facebook, Myspace and their competitors became famous, first and foremost, because they were playful."

--Diandra Louarn, DIP's Dispatches from the Imagination Age; image from

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Smart-er Power - Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress: "Superior military capability remains a critical component of U.S. homeland security because organizations like al-Qaeda threaten violence against Americans at home and abroad. The United States will continue to rely on a strong military to protect its citizens. However, smart power brings the focus on effective public diplomacy programs, including humanitarian aid, which is necessary to protect innocent civilians from becoming victims of conflict." Image from

Morning Coffee - 26 June 2009 - Lindsay Beyerstein, UN Dispatch: "South Carolina governor Mark Sanford was conducting some, um, unorthodox public diplomacy towards Argentina. Last June, Sanford tacked on a side trip on his trade mission to Brazil. For some reason, nobody noticed at the time that he was conducted a trade mission that the United States government had refused to make. Argentina has been a financial pariah

since it defaulted on its international debt and blamed its creditors for its inability to pay. The Commerce Department canceled high-level trade missions to Argentina after the default, but Sanford went anyway. The U.S. Embassy even helped him set up meetings. Sanford confessed this week that he had a mistress in Argentina, though he insists that the trade mission was a perfectly legitimate diplomatic mission. He will, however, reimburse the taxpayers for the cost of the trip. No word on whether Sanford agreed to anything on behalf of the U.S. government, or why the U.S. Embassy didn't notice Sanford was flouting trade policy." Image from

The province that aid forgot – in-Iraq: the diary of a journalist embedded with the US forces in Iraq: "Diwaniyah, in the center of the agrarian Al Qadisiyah province, … has not received as much aid as anyone would like, a local Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) representative said. … 'We’re on the cusp of progress,' one team member said. … 'We’ve made great strides in public diplomacy, establishing good connections with the local government. We would like to get out into the private sector.' Translation - The newly elected local government realizes they'd be foolish not to at least pretend to cooperate with the Americans to get some free project money." Image from

U.S. warns Sri Lanka that war crimes cannot be committed with impunity - Daya Gamage, Asian Tribune: "The U.S. State Department organized and sponsored Internet Web Chat on the Situation in Sri Lanka on Tuesday, June 23 in which senior official Director of Public Diplomacy Gregg Sullivan who gave lengthy answers was very clear what the United States wants Sri Lanka to undertake and where it stands on issues with this South Asian nation which internally annihilated a ruthless terrorist outfit last month."

McCain, Graham, Lieberman propose more money for US broadcasts to Iran - Kim Andrew Elliott discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy

Branding, re-branding, teleprompting managing Nigeria’s image (II) - Paul I. Adujie, Daily Triumph: "Multitudes of Nigerians trust BBC/VOA, regardless of the fact that these are mere propaganda tools of the UK and US governments! Brand faith, blind faith as well!"

Employing Art Along With Ambassadors - Patricia Cohen, New York Times: "The Foundation for Art and Preservation in Embassies … [is] a nonprofit group that works with the State Department to create and donate custom-made artwork for American outposts abroad.


In 2001, the foundation gathered 245 pieces of art for State Department buildings worldwide. … The foundation, which has an art advisory committee whose chairman is Robert Storr, dean of the Yale School of Art, has curated some significant pieces, but the vast majority of the art is provided — through loans, acquisitions and commissions — through the [State] [D]epartment’s own ART in Embassies program, created in the early 1960s to promote cultural diplomacy." Image from

On the Road to Burma: Globetrotting with Ozomatli, unlikely U.S. diplomats - Randall Roberts, LA Weekly: "An early-May, three-country U.S.–sponsored tour that ultimately takes Ozomatli to Vietnam and Thailand, Burma will jar even the most jaded travelers. ... [I]f there’s one thing the band has learned on these State Department–organized tours, it’s that the closer you are to situations, the more murky the so-called 'politics' become. ... [Former Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs] Karen Hughes ... had been getting positive feedback regarding Ozomatli’s trips. ... Despite the many public-policy disasters of the Bush administration, even some of its most vocal critics acknowledge that, in specific countries, the administration provided a much-needed injection of both attention and funding for public-diplomacy programs. ... At her Senate confirmation hearing last month, [new Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs] McHale discussed her goals in the job, at least one of which alarmed advocates for Ozomatli-style outreach programs. 'New technology, used effectively and creatively, can be a game-changer,' she told the committee, citing communications advances that offer opportunities to engage people more efficiently. Whether this sort of diplomacy would work in Burma is debatable. Most citizens don’t have access to computers." Ozomatli image from article.

Thabeet for NBA league – The Citizen: "The National Basketball Association(NBA), the most prestigious Basketball league in the world, confirmed Tanzanian Hasheem Thabeet as the second overall draft pick to the Memphis Grizzlies. US embassy's Public Diplomacy Officer, Karen Grissette confirmed yesterday her press release report to The Citizen. Thabeet becomes the first Tanzanian in history to join America's NBA, this is a proud moment for both the United Republic of Tanzania, and the United States of America."

Russia forms commission to improve its image – Nation-Branding: "Some weeks ago, Russian newspapers reported that President Medvedev had just created a new commission in the Kremlin to promote a positive image of Russia abroad. It is not a new case of nation branding by far, but this high-level commission points out that countries are increasingly conscious of how critical image and reputation are to a country’s prospects in today’s world, especially on economy and foreign affairs. …

The commission not only will be pro-active in playing a role in Russian decision-making processes but will also anticipate and prepare to manage negative stories about Russia. This double function is noteworthy because it points to a dramatically expanded role for public relations and public diplomacy in Russia’s foreign relations and also because it means a notorious advancement in the way the country manages its reputation." Image from

Interview with Ukranian magazine on Russia’s image - Nation-Branding: "Last week a story appeared on Nation-Branding.info about Russia creating a committee to manage its image abroad when it comes to public diplomacy and foreign affairs. Coinciding with the creation of such organ at the Kremlin, I [Andreas Markessinis] was interviewed by Yana Sedova, foreign desk editor at the Ukranian magazine Focus, for a story she was preparing for Focus magazine on the same topic. She asked me to share my opinion on Russia’s image and my thoughts about re-branding with a serie[s] of questions. Since the interview was not published in its entirety (it was only a part of a larger story), I thought it would be interesting to release it here."

Honorary “Brand Spain” Ambassadors Receive Credentials – Latin American Herald Tribune: "The new honorary ambassadors for Brand Spain, among them Agencia Efe, NBA player Pau Gasol, tenor Placido Domingo and researcher Margarita Salas, received their credentials on Thursday from Crown Prince Felipe. … The crown prince praised the leadership and achievements of the individuals and institutions joining the group of ambassadors, calling them a 'dream team' of '21st century public diplomacy' that would improve Spain’s presence in the world." Image from

President Obama goes to Moscow: Implications for the Baltic-Black-Caspian Region - Aha! Network: "The Aha! Network’s Inaugural webcast from June 16, 2009, featuring David Kramer and Damon Wilson of the German Marshall Fund and Atlantic Council, respectively as well as Melana Zyla Vickers. … David J. Kramer joined GMF in May 2009 as a Senior Transatlantic Fellow and works on issues related to Russia/Eurasia and Wider Europe as well as democracy and human rights. … He … was Executive Director of the U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy in Washington."

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY ON TWITTER

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Real-time results for public diplomacy (8:13 AM, June 27)

Colleen_Graffy: #g2g Re using youtube for public diplomacy, scroll dwn 4 Armenia, Croatia, Romania, Iceland: http://www.youtube.com/user/cgraffy about 2 hours ago from web
Colleen_Graffy: @lovisatalk super insights & updates on what US State Dept is doing in public diplomacy & social media at Canada House conference yesterday! about 3 hours ago from web
Colleen_Graffy: G8 event thx 2 Canadian High Commission in London on social media, public diplomacy. Re Diplomats on Twitter: http://tinyurl.com/7ebonh #g2g about 3 hours ago from web
You2Gov: Meyers spy story. Effective Public Diplomacy is harder with people like this undermining. http://tiny.cc/gvRY2 via @colleengrafferty about 4 hours ago from web
laynefisher: John Brown's Public Diplomacy Press and Blog Review, Version 2.0 ... http://bit.ly/9Y2pl about 9 hours ago from Ping.fm
alexburns: CPRF09 proposals in with CPD's @barrysaunders and Ben Eltham on the journalist as investigator, and #IranElection Twitter public diplomacy about 12 hours ago from web
Serottared: Another smart step forward for American Public Diplomacy and another on its heels. Engaging "the world" on their communications platforms. about 13 hours ago from web
rdille: John Brown's Public Diplomacy Press and Blog Review, Version 2.0 ...

about 16 hours ago from twitterfeed
aljamiat: Oh yeah, EXCELLENT blog, highly rec. RT @CitizenDiplomat: #FF Great blog on int'l ed, public/citizen diplomacy= @DavidComp about 16 hours ago from TweetDeck
CitizenDiplomat: #FF Great blog on int'l ed, public/citizen diplomacy= @DavidComp about 16 hours ago from web

RELATED ITEMS

U.S. needs more foreign diplomats

- Eight former secretaries of state, Politico: National security is about more than bullets. “Smart power,” “soft power” and the “Three D’s” — development, diplomacy and defense — are widely accepted as important and effective foreign policy principles. Unfortunately, when it comes to the federal budget, diplomacy, development and democratic governance too often get short shrift. This piece was written by former Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger, George Shultz, James Baker, Lawrence Eagleburger, Warren Christopher, Madeleine Albright, Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice. Via LB. Image from

Iran's Lessons: Shouldn't 'realism' mandate regime change? – Editorial, Washington Post: By now it ought to be clear that the best chance to protect what Mr. Obama calls "core U.S. security interests" lies in a victory for the Iranian opposition.

Risky Business #113 -- Twitter propaganda

with Maltego creator Roelof Temming[h] and more! - Risky.Biz: This week we're taking a look at the technology angle to this whole mess in Iran. We'll be chatting with Arbor Networks chief scientist Craig Labovitz about the filtering the government is doing over there, then we'll be checking in with Roelof Temmingh of Paterva. Paterva makes Maltego, the open source intelligence tool that many people are using to analyse various aspects of information flow in Iran-- including the spread of propaganda via Twitterbots. Image from

The propaganda war against Iran - Bill Van Auken, World Socialist Website: The US media, led by the New York Times , is continuing its concerted propaganda campaign against Iran over charges that the government stole the June 12 presidential election. There is not even a semblance of objectivity in the media coverage, which parrots the charges of the opposition headed by defeated presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi as fact and dismisses the government’s claims as lies.

Ahmadinejad’s Very Clever Propaganda… - Tellurian, Pumas Unleashed: "President Ahmadinejad using Axelrod tactics, whitewashes the Truth with propaganda


like truthiness in an effort to elicit an apology from the United State for so-called interference in his fraudulent election. Watching Obama and his cohorts in their day to day drama inflicting Hitchcockian chaos on the consciousnesses of the general public is better than watching a mind bending mystery on Pay TV." Image from

N. Korea steps up anti-U.S. propaganda on war anniversary – Focus News Agency

140 Conf Demonstrates "Twitter's Domination & Scope" - Diandra Louarn, DIP's Dispatches from the Imagination Age

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