July 14

"perinde ac cadaver"

--"in the manner of a corpse"; phrase used by St. Ignatius of Loyola in his Jesuit Constitutions, adopted in 1540, which created a monarchical organization and stressed absolute self-abnegation and obedience to Pope and superiors; Ignatius image from

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

The Crisis in Honduras - Cole Robertson, The Argentimes: "A mark of the new administration,

the State Department has taken behind the scenes role [in Honduras], leaving the public diplomacy to regional players like [Costa Rican president Oscar] Arias and José Miguel Insulza, secretary general of the OAS." Image from

Greening the Empire State Building – Press Release - Green Building, News: "The iconic Empire State Building is going green - retrofitting its existing structure with today’s most efficient technology to reduce the building’s energy consumption by 38-percent. … America.gov, the U.S. Department of State’s public diplomacy website, has produced a video highlighting the Empire State Rebuilding project. The short documentary (02:22), takes an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of the retrofit project with examples of commonsense measures being taken to conserve energy."

Al-Qaeda’s Revamped PR Strategy - Rob, Arabic Radio Shack: "I’ve noticed a trend:

many Americans in the field of Public Diplomacy and Strategic Communications are underestimating Al-Qaeda. … Without question, Al-Qaeda is getting back in the PR game." Image from

The Developed v the Underdeveloped Countries, Human failure, Totalitarianism, Intercultural relations and Human Rights – Wissamtarif, The Dark World Of Seduction: "[M]ost developed democratic countries are running programs related to social change. What do they want? Do they want to destroy/change and/or conspire against Islam? Do they want to change us? Do they want to democratize us? If so why? They are still doing business as usual, trade is going on, Oil is flowing, what the hell do they want? I have asked, I truly did, the people I met gave simple answers and they have the best intentions. Public diplomacy, intercultural exchange, building bridges etc… that is not clear enough. No? I think the answer is a bit wider, it ranges between immigration, integration, exported Islamic terrorism (Madrid, London, USA) and the need to understand each other better and of course trade, business and tourism."

Student visa the start to economic greatness, says expert: A leading US university president has described the benefits from international students studying in America as "public diplomacy" and called for the country to encourage more American students to study abroad – American Visa Bureau: "A student visa is a great start to helping create a profitable, knowledgeable workforce, says an American university president. Robert Morris University President Gregory G. Dell'Omo wrote an opinion peice for the Post-Gazette saying that students greatly benefit from time spent studying overseas. … At the same time Mr Dell'Omo said American benefited greatly from international students choosing to study in America. 'Bringing international students to the United States is a great form of public diplomacy, allowing citizens of other nations to experience the best this country has to offer and to gain an appreciation for our values.'"

“The Kitchen Debate” in Retrospect - Patricia Kushlis, Whirled View: “[From 1959 to 1991] 19 exhibitions … brought America and Americans to hundreds of thousands of Soviets who for the first time had the opportunity to see the US through a humanizing prism and talk personally with the young Russian-speaking American exhibit guides who accompanied it. This at a time when the Soviets were jamming Voice of America and Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty, travel abroad for Soviet citizens was barred and most foreigners from capitalist countries were not permitted to enter the then hermit country still emerging from the depths of Stalinism.” Image from

U.S. expert: G8 wants Karabakh conflict to be resolved taking into account Azerbaijan’s vital interests - Today.Az: "Well-known U.S. expert on foreign policy, security and international relations and head of the Russia-Eurasia program at the Heritage Foundation Ariel Cohen spoke in an exclusive interview with Day.Az. … Q: Recently, representatives of the Azerbaijani and Armenian intellectuals made a joint visit to Baku, Yerevan and Nagorno-Karabakh. What role such initiatives have in the so-called public diplomacy to address the problem? A: People's diplomacy has played an important, but to some extent, a minor role in resolving the conflict. It creates public support and atmosphere for the solution to the conflict, but a strategic decision is adopted by the top persons of the two countries. Similar steps in the public diplomacy play a supporting role, that is, the role of support for the establishment of elite consensus. But, after all, it is a matter of the top people and leading teams to those who make the decision." Cohen image from

China - Perception challenges & Public Diplomacy - Madhurjya Kotoky, The Public Diplomacy Blog: "Does the Chinese establishment care about a charm offensive targeted towards Indians? Positive perception of China in India is crucial to ensure that conflict (be it political or military) doesn't disrupt the growth momentum of these Asian giants."

Modern communication course to be held in Tehran - Persianeditor@icfj.org, IJNet: "Tehran's Imam Sadiq University will hold a training course on 'modern thinking in theories of communication sciences' from August 1 to 7, medianews.ir reported. Registration is being accepted on a rolling basis.

The week-long course will feature topics including: Islam and communication sciences, philosophy and communication and political communcation and public diplomacy. The course is sponsored by the students' branch of the Basij force, the Mowlana Foundation, and the Centre for Media Studies and Research in Tehran." Image from

Robert Satloff – University Lecturers, Syracuse University: "Widely considered an expert on Arab and Islamic politics as well as U.S. Middle East policy, Robert Satloff has written and spoken widely on the Arab-Israeli peace process, the Islamist challenge to the growth of democracy in the region, and the need for bold and innovative public diplomacy to Arabs and Muslims."

The Dr. Phil voice in my head - Herding Cats A Time-Honored Tradition: "About Me: Future Public Diplomacy Foreign Service Officer (if all goes well with my clearances)."

RELATED ITEMS

Failed charm offensive - Cal Thomas, Washington Times: What did President Obama achieve for himself and for America during last week's summit of the Group of Eight leading industrial nations in L'Aquila, Italy? Not much.

Despite what presumably was his best effort at using the charm, personality and teleprompter that catapulted him into office, he was unsuccessful in persuading either wealthy or developing nations to sign off on a plan to combat global warming. It's not that he lacks support from the European media. CNN International and the BBC, among others, continue to blanket their networks with "green" propaganda in a disinformation blitz that would have made Joseph Goebbels proud. Image from

Our wartime propaganda: You'd never know from media reports that most British people want troops withdrawn from Afghanistan by the end of the year - Seumas Milne, guardian.co.uk: British public hostility towards the Afghanistan occupation is mirrored in most countries in the world (in the US it is pretty evenly divided). Even in Afghanistan itself, where polling under conditions of foreign military occupation would be expected to be skewed towards the occupier, a recent BBC-sponsored poll in February found a majority saying they want foreign troops withdrawn within one to two years and negotiations with the Taliban (pdf).

Britain's loony rules for artist visas embarrass festival organizers - Cory Doctorow, Boing Boing: The British government's new restrictive rules for artists' visas are a national embarrassment.

Why the New York Times is dead wrong on Blogger Ethics - 8bitjoystick, seattlepi.com: Government officials must beat the drums of war and engage in the "manufacturing of consent". Newspapers have been a major part in implicit propaganda efforts, the Spanish-American war and American involvement in World War one are perfect examples.

How to apply PR spin to the settlement issue - Akiva Eldar, Haaretz: America's best Jewish minds are wracking their brains, trying to find a magic formula that will put the settlements close to the hearts of Israel's supporters, not to mention its critics.

A new guide to the perplexed, disseminated by the leadership of the Israel Project, the organization spearheading Israel's public relations efforts in the United States, offers a glimpse into its very own internal confusion, as an organization working in coordination with and under the direction of the Israeli government with regard to anything even remotely connected to the settlements. Image from

Thought-police is here: Rona Kuperboim slams Foreign Ministry’s plan to hire pro-Israel talkbackers - Rona Kuperboim, Ynetnews.com: The Foreign Ministry unveiled a new plan this week: Paying talkbackers to post pro-Israel responses on websites worldwide. A total of NIS 600,000 (roughly $150,000) will be earmarked to the establishment of an “Internet warfare” squad. The Foreign Ministry intends to hire young people who speak at least one language and who study communication, political science, or law – or alternately, Israelis with military experience gained at units dealing with information analysis.

The Importance of Being Vasya - Mark H. Teeter, The Moscow News: Great Russian writers are thin on the ground in the 21st century, and Vasily Aksyonov's death last week at 76 makes them a damn sight thinner. There is much to tell about Aksyonov, of course, and many to do the telling. But for Russian speakers learning English - a clan to which this uniquely Soviet-American-Russian writer belonged much of his life - a few instructive moments are worth recalling straight away.

MEMORIES

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice holds back a flag that was blowing onto her during the 9th Annual John W. Rice Diversity and Equity Awards ceremonies in Sacramento, Calif., Monday, July 13, 2009. The award is named in honor of Rice's late father, Dr. John W. Rice who was a former member of the California Community Colleges Board of Governor's. It is awarded annually to the individuals or programs that demonstrate outstanding contributions toward achieving diversity and equity within the community colleges. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

from: Princess Sparkle Pony's Photo Blog I STILL keep track of Condoleezza's hairdo so you don't have to.