December 16

“I miss USIA about as much as a Lithuanian misses the Soviet Union.”

--Kim Andrew Elliott, blogger extraordinaire and 25-year VOA employee (actually now an employee of VOA's parent entity IBB); on USIA, see; image from

“There are no more Jews. Instead there are Israelis.”

--Israel’s Diaspora Affairs and Public Diplomacy Minister Yuli Edelstein, explaining the anti-Semitic worldview

HEARINGS

The Diplomat’s Shield: Diplomatic Security in Today’s World Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia Wednesday, December 9, 2009 02:30 PM Dirksen Senate Office Building, room 342; courtesy TH

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Japan ignores US pressure over air base - Mure Dickie, Financial Times - "Tokyo on Tuesday shrugged off heavy US pressure for speedy implementation of a deal to relocate one of the military bases on Okinawa island, in a response certain to anger Washington and fuel worries about the loyalties of Japan’s new ruling Democratic party. … Analysts say the US is unlikely to return to the kind of brusque public diplomacy practised by Robert Gates, US defence secretary, in October."

Former USIA officer was brief, blunt, and flippant – Kim Andrew Elliott discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy: "[T]he blithe dismissal of present-day US public diplomacy as 'dysfunctional'

ignores many of its achievements. Examples include 1) the America.gov website and other activities of the Bureau of International Information Programs, 2) the Arabic-speaking staff responding to misinformation and disinformation in the blogosphere, and 3) Secretary Clinton and other officials interviewed on Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya." Image from

Spitting into the ocean 2.0. - Kim Andrew Elliott discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy: "The problem with using social media for public diplomacy is the vast oversupply of content. The State Department has a Facebook page? Great -- so does the 14-year-old kid down the street. There might be more people producing verbiage on the social media than are actually reading the stuff. With all the available content, State Department social media efforts may be difficult to encounter through random visits to Facebook, Twitter, etc. One must make the effort to become a fan, or a follower, and if one has done that, isn't the State Department preaching to the choir? While social media are au courant, one should not forget good old-fashioned websites as a means for countries to reach out to the world. An excellent example is finland.fi. (For others, see previous post.) To publicize these websites, nations will have to turn to the unsocial media, e.g. advertisements on television and newspapers."

Heritage memo on the need for more research needs more research - Kim Andrew Elliott discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy: "US international broadcasting audience research is alive, well, and has a fat budget. The Broadcasting Board of Governors spends about ten million dollars per year on research, not including salaries. Studies are conducted by InterMedia, a nonprofit corporation. IBB, RFE/RL, and RFA each have their research offices. Almost every BBG language service gets a survey every year, along with a battery of qualitative studies. The research effort is so flush with cash that it even retains me as an employee. (It's my day job.) The State Department has its Bureau of Intelligence and Research, which conducts opinion research overseas. I don't know if it carries out studies specific to public diplomacy operations, but it probably could.

There is some exchange of results between the BBG and State research offices, but because they involve two very different activities, any combination of effort would not be especially productive. In fact, one of the many benefits of VOA's independence from USIA is that it is no longer beholden to the USIA Office of Research, which varied over the years in its commitment to VOA. The IBB in-house research effort is keyed to the questions VOA needs answered. Moving research to a 'Corporation for Foreign Opinion Analysis' outhouse would forfeit that advantage." Image from

VOA Pashto not jammed, not blocked, but not on the air via Pakistan - Kim Andrew Elliott discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy: "Radio Pashto broadcasts are not jammed, or even blocked by way of interdicting a signal. It is, rather, that the agreement for VOA to use the Peshawar medium wave transmitter has been disallowed, for now, by Pakistani authorities. ... VOA Pashto to the Pakistan-Afghanistan frontier region is called Deewa Radio. VOA Pashto and Dari to Afghanistan are Radio Ashna. RFE/RL in same to Afghanistan is referred to in English as Radio Free Afghanistan, but locally as Radio Azadi. VOA Urdu is Radio Aap ki Dunyaa. My brain cannot store all these brands, so I use a cheat sheet."

David Ensor to US Embassy Kabul? – Domani Spero, diplopundit.blogspot.com: Via Al Kamen : "'Word at the State Department is that David Ensor , longtime national security correspondent for CNN and more recently executive vice president for communications at Mercuria Energy Group in London, is being talked about to run the public affairs office at the embassy in Kabul.' (links added) Huh?

What? Hmmnn. Why? Just a couple quick thoughts – First, I think US Embassy Kabul’s PAS office has done a marvelous job over there. The post that needs help is the other half of Af/Pak, and it’s not Afghanistan. Public diplomacy efforts have taken a beating in Pakistan, and hope and help is probably needed there more than anywhere else. Second, when was the last time you’ve heard of a non-career appointee run a public affairs shop at the embassy level? Hmmn, let me see – how about Dan Senor, remember him? Probably most noted as chief spokesperson for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq in the old days. The CPA was not quite the embassy but close enough. The Bush II White House, after all called Senor 'Advisor to the U.S. Presidential Envoy in Iraq ' (that is, Presidential Envoy L. Paul Bremer III, Administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority). I've watched Ensor on CNN; I remember him as telegenic; don't know his politics. Before joining CNN, he served as ABC News' diplomatic correspondent from 1995-1998.Still -- I hope no one is trying to replicate the CPA’s 'Green Room ' in Baghdad at the US Embassy in Kabul …" Image from

Members, House Committee on Foreign Affairs – Matt Armstrong, MountainRunner.us: "Because you (the State Department and others looking for a 'whole of government' approach to public diplomacy, strategic communication, and global engagement) should know, [this link lists] ... the members of the U.S. House of Representative’s Committee on Foreign Affairs (HFAC)."

The Saudi Connection to US Jihadists - Jim Kouri, thelandofthefree.net:

"According to reports, the State Department and USAID are carrying out efforts to counter the global propagation of Islamic extremism, with State’s efforts focused primarily on traditional diplomacy, counterterrorism, and public diplomacy and USAID’s efforts focused on development programs to diminish underlying conditions of extremism." Image from

Democracy in U.S. Security Strategy - Democracy Resource Center Blog: "Zbigniew Brzezinski, recalling French strategic thinker Raymond Aron’s advice, recently counseled that 'the strength of a great power is diminished if it ceases to serve an idea.' Since its inception and throughout U.S. history, democracy has been that idea. Yet, recent setbacks warrant reevaluating the place of democracy promotion in U.S. strategy. What role, if any, should democracy have in U.S. security strategy and public diplomacy today?"

Iran’s Foreign Policy Strategy: Implications For The United States - Flynt Leverett and Hillary Mann Leverett, raceforiran.com: "We want to draw your attention to a brilliant piece, 'Iran’s Foreign Policy Strategy After Saddam', just published by Kayhan Barzegar, an Iranian scholar

and foreign policy analyst currently at the Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. ... Barzegar ... provides powerful affirmation for our argument that President Obama, for all his fine rhetoric about engagement and dealing with the Islamic Republic on the basis of mutual respect, has not changed the strategic fundamentals of American policy toward Iran: ‘...Obama’s tactical visits and public diplomacy in Turkey and Egypt, as well as his conciliatory pronouncements toward the broader Islamic world, were all seen as efforts to shore up regional support against Iran and weaken its ability to withstand international pressure. It is this belief that led the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to reply to Obama’s Persian New Year greeting by stressing that a change in Iranian attitudes would be contingent on 'genuine' and 'real' changes in the U.S. position vis-a`-vis Iran.'" Barzegar image from

Aid to an occupier is a bad precedent - US consultant - News.Az: "Although the $8 million allocation of US aid to Nagorno Karabakh is tiny in comparison to other US aid amounts, this allocation is more important for what it represents - a lack of wisdom and undue influence on the part of some members of the US Congress. Direct US support of the occupier of another nation’s land is a bad precedent, particularly at this juncture in US foreign policy and as the US endeavours to build credibility abroad. ... It also illustrates the need for more outreach and public diplomacy efforts by Azerbaijan in the US. Making the case that the US aid allocation to Nagorno-Karabakh is at the expense one of the USA’s closest regional allies is important and essential."

Min. Edelstein addresses Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism - press release, Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs: "Address by Diaspora Affairs and Public Diplomacy Minister Yuli Edelstein

at opening session of the 2009 Global Forum for Combating Anti-Semitism Conference Jerusalem, 16 December 2009 [Edelstein]: 'I am glad to inform you that a special ministry was formed half a year ago, which hopefully will allow us to double our efforts to combat anti-Semitism. The Ministry of Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs will work very hard to widen the field of people dealing with this issue, and will do everything in our power to build the ICCA [The International Commission for Combatting Anti-Semitism], the inter parliamentary coalition to combat anti-Semitism. Through the ICCA we can stand together, shoulder to shoulder, in the fight against anti-Semitism.'" Image from article

Dec. 15th Press Review - Turkish Press: ‎"Public Diplomacy Push Planned For Foreign Policy [:] After introducing Turkey's policy of zero problems with neighboring countries in recent years, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu is preparing to launch a major initiative to effectively use public diplomacy in the international arena in line with Turkey's foreign policy goals. Employed by leading world powers such as the US, Britain, Germany, France and China as an influential foreign policy tool to expand their international clout, public diplomacy means a diplomacy focusing more on communication-based activities towards foreign publics to gain their support for a particular foreign policy goal. Unlike classical diplomacy, which is limited to formal contacts between diplomats, public diplomacy helps a state tell about its policies to foreign audiences through mass media, the Internet, non-governmental organizations and opinion leaders to engage, persuade and attract their cooperation. Public diplomacy also aims to establish and foster relations based on mutual trust and understanding with foreign publics in the long run, thus helping to defuse prejudices and misconceptions on the initiator nation. In a sense, it is the management of perception of foreign or domestic audiences on a particular foreign policy goal, and tries to amend distorted, biased and baseless perception of a country, its culture and policies. Public diplomacy is also used to convince domestic audiences to support a particular policy. The Foreign Ministry is planning to implement its major public diplomacy plan starting early next year by doing necessary structural organization work and financial allocation."

Military denies any link with twitter - Turkish Daily News: "The military denied late Tuesday news reports that it was using Twitter to inform the public. ...

The Turkish Foreign Ministry recently launched a public diplomacy initiative to utilize digital technology for better interaction between the public and decision-makers. The new system, coordinated by Deputy Undersecretary Namık Tan, will help Turkey explain its rising foreign policy through modern social networking systems such as Facebook and Twitter." Image from

Blame Canada - Josh Greenberg, The Ideas Lab: "The Copenhagen conference is full of environmentally naughty nations and there are countless NGOs and activist groups working hard to bring their ecological transgressions to light. Yet combined these events (or more appropriately the actions and agendas they spotlight) invest activist criticism with empirical credibility. … In the end this may prove to be a bigger PR problem for the Canadian government than they may be willing to admit. I say this for a couple of reasons: First, they illustrate that our government not only possesses an embarrassing record for dealing with GHG emissions. It also possesses an embarrassing capacity for dealing with criticism. Aside from the obvious intelligence and security gaps they reveal, these events show a government that appears wholly inadequate at the art of public diplomacy."

Conference on NATO role, in Baku - Financiarul:

‎"On Jan. 1, 2009 Romania took over the mandate of NATO Contact Point Embassy in Azerbaijan on the period 2009 through 2010. The NATO Contact Point embassies in partner states have an important role in the relation between the Alliance and the respective state, which includes a point of support for the running of NATO activities locally, especially of those of public diplomacy, and the necessary approaches in view to secure a communication channel for NATO policies in the partner state." Baku image from

Internal Writing - Ted Iliff Global Consulting: "I recently was asked to speak about writing at the State Department to public diplomacy officers working in Europe and Eurasia. This group didn’t need any instruction on the rules of English, but their supervisors wanted them to brush up on their memo writing. A certain form is used to tell Foggy Bottom about events and activities meant to foster U.S. public diplomacy. They can determine an embassy’s budget and staffing, and yet the writing often left administrators puzzled, or worse. So I explained basic writing tricks that news agencies use to report news under tight wordage limits. Recommendations included bullet point lists, partial sentences, elimination of fatuous and self-serving verbiage ('a good time was had by all') and a concentrated compilation of relevant facts, including testimonials and media reports verifying the desired outcomes. The point was not to teach writing, but to teach a form of writing suited to the needs and 'voice' of the organization."

End of the Semester Wrap-Up - Ren’s Micro Diplomacy: "That’s it folks! …

As soon as it is graded, I’ll post the final paper I wrote for PD history class. It’s a case study of Saudi Arabia’s post-9/11 PD and PR activities in the U.S. … I’m also excited to mention that I’ve been offered a summer 2010 internship with the Department of State. … As for Spring 2010, I’ve been offered research assistant position working with one of our Public Diplomacy Fellows on the topic of mutuality in American PD. The courses I’ll be taking are: Corporate Diplomacy, PD Evaluation and Communication for International Development." Image from

on Education. - i figure wherever i am, that's where the world is: "This week, I got an extreme lesson in what public diplomacy really means – interacting with Syrian people, showcasing the opportunities and choices that define America, and connecting the two separate ideas together. Despite significant setbacks from denied permissions and high-level, nonchalant political obstacles from on high, we set off this week hoping to provide opportunities for Syrian students to learn about how to study abroad in the United States. This included everything from individual advising sessions with students, to a Four Seasons dinner to an official reception with the Chargé d’Affaires. It was an incredible opportunity to not only interact with people on something I am fairly familiar with and very passionate about, education, but also to prove that I can be here, working with the Embassy, on a level a professional and productive level. Both, I think in their own ways, were a success."

RELATED ITEMS

Is greater spending for diplomats' security at odds with State Department's mission? – Walter Pincus, Washington Post: Jess T. Ford, a Government Accountability Office official who was testifying about challenges facing State's Bureau of Diplomatic Security,

spoke of some State public affairs officials who expressed concern that security measures discourage foreign visitors from attending U.S. embassy events. He also mentioned that "new embassies and consulates with their high walls, deep setbacks and strict screening procedures have evoked the nickname 'Fortress America.'" Since the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa, the budget for the Bureau of Diplomatic Security has gone from about $200 million to $2.3 billion for all diplomatic security functions. See also. Image from

A Test for President Karzai - Editorial, New York Times: President Obama and his advisers dropped the ball badly when they failed to stop Mr. Karzai’s supporters from trying to steal the election. Before the Afghan president chooses his new government, Washington must demand that he finally cut his ties with corrupt officials and choose men and women of integrity.

Doubts About Certitude - Maureen Dowd, New York Times: Trying to do a good thing that also seemed like a strategically brilliant thing — help the Afghan Davids repel the raw aggression of the Soviet Goliaths — we created the monsters that have come back to haunt us, and we learned how little control we have over history.

Anti-American propaganda is not carried on in Azerbaijan, official - news.az: “Anti-American propaganda

is not carried on in Azerbaijan," chief of social-political department of the Presidential Administration Ali Hasanov said.” Image from

AMERICANA

According to Nielsen, Americans spent an average of four hours and 49 minutes per day in front of the box, up about four minutes from the previous year.

An entire household averaged eight hours and 21 minutes a day watching television, up a few minutes as well.

--Cecilia Kang, America's love affair with television continues, Washington Post; image from

MORE QUOTATIONS FOR THE DAY

"Why do all American priests look like policemen?"

--W.H. Auden, cited in Richard Harp, "A Conjuror at the Xmas Party: Evelyn Waugh, W.H. Auden and Dorothy L. Sayers were among the famous friends and converts of Father D'Arcy -- whose archive contains unpublished letters from them all," Times Literary Supplement, December 11 2009.

"As noted by Philip Fiske de Gouveia, the arena of pubic [sic] diplomacy generates a high volume of auxiliary terminology. This includes, 'cultural diplomacy, cultural relations, soft power, political communications, perception management, propaganda, intercultural dialogue, dialogue of cultures, dialogue of civilizations, crisis management, media management, media relations, public affairs, public relations, strategic communications, global communications, strategic influence, psychological operations, information operations and media operations.'”

--The place of arts and culture in Canadian foreign policy; Research Paper prepared by Rachael Maxwell for the Canadian Conference of the Arts