July 10

"Public diplomacy is just talk. Nothing else."

--nasaengineerdotcom, regarding NASA administrator Bolden's planned outreach to Muslim countries; image from

Below images from:
Proletarian posters from 1930s Japan; via

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

How the U.S. underperforms at Shanghai's Expo - Knute Berger: "The U.S. pavilion underachieves when measured against the possibilities and the opportunity. On the other hand, its very existence gives it points. As Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said when asked about the pavilion, 'It's fine.' Translated, that means 'It exists.'

And the pavilion birthing process was so difficult, so messed-up, that the only thing worse would have been insulting China by blowing it off entirely, which almost happened. ... The pavilion is seen by some as an example of U.S. failure to take public diplomacy seriously, despite claims to the contrary since 9-11. America seems much more interested in spending funds on wars than winning world opinion. The idea that expos are somehow obsolete is a provincial conceit: the form has never been more popular or involved more countries. That expos are alive and well overseas and not in America should be embraced, not used as an argument for disengagement."

WATCH LIVE: 'Engaging Muslim Communities'‎ - Palestine Note: "For better or worse, the word most associated with President Obama's foreign policy is 'engagement.' Many in the United States and throughout the world perceived the Bush administration as heavy-handed, abrasive, and too unwilling to listen to other nations' hopes, fears, and perspectives. ... A significant aspect of this engagement strategy has been to use new media and public diplomacy to express more effectively what America is and why it is carrying out the policies that it does. One outgrowth of this is the State Department's 'Conversations with America' series. The series is designed to provide 'an opportunity for [State Department officials] to discuss a range of issues, important issues with people within the United States and around the world.' ... -- Ben Katcher, The Washington Note."

How to Support the Struggle for Iran's Soul Part I by Ilan Berman 1st part of 2Iranian Reform and Stagnation – posted at Middle East and Terrorism: "If ... the [Obama] administration hopes to be able to influence Iranian politics over the long term, it will need to articulate much clearer support for political pluralism in the Islamic Republic. And once it does, it will need to enforce that policy throughout the bureaucracy that manages U.S. public diplomacy. This change, moreover, must be reflected in the quality of the actual content that is generated by U.S. broadcasting.

Today, with some notable exceptions, U.S. outreach to Iran has degenerated into prolonged sessions of entertainment, often carried out at the expense of proven approaches to shaping the strategic landscape through cultural, intellectual, and historical programs. And the audience appears to have taken notice: Anecdotal evidence suggests that although U.S. broadcasts are ubiquitous throughout the Islamic Republic, they desperately need a reconfiguration that provides for greater discourse about liberal Western democracy, human rights, personal freedoms, and political independence. Key themes that require amplification include: U.S. support for opposition forces within Iran; the extent of regime brutality against its own people; the corruption endemic to the country's ruling clerical class; and the dangers that the Iranian regime's persistent quest for nuclear weapons poses to its own population."

Where is the State Department's Public Diplomacy? - Kepha, Uncle Cephas: "NASA Administrator Charles Bolden revealed his plans to improve relations between America's space exploration agency and the Muslim world to Al Jazeera before Congress, the Washington Examiner reported. ... News likes this leads one to wonder why NASA was asked to engage in outreach to the Muslim world rather than some agency of the US Department of State or US Information Service. After all, NASA is theoretically about space exploration, astronomy, engineering, and other empirical sciences; public diplomacy seems rather far from such concerns."

Did Obama Specifically "Charge" Bolden To Do Muslim Country Outreach? - Keith Cowing, NASA Watch: "[NASA Administrator] Bolden was quite clear that there was specific direction from the President with regard to Muslim countries as one of the three things that President Obama charged him to do as NASA Administrator - with outreach to Muslim countries being 'perhaps foremost' of the three.

[comment by] nasaengineerdotcom ... What Bolden was doing falls under the category of 'public diplomacy,' taking the message to the people directly-so they see Americans in a different light than what they usually get through the news. CIA people and military planners know all about it. I doubt that documents that discuss this in detail would be made public. Public diplomacy is just talk. Nothing else."

Battle brews over nominee for ambassador to Turkey‎ - Josh Rogin Foreign Policy: "The nomination fight over Ricciardone will likely become a debate over how best to approach Turkey during this delicate stage. For those who want to use the stick, he's destined to be the wrong choice. For those who think carrots are preferable, Ricciardone's extensive knowledge, fluent Turkish, and reputation for getting heavily involved in public diplomacy make him the perfect selection."

Seven community organizations awarded grants – New Era (Namibia): "Recently seven grants were signed over to seven Namibian community-based organisations by the American Cultural Center Auditorium.

Since 2006, the US Embassy’s Public Affairs Section has partnered with local organisations through its PEPFAR Public Diplomacy (PD) grants programme, to create programmes that support PEPFAR goals of HIV/AIDS prevention, stigma reduction, and positive living."

L.A.‘s Minister of Culture, Part II - Jeremy Rosenberg, Next American City: "Today, we continue with part two of the City / Culture interview with Bettina Korek. ... Korek* is the founder of ForYourArt, which according to the FYA website is an interdisciplinary producer, meta curator, multi-media publisher, patronage cultivator, and more. The interview has been edited for length and clarity. City / Culture: You’ve said that 'the word art has been flattened.' That term also gets used in contexts such as globalization and public diplomacy. What’s the common denominator? Bettina Korek: In part, it’s all of us adapting to the new tools that we have to share information. One conversation that’s happening in our cultural institutions – and I think it’s a really important one – is that there has to be a spectrum of information. Hans Ulrich Obrist, who we work with, is a great example of this. He’s someone I’m so passionate about because I feel his work touches, and can activate and connect, all these different disciplines. But it’s very serious and it’s very rigorous. How do you pull out different layers and different ways for people to plug in? You have the NEA twittering. Twitter is meant for one level of information. There has to be an acknowledgment that people have different levels of interest and you can’t expect to be able to collapse the deepest layer in Twitter."

178 Government Agencies We Should Get Rid Of Immediately - thedaleygator.wordpress.com: Among them: Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs (State Department) Radio and TV Marti (Español)

Events organized by Romanian Embassy in Baku acting as NATO Contact Point - Financiarul: "On January 1, 2009, Romania took over the responsibility of NATO Contact Point Embassy (CPE) in Azerbaijan for the 2009-2010 period.

Embassies acting as NATO contact points in partner states have an important role in the development of the relationship between the Alliance and the respective state, which includes support for conducting NATO activities, especially those related to public diplomacy at local level, as well as taking the necessary steps for ensuring a channel for the communication of NATO policies to the partner state."

Nudging Israel Forward - DB, EthiopianReview.com: "On the Palestinian side, the flotilla crisis seems to have bolstered the sense among the West Bank leadership that it is time to try to strike the deal with Israel. Abu Mazen [Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas], buoyed by his own meetings at the White House and with American Jewish leaders, appears to be ready to move into direct peace negotiations with Netanyahu. He intends to continue a campaign of public diplomacy designed to convince Israelis and their American Jewish supporters that they have a Palestinian partner for peacemaking. He is even ready to address the Knesset. This newfound peace activism is not so much because the Palestinian president believes the Likud PM has had a change of heart as it is confidence that the American president is in the Palestinian corner when it comes to establishing a viable state."

Ignatieff in China: Subtle Diplomacy > Empty Posturing - The Equivocator: "China has a lot to gain from close partnership with Canada but our relationship is being dominated by economic concerns. The Harper government’s terrible record on the environment and human rights means that the Chinese have less to gain in public diplomacy with Canadian leaders.

For four years Stephen Harper ignored china and now that we have been playing catch up our government cannot yet focus on non-economic exchanges."

China to search globally for panda keepers [China Daily] – Wandering China: "China sends out a beacon internationally to hunt for panda keepers, so reports this article by the AFP published in China’s official mouthpiece – the China Daily. The Pandas have been a great asset for China. Using these pandas, China weaves an intricate web of international relationships with very sound public diplomacy know-how. I have yet to know anybody who hates pandas."

Foreign Ministry To Enter Social Networking‎ - india-server.com: "With social networking sites becoming most popular, even the foreign ministry will soon be seen on social networking sites. After the Delhi traffic police, it is now the foreign ministry that is making news for creating an account in social networking sites. Though this not new in other developed nations like the US, it is definitely a significant move in India.

The Public Diplomacy Division of external affairs ministry would launch a new web portal to step into such social networking sites. Since, the work is under progress, much information has not been revealed in this regard. However, it is being reported that the ministry would enter popular networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. A Twitter account was created on Thursday as an initial move."

Tharoor gone, MEA debuts on Twitter: public diplomacy - Shubhajit Roy, Indian Express: "Shashi Tharoor probably paid the price for tweeting too much when he lost his job as Minister of State for External Affairs, but that doesn’t seem to have deterred the MEA from entering Twitter world. The Public Diplomacy (PD) division of the MEA today made its debut on Twitter with the user ID 'Indian diplomacy' — http://twitter.com/Indiandiplomacy. The mandate of the PD division includes production of print and audio-visual material that will help Indian embassies project the country’s diverse facets more effectively. The first tweet came around 10 am and read: 'Official twitter account of Public Diplomacy Division of Ministry of External Affairs, India @Indiandiplomacy'." See also.

PML-N engages experts to devise suggestions for APC on terrorism‎ - Vidya Rana Daily Times: "ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has engaged security experts for formulating policy suggestions to be presented at the all-parties conference (APC) on terrorism proposed by party chief Nawaz Sharif, Daily Times learnt on Friday.

The conference on terrorism has been convened to develop a consensus on a national counterterrorism strategy (NCTS). When contacted, PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal said the Punjab government had already devised a counterterrorism strategy, but it could not be implemented in isolation. ... 'We will share all the information at the proposed APC, because it is quite a sensitive issue and sometimes public diplomacy backfires,' he said."

Don't you just LOVE the "media war"? (Part II) – Lena, Global Chaos: Re the Russia Today/Fox media war: “So much for maintaining credibility and, at least, trying to achieve effective public diplomacy. Way to go, RT.”

Blowing the nation’s trumpet: languages and public diplomacy (1) – words to good effect: "I recently spent 2 days interpreting in Birmingham for an Italian delegation from Italia Lavoro and Regione Marche. They were here to find out more about the work being done by Sue Veszpremi’s Employer Engagement team at Jobcentre Plus to help the long-term unemployed back into employment. Wonderful work, in my opinion . ... That visit to Birmingham was a great opportunity to tell a British success story. The Italian delegates were impressed not just by the case-studies presented but also – I think even more so – by the dedication, commitment and enthusiasm of the Jobcentre Plus team. That, surely, is what public diplomacy is all about. But how can we broadcast our 'good news' stories internationally if we don’t have the language skills to do so?"

Call for Manuscripts - AEJMC: Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication: "Media Psychology and Public Diplomacy A Special Issue of the American Journal of Media Psychology What processes can best describe attitude formation and /or attitude change as it relates to public diplomacy in a global media environment?

What role, if any, do the international media networks (news and entertainment, traditional and web-based) play in this context? Researchers with interests in such areas as attitude formation and change, media-psychology, social psychology, cross-cultural communication, political communication, political psychology, public opinion, international communication, news exposure, international relations, media effects and related topics are invited to submit papers to the American Journal of Media Psychology for a special issue that focuses on explaining attitude formation and attitude change as related to international public diplomacy within a global media environment."

RELATED ITEMS

U.S. and Russia complete spy swap - Mary Beth Sheridan and Andrew Higgins, Washington Post: After more than a decade of furtively infiltrating America, members of a Russian spy ring busted by the FBI returned Friday to their masters in Moscow, following a swap on an Austrian tarmac for four Russian prisoners, who were whisked to freedom in Britain or the United States. The exchange took place on a remote part of the Vienna airport runway in brilliant sunshine. For all the Cold-War-style intrigue, the Vienna handover was a far cry from the last major U.S.-Russia spy swap, which took place in 1986 at Berlin's Glienicke Bridge, an Iron Curtain crossing that at the time was floodlit and guarded by heavily armed soldiers with dogs. Such deals used to involve months of testy, secret negotiations, in contrast to the quick turnover this time. "This is a very modern kind of spy exchange," said Peter Earnest, a 36-year CIA veteran. He noted that the swap was also free of the propaganda blasts so common in the past. "If you look at the noises coming from both governments, they're trying to get this behind them," said Earnest, nowdirector of the International Spy Museum.

High school students learn foreign languages: Howard Community College teaches Arabic, Chinese and Hindi to youths in summer STARTALK program: STARTALK, a federal government initiative designed to increase the number of Americans learning so-called "critical need" languages – Joe Burris, Baltimore Sun: The program pays tuition

for 70 students — from rising ninth-graders to those who recently graduated high school — to spend the summer learning Arabic, Mandarin Chinese or Hindi. Via LB

Taliban propaganda appears in Kerala - Times Now.tv: Investigations into the attack on a college professor has led to Kerala Police uncovering Taliban propaganda in the state. Police carried out raids in Kochi and Alleppey on the houses of various suspects and activists of the Popular Front. Sources say the police have seized pamphlets and CDs showing Taliban style torture and propaganda.

An Avalanche of Anti-Israel Propaganda – Phyllis Chesler, Chesler Chronicles » The New York Times is the true Bible for most liberal Jews. Fed today’s kind of steady propaganda, year in, year out, liberal and young Jews believe that what they read here is the whole truth—after all, they’ve read it in the Bible. Hence, they are far more comfortable, far more rewarded for attacking and critiquing Israel than for defending Israel from Big Lies—and for attacking, rather than respecting, Israel’s Christian-American supporters.

South Korea Lost Propaganda War‎ - Kim Tae Hong, Daily NK: There seems to be no end to the doubts and suspicions that are swirling around the Cheonan incident. Lee Su Seok of the Institute for National Security Strategy says this is because the South Korean government lost the “Cheonan propaganda war” to North Korean and pro-North Korea forces.

Lee, speaking at a Young Korean Academy debate on the Cheonan incident, explained, "People don't believe us because we lost to North Korea in the propaganda war. The government led people to view whatever the conservatives said as starting a war with North Korea.”

Hague Recognises Propaganda’s Role in Srebrenica Genocide - Nidzara Ahmetasevic, Balkan Insight: In sentencing Milan Gvero, Milan Gvero, Assistant Commander for Morale and Legal and Religious Affairs of the Army of Republika Srpska, the ICTY for the first time recognised the importance of media propaganda in the mass executions that took place in eastern Bosnia in 1995. One former ICTY prosecutor, speaking anonymously, told Balkan Insight that the aim in proving the role of propaganda was to establish “the connection between the leadership’s desires and the acts of those on the ground.” The goal was to show how the atmosphere created in the media before the wars started in former Yugoslavia made it easier for people to commit war crimes. “Propaganda aimed to create a situation in which people believed they wouldn’t be punished if they committed a crime, or even killed people,” the same prosecutor explained, “for example by honouring paramilitaries who were often former criminals and granting them an amnesty for all the bad things they had done.” In order to establish the role played by propaganda in the genocide committed in Srebrenica, the prosecution referred to the orders issued by Karadzic in March 1995.

When Propaganda Backfires - Miss Cellania, Neatorama: BLONDE BOMSHELLS (image source: Psywar.org)

The Plan: During WWII, Axis powers attempted to wage psychological warfare against the Allies in a highly unusual way. They’d fly over enemy camps and drop pictures of buxom ladies on the troops. The twist? Most of the women were pictured in passionate embraces with strange men. The Hope: According to German officials, the drops were meant to get GIs thinking about their wives and girlfriends back home-specifically, thinking about them being unfaithful. Axis propaganda wasn’t always so convoluted, though. Sometimes the Germans simply dropped pictures of scantily clad women posed over quotes such as “You can enjoy this if you surrender.” The Disappointment: Surprise! Apparently, giving out free pictures of sexy women isn’t the best way to demoralize soldiers. Far from being upset, the GIs began collecting the pics and using them as pinups. WISDOM FROM ABOVE (Image Source: Flight’s Image of the Day)

The Plan: Soviet leader Joseph Stalin wanted to spread the message of communism far and wide, so in 1934, he enlisted the ANT-20, a massive aircraft with a wingspan of more than 200 feet. The Hope: In addition to its jaw-dropping size, the plane contained multiple radio stations, a photo lab, and even a printing press for distributing leaflets midair. But the best thing about the plane (from a propaganda point of view) was its loudspeaker. Known as the “Voice from the Sky”, the sound system was so powerful that it could broadcast speeches and songs to the public from hundreds of feet in the air. The Disappointment: Unfortunately for Stalin, the plane’s lifespan didn’t match its wingspan. In 1935, a fighter plane crashed into the giant aircraft during a demonstration over Moscow, killing 45 people. But that didn’t stop the propaganda from living on. Soviet officials quickly blamed the crash on the fighter pilot, Nikolai Blagin, and a new word, Blaginism, was introduced into the Russian language. It translates to “a cocky disregard of authority.” Images from article