"It is not the voice that commands the story: it is the ear."
--Italo Calvino in his Invisible Cities; image from
PUBLIC DIPLOMACY
11 April, 2011, Monday, SoS and Staff Schedules - rushlimbaughreport.blogspot.com: "US FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS JUDITH MCHALE:
'Subtle power' reshapes global village - David Gosset, Asia Times Online: "While the US public diplomacy apparatus works to persuade the world of its benevolent 'smart power', China is quietly reshaping the global village with the effectiveness of its 'subtle power.' ...[T]he West would like to recreate China in its image - and, by doing so, helping to solve the so-called China's bad image problem - but China's representation of itself can not correspond to such a fantasy. ... If the notion of 'smart power', an approach strongly advocated by US State Secretary Hillary Clinton,
Get off My Back, Brutes - Conor, Diplomatic Studs: A collection of unique perspectives on current public diplomacy issues: "Public Diplomacy in the United States does a good job of slandering the Chinese negligence of human rights. And for good reason. The Chinese have numerous problems preventing Western Europe and North America from taking them seriously when China claims to take steps to address concerns. But what about the greatest purveyor of violence in the world? The United States? How can the United States via Hillary Clinton disparage China when we have atrocities occurring in our own backyard (and in a country near you!). It's hypocritical. It's outrageous. Although China is right to call out the US on this non-sensical behavior, it doesn't excuse their complicity with human rights violations. Two wrongs don't make a right."
Queen Bees and Wannabees - Kristina H, Key to the Future: "There is no need for the United States to engage in competition with China in its Pubic [sic,when accessed 4/11 am] Diplomacy.
Who's in charge of China's PD? - KAT, Public Diplomacy and the Real World: "So who is in charge of China's PD? Not China. Just as I am unaware of American PD efforts, I am unaware or unaffected by Chinese PD efforts. As a member of the American public, this summer my contact with China will be watching Kung Fu Panda 2 this summer, rereading The Tao of Pooh and eating some delicious Mayflower Chinese food. All of these have little influence from China."
Should VOA Mandarin leave shortwave and become internet-only? The debate continues - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting
US is back in the 'smart power' game - Lewis M Simons, Pakistan Observer: "In our 2009 book, The Next Front: Southeast Asia and the Road to Global Peace with Islam, former senator Christopher Bond and I appealed to the then-incoming Obama administration to bring 'smart power' to bear in Muslim Southeast Asia — in particular through renewed cultural and educational emphases — as the only feasible alternative to hard, military power. It is beginning: Young men and women, shod not in combat boots but sneakers and sandals, are teaching English to striving Muslims only a few years’ their junior. Techies operate giant Liquid Galaxy maps and pass out iPads to high-school visitors at the glittering new America cultural centre in downtown Jakarta. Some Americans, particularly those agitating to further involve U.S. troops in the Libyan fight, will snicker. Personally, I am thrilled. Built at a cost of $5 million with a projected operating cost of $3 million a year, America was strategically located in one of Jakarta’s ubiquitous high-rise shopping malls. As in the U.S., malls are irresistible magnets for Indonesian youths. ... But the fact that America is located in Pacific Place, already one of the most heavily guarded malls in Jakarta,
What Language Does Iran Understand? - Alfred Nurja, animecoolfoto.blogspot.com: "The Prague-based Radio Liberty (formerly known as Radio Free Europe) reported last weekend that the State Department has appointed Alan Eyre, as the first Persian-language spokesperson. Reportedly Mr. Eyre is authorized to appear on Iranian state-owned media and according to the article 'the move seems to be part of an increased effort by the Obama administration to reach out to the Iranians directly.' While
Facing Down That Al Qaeda Fear Factor - Patricia H. Kushlis, Whirled View: "Rumors abound that the Obama Administration is putting the finishing touches on an International Counter-Terrorism Communications Center likely to be housed in the State Department under the Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. There are serious questions as to whether such an organization if it ever gets off the drawing board belongs under a State Department Under Secretary (more, hopefully, about this in a future post) but I fear that such an endeavor would most likely result in an outdated, overly costly, not to mention dysfunctional institution when American national security activities in terms of public diplomacy - and isn't this what an Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy be focusing on - should have substantially shifted before such a center gets off the ground."
Does an order of societies challenge state interests? - dptrombly, Slouching Towards Columbia: "The failure of deterrence and signaling in Libya: "Just as society places constraints on the behavior of governments, governments are able to prevent society from seizing the concentrations of power which concern interests as the state-centric thinkers in international affairs define them. In other words, the social network and its horrific pictures of Libyan victims only approaches, in terms of interests, rather than values, the threshold of concern for the 'state-centric' thinker insofar as those images alter the concentrations of power between and within states. Insofar as interests are concerned, public diplomacy matters to the extent it alters the way in which the more traditional bearers of power in the international arena exercise it with regard to America’s interests. ... The notion that technology and communication have fundamentally challenged the ability of a 'state-centric' view of international power relies on the premise that technology and communication can fundamentally supplant and replace the power concentrations which belong to the state. ...
State's failure to promote Internet Freedom - Information Policy Technology: "Earlier in the semester we discussed what the State Department was doing with the $30 million it was given to promote internet freedom. Not much apparently. ... As someone who tries to follow the doings of State, this looks like bureaucratic politics - State is not a public diplomacy agency by nature and this is a public diplomacy function."
Bureau of International Information Programs Coordinator Dawn L. McCall Travels to Los Angeles and San Francisco, California April 11 - April 15 - Media Note, Office of the Spokesman Washington, DC April 11, 2011, U.S. Department of State: "Bureau of International Information Programs Coordinator Dawn L. McCall will travel to Los Angeles and San Francisco April 11 – April 15 to meet with communications and technology industry executives for consultations on the latest developments in digital engagement, mobile platforms, and crowd-sourcing. Discussions will focus on tools and collaborative projects that will expand IIP’s communications programs to inform and engage international audiences. During her visit to Los Angeles, Coordinator McCall
America's Muslim Cowboy Ambassador: How Oklahoma-born singer Kareem Salama became part of US diplomacy efforts in the Middle East - Ashley Bates, Mother Jones: "Last summer, Salama was invited to participate in a six-week, US government-sponsored tour of the Middle East. The program included both concerts and group discussions at schools and community centers. ... Everywhere he went—Egypt, Bahrain, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, Morocco, Kuwait, and Syria—there were droves of people at his appearances, especially children. ... But Salama refused to engage Middle Easterners on controversial topics. If, for example, an audience member asked why the US government was sponsoring his tour while simultaneously providing billions of dollars in military aid to repressive Arab regimes, Salama dodged the question. ... Salama's songs can be spiritual, but they're not overtly Islamic. Nor do his lyrics criticize American foreign policy.
Condi Makes Unexpected/Ironic Appearance In Article About Cultural Diplomacy - Princess Sparkle Pony's Photo Blog: "You never know where Condi will pop up! European Voice has an interesting article about Raka Singh of the Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels and her admirable efforts to combine art and diplomacy. What's hilarious about the article is the photo they use of Singh, seen above, grinning while posing next to our favorite Condiportrait*, Luc Tuymans' 2005 'The Secretary of State' from the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, NY.
Open World Delegation Begins - albanytula.org: "The Russians have arrived! For the next two weeks, there are nine wonderful guests from Tula, Russia sharing homes with several ATA [Albany-Tula Alliance] board members. Many of them are part of the Open World Delegation while the two younger guests are students who won an essay contest to come visit Albany. The Open World Delegation is a government funded program that enables emerging leaders from Russia to experience American democracy and civil society in action.
It is the first and only exchange program in the U.S. legislative branch. Congress established the program in 1999 to increase understanding between both countries while introducing Russian leaders to American democratic and economic institutions. It’s a public diplomacy initiative that the Albany-Tula Alliance has participated in several times before. The success of the program is proven in our strengthening ties with Tula." Image from article
Canadians in Vietnam Mean Business - Emina Vukic, Newswire – CPD Blog, University of Southern California Center on Public Diplomacy: "Currently, there are over 1,000 Vietnamese students in Canada. Vietnam is now poised to be in the top 25 foreign student source countries for Canada. The education campaign goals may not be all that altruistic after all. Canada is a vast country with not nearly enough young people of its own, thus encouraging immigration into Canada and hoping for its own rejuvenation. Another key component in the Canadian public diplomacy efforts in Vietnam is the promotion of Canada in the media: print, television and on the web. It is fair to say that Canada has a good presence in Vietnamese media. Every opportunity to promote the country among Vietnamese is whole heartedly embraced. One such example is the hosting of the Terry Fox Run in Vietnam. Another example of great PD work is the Consul General’s regular appearances on the local children’s TV show equivalent to Sesame Street, where the Consul General talks about Canada, its people and customs. This is just another example where cultural diplomacy efforts, no matter how small the scale, go a long way. Though one cannot escape the impression that Canadians everywhere suffer from an inferiority complex in relation to their better known neighbor, it is evident in Vietnam that they have managed to step out of the American shadow through their public diplomacy efforts."
Art's Triumph in the Absence of Soft Power - Jessica Williams, Occasionally Clever: A semi-regular blog on public diplomacy: "Earlier in the semester I wrote about Chinese President Hu Jintao’s state visit noting the rather pervasive negative media framing around China’s growing economic and political might. Three of this week’s four readings (Yiwei Wang’s 'Public Diplomacy and the Rise of Chinese Soft Power', Li Mingjiang’s 'Soft Power in Chinese Discourse: Popularity and Prospect', and Maria Wey-Shen Siow’s 'Chinese Domestic Debates on Soft Power and Public Diplomacy') were by Chinese scholars which is important for expanding the discourse to include non-Western voices. It is no wonder, I believe, that younger Chinese are indignant at the derision that is directed towards their culture and country by Western governments and media. And yet, news of Chinese artist Ai Weiwei’s
China's Soft Power - Lindsey, pdglobbers.blogspot.com: "A main aspect of public diplomacy, or nation branding, depends on the message the government sends out not clashing horrendously with the actual situation in the country, or the actions they take. This doesn’t work out when human rights abuses and foreign misperceptions clash directly with their own view of themselves. China’s public diplomacy seems just as much about convincing their own population of their soft power and their cultural strengths as other countries."
In These Reactionary Times, There Are Few Second Chances - Farieha Aziz, newslinemagazine.com:" [T]he controversy revolving around the statement by Pakistan’s cricket captain ... is not about Afridi.
It is about much more than him and what he said. More than what any cricketer said, on either side of the border, these few days have been a lesson in how we as people react to unsavoury situations. Shahid Afridi got a lot of flak on social media in particular by people on both sides of the border for one [evidently anti-Muslim] statement. The statement was no doubt uncalled for, and struck a blow to public diplomacy. But my question here is, why was it just his statement that caused the outrage?" Afridi image from
Uganda’s President to talk to Egyptians in Tahrir Square - bikyamasr.com: "Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni had a phone call today with Mustafa El Gendi, assistant chief of the Al Wafd Party, member of the People’s Parliament and coordinator of the Public Diplomacy delegation’s visit, who visited Uganda a few days ago and met with Museveni on the issue of the Nile water. During the call Museveni expressed his contentment of the media coverage of the Egyptian delegation’s visit to Uganda and that it delighted both the Egyptian and the Ugandan public."
Boy Abunda earns Master’s degree - boyabunda.net: "Television host and talent manager Boy Abunda added another feather to his cap. At the age of 55, Abunda
Monday, April 11, 2011: Participate online in the Guggenheim Forum Panel Discussion: Mon, Apr 11–Fri, Apr 15 - Peachy Deegan, whomyouknow.com: "Join thinkers from a variety of fields in an online discussion that will explore language, media, and politics in a globalized world, inspired by the exhibition Found in Translation, part of the Deutsche Bank Series at the Guggenheim, currently on view though May 1. Taking translation as a metaphor for exchange in the twenty-first century, panelists will discuss the relationship between language and technology as our 'globe' extends into augmented and virtual realities. Participants ... Biljana Scott, linguist and professor in Political Language and Public Diplomacy at the DiploFoundation; lecturer in Chinese Linguistics at the University of Oxford."
Conference Report: Conference of NGOs in the European Union to strengthen European security and their responsibilities - BHKK: the EU's security of civilians [Google translation from the Hungarian:] "Appears in two new státuszkategória,which divides the public and especially the non-profit organizations. Eközben a biztonságpolitikai szakma intézményesül is a Nemzetvédelmi Egyetem ilyen irányú szakának elindulásával, aminek a következménye, hogy a civil szféra professzionálisabbá is válik. Meanwhile, the security profession is institutionalized in the National University of departure of such mentary, with the consequence that the civil society is becoming more professional. Ezzel közeledünk 2010 felé, ami a public diplomacy évének számított: ez a fogalom magyarul a civil diplomáciát takarja, amely nem helyettesíti a tradicionális diplomáciát,
RELATED ITEMS
Not Why, But How: To the Shores of (and Skies Above) Tripoli - Andrew J. Bacevich, TomDispatch: Along with prolonging and expanding one war in Afghanistan, the Nobel Peace laureate, Barack Obama, has played a leading role in starting another war in Libya. Whatever his motives, by conforming to a pre-existing American penchant for using force in the Greater Middle East, this president has chosen the wrong tool.
Will the Libya intervention bring the end of NATO? - Anne Applebaum, Washington Post: On a tour of a Tripoli hospital last week, a Libyan government escort showed Western journalists evidence of the “civilian casualties” caused by NATO airstrikes. They weren’t fooled — and he knew it. “This is not even human blood!” he cried, disgusted by his own government’s pathetic propaganda. The incident made for a few amusing newspaper stories: We Western journalists love to mock the foreign dictators who try to manipulate us. But how often do we notice the more delicate fibs told by our own leaders? It isn’t quite so blatant as fake blood, but when Western leaders talk about the Libyan campaign as a “NATO operation” they are, at the very least, being economical with the truth. Think about it: There was no NATO discussion of the operation, no debate, no vote, no joint planning. Technically, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization operates only in the wake of an attack on a NATO member. In truth, the Libyan expedition is an Anglo-French project and has been from the beginning. Yet neither Britain nor France wants responsibility for the operation — and neither feels comfortable relying on the other. The use of NATO’s name, in Libya, is a fiction. But the weakening of NATO’s reputation in Libya’s wake might become horribly real. Image from
Why humanitarian wars can go so wrong - Gary J. Bass, Washington Post: Humanitarian wars, like all wars, tend to escalate. In Libya, the shared original objective might have been to protect civilians, not to overthrow the regime, but what if Moammar Gaddafi retaliates against outside intervention with terrorism or by killing more civilians, after the U.N. Security Council has approved action precisely because he was killing civilians? What if the civil war drags on for years, as such conflicts usually do? Reluctant Western allies and the Arab League could be pulled even deeper into Libya.
Don’t be fooled by western propaganda on Libya - Scott Taylor, thechronicleherald.ca: While the current international intervention in the Libyan civil war has failed to produce any tangible military victory, it has certainly served to illustrate the hypocrisy of U.S. foreign policy. One has to wonder what is so special about the Libyan armed rebels that they would be granted support in the form of UN resolutions and NATO-enforced no-fly zones almost immediately after they took up arms against President Moammar Gadhafi, while unarmed protestors are gunned down by security forces in Bahrain, Yemen and Syria with virtual impunity from foreign pressure.
Shortly after NATO blasted the rebels by mistake, these same rebels denounced the international air campaign. Ironically, it was not the fact that their own fighters had been victims that upset the rebels but rather the fact that NATO planes are not doing enough to help them win their war against Gadhafi. So it would seem that this collection of brigands, thieves and cutthroats who have declared themselves rebels are more honest about their intentions than our own western leaders who would have you believe we are dropping bombs in the name of humanitarianism. Image from
The Queen of England Strikes Back (at Obama)! - consider-freedom.blogspot.com: The Royal Wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton: On April 30, there will be Buddhist Monks, heads of state, strange Muslims and a panoply of charity workers, the head of PR for Audi, David and Victoria Beckham, assorted sheikhs, a Romanian count, parliamentary assistants from small European states, a Texas billionaire, Spanish tile company execs, a favorite Caribbean bartender, but NOT America's first family.
"Jewish Al-Jazeera" News Network on the Horizon - Fern Sidman, INN NY: Russian born oligarch and Israeli billionaire Dr. Alexander Mashkevich has announced his intention to create a pro-Israel international news network, similar to Al Jazeera and the BBC. Speaking at the United Israel Appeal's annual conference of Jewish leaders in Washington last week, Dr. Mashkevich,
Soviet Space Propaganda: Doctored Cosmonaut Photos - James Oberg, Wired: In a series of photographs of the cosmonaut team, released in the 1970s, some individuals have been airbrushed out of scenes.
Photoessay: First Man in Space: Vintage Soviet Propaganda Glorifying Yuri Gagarin - Time: Excerpts from a collection of postcards commemorating the Soviet cosmonaut’s historic journey into outer space fifty years ago.
On April 12, 1961, a young Soviet pilot named Yuri Gagarin became the first human to orbit the earth. The trip lasted a little less than two hours, but its success had extraordinary significance for the Soviet Union, which at the time was engaged in the heated “space race” with the United States. The cosmonaut’s heroic act was the cause of great celebration in the USSR, as the country’s state-controlled media churned out countless mementos celebrating his achievement. Not only handsome, Gagarin came complete with peasant origins, making him the ideal subject for a Soviet propaganda campaign. See also
MORE QUOTATIONS FOR THE DAY
"I have a radio in my head."
--Susan Burns, art critic, who attacked a Gaugin painting at the National Gallery in Washington; image from
"Faculty at the University of California, Berkeley—generally considered the greatest public university in the world—had their telephones removed from their offices last year, in a nicely symbolic gesture of their helplessness under the budget knife."
MAKING BALD MEN JEALOUS DEPT.
--Donald Trump image from
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