May 8

"The states of America are a country where there are thirty-two religions, but there is only one course at dinner -- and it's bad."

--Charles Maurice de Talleyrand, 1790; cited in Thomas Albert Howard, God and the Atlantic: America, Europe, and the Religious Divide (2011), p. 1; Talleyrand image from

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

The (Soft) Power of Preaching What We Practice - Antonio Lambino, worldbank.org: "Yesterday, I received an e-mail from an old friend in the diplomatic community. He asked for my 'thoughts on a public communications approach to countering terrorism and radicalism' since, he continued, this has been identified as a 'gap in the global counter terrorism' arena. My mind immediately went to an area of applied and scholarly interest that the international affairs community calls 'public diplomacy.' While conceptually contested, there seems to be broad enough agreement on the types of initiatives it encompasses, such as international broadcasting (BBC World Service, Radio Free Europe/Liberty, Voice of America, Deutsche Welle, to name a few), scholarships (Fulbright, British Chevening, etc.), international study tours, and other types of academic, cultural, and political exchanges. ... A recently published volume entitled Soft Power in China: Public Diplomacy Through Communication, edited by Prof. Jian Wang of the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California,

delves into a few key Chinese public diplomacy initiatives. Included in the book are chapters on CCTV, the country’s international broadcaster; corporate social responsibility in Africa; the Beijing Olympics; and American students’ views on China. In a seminar in Washington, D.C. a few weeks ago, Wang underscored the 'learning-by-doing approach' evident in China’s international charm offensive. The state is strengthening its government spokesperson system, hosting mega events such as the 2010 Shanghai Expo, and setting up Confucius Institutes all over the world. I defer to the country experts to comment on these activities. What I was hoping to highlight is a more general point, as many countries, even those that have been engaged in public diplomacy for decades, continue to experiment and adapt to changing environments. The point is this: state-driven activities are but a part of the public diplomacy equation.  ... It is, therefore, in the interest of those who seek to attract and persuade foreign publics to strengthen relevant domestic groups so that they can, on their own, engage foreign counterparts and contribute to international outreach efforts." Image from article

Chinese Censors Tighten Grip on Internet - Helle Dale, papundits.wordpress.com: "Which country has the most Internet users? No, it is not the United States, as cyber connected as we are in this country. The correct answer is China, with 446 million users by the end of 2010, according to 'Freedom on the Net: A Global Assessment of Internet and Digital Media,' recently published by Freedom House. At the same time, China also has the highest number of imprisoned cyber dissidents of any country in the world and one of the most restrictive Internet environments, 'characterized by a sophisticated, multilayered control apparatus,' in the words of the human rights organization. ... According to The New York Times, 'a powerful arm of China’s government said Wednesday that it had created a new central agency to regulate every corner of the nation’s vast Internet community, a move that appeared to complement a continuing crackdown on political dissidents and other social critics.' ...

Meanwhile, back at the U.S. State Department, the news was out that State will inform Congress this week that it has allocated all of the $50 million appropriated so far for Internet freedom efforts around the world. The fact that this has taken over three years does not exactly suggest lightning speed urgency—even as cyber activists from China to the Middle East have been struggling to stay on the Web. State was recently given another $20 million by Congress to pursue Internet circumvention technology (with the BBG being given another $10 million). Whether the funding will have the desired effect remains to be seen, but compared to the magnitude of the efforts made by China to keep the Internet under control, the U.S. government is clearly playing catch up in a deadly serious game. ... Helle C. Dale is The Heritage Foundation . http://www.heritage.org/ Senior Fellow in Public Diplomacy studies, and she contributes posts at The Foundry." See also below in Related Items. Image from article

At Lunch 3 “Foreign Exchange Student/Angel is in ♥ with…” - forextradingrx.com: [Videos:] "YES is an innovative high school exchange program funded by the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. This public diplomacy initiative builds bridges of international understanding, especially between Americans and people in countries with significant Muslim populations."

Pakistan suspends satellite uplinks of BBC, VOA, CNN, etc. "They were spitting venom against Pakistan" - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting

Ministry of Foreign Affairs at TIBF‎ - Iran Book News Agency: "The publications center of Ministry of Foreign Affairs is attending the 24th Tehran International Book Fair

with 400 book titles on politics, international relations, international law and introducing other countries. ... Some of the debut books include 'Research, development and consumption optimization', 'Evolving diplomacy', 'Public diplomacy' and 'The European Union since the Treaty of nice to the Treaty of Lisbon'."  Image from

George W. Bush Officials on Osama Bin Laden Death - lbnelert.com: Karen Hughes, key Bush aide and later Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy [:] "[Bin Laden] would suddenly appear. We’d go months and not hear a word from him. And suddenly there would be a message from him. I think it was always maybe a sense of anger. [When bin Laden released a video in 2004], it was clearly timed to the elections. It was clearly an attempt to try to manipulate public opinion in the election. From my perspective at least, there was a feeling of anger that he would try to inject himself. It was almost as a way of taunting us.'”

46 students of SFS-Q receive degrees - gulf-times.com: "SFS-Qatar interim dean Dr Mehran Kamrava said: “This graduating class should be commended not only for their outstanding academic performance, but also for their efforts in service to Qatar and the global community. ... I am honoured to have spent time with you during your time at Georgetown, and I look forward to witnessing your continued growth over the coming years as you pursue careers in international law, public diplomacy, crisis and

disaster management and so many other fields,' he added. Georgetown’s Qatar campus graduated its first class of students in 2009, and has seen these alumni become involved in various aspects of the international affairs career and academic fields. The Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service programme prepares students for a variety of careers in international service by requiring them to study international government, history and economics as well as political geography, theology, philosophy, literature and a foreign language." Image from article, with caption: The Class of 2011 students pose in a group photo after the commencement ceremony yesterday

RELATED ITEMS

Bin Laden Was Dead Already - Gilles Kepel, New York Times: Had Osama bin Laden been killed during the presidency of George W. Bush, he might have become an iconic martyr for anti-Western movements throughout the Muslim world. Those days are gone. Jihadist Web sites mourn their slain mentor, but few in the Arab street care for a man who brought nothing to the region but havoc and desolation, provoked the United States into waging war and, above all, reinforced the very rulers whom radical Islamists most wished to topple. The White House has rightly been keen to avoid any Hollywood-style display of triumph. Image from

White House wise to correct facts - Editorial, newschief.com: The White House is wise to correct its version of how Osama bin Laden died as additional facts come in. And there have been a lot of corrections. On Monday, in briefings about the successful U.S. raid on the terrorist's hideout in Pakistan, the White House and the Pentagon came perilously close to spinning the narrative for propaganda purposes.

In cold blood - Gordon Robinson, jamaica-gleaner.com: The assassination of Osama bin Laden has, as usual, raised more questions than answers. It's also exposed the naiveté of United States (US) propaganda over the years that presented a picture of an aged incontinent hiding in a cave in the Hindu Kush attached to a dialysis machine that he pushed while shuffling around like a decrepit recluse. In fact, for many years now,

he'd been hiding in plain sight in Pakistan.Contrary to American propaganda that would have us believe that our perspective on bin Laden as an evil monster is widely shared, he isn't universally reviled. In fact, the US was so afraid that his burial plot would be made into a martyr's shrine that they hurriedly scooped up the body, whisked it away, and dumped it in the Arabian Sea under the false pretence that they were handling the body according to Islamic practices. Image from article, with caption: Supporters of Pakistani religious party Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam rally in Quetta, Pakistan, last Monday to condemn the killing of Osama bin Laden

Analysis of Al Qaeda statement Jason Burke - dawn.com: Propaganda by deed has always been the favoured strategy of its leadership. Here then is the propaganda. The attention focused on this new statement takes us back to the days when Al Qaeda under the leadership of Bin Laden had the ability to dominate the news agenda almost at will. Every video would receive front-page treatment, every tape would have analysts scrambling into chairs in TV studios. Bin Laden even managed to steal the headlines in the days before the 2004 American presidential election with a judiciously timed statement. But attention has gradually drifted away from Al Qaeda. Two things could have returned the group to centre-stage: a spectacular attack or the death of its leader. In the end it was the second.

Big Brother gets tough on internet users - iol.co.za: China announced a new State Internet Information Office on Wednesday to unify the squabbling agencies that oversee the Chinese Internet, which Beijing views as both a potential gold mine and a political threat. The State Internet Information Office appears intended to help improve coordination and rivalry among the dozen or more Chinese government ministries and agencies with a stake in the Internet. It will be based in the State Council Information Office, the government's propaganda and information arm. The new Internet office will “guide, coordinate and supervise the relevant agencies in strengthening management of Internet content, taking on responsibility for Internet news tasks and vetting and approval and day-to-day supervision of associated activities,” said a notice on the government's website (www.gov.cn).

It will also “help coordinate the agencies in planning and implementation for cultural development on the Internet,” said the notice. The new office will have a hand in controlling web games, television and publishing. Chinese Internet companies such as Baidu Inc and Youku have seen their stocks climb more than 50 percent this year as US investors bet on Chinese Internet growth.  Image from

NTC appeals to Nilesat to end Gaddafi TV propaganda - Rebecca Hawkes, rapidtvnews.com: Propaganda broadcasts from the Gaddafi regime stand accused of inciting “hate and violence” by Libya’s National Transitional Council (NTC), which has requested that Egyptian satellite operator Nilesat take the TV channels off the air.

IMAGE

1943 appliance ad: we didn't make fridges this year, so that the steel could be used for the war effort - Cory Doctorow, Boing Boing

In this striking, odd 1943 ad, Norge Appliances explains that it didn't make any new models for 1943 so that the materials could go into the war effort: "When the guns are stilled, you can be sure that Norge thinking and Norge skill, stimulated by the stern school of war, will bring you even greater satisfaction, greater convenience than you have enjoyed before."