"Qué es la vida? Un frenesí.
¿Qué es la vida? Una ilusión,
una sombra, una ficción,
y el mayor bien es pequeño:
que toda la vida es sueño,
y los sueños, sueños son."
--Pedro Calderón de la Barca; verses often cited by your PDPBR compiler's poet-diplomat father; Calderon image from
VIDEO
Noam Chomsky Speaks On Slogan Propaganda
PUBLIC DIPLOMACY
Pakistan Nuclear Deterrence, New Threats To Pakistan’s Nuclear Policy - pakconnects.blogspot.com: "There are new pressures on Pakistan to limit its ability to maintain a credible nuclear deterrence. These pressures are coming from the Conference on Disarmament, or CD as it is known, that opens ... in Geneva. The United States is working on two tracks.
One is to induct India into the Nuclear Suppliers Group and end the last barrier that stops India from procuring nuclear technology and material in the open market. And two, use international treaties to force Pakistan to freeze Pakistani nukes at their current size and potential. While US officials use public diplomacy to send messages through Radio Pakistan and other arms of the pro-US government in Islamabad claiming Washington has no interest in targeting the Pakistani nuclear program, US actions speak louder about the actual US policy toward Pakistan’s strategic capabilities." Uncaptioned image from article, but presumably of nuclear plant in Kushab, Pakistan.
View: FATA conundrum — Umar Riaz, dailytimes.com: "Pakistani and its international partners have faltered in most of the available options to counter insurgency and terrorism, i.e. targeted strikes, military offensives, border control, law enforcement, negotiations and public diplomacy. The Pakistani government has however shown willingness and ability to use forcible means through the military to extend control over the region [Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA)] but after struggling to hold the areas, it had to enter into agreements with the militants on their terms. ... The US is also continuing with ‘hard intervention’ in the hunt for al Qaeda and the Afghan Taliban through Predator and Reaper drone strikes, which have resulted in killing many high value targets but at the cost of substantive collateral damage. The drone strikes are hugely unpopular and a major cause of rising anti-American sentiment."
Elliot Abrams Bangs the Drum for War against Iran - Chippshots: Comments and Analysis from John Robertson on the Middle East, Central Asia, and U.S. Policy: "Once again, from one of those worthies privileged to call themselves 'fellows' of the Council on Foreign Relations, a call for America to suck it up, be strong, hammer those bad guys into submission (and not a word about how much it costs, or how little the US can afford it).
Days ago, it was Max Boot, pounding on the guilt button of America's supposed humiliation in Somalia, and imploring Obama to steer our military and economy more deeply into the black hole that is nation-building in Iraq and Afghanistan. ... Now we have Elliot Abrams, another 'expert' hailing from the so-called mainstream of the public diplomacy establishment, who is shocked - SHOCKED - by the deaths of US soldiers at the hands of Shii militias in Iraq, and intent on shaming Obama into doing something about it - by killing Iranians, those nefarious evil-doing people who surely are behind it all." Robertson image from his blog
Week in Review - Jenny Durina, Slavosaurus Rex: "MONDAY: U.S. Embassy Moscow just launched a new cultural program called 'American Seasons in Russia'. The name is a nod to Sergei Diaghilev's 'Russian Seasons' which more or less migrated Russian culture to Paris for a bit in the early 20th century. He also founded the Ballets Russes. Basically he was an old artsy-fartsy patron of all that is artsy and all that is fartsy and he was Russian. Here is his face. It is a mighty face.
I hope to someday date someone in a similar outfit (I'M TALKING TO YOU, YOUNG JACOB). Sans 'stache of course. Anyhoo, the point of American Seasons is to bring American art and performers to Russia to exhibit our less global culture. We are more than just Hollywood and Katy Perry, surprisingly. We're sponsoring the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, MOMIX, Ozomatli, an Annie Leibovitz photography exhibit, and will end with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. That one is particularly cutesy and fuzzy with warm diplomatic feelings because Chicago is Moscow's sister city. In order to introduce American Seasons to the general public, we held a press conference at ITAR-TASS, a news agency. I wrote a lovely little press release, to which Judith McHale, Under Secretary of Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs (aka the HEAD-HONCHO of PA at State in Washington) replied with a lovely email about American Seasons and forwarded the press release to THE HEAD HONCHESS herself, Mrs. Hilldawg. Wonderful! THE PRESS CONFERENCE: To launch American Seasons in Russia, we brought in participants from the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, whose performances would inaugurate ASiR. Other participants: Ambassador John Beyrle (woot woot); Gusman, Deputy Director of ITAR-TASS and meeter-und-greeter of practically everyone ever; Mikhail Shvydkoy, Special Envoy for International Cultural Cooperation to President Dmitry Medvedev; and Vladimir Urin, Director of the Stanislavsky Theater where Alvin Ailey Dance Theater would be performing.
My task for the conference was to pick up the Alvin Ailey people at their hotel, brief them on American Seasons and the BPC (Bilateral Presidential Commission, which I don't want to get into right now), and take them to the conference. Quite fun, and they were all wonderful people. Very friendly. Also I had fun chatting up our Russian driver and showing off my poor language skills. After the conference, which was mildly eventless except for a wonderful linguistic attempt to translate 'knock your socks off' in Russian and this FABULOUS video about American Seasons (plug!). Gusman invited the dancers and embassy workers (there were about 6 of us) to his special HOMNOM room where we were treated to delicious food and drink. ...TUESDAY: Press conference numero dos, commence! This conferencio was solely for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, hereby referred to as AAADT, at the Stanislavsky Theater. After nearly napping through the conference (because I get very tired in life), I went to watch the press performance and it was AMAZING. I started getting flashes of stardom ideas and becoming a dancer. Then I remembered my height and laziness; the dream was crushed. My boss and a Russian from our office were unfortunately running around backstage doing damage control because this very nosy camera crew from the 'Culture' channel was roaming around getting in the way of dancers. I had comp tickets for Wednesday and I could not be more excited! So many attractive dancers. ... [About Me:] Jenny Durina
Gender: Female Location: Moscow: Russia I'm just an aspiring FSO biding my time in the real world until I can start digging trenches in Kyrgyzstan. All I want is a yurt. In said yurt, I will play gypsy music and teach the local urchins the noble sport of Quidditch. Here chronicles my quest to reach this pinnacle of success. Currently studying abroad in the Motherland. Her capital, to be precise. Moscow is a strange place. Follow me into the Cave of Wonders (well...maybe more the 'Cave of Really Bizarre Happenings[']) Nevertheless, come along!" Images from article
4th of July Abroad - Molly Sisson, Public Diplomacy and Student Exchanges: Experiences of American Fulbright Grantees in the UK and Turkey, and their counterparts in the US: "On my very first 4th of July in the UK, I had a BBQ in the park near campus with a very mixed international group of friends (but no other Americans--my American coursemates all happened to be back in the States at the time). ... It was a perfect example of cultural mediation in educational exchange, too: sharing your cultural traditions with other international students.
They asked me questions about typical Independence Day celebrations and I learned about their national days. It's all about the 2-way exchange, communicating and working towards mutual understanding--getting some empathy established between people of different cultural backgrounds. This year, being a Monday, we just went to T.G.I. Friday's for an American dinner. I didn't feel nearly as patriotic as I usually do on the 4th, but it was nice to have a taste of home. Spending Independence Day in Britain always feels a bit like I'm fraternising with the enemy, though...What would our founding fathers think?" Image from article
British Chief Rabbi Sacks: Knee-jerk hasbara miss the target, harm Israel; Says policy makers need to change paradigm of Israeli public diplomacy, calls for creation of hasbara think tank - Raphael Ahren, Ha'aretz: "Israel needs to use its brain if it wants to win the battle for the hearts and minds of the world, Britain’s Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks told Anglo File recently, advocating for the creation of some sort of think tank that would change Israel’s public diplomacy. Speaking for the first time candidly about what he considers a dangerous shortfall endangering Israel’s future, Sacks urged local leaders and opinion makers to try to first understand their enemies and the nature of their hostility rather than engage in haphazard acts of public diplomacy, known as hasbara, or creating new political PR campaigns. ... The Ministry of Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs responded to the chief rabbi’s
criticism by saying it runs broad projects providing the public with tools to do effective hasbara. The ministry 'promotes and welcomes the public’s hasbara initiatives and welcomes any person living in the Diaspora who chooses to join the state of Israel’s hasbara efforts.' ... 'I have the impression that Israel regards the battle lost from the outset, certainly vis-à-vis Europe,' he [Sacks] said. Therefore Israelis have neglected to create an in-depth hasbara strategy, something that should have been done since Zionism was declared racism by the United Nations in the 1970s. 'Israel never developed the mechanism to deal with human rights and NGOs. That’s being done by lone operators, almost. Israel was so slow and to this day I don't know if it fully realizes the battle that is being waged against it.'” See also. Sacks image from article
‘Latma’ produces new flotilla song: "The song, a parody of the Beach Boys famous 1964 hit "Fun, Fun, Fun," is sung by "The Audacity of Dopes" band, titled, "Guns, guns, guns” - Jerusalem Post: "In the immediate aftermath of the IDF’s takeover of the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara during last year’s pro-Hamas flotilla to Gaza, Israel’s greatest public diplomacy victory came in the form of a private initiative by Latma, (www.latma.co.il), a satirical media criticism website run by Jerusalem Post Senior Contributing Editor Caroline Glick. Latma’s song, 'We Con the World,' a parody of the 1983 hit song 'We are the world,'
by Lionel Ritchie and Michael Jackson, mocked the flotilla participants’ protestations of being 'peace activists' by juxtaposing footage of the Mavi Marmara passengers stabbing and beating IDF naval commandos as they boarded the ship with Latma’s 'Flotilla Choir' singing that 'the truth will never make its way to your TV' while waving knives and clubs. 'We Con the World' was launched on YouTube two days after the Mavi Marmara raid, and within 24 hours had received over a million views and fundamentally changed the international discourse on the Mavi Marmara incident. On Thursday night, Latma released a new video clip on the latest attempted flotilla to Gaza. The song, a parody of the Beach Boys
Australia Network: The tender trap - Alex Oliver, Lowy Interpreter: The Australia Network is the Government's primary vehicle for public diplomacy: its means of engaging with foreign publics, of providing reliable news in information-starved regions, of communicating with Australians living and traveling overseas, and of projecting Australia's culture, ideals, values and expertise to the region.
These functions are integral to Australia's international relations, and decisions about such a vehicle belong with the Government ministry responsible for the conduct of Australia's foreign affairs. ... The decision to open the Australia Network service to competitive tender was, for some, contentious, and for others, bold. Whatever the viewpoint, the onus is on the Government, having made that decision, to act with absolute probity and transparency on the tender process." See also. Uncaptioned image from article
South Korea - Junior Diplomats Discuss Global Issues with the UK Foreign Office Minister - isria.com: "Twenty-odd junior diplomats of the Foreign Ministry discussed a wide range of global issues with Jeremy Browne, UK Foreign Office Minister for the Far East, at the Ministry on July 8. ... The Korean diplomats listened to and exchanged views on Minister Browne’s remarks on the role of the UK in the EU, the importance of public diplomacy via SNS, and overall diplomatic policies of the UK, including its diplomat-training system."
The Evolution of British Public Diplomacy 1954-1969: Part 2 - Public Diplomacy, Networks and Influence: "The fusion of diplomacy and public diplomac[y] has deep roots in the UK."
Reports from Brussels - The Indonesia Post: "Reports from Brussels Indonesian anti-terrorism Present Strategies for Europe Brussels - Indonesia to treat terrorism as a crime, so used is a legal approach. The perpetrator is caught legally processed through an independent judicial process. Similarly, the Head of National Agency for Combating Terrorism (BNPT) General of Police (Ret.) Ansyaad Mbai in a seminar on 'Combating Terrorism Strategy Indonesia', as stated Socio-Cultural Function of Information and Public Diplomacy Punjul Nugraha Embassy in Brussels
[2010 FIFA World Cup legacy] The true legacy of 2010 - part 2 - Nikolaus Eberl, bizcommunity.com: "According to the author of the quarterly Nation Brand Index, Simon Anholt, 'if traditional diplomacy is government-to-government (G2G) and public diplomacy is government-to-people (G2P), then effective nation branding also includes an element of P2P... When the entire population is galvanized into becoming the mouthpiece of a country's values and qualities, then you have an advertising medium that is actually equal to the enormous task of communicating something so complex to so many.'"
FS Weekly Roundup: So Many Hats! - Brooke, theworldthatwelivein.com: "I am slow on posting about the 4th of July because we just had our Consulate Independence Day celebration yesterday. It was my first official state department event and I had a blast. Being overseas makes you think about America in a different way and I'd be lying if I said my eyes didn't water a bit when the Marines raised the flag and the national anthem was sung. God bless America. My sweet husband had a hefty list of duties in association with the party and so I tried my best to hobnob without him.
I played wingman to an awesome new spouse at post and met a few new people. As the wife of a public diplomacy officer I am going to have to get my social event on quite frequently - I'm slowly getting better at it :) I hope to be even more social and meet more people in the future now that I know what to expect." Image from article
RELATED ITEMS
So Long, Goliath! - Michael Shaw, bagnewsnotes.com: Although not stated in so many words, this NYT article detailing the withdrawal of America’s diplomatic and military A-team from Afghanistan, paired with Obama dialing back the mission, basically spells America throwing in the towel. Sensing the turn, visual media is already busy fleshing out the picture. Although the scene came about innocently enough — just one more propaganda photo of an Afghan boy giving a goodwill token to a U.S. soldier doing the counter-insurgency thing — the photo has a special “thwack” to it as the Afghan mission pivots into free-fall. In an almost cruel twist on the effectiveness of asymmetrical warfare, the photo speaks to the futility of the Afghan mission and the emasculation of U.S. forces in a land that repels outside powers through a combination of tenacity and sheer primitivism.
Image from article, with caption: Brandon Pearson, U.S. Navy (USN) Hospital Man attached with Weapons Company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines, uses a slingshot given by an Afghan boy during a break during a patrol outside Patrol Base Johnson in Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, July 5, 2011.)
Army, CIA, corporations, propaganda & Internet sock puppets: facts, tactics & fight back - abovetopsecret.com: Contents: Introduction I. Why would the government organize any propaganda on the www II. the hard proofs of government propaganda on the Internet
III. the corporate construction of the providers of Persona Management software & the direct link to CIA IV. the disinfo tactics V. the response to give to the dis-informative crowd by the truth seekers conclusion links & references. Image from article
Hostile propaganda against Pakistan - Sultan M Hali, Pakistan Observer: Armed Forces and intelligence agencies render exceptional services to protect national interests. They have offered tremendous sacrifices for the sake of their country and nation. Unfortunately some hostile elements are running a malicious campaign to discredit and defame the Armed Forces of Pakistan especially the Army and Pakistan’s premier intelligence agency ISI. The aim of such negative propaganda is to weaken people’s faith in the professional capabilities and competence of Army and ISI to defend national interests. These segments of society are trying to undermine the Armed Forces also because they fear their capability of defending Pakistan against the nefarious machinations of its detractors. One of the principles of subversion is that the enemy tries to sow seeds of doubts in the minds of the people of the target country regarding the capability of its armed forces to defend it. If its propaganda war is successful then the next step is physical subversion and ultimately a takeover becomes easy. Another effect of the propaganda against the armed forces is that it weakens their morale and they may lose confidence in their leadership.
Propaganda a la Hollywood Style (part III) - Libya S.O.S.: Rebels murder people, soldiers and Gaddafi supporters, tape their crime, publish it on social media sites and label it "Crimes of Gaddafi." Entry contains videos.
Gandhians come thundering - Victor Kotsev, Asia Times: At the current moment, it is impossible to say with a straight face that the Second Freedom flotilla, scheduled to run the Israeli naval blockade on the Gaza Strip over a week ago, is progressing well. The latest reports have it that most of the activists, stuck in Greece, are headed home. Depending on one's politics, one may feel the urge to smile bitterly or to smirk. Parts of the Israeli "hasbara" - or propaganda campaign - against the flotilla bear no fewer traits of cheap comedy.
The new hawks of the Western world - Lawrence Martin, ipolitics.ca: Behold the new Canadian militarism. It’s everywhere. Hardly a week goes by without the government gushing about our troops. It has become politically incorrect, practically unpatriotic, to question the military. Our government’s Afghanistan propaganda makes it sound like it was mission accomplished. And everyone is expected to be gung-ho on the war in Libya.
Kyrgyz Question Presence At Russian Pro-Kremlin Camp - RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty: Several Kyrgyz journalists and civil activists are criticizing a decision by the government to send seven students to the Kremlin-sponsored international youth forum called Seliger, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports. Critics of the decision say that the forum is being used by Moscow to indoctrinate young people with pro-Russian propaganda.
The event -- which began in 2005 as a camp for the pro-Kremlin youth group Nashi -- kicked off on July 1 and continues until July 9 at Russia's Lake Seliger, near the city of Tver. Some 20,000 young people are taking part. Image from article, with caption: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (center) visiting the Seliger-2010 forum a year ago.
Azerbaijan will not have enough political will to realize its threats - Anna Balyan, Public Radio of Armenia: Azerbaijan must clearly understand that shooting down the civilian aircrafts flying to Stepanakert
would mean inciting new war, political scientist Narek Galstya says. According to him, Armenia cannot but respond to such attempts, and this will serve as a reason for military actions. Nevertheless, military expert Artsrun Hovhannisyan is confident that the Azerbaijani side will not have enough will to realize its threats. He assures that the military rhetoric pursues only propaganda purposes. “Azerbaijani does not possess enough warlike equipment to lead war in mountainous regions. Neither has it experienced specialists,” the expert said. Uncaptioned image from article
World War II Propaganda - Chapel, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Special Collections: A collection of letters written by a soldier during World War II to his wife back home is currently being processed. The soldier was sent to Europe in 1944 and saw battle in Northern France, Ardennes, Rhineland, and Central Germany. In one of his letters he mentions propaganda leaflets that are being dropped by the Germans in order to rile the troops. He expresses hopes that he can grab one to send home to his wife for a souvenir, but says that it’s been hard to get a hold of one. He finally retrieves one and sends it home to his wife (and it is in the collection) saying that he guesses some wives are doing this (see edited leaflet)
but he doesn’t seem too concerned. ... These sexualized leaflets were meant to lower the morale and resolve of Allied soldiers in the war by playing upon the notion that their wives were bored and unfaithful, but more often served as pin-up pictures rather than demoralizers. "
From War Time Propaganda to a Postwar Platform for the Avant-Garde – Russet Lederman, Monsters and Madonnas: The international Center on Photography Blog - Within the context of the worldwide professionalization of photojournalism and the emergence of the weekly illustrated-magazine during the 1930s, Japanese photo editors and photographers developed a unique documentary voice. Harnessing the power of socially oriented photography coupled with mass distribution to deliver their message, periodicals in the ICP permanent and library collections are reflective of a number of distinct directions in Japanese magazine publishing. Included are illustrated wartime propaganda magazines of the 1930s and early 40s, postwar corporate sponsored journals aimed at both the amateur and professional, and independent short-lived publications created by the ever-shifting collaborative groups that flourished in the postwar period.
With Japan’s invasion of China in 1937, Japanese photojournalism was increasingly used to mobilize national sentiment in support of the war effort. Also of note in the permanent collection are four volumes of the large format Japanese propaganda magazine Front (1942). Published by the International Press Photography Association under the direction of the army General Staff, Front was printed in 15 languages for distribution by the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. Remarkable for its inventive montage style, similar in design to Russia’s WWII propaganda magazine USSR in Construction, Front’s
Tintin: Sinister Racist Propaganda - As an explorer, crime fighter and all-around hero, comic-strip icon Tintin has been an inspiration for generations.
But his status as a paragon of wholesome adventure is under threat, thanks to a court bid to ban one of his books, Tintin in the Congo, for its racist portrayal of Africans. (Time). The trial, which will begin on Wednesday in Brussels, the city where Tintin's creator, Hergé, lived, is reviving memories of an era that Belgium would rather forget: its brutal colonial empire in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
ONLY IN AMERICA
"The The Impotence of Proofreading," by TAYLOR MALI. Via PR.
1 comment:
Thanks for your great compilation, John. Day in, day out, it's must-scanning for me. I used the item on Slavosaurus Rex as a jumping off point for a blog post on my 317am blog about a new kind of PD blogger.
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