November 16

"The public will believe anything, so long as it is not founded on truth."

--Edith Sitwell; image from

VIDEOS

American Propaganda Cartoons Vs Japan [WWII]

BOOK REVIEW

Peter Van Buren, We Meant Well: How I Helped Lose the Battle for the Hearts and Minds of the Iraqi People (2011), reviewed by John Brown, American Diplomacy

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Obama kisses Chavez in new Benetton ad - washingtonpost.com: "Benetton returns to its controversial marketing roots with a new campaign that features President Obama and other world leaders engaging in a kiss.

In two separate ads, Obama is seen kissing Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, and Chinese President Hu Jintao. Comment by facebooker Brandon Bloch in his entry on the subject: 'That shoulda been the new public diplomacy campaign from the State Department.'" Image from article

$5 Million Funding Available for Development of New Leaders in Afghanistan - Mary Grace, Federal Grant Opportunities [subscription]: From Google entry: "[Public] Affairs Section (PAS) of the US Department of State is pleased to announce funding is available through the embassy's Public Diplomacy Grants program."

U.S., Afghan Officials Forge Olympic Partnership - Erika Stetson, U.S. Forces Afghanistan, terrorism-online.blogspot.com: "An expansion of youth sports programs nationwide and the potential for future training opportunities for Afghan athletes and coaches are among the benefits of a developing partnership between the national Olympic committees of the United States and Afghanistan, and other U.S. sports associations, officials said.

The partnership, announced during a news conference at the Ghazi National Olympic Complex yesterday, was facilitated by a military sports diplomacy program led by the International Security Assistance Force and the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. The public diplomacy department at the embassy funded the effort, which was facilitated by the Amateur Athletic Union in the United States." Uncaptioned image from article

Pakistani Jazz Fusion and the USIS  - Public Diplomacy, Networks and Influence: "One of the more intriguing records that JazzFM has been playing over the last few months has been The Sachal Studios Orchestra version of the Paul Desmond classic Take Five – the video is here. The orchestra is project by the Pakistanis businessman Izzat Majeed to bring together musicians who have been put out of work by the decline of the Pakistani film industry. On the sleeve notes of the CD he writes ‘I was ten years old when I first heard Take Five in Lahore courtesy of the music centre of the United States Information Service.’ So this looks like a double cultural diplomacy success, firstly the USIS in getting the young Majeed interested in American music and secondly, for Majeed in generating some interest in Pakistan that doesn’t involve the usual topics."

Time to Rethink Cyber Anarchy - posted by Eddie Walsh, Asia-Pacific Reporting Blog: "Despite the serious threat posed by offensive cyber operations against computer networks and industrial control systems, the global community has been unwilling or unable to develop effective norms and institutions to govern and enforce cyber interactions between state and non-state actors. In the absence of proper governance, some would argue that a general state of cyber anarchy ensues which threatens global peace and stability to a degree rivaled only by high-end threats such as nuclear warfare. While the United States has conducted three Nuclear Posture Reviews this decade 'to determine what the role of nuclear weapons in U.S. security strategy should be,' there have been no similar assessments for other high-end capabilities, including cyber warfare.

There also appears to be no effort to integrate U.S. policies on high-end threats, including nuclear and cyber, under a single policy umbrella. Finally, the promotion of global awareness for the serious threat posed by offensive cyber weapons proliferation does not appear to be high on the U.S. public diplomacy agenda." Image from

Meet Dan Shapiro, the Hebrew-tweeting US ambassador ‎- Ron Kampeas, Jewish Telegraphic Agency: "Shapiro spoke to JTA and explained why he makes a point of addressing Israelis in Hebrew. 'Nowadays the public diplomacy part of an ambassador’s role is almost as or as important as the conventional diplomatic function, and there’s no better way to reach people than in their own language. Even those who speak English appreciate it,' he said. 'Many Israelis have told me they appreciate the effort to master -- to use Hebrew to convey American ideas and policies in their language and to give them a chance to express themselves to me in Hebrew.'"

Image from article, with caption: Dan Shapiro, the U.S. ambassador to Israel reviews Israel's short-range anti-missile program Iron Dome, Aug. 9, 2011. Shapiro says U.S.-Israel defense programs like Iron Dome have brought the two nations closer.

Winners of Association for International Broadcasting awards include some international broadcasters - Kim Andrew Eliott reporting on International Broadcasting: Mention of Al Hurra and Radio Farda's satirical show "Pasfarda."

Writer suggests resumption of RFE or BBC Hungarian to counter "far-right media hegemony" in Hungary - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting

MFN message‎ - Tanvir Ahmad Khan, The News International: "If Pakistan had choreographed its public diplomacy better, the confusion caused by seemingly dissonant statements by the minister of information and the Foreign Office on the MFN status for India would have been avoided.

Fortunately, the SAARC Summit in the Maldives has reaffirmed Pakistan’s good faith and India, despite some internal discord, has been quick to announce that it will henceforth work for a preferential trade agreement with Pakistan." Miss Pakistan image from

India Blog Series: The Role of Citizen Diplomacy in India-Pakistan Relations - Anna Dawson, CPD Blog, USC Center on Public Diplomacy: "While in India, I would like to research the impact that citizen diplomacy has on achieving greater mutual understanding between Indian and Pakistani people. I want to discover the direction that citizen diplomacy is heading. The questions I would like to answer are as follows: will citizen diplomacy between the countries grow on the online platforms? Will the governments recognize citizen diplomacy as a viable complement to official diplomacy? To CPD Blog readers who have experience in India-Pakistan relations, I would love to learn more about your experiences with citizen diplomacy between the countries."

Latvia - Foreign Ministry representatives inform librarians from Rēzekne municipality on European Union topicalities - isria.com: "On 15 November, at the invitation of the Rēzekne European Union Information Point, representatives from the Foreign Ministry European Union (EU) Coordination Department and the Information and Public Relations Department took part in the seminar for Rēzekne Municipality librarians. Latvian diplomats introduced participants to current EU-related matters and public diplomacy events planned by the Foreign Ministry.

A special focus was placed on the EU Multiannual Financial Framework for 2014-2020, the introduction of the euro in Latvia, the year 2012 as the European Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations, as well as the Latvian Presidency of the EU in 2015." Image from

Israeli authorities offer free access to a national photographic archive - mikafuco1981.edublogs.org: "The Israeli government decided to open a free Internet access to the National Library, has about 200 000 digital images, the press service of the cabinet. Until now, pictures sold for 20 shekels (5.7 dollars) each, every year adding to the state treasury for 400 thousand shekels. The aim is that citizens, newspapers and other media, both local and foreign, to touch history and heritage of the land and the state of Israel. This is extremely important in terms of public diplomacy – the minister said information and relations with the Diaspora Yuli Edelstein."

EU and the Karabakh settlement: why Yerevan is dissatisfied with Brussels? - Rasim Musabekov, gulustan.ws: "It is obvious that occasional opportunities for the Karabakh settlement occurred in 2010-11,didn`t give any advantage.In spring 2012 parliamentary elections in Armenia will be held. Same year the elections will take place in the countries-cochairmen of the Minsk Group (Russian Federation, France, USA).

In 2013 the presidential elections in Armenia and Azerbaijan will be held. Proceeding from this, diplomats and analysts don’t expect for intensive negotiations and any breakthrough, and suggest to concentrate the activity in order not to admit deterioration of current situation, advise to direct efforts to the dialogue organization on 'second trek [sic]', along the line of so-called 'public diplomacy'. However it is necessary to realize that a background for this purpose is not so favorable." Image from

Centre for Strategic Studies marks 4-year anniversary‎ - Azerbaijan Business Center: "Four years have passed since the establishment of the Center for Strategic Studies (SAM) which was founded with the decree of the President of Azerbaijan Republic on November 12, 2007. ... Since its establishment SAM has been open to all institutions and organizations, media representatives not depending on their political position and vews. SAM is active in social networks as well and through the Facebook and Twitter pages updated ona daily basis the Center conveys to the public attention the latest information about its activety. It is worth to mention that for the first time in Azerbaijan the live Twitter conference 'The Transformation of Media: Transition from Traditional Meadia to New Media' was held by SAM. At the same time, SAM arranges foreign journalists visits to Azerbaijan witin the framework of public diplomacy."

Mixed Diplomacy - ahidurdu, Welcome:

"Cultural and public diplomacy have become increasingly important in international relations which once relied solely on traditional diplomacy for its interactions. People to people diplomacy has also become an important factor in cultural and public diplomacy. ... Transforming role of a Diplomat [--] Guerilla Diplomat [:] This is an interesting idea of a need for a changing nature of the conventional diplomat into a more, in my understanding: 'people’s diplomat', which Daryl Copeland termed as the 'Guerilla Diplomat'. Copeland is the major supporter of Public and Cultural Diplomacy, who argues that the sole use of military force in conflict zones will not solve the problem, but instead worsen the conditions and endure the issue even further. ... Sports diplomacy is a theme which is not discussed quite as often as other kinds of diplomacy. Nevertheless, it does play quite a big role when it comes to diplomacy. ... Sports diplomacy is indeed a big part of public diplomacy. Its advantage lies in the fact that sports is something universal and which has the capacity to unite people in one way or another."  Image from

Ambassador Says Turkey No Longer 'Sick Man of Europe'‎ - Phil Bolton, GlobalAtlanta: "Turkey, which was often disparaged during the mid-19th century as 'the sick man of Europe,' has been transformed into 'the healthiest in all of Europe,' according to Namik Tan, its ambassador to the United States. During a World Affairs Council of Atlanta event Nov 10 at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta he pointed to his country’s 11.6 percent growth rate for the first quarter of this year as proof. ... Mr. Tan joined Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1992.

Prior to his appointment as ambassador to the U.S. in February 2010, he was deputy undersecretary at the ministry responsible for bilateral political affairs and public diplomacy." Image from article, with caption: From l to r: Wayne Lord, president of the World Affairs Council of Atlanta; Marie Gooding, first vice president and chief operating officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, and Turkey's ambassador to the U.S., Namik Tan, prior to Mr. Tan's comments at a World Affairs reception held at the bank.

Danger of Using the Media to Incite Violence in Africa: The Recent Case of Liberia (Guest Editorial) - Gabriel I.H. Williams, theliberianjournal.com: "When Madam Sirleaf became president in 2006, I was one of many Liberian professionals, most of us young men and women, she recruited from abroad to join our compatriots at home to serve in various governmental departments, charged with the mandate to push through government’s aggressive reform agenda. My colleagues and I at the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism were mandated to create the environment, through policies and programs, to ensure press freedom which is enjoyed today. Having served as deputy minister at the Information Ministry, the President was pleased to reassign me as a diplomat at the Liberian Embassy in Washington, D.C., in charge of public diplomacy."

CPD and engineering students discuss clean water technology and diplomacy - Jessica Zech, uscannenberg.org: "The Center on Public Diplomacy at USC Annenberg hosted engineering professor Mike Pirbazari and undergraduate students to explain their Safe Water for All Nations (SWAN) project and discuss how public diplomacy and engineering intersect. Naomi Leight, CPD’s assistant director for research and publications, said less than 1 percent of fresh water is available for drinking and one in six people do not have access to this clean water.

Leight said public diplomacy and safe water practices can benefit from each other. A foreign public will be much more amenable to a country that provides its people with access to clean water, sanitation and technical training than with provision of weapons or hard power tools,' she said. ... [S]tudents ... said public diplomacy would be useful to teach communities how to build the filter systems themselves and eliminate confusion surrounding which systems are best for specific populations and their kind of water pollution." Image from article, with caption: Kristen Rice explaining the SWAN project's research.

Boning Up on Beijing‎ - Brett M. Decker, American Spectator: "Charm Offensive: How China's Soft Power Is Transforming the World by Joshua Kurlantzick (Yale University Press, 2008): This must-read shows how Beijing is pulling all the levers of statecraft to make headway winning friends and influencing people. In short, the Chinese have courted the world by taking advantage of the fact that America's eye has been off the ball and much of world neglected while we've been bogged down in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

'For the Chinese, soft power means anything outside of the military and security realm, including not only popular culture and public diplomacy but also more coercive economic and diplomatic levers like aid and investment and participation in multilateral organizations,' the author, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, explains. 'It can threaten other nations with these sticks if they do not help China achieve its goals, but it can offer sizable carrots if they do.' The recent entreaty for Beijing to bail out the collapsing euro zone is an example of how the PRC can buy U.S. allies by sprinkling financial goodies around." Image from

RELATED ITEMS

Village in Iraq Falters With Exit of U.S. Troops - Andrew E. Kramer, New York Times: Nearly every young man in Sokur worked at the US Speicher Base, making this place an illustrative, if extreme, example of the unfortunate turn of fate for Iraqis who took jobs with the United States military during the nearly nine-year war, and who are now being left behind.

A United States visa program for them is stalled in red tape, while the Iraqi government has no formal program to help. Though these workers were laid off months ago, they are now, finally and irrevocably, deprived of their job opportunities, off the bases and being shunned, or worse. Image from article, with caption: A boy sits in debris from Speicher Base near Sokur, Iraq, which housed American troops until they left the site on Oct. 20.

Panetta defends U.S. decision to break off talks with Iraq - David S. Cloud, latimesblogs.latimes.com: The Obama administration’s decision to break off talks on keeping U.S. troops in Iraq after this year came under fierce attack Tuesday from several lawmakers, who characterized it as a political decision that could lead to a resumption of bloodshed and increase Iran’s influence. The U.S. currently has about 30,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. Almost all of them will depart by the end of December, though several hundred will remain at 10 bases as part of a limited training effort. They will be part of a U.S. presence expected to number about 16,000, many of whom will be contractors responsible for providing security at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and other facilities. Some of the remaining U.S. military personnel, said Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will provide counter-terrorism training but will not go on missions with Iraqi units. Below image from

Isolating Syria's Assad: The Arab League has suspended Syria's membership, and Jordan's king has suggested that President Bashar Assad step down - Editorial, latimes.com: Removing Assad remains a difficult proposition. No one has suggested that the U.N. or NATO authorize the sort of airstrikes that contributed to the late Moammar Kadafi's downfall. Sanctions take time to have an effect. But combined with the repudiation of Assad by the Arab League, they could induce Assad to take Abdullah's advice.

Syria Game Change: Assad's days are numbered as the Arabs turn on his regime - Review and Outlook, Wall Street Journal: The easiest solution is for Mr. Assad to head into exile and open the way for an orderly transition to democracy. If Mr. Assad won't go quietly, other tools are available. European sanctions on oil exports deprive the Syrian regime of $4 billion in yearly revenue, and tightening the economic noose further might turn the Syrian elites against him. Mr. Feltman of the State Department mentioned new sanctions and monitors. That's all fine, but we hope that the Administration, along with the Turks and friendly Arabs, is also using covert means to undermine the regime and bolster the opposition. Military support shouldn't be ruled out.

Big Media's Double Standards on Iran - Robert Parry, OpEdNews: Arguably, the most serious ethical crisis in U.S. journalism is the deep-seated bias about the Middle East that is displayed by major American news outlets, particularly the Washington Post and the New York Times. When it comes to reporting on "designated enemies" in the Muslim world, the Post and the Times routinely jettison all sense of objectivity even when the stakes are as serious as war and peace, life and death.

Propaganda wins out over balanced journalism. We have seen this pattern with Iraq and its non-existent stockpiles of WMD; with the rush to judgment about Syria's supposed guilt in the killing of Lebanese leader Rafik Hariri; with the false certainty about Libya's role in the Lockerbie bombing; and many other examples of what everyone just "knows to be true" but often turns out isn't. [For more on these cases, click here.] The latest example of this ethical failing relates to reporting about Iran on such topics as the buffoonish plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in Washington and a new set of dubious allegations about Iran's nuclear weapons program. Image from

Iranian govt has always ensured human rights: MP‎ - Islamic Republic News Agency: "Speaking to IRNA, Member of the National Assembly and senior lawyer Naseer Bhutta disputed reports by western media that human rights situation in Iran is not upto the international standards.

The politician added that people in Iran are enjoying all democratic rights. He added that Iranian people have elected President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for second term because they have faith in the government. The legal expert condemned western propaganda against Iran and said that west is trying to harm the image of Iran." Bhutta image from article

BBC and PBS ignore the ISM -Tabitha Korol, RenewAmerica: At a time when Israel is facing an existential crisis by 1.5 billion terrorist-minded Muslims from a land mass 800 times her size, must she also be libeled by Christians in the UK with a hate so unfathomable since Israel has never done anything to warrant it? Despite the Palestinian propaganda, the rebuilding of Israel represents one of the most peaceful in-migrations in human history. The Jews are the indigenous people and the Zionists' return was uniquely mercantile, not militaristic. The Jews purchased land, farms and houses, funded by the Jewish National Fund (JNF) that was created in 1901 to assist in the rehabilitation and reclamation of the barren and malarial swamp land. "Page Eight" is a play by prominent playwright and anti-Semite, David Hare, which was produced by the BBC and aired on PBS's Masterpiece Theater. The underlying story shows brutal Israelis killing a peaceful demonstrator and causing great suffering, with a grand finale of England admonishing Israel. The purpose of the play is obvious — to vilify Israel and her people.

Japan's run as "Unofficial World Champions" ended--by North Korea! - "I can't wait until the Pyongyang propaganda machine gets hold of this.

North Korea, already eliminated from the 2014 World Cup, defeated Japan 1-0 today in the glorious People's Republic in a completely meaningless game before a resolutely partisan crowd (no cheering for the Japanese allowed)." Image from article, with caption: Here they are, the new (Unofficial) World Champions....

Twitter, the conversation-enabler? Actually, most news orgs use the service as a glorified RSS feed A new Pew study finds news outlets using Twitter almost exclusively for one-way distribution — of their own content - Megan Garber, niemanlab.org: A new study, released today by Pew’s Project for Excellence in Journalism, studied 13 news organizations, large and (relatively) small, from print, TV, and radio…and

found that “mainstream news organizations primarily use Twitter to move information and push content to readers. For these organizations, Twitter functions as an RSS feed or headline service for news consumers, with links ideally driving traffic to the organization’s website.” Via PR. Image from article

Facebook tracking is under scrutiny - Byron Acohido, USA Today: In recent weeks, Facebook has been wrangling with the Federal Trade Commission over whether the social media website is violating users' privacy by making public too much of their personal information. Far more quietly, another debate is brewing over a different side of online privacy: what Facebook is learning about those who visit its website. Rather than appease its critics, Facebook's public explanations of how it tracks and how it uses tracking data have touched off a barrage of questions from technologists, privacy advocates, regulators and lawmakers around the world.

5 Propaganda Films That Blatantly Lied‎ - Joseph Gibson, Screen Junkies: The art of propaganda has been around almost as long as movies themselves. The goal in propaganda isn't to entertain or educate, but to sell an idea to the audience whether it's true or not.

Contrary to how the word is often used, propaganda has been used by both sides of a given political conflict, be it World War II, the Cold War or even the political divisions of today, especially in the movies. Since being propaganda doesn't mean a movie's not still entertaining, these movies are still worth watching whether you agree with what they're selling or not. Still, a lie is a lie, and these are five of the most obvious. The films: "The Birth of a Nation"; "Battleship Potemkin"; The FBI Story"; "I Am Cuba"; "Triumph of the Will." Image of "The Birth of a Naation" from article

Propaganda Maps - Cataloger10, aworldofmaps.blogspot.com: Propaganda maps, in which I find to be some of the most interesting out there, serve a great deal in the understandings of what is occurring or has occurred during a specific time period in the world. Propaganda is defined by Dictionary.com as “information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution and nation.”

These maps at times can have much influence on people. This is why it is key to have a keen view when examining these types of maps. This propaganda map in particular is a map of the world of what President Ronald Reagan would have thought to be like. It is very important to point out is the us VS. them feeling. Note that sizes have been exaggerated and the use of the word OUR is very much apparent throughout.

Propaganda Poster - Denise the Menace's Blog: "In class, we’re studying China. We’re also reading Mao’s Last Dance, it’s a great book! Everyone in our class had to make a Propaganda Poster, of Chairman Mao.

So here’s mine!"

AMERICANA

"[A]s of last week, reviled as an accused child molester in a scandal that brought down [football coach] Joe Paterno and rendered chaos at this state’s flagship university [Penn State]. ... Jerry Sandusky [praised as a defensive mastermind for Penn State’s football team], 67, is the author of an autobiography called 'Touched,' published in 2000."

--New York Times; image from