--US diplomat Peter Van Buren; image from
PUBLIC DIPLOMACY
What next in Pak-US relations? - Jehangir Khattak, flatworldd.blogspot.com: "The US-Pakistan relations remain in the cold following November 26 NATO attack on a Pakistani check post on the country's border with Afghanistan. The incident, that killed 28 Pakistani soldiers, has virtually brought two of the most critical allies in the war against terror on a collision course. Pakistanis are still seething with anger at the incident. They have stopped supplies for NATO troops in Afghanistan, asked the US to vacate Shamsi airbase in Pakistan's Balochistan province (which was reportedly largely used for drone operations) and boycotted the Bonn conference on the future of Afghanistan. ... If willing, the two sides can do much through an honest and open-ended dialogue. The two sides have to rebuild the relationship from the bottom up. The US can and should stop using aid as a policy tool in dealing with Pakistan. So far it hasn't worked for the people of either country. ... A fair and honest transactional relationship will be more transparent than the delusion of strategic alliance, which can become a reality only when the two sides have the same friends and enemies at least in Afghanistan. In fact The US should stop throwing
The Bonn show - thefrontierpost.com: "[I]f the end of America’s proxy war in Afghanistan saw Pakistan being pierced into the heart for years on end by the American daggers of sanctions and embargoes, it has been turned into a punching bag
Is Pakistan intelligence implicated in Afghanistan bombings? - bbc.co.uk: "Pakistani anger with the US is so intense that it will not even indulge in the usual polite formalities of public diplomacy and speech making about the need for regional peace."
Virtual embassy, virtual audience - Joe Johnson, Public Diplomacy Council: "My fellow contributor Brian Carlson called my attention to the U.S. State Department's announcement of a new virtual embassy for Tehran. Available in English and Farsi, the site aggregates official USG information of interest to Iranian citizens, who of course have no actual U.S. embassy or consulate. The site was blocked from Iranians' view right away by the Government of Iran. Virtual embassies are a notion going back to the early days of this Century; the first ones sprang up in Russia to reach out to cities where the United States could not afford to build and staff consulates.
A virtual embassy might not be the only answer - Brian Carlson, Public Diplomacy Council: "As Joe [Johnson] so correctly notes, the virtual presence post program -- to which the new Tehran website appears to be related -- is no substitute for real people-to-people diplomacy. ... Let's come forward ... to 2010. According to a publicly-available Inspector General report, the State Department had a forward leaning Iran-oriented public diplomacy program managed from an over-the-horizon-post in a nearby country.
Fascists Pretend A Happy Face Propaganda Website Is An Embassy: U.S. launches virtual Iran ‘embassy’ decades after closing official mission - piglipstick.blogspot.com: "Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the online embassy is an effort to use new technology 'to bridge gaps and promote greater understanding between the two countries' blah blah. Iran blocks U.S. ‘Virtual’ Embassy Within 12 hours of Launch[.] 'Well that didn’t last very long.'"
U.S.-India Higher Education Partnerships - Nice Education photos, gzmoli.com: "U.S. Acting Under Secretary of Public Affairs and Public Diplomacy Ann Stock
US Embassy Afghanistan: Sesame Street Goes to Kabul, But Where's Elmo? - Domani Spero, DiploPundit: "Via US Embassy Kabul/FB | On November 30, 2011, Ambassador Ryan Crocker, joined by Deputy Minister of Education Patman and Dr. Charlotte Cole of Sesame Workshop, attended the launch of the Afghan version of Sesame Street, Baghch-e-SimSim, which was produced in
U.S. Travel Association Urges Congress to Expand Visa Waivers - George Dooley, travelagentcentral.com: "Expanding the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) would bring increased economic opportunity to and improve national security in the United States while advancing U.S. public diplomacy around the world, said Roger J. Dow, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association. Dow's comments emerged from his testimony submitted today to the Committee on the Judiciary's Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement. 'Since its creation in 1986, the VWP has been an invaluable instrument of U.S. national security and public diplomacy and is also critical to our nation's economic health,' said Dow. 'It is difficult to exaggerate the benefits to the United States of reciprocal 90-day, visa-free travel with the 36 countries that currently qualify for visa waiver status,' Dow said. The VWP program has provided its promised stimulus to the U.S. economy, Dow argues."
Cold War Propaganda Revisited – spinning the ideological battlefront - stratrisks.com: "The persuasive powers of Cold War PR, until now little recognised or discussed, was the subject of a three-day conference at Cambridge University. Public Relations of the Cold War, organised by CRASSH (Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities) sought to examine the ‘selling’ of ideologically motivated policies to domestic audiences during the Cold War – outside of the more commonly studied area of public diplomacy, which concerns a government reaching out to foreign audiences. The conference, which drew experts from the UK, Europe, and North America and featured keynote addresses from Professor Christopher Andrew, Official Historian of the Security Service, and Professor Odd Arne Westad, a leading expert in Cold War history, aimed to demonstrate how pervasive the battle to influence domestic public opinion became – on both sides of the Cold War divide.
Heritage Foundation commentary notes lack of media reciprocity between Russia and the United States - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting: "Heritage Foundation, 28 Nov 2011, Anatoliy Khomenko: '[T]he Russian government reconfirmed the prohibition
of foreign media outlets on its territory so that it can continue to rely on state-controlled media while its own Russia Today TV channel is broadcasting anti-American propaganda within this country.' - [Elliott comment:] Perhaps the prohibition refers to ownership of media in Russia. Similarly, only citizens can hold broadcast licenses in the United States. Foreign channels (although no Russian-language equivalent of RT) are available on multichannel TV systems in Russia, e.g. Kosmos TV. RFE/RL and VOA access to domestic terrestrial channels in Russia is very much limited, but RFE/RL, BBC, RFI, DW, etc, are available via medium wave leases in Moscow and St. Petersburg." Image from
Russian businessman Viktor Bout, in US prison, can't listen to Chekhov plays on the Voice of Russia - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting
The ABC must grow the Australia Network - frostglobal.com: "This week the Gillard Government announced that the Department of Foreign Affairs’ international television network, the Australia Network will now become a permanent feature of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s duties as the national broadcaster, rather than have the network put out to commercial tender.
Voice of the Arab spring - Mehdi Hasan, newstatesman.com: "It is Al Jazeera - the network founded by al-Thani in November 1996 and bankrolled by him ever since - more than any other single factor, that has empowered Qatar and boosted its reputation. According to the Qatari media consultant Hassan Rasheed, the broadcaster is 'Qatar's passport to the world'. At a seminar to celebrate 'Al Jazeera at Fifteen Years' that I attend at Doha's Sheraton hotel, Philip Seib of the University of Southern California and author of the forthcoming book The Al Jazeera Effect and Real-Time Diplomacy, says the network helped Qataris "put their country on the map". Members of the audience nod furiously. Seib then points out how Al Jazeera was a 'public diplomacy creation . . . probably one of the most successful in history'. The Al Jazeera representative on the panel suddenly looks distinctly uncomfortable. Al Jazeera is plagued by accusations of bias. But, to the network's credit, they come from all sides: Islamists, secularists, dictators, democrats, Sunnis, Shias, Israelis, Americans - none can decide for sure whether the network is friend or foe."
2,000 to attend Alliance of Civilisation Doha Forum Thursday - thepeninsulaqatar.com: "On the second day of
The Israeli Lacuna - Ashley Rindsberg, Jerusalem Post: "[O]ne area of excellence is conspicuously absent in Israel: communications. Israel has never been known for innovative advertising or marketing practices. On a national level, the country's own PR efforts, which it has ludicrously labelled 'hasbara,' is instructively bad. We see this phenomenon bubble over from time to time, most recently with the Ministry of Absorption's 'advertisements' that, in exhorting Israelis to return artzah, managed to denigrate Israelis abroad, American Jews and American culture all in the space of a 30-second clip. But even more surprising than this somewhat expected bungle from a bungling ministry is private sector communications. A friend of mine, a brand expert, noted last week that Israeli shmatas company Fox's new ad campaign actually managed to make Bar Rafaeli look ugly. Another friend, a brand design expert from the world's leading design innovation firm, IDEO, once said that part of what keeps her from returning to Israel is the dismal state of its advertising and marketing field, in which she works. It gives pause: a country that excels at almost everything, and against terrible odds, is really bad at doing something that it should be good at. After all, communications doesn't require natural resources (that Israel doesn't have).
Landver apologizes, with caveats, for Aliya ads: Immigrant Absorption Minister says ads succeeded achieved its goal of bringing home 15,000 returning Israelis - Gil Hoffman, Jerusalem Post: "Immigrant Absorption Minister Sofa Landver (Israel Beiteinu)
Ad campaign flare-up obscures bigger challenge: Luring home Israeli expats - Uriel Heilman, Arizona Jewish Post: "For many years, Israel viewed its emigrants with some distaste. They were referred to as yordim, a derogatory term that means 'those who go down.' Israeli embassies and consulates refused to provide solid numbers on how many there were, reflecting the sense that somehow Israelis who had left the fold were an embarrassment for the state. In recent years, however, that attitude has shifted, and Israel both has made a more conscious effort to draw them back and started to look at its expats as more than just lost citizens. 'We have to rethink the definition of Israelis abroad — it’s a different world today,'
Media Comment: Journalists' feast - Jerusalem Post: "The tone of the 2011 Eilat Journalists’ Conference was evident upon arrival. Each participant was given a T-shirt with the slogan 'We are all against the silencing law,' referring to Knesset legislation setting stricter rules to curb journalistic libel. ... [A] panel discussed Israel’s international hasbara (public diplomacy) efforts. Professor Gadi Wolfsfeld from the Hebrew University claimed that it really does not matter what Israel says, only what it does, for it is our occupation of the West Bank which leads to our negative image. The fact that Israel has overall a positive image in the United States did not faze him or journalist Ron Ben-Yishai. Facts are not really too important when journalists meet to discuss the issues of the day."
Dutch Media and Israel: No Honest Reporting - Yochanan Visser: "The Dutch media pays excessive attention to Israel. The average Dutch newspaper publishes more news items regarding the situation in Israel than
CPLA will make trip to Iceland in spring - berkeleybeacon.com: Erin Farley, berkeleybeacon.com: "Emerson’s Communication, Politics, and Law Association has received approval to plan their trip to Iceland for next semester after waiting over a month. ... According to Alex Castillo, president of CPLA, the trip to
Coffee with a side of suspicion - Group Three: "The beginning of the semester was so heavy on theory that there were times when I couldn't imagine what the practical applications of 'imagined communities' or how the arts can be forms of public diplomacy, or even how theater can help shape conflict resolution. I think the balance between theory and practical application was useful, and even more interesting, I loved seeing what my fellow classmates were able to make out of what we had learned together."
Courtesy of John Farris and Alan Heil: Mollie King posted this announcement on Facebook today: Former VOA “Breakfast Show” host Pat Gates Lynch - email from Len Baldyga: "Former VOA 'Breakfast Show' host Pat Gates Lynch, who served as a press aide to First Lady Pat Nixon and as U.S. Ambassador to Madagascar, died at her home in Fort Belvoir Sunday after a battle with cancer. Pat spent a quarter of a century ...with Voice of America hosting the worldwide 'Breakfast Show,' which was consistently rated one of the agency’s most popular programs. Pat interviewed presidents, prime ministers and leading figures in the arts and music."
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State Department Fixing the Facts Based on Policy - Peter van Buren, wemeantwell.com/blog: The State Department can often times be so inward looking that it fixes the facts
Al-Qaeda minting few militants online: US experts - Chris Lefkow, AFP: Al-Qaeda's online propaganda is minting few militants willing to go out and actually carry out attacks but is a valuable source for intelligence agencies and law enforcement, US experts said Tuesday. "Thankfully, the vast majority of youth who watch and read Al-Qaeda propaganda are either unaffected or choose not to act," William McCants, an analyst for the Center for Naval Analyses (CNA), told a congressional panel. "We don't have reason to believe that large numbers are being swayed by this propaganda, much less going the extra step and taking action," McCants told the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence. In calling the hearing on "Jihadist Use of Social Media," the subcommittee chairman, Representative Patrick Meehan, said it would focus on "government and private sector efforts to minimize jihadi content on mainstream websites." Brian Jenkins, a senior advisor at the Rand Corporation, said "many would-be jihadists begin their journey on the Internet. "Of these, a few go beyond the Internet to seek training abroad or to plot terrorist attacks here," Jenkins said.
Danger Room What's Next in National Security Previous post Next post Somali Terrorists Join Twitter #Propaganda - Spencer Ackerman, Wired: Twitter used to be a cool place to share your succinct thoughts. Now al-Shabab, the vicious Somali allies of al-Qaida, is using it as a propaganda venue. al-Shabab began tweeting in English on Wednesday using the handle @HSMPress. (HSM is the English acronym of al-Shabab’s more grandiose name, the Harakat al-Shabab al-Mujahideen.) Jack Dorsey and company have yet to verify the account, but
Neocons Don’t Believe Their Own Anti-Iran Propaganda - Sheldon Richman, mwcnews.net: We’re being lied to about the purported Iranian nuclear threat, and the war party knows it. In ways eerily reminiscent of the 2002 buildup to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, the American people are being fed a steady diet of war propaganda about Iran and its alleged quest for a nuclear weapon. Now we know that even the neocon vanguard doesn’t believe its own propaganda. Occasionally, leading neoconservative intellectuals forget that the wider world is listening and say things that belie their own case for war. Take, for example, Danielle Pletka, vice president for foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute. In a recent video statement Pletka said, "The biggest problem for the United States is not Iran getting a nuclear weapon and testing it, it’s Iran getting a nuclear weapon and not using it. Because the second that they have one and they don’t do anything bad, all of the naysayers are going to come back and say, 'See, we told you Iran is a responsible power. We told you that Iran wasn’t getting nuclear weapons in order to use them immediately. … And they will eventually define Iran with nuclear weapons as not a problem." Let that sink in: the biggest — biggest — problem with Iran’s acquiring a nuclear weapon is that it might not use it. Got that? And why would that be bad? Because “naysayers” (that is, people against war) would be able to point to Iran’s responsible conduct as proof that Iran is not irresponsible. Imagine that!
Islam in America - Kulsum Soonasra "I attended a mosque recently and the lecturer spoke about Islam in America. He said, '… because of propaganda, Islam’s image is distorted,' and as a Muslim, I feel the need to clarify what my religion is truly about. I am a strong believer in not only
American Companies Accused of Joining the Anti-Muslim Bandwagon - Sheila Musaji, theamericanmuslim.org: TLC has a reality series called “All-American Muslim” which has aired four out of a planned eight episodes. The program follows five Lebanese American families in Dearborn, Michigan. The Islamophobia network was enraged that this program only depicts normal American Muslim families, and doesn’t include terrorists, criminals, perverts, and other types that exist in the Muslim community (as they do in all communities). According to the Islamophobes this constitutes “deception and obfuscation," an “attempt to manipulate Americans," “propaganda," “cultural jihad." A group called the Florida Family Association (FFA), initiated an advertiser boycott against what it describes as a “propaganda show,” contacting companies whose commercials appear during the broadcast and asking them to quit. So far, the organization claims, nearly 20 companies have agreed to pull their ads from the series at their urging.
Pinkwashing Uses Queer Voices for Apartheid - Jessue Haycock, smithsophian.com: Queer voices in the West and the Middle East are being appropriated to support racism, war-crimes and apartheid in Palestine-Israel. Various ministries of the Israeli government, as well as independent organizations, primarily in the United States, accomplish this with the use of a wide-spread propaganda technique known as pinkwashing.
Propaganda -- Ain't It Great! - viableopposition.blogspot.com: "I rarely link to other media websites but this one was just way too difficult to pass up. The story is supplied by RT, previously known as Russia Today, a global television network based in the Russian Federation. Surprisingly, RT is the second-most watched foreign news network in the United States after the British BBC News. Here is the link: http://rt.com/news/fox-moscow-fake-riots-281/
Black humor or Nazi threat? 'Wanted: Hitler' posters brew a storm in Germany: German police open investigations to find creators of posters they fear were created as neo-Nazi propaganda - Patricia Driese and Julia Niemann, haaretz.com: Is this satire or another act of neo-Nazis? In the Bavarian village Taufkirchen, near Munich, posters have sprung up with Adolf Hitler's image saying, "Who knows this man? The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution is asking for your help."
Soviet Political Propaganda Poster * You don't work, you don't eat * i.21 - worldwide-stamp-sales7.blogspot.com.
WWII: Intense Propaganda Posters - life.com
Japanese art and propaganda posters from 1920s and 30s - belajkru.wordpress.com.
Photo Gallery: Thomas Hart Benton's Year of Peril Series - Ally Appelbaum, columbiamissourian.com: To commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack, the State Historical Society has put up the Thomas Hart Benton's Year of Peril Series. Benton created the series of war propaganda paintings at the beginning of the U.S. involvement in WWII. The exhibit will also include editorial cartoons and posters created by other artists in 1942.
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