December 9-10

"However, how much actual interaction is going on?"

--Public Diplomacy…2.0 or 1.x?, wanyikuli.wordpress.com; image from

VIDEOS

(1) "The WaPo [Washington Post] interviewed some of the DC office workers who showed up at a Gov.Loop promotional event Thursday, one of whom works in public diplomacy. "Federal workers enjoy a free lunch [video on this]: 'Hundreds of federal employees braved the cold Thursday and enjoyed a free meal courtesy of GocLoop, the social media Web site for public sector employees. The site, marking its 50,000th subscriber, bought more than 500 free lunches

for any federal, state and city employees who showed up with a government-issued ID. As you’ll see in the video above, employees from the Environmental Protection Agency, National Endowment for the Arts, State Department, Justice Department, Internal Revenue Service and other federal agencies enjoyed free macaroni and cheese and shared their thoughts on public perceptions of the public sector.'"

--Image and text from The Skeptical Bureaucrat

(2) "With TIME magazine hoisting the self-immolations in Tibet as the top most underreported story of 2011, just one day after the 12th Tibetan set himself on fire, suddenly there is a window of attention on this disturbing trend. Dr. Robert Barnett, a professor of Modern Tibetan Studies at Columbia University, offers some intriguing analysis as to the influences around these events, and especially about how a Chinese propaganda film aimed at winning Tibetans towards the state may have had unintended consequences.

--"Protest or Sacrifice? China's Anti-Imperialist Propaganda Backfires in Tibet," Rebecca Novick, Huffington Post

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

“Virtual” Tehran Embassy Not Worth State Department’s Time - Helle Dale, Heritage.org: "On December 6, State Department spokesman Victoria Nuland announced the launch of Virtual Embassy Tehran, 'a new and exciting engagement opportunity between the peoples of Iran and the United States.' On December 7, Iranian officials, losing little time, shut down the English and Farsi-language website. Iranian Internet users trying to access the site were greeted by a message stating that their browser could not display it or by a page put up by Iranian authorities suggesting other local websites.

It was entirely predictable that the Iranian regime would react this way. ... Tehran has been relentless in its effort to control digital and wirelesss communications. All of this prompts the question: Why would the U.S. State Department even take the trouble to organize a 'virtual embassy,' which as the website states is not actually an embassy but public diplomacy? ... As a matter of principle, U.S. public diplomacy policy should not be dictated by who is trying to block American content. Broadcasting to Cuba, China, North Korea, and Iran runs into jamming routinely. Yet when it comes to the airwaves, some broadcasts do get through despite the efforts of the jammers. The Internet is a different story. Here, technologically sophisticated dictatorships can pull the plug, and do, rendering the effort moot. Accordingly, one would have to conclude that in tight budgetary times, the State Department’s money and man hours could have been better invested. Additionally, the prompt Iranian response should offer caution to those who advocate moving U.S. international broadcasting increasingly to digital platforms." On a virtual embassy in Baghdad, see John Brown, "A Modest Proposal: Let's Just Have The New American Embassy in Baghdad in Second Life," Common Dreams (2007 [pardon the primitive formatting]), which observes: "I say, go for it! Make the US Embassy in Baghdad truly 'virtual. ' Meanwhile the 'real 'Embassy compound, assuming it will indeed be finished, sans coerced labor, could be turned into a university or hospital for the benefit of Iraqis whom we 'liberated.'" Image from, with headline: Virtual Plastic Surgery Software 1.0 The VPSS is a simple to use, yet powerful photo warping software that will let you modify photos to simulate virtual plastic surgery results on anyone s face and body.

More International Pressure Needed to Advance Freedom in Iran‎ - Ladan Archin and James Phillips, Heritage.org: "The United States needs to state clearly and demonstrate that it stands with Iran’s people, not with the regime. Washington should mount a high-priority public diplomacy campaign to expose and denounce the regime’s manifold human rights abuses and should target sanctions against a much broader array of regime officials who are responsible for ordering the abuses.[25] This could reassure Iranians that the United States is more interested in supporting their drive for freedom than in trying to reach a shortsighted deal on the nuclear issue that the regime will likely ignore."

Al-Qaida After Bin Laden - Remarks, Daniel Benjamin, Coordinator, Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism, Jamestown Conference at the National Press Club Washington, DC: "[T]he White House is releasing its Strategic Implementation Plan for the national Strategy on Empowering Local Partners to Prevent Violent Extremism in the United States, also known as a Domestic CVE Strategy, and is the first U.S. Government strategy to address ideologically-inspired radicalization to violence in the United States. The plan envisions a fusion of local partners — such as schools, community boards and leaders — with both local and federal law enforcement and other agencies. ... The Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications (CSCC)

was stood up one year ago, and is tightly focused on undermining the terrorist propaganda and dissuading potential recruits. The center is housed at the State Department, but is a true whole-of-government interagency endeavor. It has a mandate from the President in the form of an executive order. And as part of this effort, a group of tech savvy specialists – fluent in Urdu and Arabic – that we call the digital outreach team, are contesting online space, media websites, and forums where extremists have long spread propaganda and recruited followers. With timely posts, this team is working to expose the contradictions and abuses of al-Qaida and other violent extremists, including their continuing brutal attacks on Muslim civilians. CSCC’s work is at the crossroads of American public diplomacy and CVE. It uses public diplomacy’s communication tools, and its messages and videos are attributed to the Department of State. But we are reaching out to a specific, narrowly defined overseas audience: People who are or may be sympathetic to the views of al-Qaida and could indeed be vulnerable to its propaganda; people who could be persuaded or enticed into crossing the boundary between sympathy and action." Image from

Meaningful Peace - Thor Halvorssen, worldpolicy.org: "If we are to achieve meaningful peace, the foreign policy of free governments and the cultural export of free societies must: help build civil society, establish rule of law, secure individual freedoms, spark economic development, separate religion and government, secure freedom of thought and belief, and expose human rights violations. Not only governments should be depended on to promote this—individuals in civil societies can and should become involved in this process, both by petitioning their own governments and by establishing peer-to-peer networks with people in unfree nations. Artists to artists, engineers to engineers, veterans to veterans. The value of breaking your government’s monopoly on foreign policy cannot be discounted. For instance, veterans of the United States can connect veterans of Russia’s armed forces much better than a bureaucrat from the State Department can engage in public diplomacy through embassy-sponsored events. ... Government is, however, essential as the foundation for peace, because peace must at times be secured with force."

Using art for diplomacy: A vibrant State Department program reaches 50 - Roland Flamini, washingtontimes.com: "Since earlier this year, when works by American artists were installed in

the new U.S. Embassy compound in Beijing, there is an ever-lengthening waiting list to join the weekly tours. ... The permanent exhibition is one of more than 50 created in U.S. Embassies around the world by the State Department through its venerable Art in Embassies program, a much-lauded vehicle for the projection of U.S. 'soft power' through fine art. Launched 50 years ago by President John F. Kennedy, the program's brand-building message is simple: There's more to American culture than fast food, reality TV and the antics of Lindsay Lohan. ... The program is the envy of the diplomatic world, where it has been studied and copied; and the State Department cherishes it as a valuable, high-end part of its cultural outreach effort. ... There can be little the State Department does that compares with the cost-effectiveness of the program, which is proud to cost not even half a percent of the department's budget. At any given time, some 5,000 works are on display in about 200 residences in 180 countries. But most are on short-term loan from museums, galleries, collectors — or the artists themselves — across the United States. Image from article, with caption: “Tulips” by American artist Jeff Koons outside the U.S. Embassy in Beijing is part of the State Department’s Art in Embassies program celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.

More on Sesame Street - Public Diplomacy and International Communications: Thoughts and comments about public diplomacy, soft power and international communications by Gary Rawnsley: "Regular visitors to this blog will know that I am a huge fan of Sesame Street, the long-running American television show which teaches children literacy, numeracy and life-skills such as kindness, tolerance and friendship. On 11 April I commented on the launch of a version of Sesame Street in Pakistan.

Now, Big Bird and his friends have made the trek to Afghanistan in a version of the programme called Baghch-e-Simisn. This is a co-production between the non-profit Sesame Workshop and Moby Media, an Afghan company that has made a big impact on the flow of international cultural products into the country, having been responsible for importing such western formats as Idol and Deal or No Deal. The US State Department has also provided some funding. ... Sesame Street ... is not afraid to take risks, to change for local audiences and use entertainment for education. In Afghanistan, where the education infrastructure leaves a lot to be desired, such initiatives are welcomed. There will always be the nay-sayers who proclaim 'cultural imperialism', but Sesame Street's success and its genuine apolitical agenda demonstrate that international communications and American media products may actually do some good after all." Image from

Peace Corps’ time over - Matias A. Sueldo, bostonherald.com: "We should eliminate the Peace Corps. The Peace Corps’ objectives are to: (1) provide trained professionals to host countries; (2) promote understanding of America abroad; (3) promote understanding of the world in its volunteers. But according to Peace Corps data, 10 percent of volunteers do not even hold a bachelor’s degree. Those who do are mostly recently out of college and have little transferable experience. No wonder then that roughly six out of 10 Peace Corps volunteers work in education, teaching English

to elementary school students; in youth development, running weekend camps and cleanup days; and in public health, setting up hand-washing stations, to name a few typical activities. These volunteers have good intentions, but they’re hardly pulling countries out of poverty. Some volunteers specializing in business, info-tech, the environment and agriculture are indeed doing valuable work, but they constitute less than one-third of total volunteers. Their work could be completed more cost-effectively as part of existing development programs such as the U.S. Agency for International Development. ... There are existing public diplomacy programs that operate more effectively than the Peace Corps, such as the Broadcasting Board of Governors. It distributes programming in 59 languages to an estimated weekly audience of 165 million people across a variety of media to decision-making elites in strategic countries. Other federal programs bring key foreign officials, technocrats and educators to America for training and immersion. There is one bright spot. The Peace Corps has succeeded best at its third objective of promoting a better understanding of the world among its volunteers. In that sense, the Peace Corps was absolutely necessary back in 1961 when few other structured programs existed for young Americans to move abroad, learn foreign languages and think globally. But we spend approximately $47,000 a year to 'change the life' of each Peace Corps volunteer. We’re not even changing that many lives. Since 1961, the Peace Corps has placed around 200,000 volunteers abroad. Meanwhile, the Institute of International Education reports that 260,000 U.S. students studied abroad during the 2008-2009 academic year alone. Those students pay for themselves." See also John Brown, "Public Diplomacy: The World Should Be Teaching Us, Mr. Kristof," Huffington Post (March 11, 2010).  Image from

Congress gives board sitter nominations "expedited procedures" but not ambassadorial nominations? C'mon ... - Domani Spero, DiploPundit: "Anyway, on nominations -- multiple board sitters (for the National Council on the Arts, United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy, the Board of Trustees of the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation, and others) are listed in the December 7 Executive Calendar as 'PRIVILEGED NOMINATIONS' that is, pursuant to S. Res. 116, 112th Congress, nominations labeled as such are entitled to expedited procedures. It is as clear as day now -- board sitters are definitely way, way more important than ambassadors."

India Blog Series: Aid Diplomacy: 50 Years of USAID in India - Hend Alhinnawi, CPD Blog, USC Center on Public Diplomacy: "For the past

50 years, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has been the face of the American people overseas, carrying out its humanitarian mission through 'saving lives, building partnerships, and promoting peace and prosperity for the developing world and the American people.' These definitions suggest that the U.S. uses foreign aid as part of its public diplomacy strategy. USAID funds infrastructure, cultural preservation projects, public works, and economic investment initiatives in many developing countries, including India. Aid diplomacy is an important part of the overall U.S. public diplomacy strategy. ... In October, 2011 the U.S. Chargé d'Affaires, Ambassador Peter Burleigh, announced that USAID will be providing $81 million towards its total commitment of $479 million over five years in bilateral assistance to India. These funds will be used to strengthen the U.S.-India strategic partnership, working in the health sector and serving India’s most vulnerable populations." Image from

Delhi, here we come! - Maya Babla, India: Inside Out -- reporting on the public diplomacy buzz from Los Angeles, New Delhi, and Mumbai: "LOS ANGELES – After months of planning, the India: Inside Out team is finally off to India. We’re arriving in Delhi this weekend! Next week will be jam-packed, and we’re thrilled for the adventure ahead. .. Our research will kick off with discussions at the Public Diplomacy Division in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), where we’ll talk with Navdeep Suri, the Joint Secretary and Head of the Public Diplomacy Division, and Abhay Kumar, the Under Secretary. Later in the week, we’ll talk with Dr. Shashi Tharoor, a Member of Parliament and thought-leader on public diplomacy. We’re interested in India’s push towards a more transparent and connected government, and will be meeting with the Director of E-Governance, Abhishek Singh, at the Department of Information Technology. We’ll also be meeting with Amit Shahi and Sudhir Horo, the team behind India! Future of Change, an MEA-funded initiative that 'promises to take India to the world' through contests and collaborative projects focused on young people. I see India’s ability to manage its development– education and gender equity, in particular– as a key challenge for its public diplomacy. We’ll be meeting with nonprofit organizations that are doing some compelling work in these arenas, in particular, the head of Sesame Workshop India, Sashwati Banerjee, and Harsh Mander and Rachel Firestone at the Centre for Equity Studies. The Centre for Equity Studies is an interesting model in that it does both research and advocacy on social justice issues, and we’re eager to hear how these areas intersect. Our meeting with Women in Security, Conflict Management and Peace (WISCOMP) also brings together many of our interest areas, as WISCOMP seeks to 'enhance the role of women as peacebuilders.' There, we’ll be talking with Manjri Sewak, who works on programs that train women to work in areas like conflict transformation between India and Pakistan. Finally, we’ll be looking at how other countries conduct public diplomacy in India, and how effective their efforts are. We’re looking forward to speaking with the team at the United States Embassy, including PAO Michael Pelletier, Greg Aurit, Adele Rupe, and Kathryn Viguerie from USAID."

“OMG!” Among New Programs From VOA - Adam Clayton Powell III, CPD Blog, USC Center on Public Diplomacy: "Voice of America rolled out a series of new programs at a briefing here this morning, highlighting 'OMG!', a new youth-oriented program aimed at China, where, according to its host, it is sometimes called 'OMG: Oh My Lady Gaga.' ... New programs and platforms have increased the network’s audience to 80 million on radio and 70 million on television, according to Steve Redisch, VOA’s Executive Editor. That is most of the 187 million unduplicated weekly audience claimed for all of U.S. international broadcasting. Researchers note that some of the data are less then entirely precise – try surveying a war zone – but they said the trend is toward a larger audience."

"Will Voice of America's Persian Service Survive?" - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting.

Zimbabwe government newspaper accuses VOA Studio 7 of "dirty work" - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting.

Image from entry

Cultural Diplomacy Idol - Paul Rockower, Levantine: "Think you have what it takes to be a Cultural Diplomacy Rock Star? Apply for the new American Music Abroad program. Yes, we have officially announced the call for applications."

Nato keen on reinforcing cooperation with GCC - zawya.com: North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) senior official has reiterated the alliance’s keenness to reinforce its cooperation and relations with individual members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), through the Istanbul Cooperation Inititiave (ICI). ... Plans include more regular dialogue and political consultations to promote a better mutual understanding with the region and engaging in shared strategic analyses, he [James Appathurai, Nato’s Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs and Security Policys (sic)] aid. “We can see how we can enhance military-to-military cooperation, interoperality and public diplomacy so that we can better explain Nato and what it does and we at Nato can better understand the region,” he told Gulf News. See also

Kuwait, Nato mull plans to set up centre in Kuwait - thenakedfacts.blogspot.com: "Kuwait and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) are discussing plans to open a centre in Kuwait City, a Nato official has said.The centre, the first of its kind in the Gulf, will help bolster relations and cooperation between the Gulf country and the international organization under the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI). ... [ALSO SEE.. MUST READ!FLASHBACK- ''06 Jun. 2007'' Keynote address by NATO Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy H.E. Mr. Jean Fournet at the joint public diplomacy conference 'Media in a Changing World: Perspectives from GCC (GULF CRIMINAL CABAL) and NATO http://thenakedfacts.blogspot.com/2011/10/flashback-this-was-then.html."

12/7 Brief Survey of U.S casus belli 'wars' part 2 - lizburbank, burbankdigest.com: "Belied by the fact it took USNATO and their mercenary thugs 8 months and thousands of bombing sorties that killed thousands of Libyans to squash the heroic armed resistance and 'despised dictator'. The US installed TNC declared 'liberation' only after Gaddafi's calculated humiliation, his tortured, sodomized bloody body was dragged alive through the streets of his hometown, murdered and put on public display in a commercial freezer, as a warning to still-fighting resistance warriors and 'free press' media's pornographic 'victory' reports. Fascist state violence mixed with state-sponsored soft power information war (aka 'public diplomacy', 'strategic information') is the 'news', made to appeal to different TV and newspaper 'consumers', including social media under Pentagon 'responsibility'."

International Symposium on Cultural Diplomacy: an advantage held by France in a changing world - Collège de France (December 12 to 13, 2011) - diplomatie.gouv.fr: "The Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs and the Institut français will organize, from December 12 to 13, at the Collège de France, an international symposium on the priorities of cultural diplomacy, with the participation of ... numerous personalities from diplomatic, cultural, voluntary and academic spheres from all over the world. The ministry has embarked on an ambitious reform of its cultural strategy by creating 3 agencies: The Institut français responsible for cultural action abroad and a genuine tool for implementing the main objectives of our foreign policy: increasing France’s influence in the world, supporting the cultural development of the countries toward which we have a duty of solidarity, and encouraging dialogue and cultural diversity. France expertise internationale in order to increase our ability to address the high demand for expertise from developing and emerging countries. This circulation of grey matter is of primordial importance for our economy, our influence and the development of other countries. CampusFrance - which is in the process of being created - in order to encourage student mobility and enhance the attractiveness of our universities."

When the British Council Did Public Diplomacy - Public Diplomacy, Networks and Influence: "In my last post I commented that the UK’s effort to run a highly coordinated public diplomacystrategy seems to have lost priority. ... I’ve never seen the BC [British Council] refer to its own work as Public Diplomacy (of course this may say something about my gaps in my own knowledge). The FCO refers to them as a public diplomacy partner but the BC says that it does cultural relations. ... After 9/11 the development of a comprehensive public diplomacy strategy not only led to a greater effort by the FCO to steer the BC’s direction. ... This kind of interorganizational tension seems to be a standard part of PD in many countries." See also John Brown, "The Purposes and Cross-Purposes of American Public Diplomacy," American Diplomacy (August 15, 2002).

Scotland and Scandinavia/the Nordics - corfublues.blogspot.com: "This BBC Report takes me back to 'Scotland in Sweden', a year-long project - more than 30 events (2002-2003)- with which I was closely involved when working in Stockholm. ... The Royal Society of Edinburgh carried out an inquiry and formulated a response . ... 'When a number of agencies work together to put together a series of promotional events under a single banner, such as 'Scotland in Sweden', the whole can be much bigger than the sum of the parts in that the audience assembled by one organisation can easily be reached by others, thereby multiplying the impact. The resources for these events do not allow the campaign to continue

indefinitely. However, it raises the energy level of engagement of existing relationships and also initiates new relationships.For a more comprehensive academic evaluation of the Scotland in Sweden campaign, see James Pamment's 'The Limits of the New Public Diplomacy' (Stockholm University, 2011). James Pamment expresses some concern about the short-termism of Scotland's cultural relations campaigns and promotions, but the BBC news item seems to point to a longer term strategy and much-needed follow-up activity (regardless of the issue of Scottish Independence?)." Image from

Air strikes against Iran nuclear program? Israel reconsiders. Israel's former spy chief has warned against a preemptive strike on Iran's nuclear program, as has the US, citing its potential to boost Iran's regime at home and endanger US troops in the Middle East - Joshua Mitnick, csmonitor.com: "Israel’s stance toward archrival Iran, which it suspects of developing nuclear weapons, relies largely on deterrence: The Jewish state has a decades-old reputation for carrying out risky surprise attacks against targets deemed as existential threats. But the ability of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to embark on a new preemptive strike

may have been significantly curtailed after a pair of warnings from US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and an ex-Israeli spymaster about the potential negative fallout from such an attack. ... The US has engaged in public diplomacy urging Israel to keep that threat off the table while a new round of sanctions takes hold. Mr. Panetta argued last Friday in Washington that such an attack now would deal a blow to the global economy, endanger US troops in the Middle East, and risk shoring up the popularity of the Iranian regime domestically. ... To be sure, some analysts believe that public pressure on Israel from its friends actually serves its goals. By stressing the danger of Israeli action, it generates more urgency for the international community to take action – the stated preference of Israeli leaders for years." Image from article, with caption: At Israel's Air Force Museum in Beersheba, a fighter jet is now a museum piece. Air superiority has given Israel an edge in the region.

What Israel needs: advocacy, not partisanship - Phil Horn, njjewishnews.com: "There are real and troubling challenges confronting those of us on the front lines of 'hasbara,' or defending Israel through public diplomacy. Foremost among these is the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement, which threatens Israel with economic distress and political isolation. To combat these efforts, there is a need to form coalitions with groups, such as the Latinos, with whom we have had too little contact. We must fight the ongoing battle for hearts and minds in the universities and the high schools. But rather than turning our guns on ourselves, we must confront the real enemy. Otherwise, we may find ourselves quoting Pogo: 'We have met the enemy and he is us.'”

Distant relations - Andrew Silow-Carroll, njjewishnews.com: "Ynet reported last week that the Knesset is scheduling a special workshop to teach Israeli lawmakers — I am not making this up — manners. The etiquette lessons teach Knesset members to 'eat with a knife and fork and with their mouth closed' and 'to avoid playing with their cellular phones in the middle of a meeting.' One lesson they might want to add: Don’t go out of your way to insult your Jewish cousins in America. Because at bottom, the brouhaha over a series of ads intended to lure expatriate Israelis back home is really about manners. ... Like a wife who blows up at a husband over a stray hair on the soap, the American groups’ angry reaction to the ads suggests that something else is going on beneath the surface. Over the past few weeks, Israeli lawmakers have put forth a number of actions — trying to eliminate Arabic as a national language, hobbling foreign funding of Israeli NGOs — widely seen as anti-democratic. At the very least, many American Jews quietly consider them terrible hasbara — public diplomacy — at the very moment when Israel has a chance to distinguish itself from the failed democratic aspirations of the Arab Spring. It may be no surprise that Israel’s minister of immigrant absorption is a member of Yisrael Beiteinu, a nationalist party responsible for some of the most troubling legislation. At one level, the ads controversy is about bad manners — cousins don’t criticize cousins in public. But for groups loath to criticize Israel on security issues or internal affairs, the ads gave them a chance to tell their relatives how they really feel."

PM lauds Israel's rights record in YouTube video: Netanyahu video on Human Rights Day is small sign of new ‘hasbara’ policy - Herb Keinon, jpost.com: "As part of a new preemptive hasbara (public diplomacy) policy, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu uploaded a YouTube video Thursday lauding Israel’s human rights record two days before International Human Rights Day. Israel’s detractors generally use this day as a peg to lambaste the country. 'International Human Rights Day is a day the State of Israel stands proud,' Netanyahu said. 'Proud of its record as a vibrant pluralistic democracy. A democracy that has maintained its values despite security challenges faced by no other nation on earth.' Appearing just a couple of days after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was quoted as having said in a private conversation that some IDF soldiers’ refusal to listen to female singers reminded her of Iran, Netanyahu underlined the differences. 'We are proud that in the Middle East where women are stoned, gays are hanged and minorities are persecuted, Israel has a woman who is a chief justice, we have gay pride parades and one million Arab citizens who are free,' he said."

Charging his batteries in Israel: Alan Dershowitz is upset with the Obama administration’s policy, but still believes the Netanyahu government should make a generous offer to get the Palestinians back to the negotiating table - jpost.com: Dershowitz: "[M]y friend and former student

Danny Grossman ... has for years helped strategize and carry out public diplomacy efforts in making 'the case for Israel.'” Dershowitz image (right) from article

Chaim Silberstein Founder of Keep Jerusalem Shabbat Vayishlach Guest Speaker - youngisraelaventura.com: "Over the past 15 years Israeli public opinion in favor of dividing Jerusalem has increased from only 15% to 50%! These staggering numbers are a direct result of media distortions, myths, inaccuracies and propaganda as well as local and international pressure. The public has been misinformed and misguided and very little has been done about it. ... Chaim Silberstein founder and President of Im Eshkachech-Keep Jerusalem a Public Diplomacy initiative dedicated to Keeping Jerusalem united under Israeli sovereignty."

Ambassador Edward Djerejian’s Remarks on Armenia, the Region and the Church - massispost.com: Djerejian: "It would indeed be a tragedy if the willingness expressed by the leaders of both Armenia and Azerbaijan to make a lasting peace coupled with the progress made in recent years during negotiations at different levels should all falter.

Both sides must take steps now to confront those groups, both in Armenia and Azerbaijan that have vested interests in the status quo. Without a determined effort of public diplomacy, the entrenched hard-line posturing on all sides could become one of the most serious obstacles to peace." Djerejian image from article

"Why Should Everybody Else Get to Join the EU and Not Serbia?"‎ - Elisabeth Braw, Huffington Post: Serbia's Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic: "Tennis has become one of the most powerful tools of public diplomacy for our country. Serbia has become well-known for tennis. Novak Djokovic is ranked the world's top player, and we have an excellent national team that is the defending world champion. In ladies' tennis we have a number of strong players as well. Because tennis has become such a powerful tool of soft power, it has to be supported at the state level. Foreign affairs are about representing your country abroad, and for us one of the best ways of doing it is through tennis."

Indonesian example - Shada Islam, dawn.com: "Launched in 2008 to encourage discussion and exchange of views on democracy among Asian countries, annual meetings of the Bali Democracy Forum have become a potent exercise in Indonesian public diplomacy. The Forum has grown in credibility and prestige over the years, spotlighting Indonesia’s democratic record since the fall of president Suharto in 1998, and the country’s increasingly vocal and visible aspirations to become Asia’s prime normative power and champion of political reform and democracy. The message from Jakarta is strong and clear: Indonesia matters — in both Southeast Asian and on the global stage. The country’s new breed of gutsy and self-confident politicians and diplomats are breaking with the cautious approach of past administrations by working hard to give Indonesia a stronger regional and international voice." See also.

Tales from Washington, D.C.: The author describes the benefits of studying for a semester in the nation's capital - Carmen Easterwood, scs.georgetown.edu: "In addition to the internship, the academics at Georgetown were great. My favorite parts were having constant access to high-quality (and often famous) guest speakers and the intriguing field trips. I also really enjoyed the independent research project, where I got the chance to research a topic closely related to my internship and hopefully to my future career, which was the role of China in African development. And, despite having never heard of "public diplomacy 'before getting to Georgetown and being unsure how I ended up in such a class, I ended up really enjoying my academic seminar on the topic. Public diplomacy refers to the government’s efforts to shape the public’s opinion of the U.S. in foreign countries. ... In my public diplomacy class, I learned about how the U.S. conducts its public diplomacy and got to interact with people from interesting, diverse backgrounds, such as Voice of America, the Department of International Information Programs, and the Art in Embassies program. We also got the chance to visit

various embassies to find out how they conduct their own public diplomacy in the United States, which was my favorite part of the course. I even got a summer internship in the public diplomacy field, and spent the summer working in the Office of Public Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in El Salvador. That internship was lots of fun and hugely informative, and my Washington Semester experience really allowed me to hit the ground running when I got to El Salvador. The information I picked up in D.C. about embassies, the Foreign Service, and public diplomacy was invaluable and made my transition to working in El Salvador much smoother. While I was there, I even got to visit an MCC project site and sent pictures back to my old boss in D.C. I sometimes get a little nostalgic for the time I spent in D.C., but I know I’ll be back there again in the future. After such an awesome semester there, I know I won’t be able to stay away for too long. Image from article, with caption: Asterwood and Srujana Penumetcha, both seniors in H&SS, pose at the Foreign Press Center in Washington, D.C. (credit: Courtesy of Carmen Easterwood)'

Scenic Hudson has new board members - lohud.com: "Scenic Hudson, a Poughkeepsie-based land-preservation organization, recently announced new additions to its board of directors. Among them were Sean Eldridge of Garrison and Judith McHale of Hastings. Eldridge is president of Hudson Valley Ventures, a web-design and Internet marketing company, and is a senior adviser at Freedom to Marry, the campaign to win marriage equality nationwide. McHale, an attorney, was the undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs at the U.S. State Department from May 2009 to July 2011."

RELATED ITEMS

Washington’s Propaganda Against Iran: Why the US Readies for War - Ben Schreiner, uprootedpalestinians.blogspot.com: Washington’s propaganda campaign against Iran is approaching a near frenzied pitch. With daily regularity, the US media, showcasing its best nationalist bent, cries of the increasing menace and threat of Iran. The process of preparing the American public for yet another imperial war, in other words, has begun. Given this escalating rhetoric and orchestrated public relations campaign disseminated from Washington, can we really expect an imminent attack on Iran? Well, probably not, at least imminently.

The Truth Behind The Anti-Iran Propaganda: The MistrBrit Show - NSK Jakson, skepticaleye.com [Video]

US Drone RQ-170 Downed In Iran, Propaganda? Moscow Protests A Lie? Our MSM A Sham: You cannot believe US news - themadjewess.com: You have to go overseas, in my opinion. This fraud news from CNN & Faux News is seriously disturbing. It shows that BOTH news networks are propaganda for Communism, especially about this Russian protest. They lie, they show fluff.

BBC propaganda: warning: hilarious  - As'ad AbuKhalil, angryarab.blogspot.com: The BBC Arabic has a report on the US drone plane downed by Iran. That is not the story. Look at the picture accompanying the story, as if this compares to the super secret drone downed by Iran.

(thanks A.) Image from article

Iran's boasts over US drone reveal inconsistencies - Marc Burleigh, AFP: Iran's boast it downed a highly sophisticated US drone has handed the Islamic republic a propaganda coup while revealing numerous inconsistencies in both Iranian and US accounts of the incident. Leading Iranian newspapers on Saturday gave front-page prominence to the story, displaying photos of what was said to be the

remarkably intact RQ-170 Sentinel drone in Iran's possession. Information given by Iranian and US officials in their respective countries' media since Tehran announced December 4 it had captured the drone has raised several inconsistencies over the affair. Image from article

American Touted as a Leader of GIMF Killed in Pakistan - news.siteintelgroup.com: "Abd al-Moeed bin Abd al-Salam," an American citizen killed during a raid by Pakistani security forces in Karachi in November 2011, was named by the Global Islamic Media Front (GIMF) as one of the group's commanders.

GIMF, one of the oldest and most influential jihadist propaganda groups with members from all over the world, eulogized Salam with the same flowery praise usually afforded to military commanders and suicide bombers, reflecting how the jihadist community recognizes that engaging and producing propaganda is as integral a part of their jihad as carrying out attacks against their enemies. Image from article

Bigotry Drives Ads from US Muslim Show - onislam.net:  US advertising companies have pulled their commercials airing during episodes of TLC's "All-American Muslim" after pressure from right-wing and Christian groups, the Washington Post reported. “‘All-American Muslim’ is propaganda clearly designed to counter legitimate and present-day concerns about many Muslims who are advancing Islamic fundamentalism and Sharia`h law,” the Florida Family Association, a Tampa Bay group, asserted in a letter it asks members to send to TLC advertisers. “The show profiles only Muslims that appear to be ordinary folks while excluding many Islamic believers whose agenda poses a clear and present danger to the liberties and traditional values that the majority of Americans cherish,” the Florida group added.

The reality show, “All-American Muslim,” is an eight-part series that began airing last November. The idea of the show was first suggested by Mike Mosallam, director of film initiatives for Wayne County, to follow the lives of a group of Muslims and their friends in the area. Focusing on Muslims in Dearborn, the producer said the program is a glimpse into a lifestyle with which most Americans are unfamiliar." Image from article, with caption: The pull of ads was criticized by US Muslims as driven by anti-Islam bigotry.


A Western Hemisphere, minus the U.S.: Republican stalling tactics on the nomination of Roberta Jacobson and the appointment Mari Carmen Aponte threaten to further isolate the U.S. from Caribbean and Latin American neighbors - Editorial, Latimes.com.

Aponte image from arfticle

Obama’s Iran policy shifts to containment - Michael Makovsky and Blaise Misztal, Washington Post: The Obama administration needs to regain its clarity and refocus its rhetoric and action toward preventing a nuclear Iran. It should do so, if necessary, by “all elements of American power.”

Ayoon Wa Azan ("A Conspiracy”) - daralhayat.com: "I have been waiting for months now for the release of the book 'Palestine in Israeli School Books: Ideology and Propaganda in Education, written by Dr. Nurit Peled-Elhanan, a professor of language at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and published by I.B. Tauris in the United Kingdom. The book is an English translation of the original in Hebrew. Amazon, the company that I deal with regularly, has never delayed an order I had placed. However, this particular book was so late that I almost screamed 'conspiracy'. For one thing, I had ordered it last August, and was promised to receive it in October. But on 1/9/2011, I received an apology from Amazon because the book's publisher announced that it would be delayed. Then on 16/10/2011, Amazon again notified me that the publishing of the book had been cancelled. So I went to Waterstone's, which said that the book will be released on 18/11/2011. But soon afterwards, I found a new date for the book's release was posted on its website, which was 30/1/2012. I.B Tauris itself then announced on its website that the release date would be 30/11/2011, before saying that the book has not yet been published. Dr. Peled-Elhanan is an exceptional peace advocate. I had previously cited her defense of Islam before the European Parliament, where she said that it is not Islam that she felt threatened her, but 'American imperialism, European apathy and Israel’s racism and violent occupation'. Her book represents the results of a study she conducted on Israeli textbooks in the past five years. She describes what she found as racism– but, more than that, she says it is a form of racism that prepares young Israelis for their compulsory military service. The Guardian quoted Peled-Elhanan as saying that many people cannot explain the cruel behavior of Israeli soldiers towards Palestinians, and that she believes the explanation lay with how Israeli school textbooks represent Palestinians."

Not just Afghans' shame: Western legal tradition regarding rape has roots that are not all that different from those we condemn in places such as Afghanistan - Eric Berkowitz, latimes.com: The plight of women in Afghanistan and other countries is no cause for Western arrogance, especially when spousal rape was legal here so recently.

Is Al Jazeera in a category with BBC and CNN, or with France 24, RT, and Press TV? - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting.

Japan Considers Cutting Off Funding For North Korean Propaganda Schools - aya.shii.org: Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara has announced that public assistance for North Korean private schools in Tokyo will be cut off in the 2012 budget, and that he hopes “we can make a judgment on what should be done with the consent of all citizens”. 22,000,000 yen of funding will be cut from the budget ($284,000 USD).

Most municipalities, including the capital, have “frozen” their funding of North Korean schools. If Tokyo cuts funding, it is likely that other municipalities will follow. [...] When asked why he changed his opinion from “freeze” to “cut”, Ishihara said, “Because we gradually figured out what was really going on at these schools.” Uncaptioned image from article


House Of Mirrors Part IV - The Twilight Lords: The Question of “what has become of the America I knew and loved?” - Sibel Edmonds, news.officialwire.com: Beginning in the late 1930s as an overt propaganda campaign against fascist Germany and Imperial Japan, the world was treated to a Hollywood version of America as a democratic society that despite its flaws managed to maintain the egalitarian principles of its founding fathers and continued to press forward as a beacon of liberty, individualism and human rights. As a romanticized ideal, the narrative of that America was of a “great melting pot” for all races where upward mobility, modernism and economic and religious freedom promised a better life for all those willing to make it work. And for millions it once did. With a manufacturing and farm economy the envy of the world, a burgeoning middle-class and a huge military establishment garrisoning the world, the ideal was temporarily sustainable. But as the years wore on, the economy and political system constricted and the Pentagon grew to gargantuan proportions, the yawing schism between the real America and the illusory bygone America of Hollywood’s imagination began to take on a frightening dimension. We have illustrated in our two multi-part series, 9/11, Psychological Warfare and the American Narrative and House of Mirrors that whatever America once appeared to be, at least since World War II and the beginning of the Cold War up to 9/11, it never was the country we thought it to be.

Zimbabwe: Americans Bloated With Propaganda - allafrica.com: "With the Statue of Liberty facing East, the hemisphere the brigandsa who decimated Amerindians associated with repression, the United States gave itself the undeserved moniker, 'the Free World.' The uninitiated believe the propaganda that all is lekker in America, even our own senior musician, Thomas Mapfumo dedicated a song, Big in America, to that myth prompting another Chimurenga musician, Robbie Chagumuka, may his soul rest in peace, to counter with the song, Big in Zimbabwe. Be that as it may, in the US, so-called prestigious publications will print the most outrageous information without attribution, investigation or proof of very serious charges. When Americans think of propagandised people, they think of the now defunct Soviet Union or Nazi Germany or perhaps a banana republic dictatorship of the sort supported by their governments. Very few of them would think of themselves as being under the sway of a government and corporations who work hand-in-glove to tell outright falsehoods or hide important information that is inconvenient for them.Americans are victims of a government intent on keeping them misinformed or silent in the face of its wrongdoing worldwide, but they work hand-in-hand with a media almost entirely owned by corporation."

White House unleashes new terrorism propaganda campaign - Madison Ruppert, endtheLie.com: "Yesterday the White House revealed a new plan to fight what they allege is the threat of homegrown terrorism; a threat which I have been pointing out has been artificially hyped up for some time now. The Obama administration continues to promulgate the fake threat of terrorism in order to justify their increasing erosion of civil liberties and massive expenditures on so-called counterterrorism efforts. The program is aimed at even further integrating local and federal authorities, just as the fusion centers do across the nation, along with improving the ability for officers to 'recognize violent extremism,' according to ABC News. However, I think we all know by now this means teaching them to be paranoid, to ignore all facts that show the threat of terrorism is incredibly low, and to be suspicious of their fellow citizens. This new program isn’t just integrating local law enforcement with federal agencies as the fusion centers have been doing, it is also increasing 'coordination between local partners – including schools and community groups,' representing a new front in fear mongering. Through so-called 'community outreach' programs, the federal government fosters a pervasive sense of paranoia and fear which allows for wildly un-American and incredibly dangerous legislation like S.1867 to pass with such astounding margins. The Obama administration’s new plan has already drawn criticism from Senators Susan Collins and Joe Lieberman who questioned the omission of radical Islam from the new document."

Exhibit show Vietnamese perspective of war with U.S. - Margaret Clevenger, The Tuscaloosa News: “Visualizing War and Change: Untold stories of daily life from Vietnam through visual materials(1945-2011)” will be on exhibit through Dec. 16. The exhibit offers insight into how the war was seen from the eyes of the Vietnamese people and how a government can spin events through careful, often subtle, manipulation. “When I came to the U.S., I studied propaganda,” Walsh said. “I think not many people in the U.S. know about propaganda during the Vietnam War and I want the audience to have a better understanding of it. Not many people understand each other on either side. The Vietnamese people went through the same hardships that Americans did.” "I cannot emphasize enough that the purpose of the exhibition is not to propagate the Vietnamese government’s perspective of the war, of their policy,” Walsh said. “My purpose was to show how propaganda had an impact on the Vietnamese people during the war that not many American people know of. I hope the exhibit can help Americans have a better understanding of the Vietnamese people and of the war from the other side.”

Good Old Russian Propaganda - Shoot for the moon: Ivan Ruchkin's place: "Yeah, I can recognize this pattern of events. Big protests are to happen today, December 10, in many Russian cities.

Because of this, a number of announcement from Kremlin-friendly agencies has been made: 1) "The results of elections are final", the central election committee. 2) "It's unhealthy to go protest - you can catch cold", the ministry of health. 3) "This Saturday is declared a study day for schoolchildren", the ministry of education. 4) "There are explosions planned in crowded places", the police. 5) "Those arrested during protests will be immediately drafted if they can and haven't served in military", the ministry of defense. 6) "Students, you might have trouble with your studies after going to protests", many universities.  Come on guys! That's it?! Still waiting for the ministry of culture to remind us of bad-bad swear words usually said during such gatherings." Ruchkin image from article

Freaking epic tech company ‘war propaganda’ posters - thenextweb.com: Sometimes you get bored on the Internet because everything seems to look and sound the same, and then you see something like this that reminds you that life is grand on the web.

We know that Twitter, Facebook, Apple, and Google are all in big tech battles to find out who will reign supreme in the hearts and minds of interweb users everywhere. Naturally, these companies should have war propaganda posters. Image from article

Artwork and Research of Kristi Beisecker - Truth Movement propaganda brochure, kglyphicsart.blogspot.com: This project was confusing it said to do a brochure on propaganda on a conflict/war... so a brochure on the war/movement itself or just on propaganda FROM the conflict/war?

This was our project description: "Do a presentation on propaganda. Prepare a presentation of any type including visuals, audio, or life performance. You can do a demonstration or give a Power Point/Keynote presentation. You may also do a scrapbook, brochure, or newsletter, which does not require a presentation. A bibliography must be submitted with this project. Due to the size of the class, presentations must be limited to 5-7 minutes." Yeah... Image from article