"In America, we believe that anyone can grow up to be anything."
--Columnist Robert J. Samuelson
"In America, why bother to grow up at all?"
--A PDPBR subscriber, reacting to the above quotation; image from
PUBLIC DIPLOMACY
American Power: The Nature and Limits - Brian Carlson, publicdiplomacycouncil.org: "Reflecting on many years of practicing public diplomacy, one is reminded of the many times in country team meetings [the country team encompassing US Embassy sections ranging from the 'political' to the 'admin,' not to speak of the CIA] that it fell to the public affairs officer to recommend against some particular action. Maybe these cases are memorable because they run counter to the norm: usually the PAO [Public Affairs Officer, who handles 'public diplomacy' at US Embassies] is the one voice in the embassy pushing an otherwise reluctant ambassador and shy political officers to get out in front of audiences and help make America’s case to foreign publics.
After all, PAO's love to remind their colleagues that Woody Allen famously said 'Ninety percent of success is showing up!' So, it is in this spirit of not doing something that there needs to be some applause for the State Department people who talked Secretary Clinton out of giving a speech in Cairo last week. One anticipates that, among the voices recommending against a high-profile, finger-wagging lecture by the Secretary to the Egyptians, the public diplomacy folks would have been the most vocal. ... [T]here are multiple explanations for cancelling the speech. One might have been the risk of offending the Egyptian military (who don’t seem to take our advice much anyway). Another downside might have been the risk of offending the Muslim Brotherhood (who don’t seem to take our advice either). ... [T]he strategy and the goals should come first. Let’s first decide on those, the public diplomacy officer argues, before we schedule a speech or agree to employ some other 'soft power' tool." Image from
Public Schedule for July 18, 2012 - state.gov: "UNDER SECRETARY FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS TARA SONENSHINE 9:00 a.m. Under Secretary Sonenshine delivers opening remarks at a Women in Public Service event, to women college students visiting from Africa, the Middle East, and Asia as part of the 'Study of the U.S.' Institutes on Women’s Leadership sponsored by the Department of State’s Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs, at the Department of State. ... 12:00 p.m. Under Secretary Sonenshine attends the swearing-in ceremony of U.S. Ambassador-Designate to Haiti Pamela White, at the Department of State. ... 2:15 p.m. Under Secretary Sonenshine meets with U.S. Ambassador to Mexico E. Anthony Wayne, at the Department of State."
Rollin' with Bolen - Paul Rockower, Levantine: "My friend Dr. Bradley Bolen, the YES Academy Iraq faculty member who teaches the piano program, has an excellent blog up called 'Why we Fight.'"
Image from Bolen blog, with caption: We met somebody new on just about every trip we made outside of work. These guys were hanging out in the plaza. Paul [Rockower] speaks pretty good Arabic, and often made friends easily.
Why We Fight - bolen88.wordpress.com: "There is more than one way to fight, or so they say. We at American Voices do not charge ourselves with teaching beginners. Instead, we fight to help those that already have some training to move forward with their musical aspirations, and to provide some thread of continuity to their broken educations. Of course, in reality there are those that, for all practical purposes, are essentially beginners (we sometimes even add a beginner class if the need arises).
This results in an additional amount of classroom diversity that presents its own set of challenges. It has been difficult to blog since work has been so exhausting and, since this is my second trip to Kurdistan, because I now know people here who are anxious to take me out for dinner or the markets once work is finished. Or, as Grandmother used to say, 'Just so you know, it is hell to be popular.' It is hard to describe how one can feel so fatigued and still have so much fun. It is a daily ritual. This year, the YES Academy was plagued with a plethora of logistical challenges. But the final Gala in Duhok went off as planned, which is a good thing since the new conference center at The University of Duhok is state of the art, and only months old. A beautiful venue. Once the gala was over in Duhok, we were back to Erbil. We were asked by the US Embassy to do a 4 day mini-workshop in Kirkuk. To do this, we would have to take special security measures. While Kirkuk is much better than it was even a couple of years ago, it is still a city in conflict." Image from blog, with caption: My Kirkuk piano class
[US Ambassador to the Russian Federation] Michael McFaul - Facebook: "I had over to Spaso House tonight the first group of students of the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, most of whom will spending the next academic year at MIT. My guess is that Spaso never had so much brain power on it [sic] porch ever before. Very impressive group."
E-diplomacy: Foreign policy in 140 characters - Nick Bryant, bbc.co.uk: "With its 140-character limit, Twitter hardly lends itself to diplomatic nuance. But its abbreviated form, in harness with its hashtag hieroglyphics, can also make it powerfully direct. The popular social media site is just one of the online tools that governments are increasingly using to extend their spheres of internet influence. The web can help deliver consular advice, explain policy, and reach and engage with new audiences. It can also be used to issue admonishments and warnings and, on occasions, help solve problems. The acknowledged leader in this field is the US State Department, which now boasts more than 150 full-time social media employees working across 25 different offices. It uses familiar sites like YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, as well as local equivalents, such as VKontakte in Russia. Ambassadors and other State Department employees are encouraged to establish an online presence. A recent training session at the headquarters in Foggy Bottom even saw a classroom full of diplomats being schooled in social media techniques by a 20-something intern. The advice: 'Go ahead and give it a go.' Already more than 900 diplomats at US missions around the world have heeded that advice, and are using social media as part of their day-to-day diplomacy. The State Department now has an internal version of Wikipedia called Diplopedia, which has more than 14,000 entries. To encourage internal networking, there is also an equivalent of Facebook called Corridor - in the look and feel, the two are strikingly similar - which has over 6,500 members. The State Department also uses a form of crowdsourcing to come up with solutions to problems. For instance, it went online to ask its employees for cost-cutting ideas. ... In its public diplomacy, the State Department has taken to the web to advise on how people can circumvent restrictive firewalls and beat online government censorship. ... E-diplomacy certainly carries risks. Even experienced practitioners, like the Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt, have run into trouble. ... Some prefer to maintain a diplomatic silence. Hillary Clinton, despite investing heavily in harnessing the power of the internet, does not tweet. But e-diplomacy is the talk of foreign ministries the world over, as foreign affairs is increasingly conducted in 140 characters or less."
Americans Deserve to Know What the U.S. Government Is Broadcasting - Helle Dale, blog.heritage.org: "Americans deserve transparency about what their government is doing, as long as that transparency doesn’t threaten national security. Transparency should also be the guiding principle of the State Department’s public diplomacy and U.S. international broadcasting. But since 1948, the U.S. Information and Educational Exchange Act, also know as the Smith–Mundt Act for its two co-sponsors, has included provisions that prohibit Americans from knowing what the government is doing in the name of public diplomacy. Smith–Mundt established, among other things, Voice of America, Radio Liberty, and Radio Free Europe. Coming out of the experience of World War II, Congress feared then that the U.S. government might aim propaganda at its own citizens through its new broadcasting capacities. The masters of propaganda were, of course, the Nazis and the Soviets, and though Americans assuredly did not think of their government as totalitarian, it was an understandable concern at the time. That was then and this is now; we live in a vastly different world today. It is past time to modernize the institutions of U.S. public diplomacy. A critical element in this modernization process is revision of the Smith–Mundt Act, which passed the House in June as an amendment to Department of Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 5736, the Smith–Mundt-Modernization Act of 2012). An identical version of the legislation is pending in the Senate Defense authorization bill. The Smith–Mundt Modernization Act would remove the decade-long prohibition on the dissemination to Americans of material produced by the State Department and the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the U.S. agency that oversees U.S. international broadcasting. Other U.S. agencies, such as the Defense Department, are not covered by this bill. Critics of the Smith–Mundt Modernization Act, on the right as well as left, have charged that it would open the 'floodgates for U.S. government propaganda.' As noted, this argument might have been valid 50 years ago, but in today’s media environment, it has no validity. For one thing, Americans have a seemingly infinite number of sources of information through their cable systems and Internet applications. Adding broadcasting from the BBG to this cacophonous mix would hardly to lead to brainwashing and marching in lockstep. Furthermore, the State Department’s 135 websites and blogs are already available to anyone with a computer, whether here or abroad. With so much information already widely available, why even bother to tamper with Smith–Mundt’s decades-old prohibition against propaganda? The reason is transparency. Smith–Mundt is routinely cited by government officials and lawyers—even from the Pentagon, which it does not legally cover—as a convenient excuse not to share information or to nix innovative programs that might involve American citizens. The dreaded words 'It is against Smith–Mundt' create a chilling effect on transparency. There is absolutely no reason why Americans should not be able to access the information that the U.S. government broadcasts to the rest of the world every single day. Americans may like what they hear and see. Americans may not like it. But they deserve the chance to be informed."
Pakistan embassy advances public diplomacy with mix of Sufi and fusion music - myglobalcommunitytoday.wordpress.com: "The Pakistani embassy here has aggressively been advancing a public diplomacy drive to engage both the diaspora and the official and policy community in Washington. The idea behind this series of events is to bring Pakistan‘s many cultural commodities and strengths to the power capital where all embassies use diplomacy in all its forms. ... Pakistan’s ambassador to the US Sherry Rehman made the argument that contrary to stereotypes, her country has much more to offer and has, in fact, emerged as the regional hub of Sufi music and boasts the largest number of pop fusion groups.
The Open Embassy Evening was attended by senior American officials from the State Dept. White House and members of think tank community Democratic Congressman Dennis Kuccinich, a Democrat from Ohio, and a longtime advocate of end to unilateral actions like drones, attended the dinner, and was seen in close conversations with the Ambassador and Deputy Chief Mission, Asad Majeed." Image from article, with caption: Pakistan’s ambassador Sherry Rehman and US Congressman Dennis Kucinich
Hemlines, Symphonies, and Nuclear Weapons - James Thomas Snyderb blog: A few years ago CNN and the redoubtable correspondent Christiane Amanpour were granted extraordinary access to the country as North Korea prepared to host the New York Philharmonic Orchestra in what was a truly dramatic display of cultural public diplomacy. To its credit, the Philharmonic held its ground on a play list which included the North Korean national anthem, 'The Star Spangled Banner,' Dvorak’s 'New World Symphony,' Gershwin’s 'An American in Paris,' and a folk tune common to both Koreas as an encore.
It is clear from CNN’s footage that the concert was a big hit with the Philharmonic’s audience. It was impossible not to feel that art had bridged something. Image from article, with caption: A female worker in the Pyongyang subway.
Does Coolness Merit the Priority Place in Japan's Public Diplomacy? - Aleksandra Babovic, japanfpo.org: "For the most of the Post-War period, Japan had primarily attracted attention of academia and journalism as an economic miracle and financial superpower. Recently, we can observe a proliferation of titles analyzing 'Cool Japan' as cultural superpower, its pop culture as a soft power resource and its merits in success of Japan’s public diplomacy. The lack of clear distinction between the key concepts brought an easiness in giving credits to pop-culture in analyzing each of these. Its potential has been analyzed in terms of resources, but very little in terms of behavioral outcomes. The public diplomacy has to be analyzed as a medium for broadcasting these resources whose content is supposed to produce (or not) the soft power in a long-term. Can it be that the centrality given to the 'Coolness' as a resource of Japan’s public diplomacy, and potentially soft power, has been extrapolated from the broader context and oversimplified? New public diplomacy aims to disseminate an image of peaceful, trustworthy and credible Japan, with cultural and political values that could be useful to other countries. It is believed that consequently, it could help the country find more support and attractiveness for the active leadership in international affairs. The subcultures manga, anime, fashion, music that, as a part of creative industries, had already reached overseas’ markets and consumers’ minds popped up as a potential tool in achieving PD goals. The conviction about popular culture being a robust ally of Japanese diplomacy when it comes to creating a positive, witty, benign image of Japan to overseas people, frequently expressed in speeches of politicians, resulted in structural reform of MOFA, creation of the International Manga Award, appointment of blue earless cat Doraemon as cultural ambassador and creation of Japan’s Creative Center in Singapore. The priority put on pop-culture is insufficient for Japan’s foreign policy goals and image it aims to promote. The pop-culture content is characterized by exceptionalism, bizarreness, thus having limited reach. Are the values promoted by these consistent with desired behavioral outcomes? Although creative industries are one potential resource of public diplomacy in terms of creating an image of “creative, inventive, unique” Japan, they alone cannot change people’s mind about Japan as a State. A dichotomy between consuming manga and anime and having an opinion about Japan’s government is obvious, especially in South-East Asia. Indeed, Japan has been a trendsetter for middle-classes’ lifestyle in neighboring countries, but still people make difference between its culture and State’s actions. Previously prioritized JET program, Japan Oversea Cooperation Volunteer Program and the Japan Foundation cultural and intellectual exchange have been targeting broader community of people. To achieve above stated goals, 'Cool Japan' is a fragile basis to rely on. Instead, new layers should be added at all levels to make it more strategic. Prior to that, the consensus about clear set of cultural and political values Japan aims to promote needs to exist. Since public diplomacy is a two-way street, the knowledge about targeting population’s perception, opinion and desires has to be taken into account for designing the strategy. Politicians, scholars, bureaucrats, students and citizens should make coordinated actions to make the cultural strategy work and be sustainable. For instance, Japan is aware that the public opinion in neighboring countries is dissatisfied with the lack of heartfelt apology for its colonial past. The government should be a 'creative director' and use all possible channels, including cultural ones to make unequivocal and clear-cut with the past. It is indispensable step to move forward. 'Cool Japan' is like a popular product that corresponds to a certain shares of the market. In order to make Japan more attractive globally, it should be in harmony with other cultural segments, political values and foreign policy decisions. The fact that the product has been popular does not necessary imply it will produce soft power. In addition, the measurement of pop-culture impact on Japan’s soft power remains methodologically difficult. Moreover, it brings debate about what kind of power Japan tends to be. The renouncement to use of war and its economic decline made Japan over-reliant on the use of soft power more than other countries. However, it does not mean that soft elements are to be prioritized."
Parashat Matot-Masei – Rabbi Yehiel Wasserman: Shall your brothers go to war, and shall you sit here? - Jewish Partner, renaissance.jewishagency.org: "Let me underscore that the Torah is the highest of values for the Jewish People, it is the foundation of our very existence and the origin of all authority, and all agree that a limited number of Yeshiva learners should be allowed to devote themselves to Torah study and be a 'Torah elite unit'.
But the rest must do their share and take part in the efforts to restore security. They must echo the words of Moshe Rabeinu. For Israel has both moments of glory and hardships, and the security burden is unbearable. But the process is a gradual one, both on the public diplomacy front and in practice, and we must be very careful when changing the status quo that has been maintained for more than 60 years. Nothing can be achieved forcefully, and coercion is futile, for though the process and change are essential, they must be carried out through open, respectable discourse." Image from article
Press Conference Regarding Meles Zenawi’s Health - ecadforum.com: "VOA News [:] Speculation about the health of Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi may be coming to an end soon. After days of rumors and unconfirmed reports that Meles
was gravely ill, or even deceased, tfhe Ethiopian government says it will clarify the situation at a news conference on July 18. ... [O]n Monday, Ethiopia’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Hailemariam Desalegne, confirmed that Meles was indeed ill, but refused to elaborate or say what the illness might be. The speculation increased again. ... The ambassador for public diplomacy, Getachew Reda, also gave a VOA reporter in the Amharic language service the same account, and refused to identify the illness and where the prime minister is being treated." Image from article
RELATED ITEMS
Families of Americans killed by drones file suit - Greg Miller, Washington Post: The families of three U.S. citizens killed in drone strikes in Yemen last year, including militant cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, filed a lawsuit Wednesday that accuses top CIA and U.S. military officials of violating the constitutional rights of those killed.
Education's pendulum: Thinkers or test takers? - Editorial, The people of a large and mighty nation wonder why their schools can't do more to imitate those of another large, powerful nation across the Pacific Ocean. But this time it's not the United States seeking to emulate the schools of an Asian country — it's China seeking to emulate ours, at least to some extent. China is pushing for more emphasis on building creative skills and less on high-stress, high-stakes testing, according to a recent article in the New York Times. The ability to innovate, and to analyze and solve problems, is seen worldwide as crucial for adapting to the fast-changing global economy. But it is all part of a long-standing tension between the need for academic rigor and the need to foster creativity.
Survey shows that Western music is not very popular on All India Radio. Jazz enthusiast fumes - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting
The Syrian Civil War: The West waffles at the U.N. as Damascus burns - Review and Outlook, Wall Street Journal: For over a year, we've heard from Obama Administration officials that Western intervention would push Syria into a civil war, kill thousands and put the Assad regime's stockpile of WMD at risk of falling into terrorist hands. The U.S. hasn't intervened, and all of this has happened. The Obama Administration has nonetheless stayed faithful to its preferred course of inaction—to take it to the United Nations. The Administration's abdication to the U.N. reflects a desire to avoid conflict before the election as well as the worldview that the U.S. is a weakened power that needs the world's (which means Vladimir Putin's) approval to act. Syrians are now suffering the consequences, but the stability of the Middle East is also at risk.
The Egyptian mess: Forget solutions; the fact is, U.S.-Egypt relations are in for some tough times - Aaron David Miller, latimes.com: Three fundamental contradictions are likely to keep America's ties with Egypt in the doldrums for some time to come. We should face up to them sooner rather than later. First, the democracy problem. The bad news is that the two forces that are competing — the military and the Muslim Brotherhood — are inherently undemocratic, perhaps even anti-democratic, both in structure and philosophy. Second, the Israel problem.
If the Egypt-Israel relationship goes south (and it will), how do we expect to keep the U.S.-Egypt relationship on the rails? Third, the Egyptians-hate-our-policy problem. Under Mubarak we could rationalize the fact that most Egyptians disliked America's Middle East policy. Now that's not going to be so easy. In the latest Pew polls, 76% of Egyptians had an unfavorable view of the Obama administration; poll numbers from Shibley Telhami found only 25% favored Obama's reelection and 85% had an unfavorable view of the U.S. in general. Image from article, with caption: Egyptian men celebrate as president-elect Mohamed Morsi addressed tens of thousands in Cairo's iconic Tahrir Square. Morsi paid tribute to Egypt's Muslims and Christians alike and symbolically swore himself in as the country's first elected civilian president.
State Department: America’s Increasingly Irrelevant Concierge - The increasing role of the military in America’s foreign relations sidelines State. The most likely American for a foreigner to encounter in most parts of the world now, for better or worse, carries a weapon and drives a tank. That leaves for the understaffed Department of State pretty much only the role of concierge. America’s VIPs and wanna be VIPs need their hands held, their security arranged, their motorcades organized and their Congressional visits’ hotels and receptions handled, all tasks that falls squarely on the Department of State and its embassies abroad. “Supporting” CODELS (Congressional Delegations’ visits to foreign lands) is a right of passage for State Department employees, and every Foreign Service Officer has his/her war stories to tell. Understaffed, with roughly a quarter of its jobs unfilled and no plan to do anything about it, fits the State Department just fine. It is, sadly, a perfect example of an evolutionary process of government right-sizing, fitting the resources well to the actual job. RIP State, you rest now, it’s almost over.
Reflections on Diplomacy: 139 – The demise of “soft” power? - Aldo Matteucci, deepdip.wordpress.com: US foreign policy is increasingly in the hands of people whose professional training has been military, rather than civilian.
This development seems to me worth of more attention that a discussion on the relevance of the academic categorization of US foreign policy as “soft," “hard," or “smart." Image from article
Paradise Imagined: The Garden in the Islamic And Christian World The Walters Art Museum Through Sept. 23 - Melik Kaylan, Wall Street Journal: The show consists of 27 works in display cases and on walls, subdivided into eight themes under such headings as "The Structure and Composition of Gardens," "The Garden and Regal Authority," "The Garden Where Lovers Meet" and "The Garden in Religious Texts"—the perfect lunch hour of focused educational delight, and one worth repeating after intervals as one might absorb a dense sonata over time. Willy-nilly the eye feels intoxicated, beguiled and intensely cultivated.
AMERICANA
The five best small towns in America: 2012 - Laura Bly, USA Today:
President Obama birth certificate is a forgery say Arpaio investigators - xommunities.washingtontimes.com: investigators with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office are now certain that the image of President Obama’s birth certificate released on the White House website in April 2011 is a computer forgery.
Lead investigator Michael Zullo, who alongside Sheriff Joe Arpaio conducted a multimedia press conference in Phoenix Tuesday, stated that the birth certificate is comprised of digital layers which could not be duplicated using any known computer scanning technologies. Two independent digital forensics investigators who performed over 600 tests each, one using a PC and the other a Mac, provided investigators with identical conclusions: The document released by the White House is comprised of digital layers created through document tampering, not through routine scanning of a paper document. Image from article
ONE MORE QUOTATION FOR THE DAY
"When I was an economics professor, my students would sometimes argue that it was 'not fair' for the rich to have so much more than the poor. So halfway through the course, I proposed that a quarter of the points earned by the top half of the class be passed on to the students in the lower half, to improve grade equality. Unanimously, the students agreed that this would be unfair."
--Arthur Brooks, president of the American Enterprise Institute and the author of “The Road to Freedom: How to Win the Fight for Free Enterprise.”
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