Friday, September 20, 2013

September 19-20


--Words from a bumper sticker on a car parked in yet another litter-infested neighborhood in Northwest Washington, D.C.

VIDEO

The US/Russia Public Diplomacy Battle for Syria - youtube.com

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Former defense secretaries Gates, Panetta fault Obama on Syria, Criticize former boss’ mixed signals - Rowan Scarborough, The Washington Times: "Now, even the president’s men don’t like his Syria policy. At a forum Tuesday at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, former defense chiefs Robert M. Gates and Leon E. Panetta found fault with how the man they worked for — President Obama — has zigzagged on Syria. They criticized the president’s mixed signals — first threatening to bomb Syria for its use of deadly gas Aug. 21, then announcing a delay to seek Congress‘ permission, and then stopping that process and handing the issue to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The two are not alone. The White House could expect criticism from internationalist Republicans such as Sen. John McCain of Arizona. But lately even the president’s allies see him as weak on Syria and his ballyhooed speech to the nation last week as a punt to Russia. In Washington, the Republican Party has taken to issuing news releases with a roll call of offended liberals. One is Bloomberg View columnist Al Hunt, usually a reliable basher of Republicans and defender of Democrats. But not in his Sunday column. 'On public diplomacyObama is failing,' Mr. Hunt wrote. 'There is no coherent message, little explanation of the complexities and contradictions created by difficult circumstances. By taking on the role of the agonizingly reluctant warrior on Syria, he has reinforced the country’s skepticism.'”

Washington Post: Obama Isn’t A Catasrophic Mess, This Is All Standard Negotiation On Syria - thepiratescove.us: "Here’s one of those articles I promised would be forthcoming which would show that no, Obama’s not a screwup, that he’s not getting played and owned by Putin and Assad, in fact, he’s super awesome and things are going according to plan [:] '(Washington Post [:]) Watching the maneuvering between the United States, Russia and Syria over the plan to remove Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad’s chemical weapons, it can look like a catastrophic mess. No one seems to be on remotely the same page, everyone is making crazy demands and it looks functionally impossible that everyone could actually reach an agreement. ... Almost every single thing you’re seeing these three countries do right now, no matter how crazy it looks, is about getting as close to their desired outcome as possible. But these are high-stakes negotiations, which means they’re starting from maximalist positions, making crazy, unfulfillable demands, trying to game the process. That’s actually all normal. It’s just part of the game.['] Put [Washington Post  reporter] Max Fisher in the Obama Fan Boy Club, a club that is devoid of any sense of reality. He goes on to discuss Putin’s op-ed in the NY Times and how, no, it’s not giving Obama a massive wedgie followed by flushing his head in the toilet, it’s just an 'act of public diplomacy'. ... [O]nly a complete Obama zombie would think this is standard negotiation, and that Obama doesn’t come off looking weak and a fool internationally."

Warfare of Ideas: There is an alternative to Obama diplomacy - Elliott Abrams, weeklystandard.com: "Christian Whiton occupied several posts at the State Department during the administration of George W. Bush, all of them at the juncture where realpolitik meets ideology. Or would meet, anyway, if the department were able to recognize the importance of ideas in international politics. Whiton served under Jay Lefkowitz when Lefkowitz was Bush’s special envoy for human rights in North Korea, where he learned what the department can do to corner and undermine a foreign body it views as dangerous. From his years at State comes this book, half memoir of what the United States government does wrong and half proposal for fixing it. ... As someone seeking recognition of the role of ideology in world politics, and of the new agencies and programs that can use 'smart power' best, Whiton ought to realize that he is most likely to find support among neocons—and incomprehension almost everywhere else, in the government and in both political parties. There are also a few too many snarky personal comments here, such as an attack on John McCain (Whiton backed Newt Gingrich in 2012), that add nothing to the serious arguments he is making.


 [']If U.S. espionage today is the 'pull' of information that America’s opponents do not want it to have, political warfare is the 'push' of confrontational ideas, people, forces, and events with which America’s opponents would rather not contend. That push is aided by a strong military posture, whether or not it is engaged in outright combat.['] Smart Power is not, then, a paean to replacing hard power with the Internet. ... But in order to conduct political warfare, the United States will need political warriors—and agencies that allow them to work together effectively. Whiton’s experience tells him that there are very few such people in the government, and that our agencies are incompetent and, in fact, flee from the very idea of political warfare. He spends many pages telling horror stories about the bureaucracy and describing how America successfully engaged in political warfare in the past. During and after World War II, we seemed to be good at it, able to fight the Communists on their own intellectual and ideological turf. Whiton recalls the success of the CIA and the Congress for Cultural Freedom in combating Communist parties and ideology in Europe. Indeed, Smart Power begins with the tale of a CIA agent delivering bags of cash to Italy’s Christian Democrats in the years after the war, allowing them to take on the Soviet-backed Italian Communist Party. Whiton despairs of teaching new (or, actually, old) tricks to the State Department, though, and argues that 'no instrument is available to presidents to initiate and manage political warfare. .  .  . The closest operation the United States ever had to a peacetime political warfare agency was the U.S. Information Agency.' But the USIA was a victim of success and closed down when the Soviet Union collapsed and the Cold War ended. The best model he examines is the Political Warfare Executive, created in London during World War II as part of the Special Operations Executive, whose mission Winston Churchill said was 'to set Europe ablaze.' Today, Whiton laments, 'the United States has neither the tools nor even the serious inclination to engage in a war of ideas against Washington’s adversaries,' a 'deficiency [that] represents a no-show for a major part of the smart power spectrum. There is no updated Congress for Cultural Freedom for China today.' Whiton does not suggest reopening USIA, but wants a new agency instead, one capable not only of information operations but of covert activities. It needs 'the ability to act covertly and at times even support political forces that might not want U.S. help but whose progress would advance U.S. interests (e.g., the opposition movements in Iran).' ... Whiton’s own experiences in the intelligence bureaucracy should suggest to him that this is very unlikely to happen: The CIA and the State Department would fight it to the death." Image from

Obama’s officials to revamp digital diplomacy at State Department -spent more than $600,000 on social-media ads trying to increase foreign viewership of the department’s Facebook pages - Philip Rucker, Washington Post:  "But according to an inspector general’s report, the effort had limited success: Just 2 percent of users shared or liked what they read in a given week. The episode illustrates the difficulties that the U.S. government has long faced in trying to sway public opinion abroad. The Obama administration is launching a new strategy aimed at revamping America’s 'digital diplomacy' efforts. Secretary of State John F. Kerry has hired Macon Phillips, the 2008 Obama campaign’s digital guru and the man behind many White House digital innovations, to develop ways to expand engagement with foreign audiences. ... Phillips


will be taking over the  Bureau of International Information Programs — also known as the government’s 'propaganda arm' — at a time when disseminating messages is increasingly complicated. 'It’s a double-edged sword: It’s easier to get information out, but also harder to correct misinformation that’s out there,' said Phillips, who is slated to report to former Time magazine managing editor Richard Stengel, who has been nominated as undersecretary for public diplomacy. During the Cold War, the government could plant a column in a friendly newspaper, drop pamphlets from airplanes or produce radio shows to get out the U.S. message. But now, most foreign nationals have dozens if not hundreds of news sources from which to choose. 'Propaganda doesn’t work well on the Internet; people smell it a million miles away,' said Alec Ross, who oversaw digital strategy as a senior adviser to Kerry’s predecessor, Hillary Rodham Clinton. You can’t just belch out a radio show anymore. You’ve got to be sophisticated analysts and integrate yourself into conversations happening across platforms.' ...  [M]uch of the department’s A-list digital talent has moved on: Katie Jacobs Stanton directs international strategy at Twitter, Jared Cohen runs Google Ideas and Ross is writing a book. A challenge for Phillips and his team is not simply reaching foreigners, but persuading them to change their views about the United States. In 2011 and 2012, after the bureau spent the money to promote its Facebook postings, the number of fans on the State Department’s English language Facebook pages grew from about 100,000 to 2 million for each page, according to the May inspector general’s report. But “buying fans” did not necessarily translate into engagement. For instance, the report found that many postings had fewer than 100 comments or shares. ... Another challenge for Phillips will be to change the culture at the tradition-bound information bureau. The inspector general’s report found that morale was low and that 'leadership created an atmosphere of secrecy, suspicion and uncertainty.'” Image, evidently of Phillips, from article

Presidential Nominations Sent to the Senate - whitehouse.gov: "... Richard Stengel, of New York, to be Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy, vice Tara D. Sonenshine."

This Obama Nominee Questioned If The Constitution Even Matters - Fred Lucas, theblaze.com: "As managing editor of Time magazine, Richard Stengel questioned if the Constitution even matters. If confirmed by the Senate, he’ll take an oath to uphold it. The day after Constitution Day, President Barack Obama sent the nomination of Stengel to the Senate to be the undersecretary of state for public diplomacy. Stengel has had a long career in journalism, and also worked briefly in politics. But his essay published in July 4, 2011 issue of Time was the cover story with a picture depicting the Constitution being shredded and asking 'Does it Still Matter?' The article, that ran about 5,000 words, was the main feature of the magazine’s 10th annual History Issue.


'We can pat ourselves on the back about the past 223 years, but we cannot let the Constitution become an obstacle to the U.S.’s moving into the future with a sensible health care system, a globalized economy, an evolving sense of civil and political rights,' Stengel wrote. Stengel wrote the piece as litigation had ensued challenging the constitutionality of the Obamacare health law and as tea party members of Congress helped make the Constitution a key point of public debate. Stengel went on to write, 'The Constitution does not protect our spirit of liberty; our spirit of liberty protects the Constitution. The Constitution serves the nation; the nation does not serve the Constitution.'” Image from entry; see also (1)

Hivos, US Government, Indigo Trust, provide US $280k for tech hub in Harare - techzim.co.zw: Indigo Trust, a UK based grant making foundation, announced today that they, the US government and Hivos, have granted at least $280,000 to Hypercube, an organisation we wrote about here last month.


The money is for the organisation to establish a technology hub in Harare. The hub, according to the announcement, will support tech entrepreneurs working on both commercial and social projects. Indigo Trust is contributing £30,000, Hivos €40,000 annually for 3 years, and the US government – through a State Department Fund for Innovation in Public Diplomacy administered by the US Embassy in Harare – is contributing $75,000. The total amount, converted using the current rate, comes up to about US $280,000. Image from entry

State Department’s Andrew Rabens nominated for Service to America Medal - Jessica Schulberg, Washington Post: "Rabens, a special adviser at the State Department, contacted U.S. embassies and consulates in the Middle East with a simple request: Select the top political movers and shakers between 18 and 35 in each country to participate in a 10-day program promoting youth empowerment and leadership.


Fifty-five were ultimately selected. He welcomed them at the San Francisco International Airport last October to the inaugural Active Citizen Summit. 'From the beginning of the program, he treated us like his extended family,' recalled Amani Ogbi, 28, a Libyan. 'It was a person who wanted the best for his country, but also to extend bridges of communication between all cultures.' The delegates represented 18 Middle Eastern countries, several of which do not have diplomatic engagement with each other, much less with the United States. ... In recognition of his youth engagement efforts in a region that is strategically significant to U.S. interests, Rabens has been selected as a finalist for a Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal. Winners of the awards, sponsored by the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, will be announced next month. ... In 2008, armed with a master’s degree from the London School of Economics and professional experience working for Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and at the United Nations, Rabens became a Presidential Management Fellow in the State Department’s Office of Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs." Rabens image from article

Ming Tsai's World Premiere of the "Simply Ming" Collection Launches on HSN on September 20, 2013 - consumerelectronicsnet.com: "Celebrity chef and restaurateur Ming Tsai will debut his collection of 'Simply Ming' cutting edge kitchen tools and accessories on HSN, HSN.com and HSN mobile live on Friday, September 20, 2013 at 12 A.M. EDT. ... In 1998, Ming opened Blue Ginger in Wellesley, MA and immediately impressed diners nationwide with his innovative East-West cuisine. His success led him to open Blue Dragon, a 90 seat Asian gastropub in Boston in 2013. Ming also represents the United States with the Diplomatic Culinary Partnership Initiative/American Chefs Corps, where chefs around the country participate in official government programs that use food as a foundation for public diplomacy efforts at home and abroad."

Government must preserve national parks - Todd Davidson, thehill.com: "Last year, President Obama called for a national travel and tourism strategy to make the United States the world’s top travel and tourism destination, as part of a comprehensive effort to spur job creation. The White House released the strategy just over a year ago — an important step that officially elevates the travel and tourism industry to what it should be: a national priority. It also recognizes the industry for its fundamental contribution to our economy, national security and public diplomacy. Our national parks can play an important role in making the U.S. a top travel destination."

TV Martí transmitter plane, grounded by sequester, stored for $79,500 per year (updated) - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting: [Elliott comment:] "The people of Cuba are not getting complete and reliable news about Cuba and the rest of the world from their domestic media. It is appropriate for the United States to provide such a news service. It should be a comprehensive, balanced news service, not a "gotcha" bad-news-about-Cuba news service. And it should be rebranded."

U.S.-China Relationship Starts from Mutual Understanding - infozine.com: “'What brings us together is mutual need, common interest and a shared future,' Chinese Ambassador to the U.S. Cui Tiankai said [at a panel discussion]. China is currently the third largest export market for U.S. goods (after Canada and Mexico), and the United States is China’s largest export market. 'Today, both of our two people enjoy a life of peace,' said Li Zhaoxing, president of the China Public Diplomacy Association and former Chinese foreign minister. 'We have one thing in common: to join the rest of the world to maintain world peace and to resolve issues that disturb the peace, such as, at the moment, in Syria.'”

Letter from America: Madiba statue symbolic of his long walk to freedom - Simon Barber, bdlive.co.za: "On Saturday, International Relations and Co-operation Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane will dedicate a statue of Nelson Mandela outside South Africa’s embassy on Massachusetts Avenue, an artery down which many of Washington’s most powerful denizens (not least, the vice-president) pass on their daily commutes. Mr Mandela’s daughter Zindzi will be there, as will African National Congress (ANC) chairwoman Baleka Mbete. ... The Mandela statue is a tribute to its subject, obviously, but also to Mr Rasool’s [South Africa's ambassador Ebrahim Rasool] tenacity. The original blueprint for the embassy’s refurbishment was statueless. Changing it has been no cakewalk. Hundreds of thousands of dollars have had to be raised, architects engaged to redraw plans and multiple layers of approval sought on both sides of the Atlantic. Sceptics might cavil that the time and money could have been better spent. The ambassador’s answer has been to make the statue just one facet of a sustained public diplomacy campaign using Mr Mandela’s 'life, legacy and values' as examples of South Africa’s 'inspiring new ways'."

What Are the Motives Behind Iran's 'Charm Offensive'? - PBS NewsHour: GWEN IFILL [PBS]: When President Rouhani won and was installed in office, there was much discussion about how he was a moderate, a centrist. What does that mean in Iran? KARIM SADJADPOUR [Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars]: Well, the bar of public diplomacy was set very low by the Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. So, as long as Rouhani comes in and doesn't deny the Holocaust, doesn't call for Israel to be wiped off the map, vis-a-vis Ahmadinejad, he is perceived as a moderate. But historically within Iran, he has been a constant regime insider. But his focus has always been kind of foreign policy and national security. And I think, in that respect, he has shown himself someone who is interested in putting Iran's national interests ahead of revolutionary, ideological interests. cAnd for the Obama administration, which is looking a the Middle East and almost every country seems to be unraveling, Syria, Egypt, Bahrain, a lot of negative examples there, I think that Iran, ironically, is perhaps one of the few sources of hope for Obama to leave a positive diplomatic legacy."

Facing Islam Blog: An Orthodox Christian Confronts the Religion of Muhammad - facingislam.blogspot.com: "The Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society, which is the oldest public organization in Russia, 'intends to continue giving humanitarian aid to the Syrian people no matter what circumstances which may arise in Syria', reports ITAR-TASS.


This has been stated today at a press conference by its deputy chairwoman Elena Agapova. Syria 'now relies on Russia and our people,' she said, stressing that the society intends 'to extend its humanitarian activity, to bear the spirit of peacemaking to the Biblical region using public diplomacy as a means of mild force'. Since the beginning of this year, the Imperial Orthodox Society has sent humanitarian aid to Syria in the amount of 58.8 million rubles. This was reported today at the press conference by the chairman of the IOPS Moscow office Sergei Baidakov." Uncaptioned image from entry

Buzzfeed Changes Community Guidelines In Response To Personhood USA's Controversial Listicle - Lane Florsheim, bustle.com: "BuzzFeed has decided to update its community contributor post guidelines after facing anger last month for running the piece, '8 Outrageous Things Planned Parenthood Was Caught Doing,' by the anti-abortion group Personhood USA. It has also pulled the piece in question, and searches on the website for the group returned nada — though the group had several published listicles


as recently as last month. ... The Personhood USA listicle isn't the only time the site's community section has come under fire: Three weeks ago, Israel expanded its 'public diplomacy' efforts to include the presence of its American embassy on BuzzFeed. It published a post entitled, 'Threats Facing Israel, Explained In One (Sort of Terrifying) Map,' which received more than 3,000 likes on Facebook, more than 400 shares on Twitter, and more than 23,000 on the website. The problem? As the Atlantic describes, the 'menacing perils on the country's borders' illustrated by the map blur reality — dramatically.  If you were to take the post at face value, the magazine explains, you'd think Iran and Israel's Arab neighbors were just about to strike Israel with a torrent of rockets and nuclear weapons. It's an issue for the site, because readers often confuse community-generated content with content published by the BuzzFeed staff. 'Since when does Buzzfeed act as a propaganda outlet for Israel?' one reader commented on the map post." Image from entry

Roger Waters discusses boycott with Israel's 'newspaper of the nation': The interview with rock ‘n’ roll’s lead boycotter of Israel was published in Yedioth Ahronoth, but it could have been put out by the Ministry of Public Diplomacy - 972mag.com: "I love when Israelis describe the media here as “leftist,” and when polite foreigners describe it as 'robust' and 'independent.' It goes along with our 'vibrant democracy,' and our citizens who 'all want peace,' especially, of course, our young people. On Wednesday, Yedioth Ahronoth – the 'newspaper of the nation,' by far the best-selling, influential paper in the country - published a long interview with Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters, the unofficial leader of the rock n’ roll chapter of the boycott against Israel. Presumably the writer, Alon Hadar, is young, presumably at least some of the editors of the holiday supplement it appeared in are young, yet the interview and its packaging had no youthful, open-minded spirit. It could have been put out by the Ministry of Public Diplomacy. ... The writer accuses Waters of 'hurting the feelings of the Jewish people' with the Star of David on the inflated pig, though he stops short of accusing him outright of anti-Semitism, and lets Waters answer his critics. 'There are various symbols on it,' Waters says, 'not just the cross and the Star of David, also the hammer and sickle, all the symbols are symbols of oppression.' (Aside from the cross and the Star of David, his show has also used the Muslim crescent as a symbol of oppression.)"

“He declares a boycott against us,” reads the intro, “floats a toy pig at his concerts with a Star of David on it and demands of his musician friends not to come to Israel. Now Roger Waters, founder of Pink Floyd, explains for the first time what he has against the government of Israel and why he automatically takes the Palestinians’ side, yet is in no rush to get involved over the massacre in Syria. Yedioth Ahronoth’s writer accompanied one of the greatest musicians in history, and examined why he insists on building a wall around us. ...

Will post-Morsi Egypt live up to great expectations? - H A Hellyer, thenational.ae: [F]ar-right wing Republican members of the American Congress ... [were] feted by different parts of the Egyptian media and elite, on a recent visit to Cairo – undoubtedly due to the anti-Islamism of that portion of the American political elite. Their views on other issues that Egyptians might generally find questionable, were left uninvestigated. More normal modes of public diplomacy, however, have also been pursued. Many pro-government Egyptians are travelling to western capitals to promote what they see as the correct narrative, one that nullifies what they perceive as pro-Muslim Brotherhood sentiment in those cities.


The official chatter around “no foreign interference” notwithstanding, the Egyptian political elite does care a great deal about the public image of Egypt abroad – and it will go to much effort to advance its view in the international media. That holds true at home in Egypt too, where political figures in favour of the interim government’s road map are engaging with different western media. At home, the pro-government forces have a monopoly on the narrative, where the military remains very popular, and the Egyptian media, while not completely giving the interim government a free ride, has hardly been deeply critical of it. Abroad, however, there is competition – from supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood. Many members of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood reside in western capitals and engage as heavily as they can, wherever they can be listened to. Beyond their own members, they have allies in members of other Muslim Brotherhood movements, as well as a variety of Islamist groups." Image from

The Lessons And Hurdles In Branding Our Country - Mary Kimonye, the-star.co.ke: "In March 2008 Kenya took a bold step to put in place a national branding program. By so doing Kenya joined a small circle of Nations that have dared to undertake this awesome and challenging journey. The Brand Kenya board was put in place to steer the process. Two years down the line the board completed the national brand master plan. ... Countries often make the mistake of promising similar generic things like educated work force, youthful population, great sites and locations without regard to how potential customers perceive the country. Most potential customers want more than these. They want stability, security, ease of movement, acceptance, respect etc. Finally, country branding needs coordination and cooperation across all levels and sectors: trade, tourism, public diplomacy culture, investment, FDI and citizens."

Tisha Korea’s ‘goodwill ambassador’ - bdnews24.com: "Bangladeshi actress Nusrat Imrose Tisha has been appointed by the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a ‘goodwill ambassador’ for its Dhaka mission. According to the Korean embassy, Ambassador Lee Yun-young will hand over her appointment letter in a ceremony on Sept 23. For the next two years, she will work for the mission’s ‘public diplomacy.’ Tisha is an acclaimed television actress, model and producer."

Islamabad’s political incorrectness - Hiader Mehdi, nation.com.pk: Leading social-psychologists all over the world are in complete agreement that political actors, the majority of them, tend to fall victim to “Group-Think” when faced with a conflict situation and led by a strong central leadership. This is exactly what happened at the recent APC held in Islamabad at the invitation of Nawaz Sharif’s government. ... The APC was conducted, in large measure and in essence, to gain political legitimacy in the eyes of the masses. It was a political thriller organized with the explicit purpose of public diplomacy and well-intended political declarations for public consumption. The APC was skillfully crafted to convey the message: Look, this government cares. This government is on the move."

Mayor deplores 'gross erosion of democracy' - southernstar.ie: "[T]he office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has come up with a terribly clever wheeze. It is paying university students to tackle newspapers and online blogs that carry disapproving evaluations of the Israeli treatment of Palestinians. ... The Israeli government has allocated $778,000 to the campaign – already dubbed good money for old rope – and refuses to acknowledge that the hacks’ phony messages are nothing but twisted propaganda, preferring to describe the activity as ‘public diplomacy.’ The problem for Israel, of course, is that its image as a pariah state is so strongly entrenched that nobody any longer swallows what it says."

The Olympic Games selection site and doping - Basil Ince, trinidadexpress.com: "On the question of doping, the newly-elected head of the IOC [international Olympic Committee] , Thomas Bach, immediately issued his zero tolerance policy. ... Chemists dealing in prohibited substances are constantly finding new drugs and techniques to evade detection. Incredulously WADA [World Anti Doping Agency], the organisation created to weed out drug cheats, refused to publish the study although the researchers were prepared to do so.


WADA said the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) needed to review the study, and do blood tests to combine with the results of the study. The thinking in some quarters is that the results of the study shocked WADA and the IAAF and its release would be harmful to the sport. Neither organisation comes out smelling roses in this situation. In the meantime our organisations involved in the solution of our drug issue should lower the decibel level in their discourse. It does little credit to public diplomacy." Image from

Communication professor takes students on trips across the globe - Agatha Kereere, Berkeley Beacon: "Dr. Gregory Payne, associate professor in the communication studies department ... started taking students on self-funded trips in and outside the country in 1986. 'Students should not only have theoretical perspectives of the classroom but also have a sense of what’s happening in the world,' he said. 'It’s an opportunity for them to put the skills they’ve acquired to use in projects that are related to marketing and public diplomacy in different cultures.' ... In Barcelona, students roamed the city and Ramon Llull University to learn more about public diplomacy, said Payne."

CBS’ Major Garrett to Influence Today’s Youth - Betsy Rothstein, mediabistro.com: "CBS News Chief White House Correspondent Major Garrett and former Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Tara Sonenshine will be distinguished fellows at GWU’s School of Media and Public Affairs. A release sent out today says the duo will share 'expertise' and 'real life experiences' with students for the 2013-2014 academic year. ... Sonenshine: 'My career has always been at the intersection of media and international affairs, which makes this fellowship at GW perfect,' Ms. Sonenshine said. 'I have a chance to take all of these experiences with government, and my experiences with media and non-profits, and bring it together in an academic environment.'”

New media focus of UNK Conference: Chinese dissident, human rights activist keynote speaker at Midwest Conference on World Affairs - Josh Moody, kearneyhub.com: "Tuesday ... 2-3:15 p.m. — 'The Centrality of New Media to Public Diplomacy.' Parvathaneni Harish, consul general, consulate general of India, Houston, Texas; Maya Karmely, consul for public affairs, consulate general of Israel, Chicago; Ricardo Valencia, expert in strategic communications, Embassy of El Salvador, Washington, D.C. Ponderosa A/B."

Dunmore native, CNN correspondent Jill Dougherty to speak locally - Josh McAuliffe, thetimes-tribune.com: "On Friday, Sept. 27, Ms. Dougherty, the foreign affairs correspondent for cable news giant CNN, will give a talk at the University of Scranton as part of its Schemel Forum World Affairs Luncheon Seminars series. Titled 'Putin's Soft Power Strategy,' the talk Titled "Putin's Soft Power Strategy," the talk will take place in the McIlhenny Ballroom of the university's DeNaples Center from noon to 1:30 p.m. ... Russia, of course, is a major player in the recent tensions between the U.S. and Syria over the Syrian government's alleged use of chemical weapons on its people. ... This is just the kind of high-profile role on the world stage that Russian President Vladimir Putin is seeking via his 'soft power diplomacy,' a campaign focused on culture, language and ideas to attract more international support.


Basically, Ms. Dougherty said, the thinking is that if the things you promote are attractive to other countries, then those countries 'are more likely to do what you want them to do.' The whole idea of soft power is nothing new for Russia. During the Cold War, the Soviets used a similar strategy of public diplomacy and propaganda. There's hard power, which is guns and war and bribes. And then there's soft power, which is more the power of attraction,' said Ms. Dougherty, who devoted her recent master's thesis at Georgetown University to the topic." Dougherty image from entry

The Last Days of Kim Jong-il [The Last Day’s of Kim Jong-il: The North Korean Threat in a Changing Era by Bruce Bechtol, Jr., Potomac Books, Inc., 2013] - Review by William Maurer, American Diplomacy: "Bill Maurer was raised in Scranton, Pennsylvania and joined the Foreign Service with the U.S. Information Agency in 1967. Over the course of some thirty years Maurer served in a variety of domestic and overseas positions. His assignments include stints as press attaché in Seoul, press attaché in Tokyo, cultural attaché in Seoul, public affairs officer in Sri Lanka and public affairs officer in Korea; tours as chief of VOA’s Korean language service, Director of the East Asian and Pacific Affairs Office in USIA and Director of the Public Diplomacy Office in the State Department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs. He retired in September 2000."

NACA appoints new director of administration - ngrguardiannews.com: Secretary to the Government of the Federation has confirmed Mr. Chenge Emmanuel


as the substantive Director of Administration of the National Agency for Control of AIDS (NACA), effective June 1, 2013. ... He is a fellow of several professional bodies, among them Institute of Public Diplomacy and Management; Institute of Professional Managers and Administrators (IPMA)." Uncaptioned image from article

RELATED ITEMS

A kinder, gentler Iran? Its new president, Hassan Rouhani, speaks softly but still carries a big stick - Ray Takeyh, latimes.com: Cleverly manipulated by the United States and Israel, the United Nations censured Iran and imposed debilitating sanctions on its fledgling economy. The new government's soothing words have not lessened its determination to forge ahead with its nuclear program.

Why Iran seeks constructive engagement - Hassan Rouhani, Washington Post: Hassan Rouhani is president of Iran. We must pay attention to the complexities of the issues at hand to solve them. Enter my definition of constructive engagement. In a world where global politics is no longer a zero-sum game, it is — or should be — counterintuitive to pursue one’s interests without considering the interests of others. A constructive approach to diplomacy doesn’t mean relinquishing one’s rights. It means engaging with one’s counterparts, on the basis of equal footing and mutual respect, to address shared concerns and achieve shared objectives. In other words, win-win outcomes are not just favorable but also achievable. A zero-sum, Cold War mentality leads to everyone’s loss.

Radical Islam: The New Cold War - Conor Higgins, Washington Times: By arming al-Qaeda linked Syrian rebel groups the US has made it clear that it does not have a workable foreign policy.

A New Kind of 'Credibility' Gap Americans and their leaders have different ideas about what that word means - Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal: The old, Washington definition of credibility, which involves the projection of force in pursuit of ends it thinks necessary, and the American people's definition of credibility, which is to become stronger and allow the world, and the young, to understand you are getting stronger, are at variance.

Saudi woman’s acclaimed film ‘Wadjda’ breaks down cultural barriers - Kelly Jane Torrance, The Washington Times: “I grew up watching a lot of film,” Haifaa al-Mansour told The Washington Times during a visit to the District this month to promote that breakthrough film, “Wadjda,” which opens in the Washington area and across the U.S. on Friday. 
Ms. al-Mansour now lives in Bahrain with her American diplomat husband. “I fell in love with America through him,” she said.

'Hitler's Reign Of Terror,' First U.S. Anti-Nazi Film, Found In Belgian Film Archive Cinematheque - Robert-Jan Bartunek, Huffington Post: The first U.S. film to warn about the dangers of Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime has been found in a Brussels film archive, having lain unnoticed for some 75 years. "Hitler's Reign of Terror" was produced by Cornelius Vanderbilt, an heir to the wealthy American industrialist family, who visited Germany as Hitler was voted into power in 1933.

ANOTHER TRIUMPH FOR A (MISPLACED?) ACRONYM?

Aaron Alexis Background Check Done By Same Firm That Scrutinized Edward Snowden - Tabassum Zakaria, Hunffington Post: The


same company that scrutinized former spy agency contractor Edward Snowden for a U.S. government security clearance said on Thursday it also checked the background of the Navy Yard shooter, allowing him to obtain a "secret" clearance. USIS, working as a contractor for the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), conducted


a background review of Aaron Alexis, identified by law enforcement authorities as the shooter who killed 12 people at the Navy Yard before he was shot dead. On USIS/USIA, see. Above image from; below image from

RUSSICA



--David Burluk Давид Бурлюк (1882 - 1967); image via IK on Facebook

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