May 11

"The guerrilla diplomat is cross-culturally literate and capable, swimming with ease in the sea of the people rather than flopping around like a fish out of water when outside the embassy walls."

--Wikipedia, entry on "Guerilla Diplomacy"; image from

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Winning the Information War in Afghanistan and Pakistan - Greg Bruno, Council on Foreign Relations: "As part of its new strategy for the Afghan war, the White House has called for an overhaul of 'strategic communications' in Afghanistan 'to improve the image of the United States and its allies' and 'to counter the propaganda that is key to the enemy's terror campaign.' But U.S. officials have acknowledged an institutional weakness in coordinating strategic communications across agencies, as well as broader disagreements on definitions and tactics. 'A coordinated effort must be made to improve the joint planning and implementation of strategic communications,' says the Pentagon's 2008 National Defense Strategy (PDF). ... Civilian agencies, meanwhile, continue to grapple with message crafting and delivery. Analysts are looking for signals on how the Obama administration will use public diplomacy tools beyond the president's widely attended overseas speeches." Image from

GE Makes Large Donation To US Shanghai Expo Efforts -- AFP, CNNMoney.com: "General Electric Co. (GE) has given U.S. efforts to raise the $60 million needed to ensure a national pavilion at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo a massive boost, organizers said Monday. ... The event is expected to draw 70 million visitors - 95% of them Chinese - and despite the financial crisis, most major countries have seized it as one of the biggest public diplomacy opportunities in decades. But U.S. law prohibits using taxpayer dollars to pay for such events and private fundraising got off to a shaky start last year."

Expo Errors - levinehank, Behind the Curtain: An Insider’s Guide to US-China Relations: "I know a lot about the process of approval and fundraising for a US pavilion based on my time in the US government and contacts I have had with a couple of groups vying to get State Dept. approval for the US Pavilion at the Shanghai Expo over the past two years. ... The real problem lies in the bowels of the State Dept. where working level lawyers and some public diplomacy officers over the last couple of years have thrown up obstacle after obstacle to the US Pavilion effort. It is as if some involved at the working level were pursuing their own foreign policy." Image from

Shanghai Scrap Rules! - Charlie McElwee, China Environmental Law: "One doesn’t have to be an 'insider' in Shanghai’s US corporate expat community to have heard tales of the alienating actions of some members of the Shanghai Expo 2010, Inc. team."

Place marketing - working notes - stefan.geens, Ogle Earth: "I'm in China to manage Sweden's web-based public diplomacy effort aimed at the Chinese. The catalyst is Shanghai Expo 2010, a world fair whose sheer ambition will blow all previous efforts out of the water — as is the custom here in China. Sweden will have a pavilion at the Expo, and the groundbreaking for it took place a few weeks ago. Now all that is left is to build it, and then to market it. How to go about this online? One thing we'll be doing is 'place marketing', to make sure the pavilion and its associated website has a presence wherever the geographic web manifests itself."

NCTC has integrated daily intelligence reports from all federal and some local agencies - Edward H. Campbell, Al-Masakin News Agency, Independent Media: "The National Counterterrorism Center’s (NCTC) Director Michael E. Leiters ... spoke about the National Implementation Plan which seeks to consolidate the elements of national power: diplomacy, intelligence, covert action, law enforcement, economic policy, foreign aid, public diplomacy and homeland defense." Leiters image from; on Leiters, see

New Media Tools and Public Diplomacy – Council on Foreign Relations: "Interviewee: Elliot Schrage, VP of Global Communications, Marketing, and Public Policy, Facebook; Interviewer: Lee Hudson Teslik, Associate Editor, CFR.org: Just as advertisers have experimented in their uses of new media and social networking, so too have governments. The U.S. State Department now posts on Twitter, has a Facebook account, and has launched a social networking site on its own web server. Experts remain divided on the extent to which these tools will prove a useful means of public diplomacy. Elliott Schrage, Facebook's vice president of global communications, discusses in this interview how governments should think about new media. Schrage places an emphasis on authenticity, saying the medium provides a unique platform for users to reject what they deem to be spin."

Interview with Iran's PressTV - Joshua S. Fouts, DIP's Dispatches from the Imagination Age: "Rita J. King and I are featured guests on The Autograph, a program on Iran's PressTVPressTV, hosted by Susan Modaress.

We discuss the potential of virtual worlds for cultural dialog, better communication between the West and Islamic communities worldwide, public diplomacy, digital diplomacy, our recent project on Understanding Islam through Virtual Worlds and more." King and Fouts image from

US-Saudi Culture & Commerce Fair Wraps Up - John Burgess, Crossroads Arabia: "Arab News carries a wrap-up report on the Saudi-US Culture & Commerce Fair held in Taif last week. This is public diplomacy—’soft diplomacy’—that works to highlight shared values and interests rather than ‘hard diplomacy’ focused on political matters. The ‘payoff’ for this kind of work is not a treaty or some international agreement; rather, it is intended to change attitudes over time. Changed attitudes in the US-Saudi relationship are something to be desired, from both sides."

Rethinking World Order - Part III - Daryl Copeland, Guerilla Diplomacy:

"Unlike traditional diplomacy, and even more so than public diplomacy, guerrilla diplomacy, and indeed guerrilla diplomats, are designed to perform effectively within and across the full spectrum of conditions encapsulated within the ACTE world order model." On ACTE, see

Iran ‘to release’ reporter Saberi - Keegancalligar, Media International: "Iranian officials have announced they have cut reporter Roxana Saberi’s jail sentence following an appeal by the journalist. Saberi will be released Monday. Originally charged with spying and sent[e]nced to 8 years in jail, Saberi’s father said 'Her sentence was cut down to two years with five years suspense, so after five years if there is nothing happened those two years will be forgiven.' What is interesting about this is that her appeal was heard after a lot of international outcry. I wonder if Iranian officials realized the backlash this created throughout the world, and are reducing her sentence as a form of public diplomacy."

Human Rights - Marianne Bevan, Salient: "The [Bush] administration quickly found a Yakuza to write an eloquent legal defence of expansive executive powers and aggressive interrogation techniques. Legal advice was sought, asses were covered … . Even the Pentagon got in on the party; under the direction of Donald Rumsfeld, they schmoozed and charmed public figures. This year’s Pulitzer Prize winner documents the systematic domestic propaganda campaign run by the Pentagon—managing the public perception of the war through a public diplomacy of disinformation." Image from

Ramallah television station looks for additional US funding - Kim Andrew Elliott Discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy

Muslim Heroes of the Holocaust - Robert Satloff, Islam Way: "Robert Satloff is executive director of The Washington Institute, a post he [as]umed in January 1993. An expert on Arab and Islamic politics as well as U.S. Middle East policy, Dr. Satloff has written and spoken widely on the Arab-Israeli peace process, the Islamist challenge to the growth of democracy in the region, and the need for bold and innovative public diplomacy to Arabs and muslims."

Where Is the Accountability in Guatemala? - Jennifer Trowbridge, letters to the editor, Washington Post: "The writer is a Fulbright fellow conducting research in Guatemala."

RELATED TIMES

'Smart power' stumped: Obama approach isn't making the grade - Donald Lambro, Washington Times: In an ever-more-dangerous world, the Obama administration says it is practicing "smart power" instead of "hard power." "With smart power, diplomacy will be the vanguard of foreign policy," Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told senators at her confirmation hearings. That's the message Mr. Obama has sent since his swearing-in, but so far, it doesn't seem to be working. Image from

Dangerous Work in Moscow - Fred Hiatt, Washington Post: As the Obama administration prepares for a July summit at the Kremlin, the nature of the Russian regime and the possibility of constructive cooperation with it are very much up for debate.

Propaganda Victory! - Jules Crittenden Blog: Engineering the deaths of civilians is not what gives the Taliban its propaganda victories. It’s everyone else’s insistence that the United States is responsible for Taliban war crimes. Scratch up another for the Taliban!

Protest against this Eurovision propaganda stunt by Israel - Gaza Solidarity:

If the Israeli government thinks that having an Israeli and an Arab duet at the Eurovision song contest is going to help to repair their image in the world they are surely more deluded than we thought. Noa and [Mira] Awad, the two singers, were selected in the middle of the Gaza war to do the propaganda stunt for Israel. Image from

The propaganda of hate - Samson blinded: Israeli propaganda should be structured from general to particular: Islam sanctions treacherousness in regard to infidels, thus we cannot rely on Palestinian promises of peace; Hamas broke ceasefire in Gaza, and the PLO reneged on many agreements to curb terrorism. Islamic terrorists from Al Qaeda attacked the West, and similar Islamic terrorists perpetrate daily attacks against Israel. Jews must show the common Americans and Europeans that we have the same Muslim enemy.

Description - Nazi Propaganda and the Second World War - Aristotle A. Kallis, Palgrave Macmillan: Nazi propaganda during World War II has been portrayed as the most extreme example of a 'totalitarian' assault on modern society. Its psychological grip and efficacy, however, as well as the commanding influence of Joseph Goebbels in its conduct and output, have been exaggerated. The book examines the organization, agency, strategy and output of Nazi propaganda during 1939-45, showing that neither a 'totalitarian' centralization of resources remained elusive because of the overall 'polycratic' operation of the National Socialist system. It re-defines the benchmarks for assessing the effectiveness of propaganda and underlines the gap between 'totalitarian' intentions and the far more complex reality in which Nazi propaganda was conducted during the war. Through an analysis of the strategies employed across the board of propaganda devices (press, radio, cinema) the book shows that Nazi wartime propaganda succeeded in integrating the 'national community' against its enemies; but failed in becoming a 'totalitarian' mechanism of information and perception-shaping. It also had limited impact on those factors that decided the outcome of the war. Image from

The Extraordinary Anti-Nazi Photomontages of John Heartfield:


How the photomontage art of John Heartfield, a contemporary and friend of Brecht, warned the world of the rise of Hitler and Nazism. In the fight against sophisticated Nazi propaganda, Heartfield showed the Nazi regime in its true light - R J Evans, Quazen; via

FOUND ON THE WEB

How Hillary Can Fix America’s Rep

May 10

“[T]he war of ideas efforts I led at State.”

--Former Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs James Glassman; see also John Brown, "Thoughts on the So-Called War of Ideas"; left image from

"[W]e see ourselves as facilitators of a grand conversation."

--James Glassman; right image from

"If they want to discipline me, let them discipline me, but I think the option would be better and healthier."

--Rev. Albert Cutié, a few days before he was caught indulging himself with an attractive woman on a South Florida beach, telling a TV interviewer that he thinks all Catholic priests should have the option to marry.

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

The US Expo 2010 Pavilion Totters - Shanghai Scrap: Observations on Asia and the world by Adam Minter, an American writer in Shanghai: "[T]he United States … along with Andorra and Columbia, is the only country with Chinese diplomatic relations that has not confirmed for the [Shangai] Expo - and perhaps the only nation to have missed multiple fundraising and construction deadlines (set by itself, no less). …The hope among many Americans that the US pavilion would be financed by Americans is now unlikely to be fulfilled."

Pebble in the Ocean – James K. Glassman: Economics, Investing, Public Diplomacy, and More - “What I tried to do was s[hift] the emphasis of our activities in the direction of anti-terror activity. I did not curtail any traditional, long-term public diplomacy programs. I have always admired these effort. What we did was to drop a pebble into the ocean of public diplomacy. It’s surprising how many waves were created."

Glassman and "beyond violent extremism" – Marc Lynch, Foreign Policy: "I'm a fan of traditional public diplom[a]cy as well, and I've often expressed my admiration for Glassman's efforts to expand such activities into the new media realm and to adapt to the new information environment. But on this specific, very important, point.... why might I think that Glassman intended to shift the focus of the war of ideas on combatting violent extremism? …


Jim Glassman, December 1, 2008: ['In the war of ideas, our core task in 2008 is to create an environment hostile to violent extremism. We do that in two ways: by undermining extremist ideologies and by encouraging young people to follow productive paths that lead away from terrorism[']" Image from

VOA and Tiananmen, 20 years ago – Kim Andrew Eilliott Discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy

America’s Answer to China’s 50 Cents Party: K Street Lobbyists - Gauravonomics Blog Gaurav Mishra’s Weblog on Social Media & Social Change: "We know … that the Bush government used both mainstream media and the internet for domestic and foreign propaganda during the Iraq war. In another context, we also know that public relations agencies and lobbyists in the US regularly use the internet to spin misinformation and promote their self-serving agendas. Now, the same people are beginning to work closely with the State Department and the Department of Defense to use the internet for public diplomacy. With the boundaries between public/ private, defense/ diplomacy and domestic/ foreign becoming blurred, there are serious concerns about whether public diplomacy 2.0 is merely propaganda 2.0, meant to misinform and mystify both domestic and foreign audiences."

Brigade, PRT relationship creates opportunity in Salah ad-Din - Multi-National Division - North PAO: "Many civilian and military members … described the recent successes in assisting the [Iraqi] provincial government in areas including rule of law, health, public diplomacy, economics and governance."

Grammy award-winning band awaits permit to rock Vietnam: Grammy award-winning band Ozomatli is set to add Vietnam to their Southeast Asian itinerary that will also include Yangon, Myanmar and Bangkok, Thailand - Thanh Nien Daily: "The longstanding tradition of US cultural diplomacy has previously included participation of such music legends as Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, and Louis Armstrong."

Britain goes to Moscow for AngloMockba: It was to be a meeting of Russian and British artistic minds but AngloMockba threw up some bizarre cultural differences – Hugo Rifkind, Times, London: "I’m here with the AngloMockba festival, which is best described as a cultural mission, or a one-sided foreign exchange.

A handful of British cultural figures, possibly picked at random, scooped up out of London by an impresario called Pablo Ganguli, and plonked down in another city. Why? Why not? … The point, Ganguli says, is 'cultural diplomacy'. AngloMockba is his fifth similar festival, with others having taken place in Marrakesh, Delhi, Mumbai (twice) and St Petersburg." Image from article

From Russia with love – Cultural Diplomacy News:

"Russia Haus - facilitating friendship and cultural exchange This year will mark the 25th anniversary of the Russia Haus in Berlin. Essentially the Haus is an institute for cultural exchange, scientific and academic research, and an outlet for the Russian community living in the German capital. Russia Haus has a vital role to play in cementing a renewed friendship between two of the world’s major nations." Image from article.

Final Finale – Paul Rockower, Levantine: "Today I had a meeting with Dean Abby Kaun and the head of Annenberg's Public Affairs regarding my Public Diplomacy Photo proposal. I'm in the running to exhibit my work at Annenberg, in a major public space. So far, I am the first proposal submitted and I am in the thick of the race."

RELATED ITEMS

Islamophobia [review of Engaging the Muslim World By Juan Cole] – David E. Sanger, New York Times: Cole is at his most effective in making the case that Western politicians who talk of Islamofascists not only insult an entire religion, they also misidentify the enemy.

'It's Time for the Iraqis to Step Up' Local Forces' Conduct During Mission to Help Disabled Children Raises Questions About Future After U.S. Withdrawal - Ernesto Londoño, Washington Post:

East is Red is the siren song of China's new generation: The East is Red, a bombastic hymn glorifying Chairman Mao Tse-tung and the Chinese Communist revolution, is topping a Chinese-government run internet poll to find the nation's favourite patriotic song - Peter Foster, Telegraph.co.uk:

Nostalgia for the era of Chairman Mao has renewed its popularity in a modern China where lives have been transformed by economic and social but not political reforms. An internet poll conducted across several leading Chinese websites as part of a propaganda campaign to mark the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the People's Republic has drawn a patriotic response. " Image from

May 8

"You have been listening to propaganda. Only 640,000 people died in the prisons. Only 640,000!”

–Recently deceased General Valentin Varennikov, dismissing claims that Stalin had been responsible for millions of deaths

"Bush: 'We Don't Torture'"

--Headline, CBS News (2006)

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Steering a New Course - Editors, America Magazine: "President Barack Obama inherited in January a foreign policy almost as universally unpopular as the H1N1 virus. With few notable successes, such as his admirable effort to combat AIDS in Africa, Mr. Bush’s bellicose foreign agenda, rooted in the dangerous delusion of American exceptionalism, had alienated most of the world. What the new administration needed to do immediately was change the tone, extend an open hand and proffer some plain old courtesy to a weary world. Mr. Obama has done this and more, adding substance to style with hints at meaningful, constructive changes in U.S. foreign policy. In his first 100 days, the president aggressively pursued public diplomacy.'' Image from

Update on Saberi - jessturner, Media International: "U.S.-Iranian journalist Roxanna Saberi has ended her hunger strike. ... The situation with Saberi has put a strain on the Iranian-American relationship. Public diplomacy is certainly key. The US wants to protect its citizen and her rights. Iran wants to protect its right as a sovereign nation to enforce its laws. Neither country wants to lose any ground in this delicate power struggle. As the international community carefully watches the situation, it will be interesting to see the role public diplomacy plays."

Mention of "Genocide” makes US Ambassador to UN Susan Rice to get emotional - Daya Gamage, Asian Tribune: "When the word 'genocide' is mentioned anywhere and anytime [US Ambassador to the UN] Dr. Susan Rice gets emotional, and astute political strategists in the Western Tamil Diaspora who represent the agenda of the Tamil Tigers appropriately strike that ‘red hot iron’ identifying President Obama’s closest foreign policy advisor and his ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice as the target to ‘stump’ Sri Lanka. ... The sentiments and pronouncements in her statements will help to understand the mind-set Dr. Rice has developed about the Sri Lanka situation. And ‘discovering’ this mid-set will be important for political analysts and Sri Lankan authorities to develop countermoves to negate Global LTTE Propaganda, its unscrupulous public diplomacy and ‘strange’ strategic communication that has cost Sri Lanka some goodwill which is tied to foreign economic assistance.''

An Understanding Government report - By Mitchell Polman, Free Media Online: ''Today, questions remain as to how international broadcasting operations should be managed. As a Senator, Vice President Biden was among those most involved in the discussion. How the Obama Administration will approach international broadcasting remains to be seen, but it is likely the BBG’s [Broadcasting Board of Governors] many perceived missteps are going to lead to some changes. In these challenging times, America can ill afford such tumult in its overseas broadcasting services.'' On BBG, see

VOA Hindi, Craotian, and Greek would be eliminated in 2010 federal budget - Kim Andrew Elliott Discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy

Report: expanded jamming of Radio Martí (updated) - Kim Andrew Elliott Discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy

Mutual Interest, Mutual Respect - James K. Glassman Blog - "I gave a speech today at the Soref Symposium of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy on 'mutual interest and mutual respect,' a felicitous phrase that President Obama has used several times. Marc Lynch of George Washington University, Rob Satloff of the Washington Institute, and I each talked for about 15 minutes and then answered questions in a lively session with a distinguished audience, which included Joseph Nye of Harvard, whose work on soft power has had a huge influence on me and practically everyone else in public diplomacy. I was pleased and honored to meet him. Some parts of my speech you have heard before (alas). But I draw your attention to a paragraph near the end. I want to develop the idea further: 'Let me close by adding another interest that ties in with the Grand Conversation and with mutual respect: It is to expand digital communication around the world, especially in the most vulernable places, like Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Afghanistan, sub-Saharan Africa, and more. Such expansion should be the policy of the U.S. and its allies, and it should be a smart and efficient policy, implemented with inexpensive computers, like the One Laptop Per Child Program, and mobile phones, the cheapest digital infrastructure.'” Glassman photo from his blog.

Beyond "Violent Extremism" - Marc Lynch, Foreign Policy: ''Yesterday afternoon I spoke at the plenary session of the Soref Symposium, the annual spring conference of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy on the future of public diplomacy and the 'war of ideas' in the Obama administration.... [L]et me just highlight a few of my key points: first, 'combatting violent extremism' is an inadequate framework for America's engagement with the Muslim world; second, the challenge today is rooted in the appeal of 'resistance', which is in turn rooted in mass, popular, and political issues rather than religious ideologies; and third, the appropriate response is not to conflate the various elements of 'resistance' into a single threat but to disaggregate them, reframe the issues and eliminate its political appeal.''

A major setback in the war of ideas - Peter Feaver, Foreign Policy: "Now, I happen to think that the war of ideas is one policy area where the Bush administration struggled for too long. Only at the very end, when James Glassman took over lead responsibilities as Under-secretary for Public Diplomacy at State, and when he had a willing and able partner in the Pentagon through the office of 'Support for Public Diplomacy,' was the Bush administration making adequate headway.'' Image from

America’s Answer to China’s 50 Cents Party: K Street Lobbyists - Gauravonomics Blog: Gaurav Mishra’s Weblog on Social Media & Social Change: ''We know ... that the Bush government used both mainstream media and the internet for domestic and foreign propaganda during the Iraq war. In another context, we also know that public relations agencies and lobbyists in the US regularly use the internet to spin misinformation and promote their self-serving agendas. Now, the same people are beginning to work closely with the State Department and the Department of Defense to use the internet for public diplomacy. With the boundaries between public/ private, defense/ diplomacy and domestic/ foreign becoming blurred, there are serious concerns about whether public diplomacy 2.0 is merely propaganda 2.0, meant to misinform and mystify both domestic and foreign audiences."

One step taken, more to come - William Kiehl, My PD Blog: ''As yet to be introduced is the kind of legislation that will mark a major change in American Public Diplomacy. This would be a agency for Public Diplomacy within the State Department which could centralize authority over personnel and financial resources in a single place." Kiehl photo from his blog

PD as Global Therapy: Can the Family of Nations Get Along? Rob Asghar - Public Diplomacy Blog, USC Center on Public Diplomacy: ''An abundance of theories and approaches attempt to explain and predict and shape family process, with varying degrees of success. Like diplomacy, family systems theory is an emerging art, not a perfect science. But I believe it has great potential to inform formal and public diplomacy in the coming decades, and I intend to examine it more here in coming months.'' Image on Fish Therapy from

Engage: White House 2.0 continued: nchestnut, Whose Hearts & Minds does public diplomacy target? - ''In the age of cell phone cameras, instant communication and disappearing norms of privacy for public figures, it is difficult to believe that the web can be a successful tool for propaganda.''

Cal Ripken: A Shortstop In China - Baseball Ink: – "[A] documentary chronicling 1. Cal Ripken, Jr.’s inaugural overseas diplomatic assignment as US Goodwill and Sports Ambassador – will be broadcast tonight in high-definition on the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) immediately following the Baltimore Orioles vs New York Yankees post-game show.'' Link has trailer of documentary. See also (1) (2)

Alarm Bells Sounded in Washington Over China's Rising “Soft Power” - Thomas Wilkins, ChinaStakes: “'Cyberspies' breaking into US government computers kicked off alarm bells in Washington last week at a hearing by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission entitled 'China’s Propaganda and Influence Operations, Its Intelligence Activities that Target the United States, and the Resulting Impacts on U.S. National Security.' ... 'During the course of 2007, the Chinese government began an explicit focus on 'Soft Power’ as a dimension of foreign policy,' said Dr. Nicholas Cull, Professor of Public Diplomacy at the University of Southern California. He described 'Soft Power' as enhancing Chinese culture 'through methods including management of the internet and investment in cultural institutions at home.' Dr. Cull said that the primary audience is global, as expressed by Shanghai correspondent David Barboza that 'China aims to create a global news empire.' However, Dr. Cull's conclusion said 'China is doing nothing wrong in its public diplomacy drive. It is wise from China’s point of view. The wrong would be for the west to ignore it. The appropriate response of the west should be to meet the overtures for exchanges in the spirit in which they are intended and to accept opportunities to know [C]hina better and facilitate China knows more the west.' 'I believe that the United States needs to expand its public diplomacy because that is the only way to effectively conduct foreign policy in the twenty first century. Anything that this committee can do to encourage the rebuilding of American public diplomacy would be a wise investment in this country’s future and the future of the ideals on which it is built,' concluded Dr. Cull.'' Image from

Citizen Diplomacy - Caroline Jaine, Public Diplomacy: How to build and manage the perception and reputation (usually of a country) to a global audience: "It is clear to me that since I left the Diplomatic Service, not only do I still represent my country, but that I can sometimes do it better." See also.

Consular and Diplomatic Representation for Small or Developing Countries - Consul.cc - "The Consular Chamber of Commerce is uniquely positioned to assist small or developing countries in selecting consular or diplomatic representation globally. ...

[C]ountries appoint honorary consuls who might be consuls who only seek the title, and are not at all experienced or interested in business diplomacy or public diplomacy. This ... is often fruitless. The best possible honorary consul for a given country is the one who will best and most actively promote that country's cultural and business interests." Image from

From Gold Farmers to Kings: Online Gaming in China - Steven P. Jefferson & Peter Winter - US-China Today:

"Peter Winter is a graduate student in Public Diplomacy at the USC Annenberg School for Communication. He is deputy editor of US-China Today." Image: Concept art from "Alice 2," developed by Spicy Horse Games in Shanghai (from article)

RELATED ITEMS

Democracy at Gunpoint Guarantees U.S. Defeat - William Pfaff, Truthdig: An extremely doubtful long-term reliance on democracy development is the recipe not for a long war, but for an unending one. The people of Afghanistan and Pakistan will in the end settle it, but only after the foreigners have gone home.

Suicide Rates for U.S. Soldiers at Record High - Truthdig

Communist Propaganda - JamesBranam's Blog:"Hi all, One of my hobbies is collecting old Communist propaganda from the former Czechoslovakia. As most of you know by now, I worked in Air Force intelligence during the Cold War. My job was to listen to Czech and Slovak pilots, tank drivers, artillery crews, etc. It was a really exciting job, believe me. If you were to enter our writers' office here at Sun, you'd see pictures like the one above. Here is the translation: 'No American agent will pass through our village.' Let's see, how many villages have I pass though? lol. If you want to see more pics, just got to http://metrotango.org. Cheers!"

A Pacific Warning: Australia prepares for U.S. decline - Review & Outlook, Wall Street Journal

Those French know how to live - Editorial, Los Angeles Times: A new study shows our Francophone friends are thinner, better rested, better fed and have a longer life span than Americans. Image from

MORE QUOTATIONS FOR THE DAY:

"[S]ay I'm a seeker after truth; say I'm a lover of my kind, say I'm an author of books if you like; or, best of all, just say I'm a student."

--Henry James, father of the author; cited in Paul Fisher, House of Wits: An Intimate Portrait of the James Family (New York: Henry Holt and Company) p. 114

"Association of Public Diplomacy Scholars"

May 7

“Sorry, my first tweet not pleasant; dust storm in Baghdad today & yet another suicide bomb. Awful reminder that it is not yet all fine here."

--Tweet by Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salim; image from

“The current days of the internet will soon be over.”

--Billionaire media mogul Rupert Murdoch; image from

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Obama’s War: President owns a policy -- amid domestic-policy truce - Rick Klein, The Note: "The conflict in Afghanistan and the closely related situation in Pakistan are all President Obama’s now -- and it’s telling that he’s taking ownership, with Wednesday’s meetings with President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan and President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan. This is where the Obama promise meets reality: His public diplomacy needs to prevail on two different presidents and populations with two different sets of interests." Image from

The Annotated Iraq Study Group Recommendations: What Makes Sense, What Made Sense Then but Doesn't Now, and What Never Made Sense - Frederick W. Kagan, American Enterprise Institute: "The Iraq Study Group was established in March 2006 at the United States Institute of Peace. …The ISG report itself declared that its 79 recommendations were part of a complete package rather than a menu. … What follows is a look at the ISG's proposals in light of current circumstances to help inform the consideration of these recommendations. My annotations, in bold italic, follow each ISG recommendation. ... RECOMMENDATION 19: The President and the leadership of his national security team should remain in close and frequent contact with the Iraqi leadership. These contacts must convey a clear message: there must be action by the Iraqi government to make substantial progress toward the achievement of milestones. In public diplomacy, the President should convey as much detail as possible about the substance of these exchanges in order to keep the American people, the Iraqi people, and the countries in the region well informed. The administration has been continually doing this since January."

Crisis of Masculinity? - Sarah, Season Of The Bitch: "Does Obama’s conciliatory approach to foreign policy make the former bluff and bluster between Bush and Putin look…well…juvenile? Does Obama’s refusal to give leaders like Putin (and Chavez, and and and) a target effectively work where threats and yes, swagger didn’t? Of course it’s far too early to tell. But during the campaign, especially the primaries, I wrote about Obama’s demeanor and tone about foreign policy contrasted with his rivals, and how Hillary Clinton and Obama seemed to have switched gender stereotypes. I’m disappointed with many of Obama’s moves so far, but I wonder if just the tonal shift in public diplomacy is having an effect worldwide. It’s definitely not calming the Right inside the U.S., but they sure do look silly. So there’s that." Image from

Hail, Lugar! Beware, Limbo - James K. Glassman - Economics, Investing, Public Diplomacy, and More: "Congratulations to Sen. Richard Lugar and his excellent staff. Here is an office that understands public diplomacy and is dedicated to making it better. In a flurry of activity, Lugar has introduced bills to send American 'science envoys' around the world and to reinvigorate American centers. … I’m all in favor of expanding American centers, and I know from my conversations with the transition folks that President Obama is fond of the idea as well, but Sen. Lugar might want to focus some attention on a list of other initiatives that were approved during the end of the previous administration, that fully comport with Mr. Obama’s smart-power strategy, and that are urgent — but that remain in purgatory three and a half months after January 20." Image from

Dick Lugar is the Lone Ranger – William Kiehl, My PD Blog: "Thanks to Senator Lugar's sagacity, by placing the new science attaches in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs they now have a home that fits the purpose ---scientific and technical exchanges. S&T exchanges--like arts exchanges, or indeed any educational exchange have a vital purpose--the same purpose--mutual understanding. … The Obama Administration is woefully slow off the starting blocks on Public Diplomacy so perhaps the Legislative Branch can step in, as Senator Lugar has done, to fill in the blanks and come up with some creative ideas." Image from

More science in public diplomacy may not be scientific public diplomacy - Kim Andrew Elliott Discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy: “If USIB [US international broadcasting], as part of a central plan, is compelled to increase science programming beyond market demand, its audience will dissolve.”

Public Diplomacy - Adrift Without a Rudder? Thought Spray: "The Policy Coordinating Committee (PCC) on Strategic Communications has been dissolved and the Global Strategic Engagement Center (GSEC) is sitting around waiting for leadership. The problem is the 'lack of a broad constituency in Congress for Public Diplomacy.' So said the Honorable James Glassman, former Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, in his Keynote Address to the InfowarCon 2009 attendees on Friday, April 24th. … In April, the position of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Support to Public Diplomacy was eliminated, staff members were reassigned and the office was closed, as reported in 'White House Closing Controversial Pentagon Office.' This action was initiated by Michele Flournoy, Undersecretary of Defense for Policy. She said that, going forward, the White House and State Department will take the lead in dispensing information abroad, and the Pentagon will play a supporting role. Note the future tense, 'Will take the lead'? Is that like 'the check is in the mail'? Should we not establish the new capability before eliminating the old? … How can the Department of Defense 'nest' information operations and strategic communication within a non-existent broad U.S. Government policy?" Image from

Alhurra... "Today" - Kalash, KABOBfest:"'Today' Since its launch in 2004, US taxpayers have poured close to $500 million dollars into Alhurra. Instead of spending that money wisely, the Broadcasting Board of Governors [BBG] and company executives continue to come up with different gimmicks in their desperate attempts to trick voters into watching.Their most recent venture has been an expensive three hour extravaganza that airs daily and is molded after the Today Show and other similar programs."

Why Are You Paying for TV No One is Watching? - Nadim Hasbani, Huffington Post: "Middle Eastern audiences regard American and European Arabic language television with deep suspicion. They suspect them of hiding 'Western agendas' behind programming, particularly when it comes to political content. This perception reflects distrust of Western foreign policies in the Middle East and often seems justified if you follow what these channels are broadcasting. The most striking example is Al Hurra, which translates as 'the Free' in Arabic. …

Al Hurra's current viewership represents less than 3% of the potential market and drops below 2% in times of crisis." Image from

"Are you paying for TV no one is watching?" - Kim Andrew Elliott Discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy: "Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya are essentially domestic channels in the Arab world. It would be unrealistic to expect Alhurra or BBC Arabic to match or overtake their audience sizes. But if Alhurra and BBC Arabic TV can reach at least ten percent, weekly, of better educated Arabs, they will have an impact in the region."

Tweeting from Baghdad (and Beyond) – Nancy Scola, techPresident: "Remember that State Department trip that representatives from new media companies like Twitter, YouTube, and HowCast took to Baghdad a few weeks back? The outreach seems to already be fulfilling some of its more straightforward objectives. … Jared Cohen, the State Department point person on the use of social media in public diplomacy, passes along his take … ['] It was a remarkable scene to sit in Deputy Prime Minister Salih's garden in Baghdad and watch Twitter founder Jack Dorsey convince him that he should be the first Iraqi senior official tweeting. The Deputy Prime Minister -- an avid technology evangelist himself -- promised to sign-up the next day. Not only did he sign-up, but he has been posting Twitter updates that are candid and insightful.’” Tweet image from

Group proposes enhanced government role in sports - Frederic J. Frommer, The Associated Press, Salt Lake Tribune: "A group that studies the role of sports in society urged the Obama administration Wednesday to step up the federal government's role in athletics and culture, possibly with a Cabinet-level post. Sport in Society, based at Northeastern University in Boston, said the enhanced government role could serve several important goals, such as encouraging more youth participation, promoting healthier lifestyles, and increasing access to sports and cultural activities. … Sport in Society said the federal government's role in sports is currently 'limited and fragmented,' including occasional congressional interest, the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, and the State Department's SportsUnited program, which includes public diplomacy envoys such as Cal Ripken and Michelle Kwan."

Cal Ripken, Jr. to discuss trip to China in live chat Friday - Kate Wheeler, Masnsports: "[Cal Ripken, Jr.’s] role as American Public Diplomacy Envoy for the U.S. State Department …. was simple: 'We hoped to communicate a passion or a love for baseball.' … Cal Ripken, Jr. will be here in the MASNsports.com WebStudio from 5-6 p.m. on Friday to participate in a live video chat, where he'll field fan questions about his trip to China in anticipation of the debut of his documentary later that evening." See also; Ripken image from article.

Beijing’s Propaganda Goes Global: Shouldn’t we be blocking Chinese state media in the U.S.? – Gordon G. Chang, Forbes: "The Chinese central government blocks Voice of America and Radio Free Asia and severely restricts CNN and other privately owned networks, of course. Yet at the same time, CCTV is allowed to distribute widely its English and Chinese programming on cable in the U.S. So should we allow any Chinese media--TV programming, books, newspapers or magazines--here? The buzz word is 'reciprocity,' and we should be demanding it.” VIA

Foreign Ministry slammed for under-qualified envoys - Herb Keinon, Jerusalem Post: "According to Foreign Ministry sources, key hasbara (public diplomacy) positions in the embassies in Paris and London remain vacant because the ministry simply does not have enough qualified people."

BBC Documentary “Iran and the West” Reviewed in Tehran – Cultural Heritage News

USC Launches Public Diplomacy Magazine - USC News: "USC has launched PD, the world’s first publication devoted exclusively to the field of public diplomacy. 'Nothing like this has been attempted before,' said Nicholas Cull, director of the Master of Public Diplomacy program at USC, who advised the team of graduate student editors from the Association of Public Diplomacy."

John Brown's

Public Diplomacy Press and Blog Review - Hootsbuddy's Place; abolitionist John Brown image from

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WhiteHouse 2.0: The Future Of Propaganda? – James Lewin, New Media Update, Podcasting News: President Barack Obama is turning the White House into a leading example of how organizations can use Internet media and social networking. Regardless of your political stripes, though, WhiteHouse 2.0 has to be seen, at least to some degree, as propaganda. WhiteHouse 2.0 is the most powerful new media organization in the world.

Inspector at Pentagon Says Report Was Flawed - David Barstow, New York Times:

In a highly unusual reversal, the Defense Department’s inspector general’s office has withdrawn a report it issued in January exonerating a Pentagon public relations program that made extensive use of retired officers who worked as military analysts for television and radio networks. The inspector general’s office began investigating the public relations program last year, in response to articles in The New York Times that exposed an extensive and largely hidden Pentagon campaign to transform network military analysts into “surrogates” and “message force multipliers” for the Bush administration. The report released in January took issue with the articles. It said investigators could not find any instance where an analyst used special access “to achieve a competitive advantage for their company.” It also said there was “insufficient basis” to conclude that the program violated laws prohibiting propaganda. Image from

The Torture Debate: The Missing Voices – Editorial, New York Times: Culpable ex-officials are busily trying to rewrite history. Consider a recent chat at a college reception between a student and Condoleezza Rice, who as White House national security adviser was deeply involved in the development of the authorization of brutality and torture. Among the many absurd things Ms. Rice did was to offer this argument that waterboarding is legal: “By definition, if it was authorized by the president, it did not violate our obligations under the Convention Against Torture.” That notion is just as ludicrous today as it was when Richard Nixon used it more than 30 years ago to excuse his own brand of lawbreaking. Image from

Obama's Gitmo Mess: So where is the Pentagon going to send the Yeminis? – Review & Outlook, Wall Street Journal: Mr. Obama could have avoided this mess had he kept his Gitmo options open, but to adapt a famous phrase, the President broke Guantanamo so now he owns the inmates.

Afghanistan: Taliban urges Pope to stop Christian conversion - AKI: The Taliban on Thursday threatened "harsh reprisals" if Pope Benedict XVI does not immediately intervene to stop Christians proselytising in Afghanistan. In a message posted on their official website, the Taliban made the threat against the pope and Christians for spreading their faith. Religious leaders and mujahadeen (holy warriors) must keep tabs on the movements of "enemies of Islam" and crusader occupiers" and prevent them from spreading "the propaganda of other religions in the land of Islam," the message said. Image from

Jihad propaganda billboard in Albuquerque – Jihad WSatch: But in Albuquerque, it's jihad propaganda. And here is the list of its sponsors, from the website of the group that put up the billboard. Note the Leftist/Jihadist alliance and the suicidal Jewish group.

Introducing the propaganda minister - Gideon Levy, Haaretz: We've had better and worse presidents, but we've never had a president who served as government propagandist. Now we do: Shimon Peres has appointed himself to the unworthy task. Since the new government formed - the most right-wing government in Israel's history - the (seemingly) left-wing (former) peace man has become its public relations agent. Indefatigable as always, he has launched a worldwide campaign consisting of phone calls to statesmen, media interviews and visits overseas. His goal - slapping the kosher stamp of approval on what the world sees as an abomination. Instead of the real picture, he is giving them another masquerade.

Internal propaganda - - Old Tales Retold: The main target of Beijing's rhetoric on Tibet is not the outside world but the Chinese people. Updates on the Chinese Embassy's website in DC come across propagandistic and flat, full of quotes from foreign folks in support of Chinese policy, like the sections in Chinese and Vietnamese museums highlighting gifts from abroad. It is as if the Embassy posts don't receive any real effort, like they were just put there to show someone that they had been put up.

The Fantasies of a Cold War Child - Dan Levin, New York Times: Liao Yibai will be in New York this week for his first solo show in the United States, “Imaginary Enemy” at the Mike Weiss Gallery, which opens Friday and runs through Aug. 15.

The son of a prized cruise-missile engineer, Mr. Liao grew up playing with machine guns, surrounded by speakers blaring Cultural Revolution propaganda by day and air raid drills by night. Almost as frequent were the accidents that sent shards of tools and weaponry exploding into the sky. Today, that trauma is depicted in the hammers, axes and screws lodged into his animal and boy sculptures, and, in “Propaganda Machine,” by the speakers suspended on a telephone pole that rises from the shell of a tortoise, an ancient symbol of Chinese leader-worship. Image Liao Yibai DF Missile, 2009

Vibrant Chinese Propaganda Art - Part 1: Revolution, Revolution, Revolution -

Lars Hasvoll Bakke, Crestock Stock Photos Design and Photography Blog

Rodchenko & Popova: Defining Constructivism: Tate Modern - Theresa Thompson, Oxford Times: Tate focuses on the work of two leading lights of the Constructivist movement, Aleksandr Rodchenko (1891-1956) and Liubov Popova (1889-1924). They cover the period from 1917 to 1929, years that saw immense artistic experimentation as artists rejected the idea of ‘art for art’s sake’, believing instead that art should be used for practical social purposes. These two, both influential artists in the Russian avant-garde, as they gave up painting and turned simultaneously, it seems, to virtually everything else: architectural design, sculpture, propaganda, and a mass of product art, advertising, film posters, magazine and book covers, theatre sets, costume and fabric design. Image from article: Popova’s Painterly Architectonics (1918) Oil on canvas

Propaganda - Splashlinks: World War 1 & 2 Documentaries And Films: WWII Documentary: An in-depth look at how propaganda was used during the Second World War and how Joseph Goebbels seemed to have mastered the art of spin. Features expert analysis and rare posters and campaign footage.

Art or Propaganda? – El Cabrero, The Goat Rope: “Aristotle's Poetics … isn't all that interested in art as propaganda. He views it as something important for its own sake and instead focuses on what made a particular kind of literary work great. I think Aristotle won that one. With maybe a few exceptions, works of propaganda make lousy literature. They're not usually even all that effective as propaganda. Image from

AMERICANA

In a telephone survey of 1,003 people conducted in early April, only 21% said a dishwasher was a necessity, and 66% said a clothes dryer was a necessity. When the same questions were asked in 2006, 35% considered dishwashers indispensable and 83% thought the same of dryers. Other items that now seem less than absolutely necessary include microwave ovens (down 21 points from 2006), home air conditioning (down 16 points) and cable or satellite TV (down 10 points).

--Are Americans spoiled? A Pew Research Center poll indicates that we may be more willing to do without some things that we once considered necessities - Meghan Daum, Los Angeles Times

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Photograph by Rod Lamkey Jr./The Washington Times: A group of students from the Jewish Primary Day School of the Nation's Capital pose for a photo with former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Sunday after she held a question-and- answer session with the fourth- through sixth-graders.

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