July 18

“Fear. And hamburger.”

--Russian-born novelist Gary Shteyngart, on what makes Americans tick; Shteyngart image from article

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Clinton Visits Pakistan for Security, Afghan Talks - San Francisco Chronicle:

"Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Pakistan today for two days of strategic talks on development and security that got a boost from a newly announced Pakistan-Afghanistan trade deal. ... Clinton and Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi will head the Strategic Dialogue talks that will examine projects on education, energy, law enforcement, health, counterterrorism, market access, science and technology, security, women's empowerment, economics, defense and public diplomacy. During her visit, Clinton will take questions from the public in a town-hall meeting and give a TV interview." See also (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6). Image from

Buy Inside a U.S. Embassy: How the Foreign Service Works for America At Amazon! - Davins Blog: Just another Blogtranscripts weblog: "Who works in an embassy? What do diplomats actually do? Inside a U.S. Embassy is the only book that truly answers these questions. Inside a U.S. Embassy is a unique resource, taking readers inside embassies and consulates in over 50 countries, providing detailed descriptions of Foreign Service jobs and first-hand accounts of diplomacy in action. ... Customer Reviews: ... Being curious about what the Public Diplomacy section does, I was a little confused about finding the term 'Public Diplomacy' in only one place in the book (in the 'Embassy Flow Chart') and instead finding a profile of a 'Public Affairs Officer.' While I’m assuming a Public Affairs Officer works in the Public Diplomacy section, what’s the difference between a Public Affairs Officer and a Public Diplomacy Officer (a term used on the Department of State website). A minor gripe." Image from article 1emb

Kazakhstan - a long way to go on PD? – Lena, Global Chaos: "I just find it all too ironic that Kazakhstan

is going over and beyond in its attempts to prove 'democratization and progress' to the world, coming up with various public diplomacy and "image-making" overtures, while not making any real attempts to improve the facts on the ground - substantially, that is." Image with caption: Air Kazakhstan was the former national carrier of Kazakhstan until it ceased operation in 2004. Air Astana is currently the principal airline of the country.

Africa Affiliate ……..proudly associated - Africa’s Brand Challenge: "In a world increasingly connected by 24/7 media, there has to be a 'brand' strategy for Africans-the message has to be coordinated and consistent, and it has to respond to stereotypes already in circulation. Nation-branding, then, is what you get when you take traditional public diplomacy strategies and add marketing tools designed to change global perceptions."

Through a Nazi Lens - Masha Leon, Jewish Forward: "When I was invited in June by Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to participate in a conference titled 'Public Diplomacy and Polish-Jewish Relations,' to be held in Warsaw in October, I had mixed emotions.

Yes! What a wonderful opportunity to revisit the city my mother and I fled a few months before the ghetto walls went up. Still, I have been reluctant to return to the 'new' Warsaw." Image from

RELATED ITEMS

Unlikely Tutor Giving Military Afghan Advice - Elisabeth Bumiller, New York Times: In the past year, Greg Mortenson and his Central Asia Institute, responsible for the construction of more than 130 schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan, mostly for girls, have set up some three dozen meetings between General McChrystal or his senior staff members and village elders across Afghanistan. The collaboration, which grew in part out of the popularity Mortenson’s “Three Cups of Tea” among military wives who told their husbands to read it, extends to the office of Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Mr. Mortenson, 52, thinks there is no military solution in Afghanistan — he says the education of girls is the real long-term fix — so he has been startled by the Defense Department’s embrace.

Amiri: US Seeking to Launch Negative Propaganda over Iran's N. Issue – FARS: "The United States is attempting launch a negative propaganda against Iran's peaceful nuclear program by fabricating fake documents, said Shahram Amiri, the Iranian scholar who was kidnapped by the CIA last year."

Comic Art Propaganda Explored: 'Hansi The Girl Who Loved the Swastika' – Fredrik Strömberg, Comics Alliance:

The Hansi comic book was part of a series of biographies of famous Christians in the 1970s, like the musician Johnny Cash, the football coach Tom Landry, and the concentration-camp survivor Corrie ten Boom. The Hansi comic book was based on the autobiography of Maria Anne Hirschmann, who actually lived through most of what is described in the comic. Image from article

MORE QUOTATIONS FOR THE DAY

“Beaten and beatitude — beat, the Beats.”

--Robert Faggen,"Jack and Allen, in their own words: An assemblage of about 200 letters between Beat men Ginsberg and Kerouac offers insight into their friendship, their souls and their writing,”
Los Angeles Times

"Digital technology is also transforming reading from a famously solitary experience into a social one."

--Alex Pham and David Sarno, “Electronic reading devices are transforming the concept of a book: Digital tools advance beyond screens that talk and play videos, connecting readers to authors and online fan communities,” latimes.com

July 16-17

"We're not perfect, and phones aren't perfect either, but we want to make all of our users happy."

--Apple CEO Steve Jobs; image from

VIDEOS

Countering Terrorism With Mockery - Robert Mackey, New York Times (blog)

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Hillary Clinton to arrive Pakistan on Sunday for Strategic dialogue process - Associated Press of Pakistan: ‎"U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will arrive here on Sunday for two days visit to Pakistan to consult with leaders on bilateral and regional issues. She will also participate with her delegation in a meeting of the bilateral Ministerial-level Strategic Dialogue with Pakistan being held at Foreign Office here on Monday, said a statement issued by U.S. Embassy here on Saturday. ... The Ministerial-level bilateral Strategic

Dialogue that was launched in Washington on March 24 this year has 13 separate working groups that have met in Islamabad over the past three months on the subjects of agriculture; communications and public diplomacy; defense; economics and finance; education; energy; health; law enforcement and counterterrorism; market access; science and technology; security, strategic stability and nonproliferation; water; and women’s empowerment." Image from

No vacancy at the US Embassy in Islamabad - Ed O'Keefe, Washington Post: “The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad might want to hang a ‘No Vacancy’ sign at the front door every so often, according to auditors. As if the tight space and small staff weren't bad enough, embassy workers are devoting a significant portion of their time to the hundreds of lawmakers and senior administration officials who visit each year, the State Department inspector general said in a new report. Dignitaries made almost 700 visits in fiscal year 2009, requiring the embassy to hold hundreds of planning meetings and make use of more than 300 vehicles. It also had to provide drivers, note takers and beds for all of the visitors. The visits put a special strain on the embassy's reporting and public diplomacy officers, who have to devote time to the visits despite ‘Washington's voracious reporting and outreach requirements,' the report said."

Teenage ambassadors seek to promote cross-border understanding - The Hindu: “Green T-shirts flooded the State Department on Wednesday during an event that celebrated the graduation of teenage ‘Peace Ambassadors’ from India, Pakistan and Afghanistan from a programme aimed at promoting cross-border understanding in the leaders of the future.

Indian graduates of the Seeds of Peace programme who spoke to The Hindu said the three weeks they had spent at a camp in Otisfield, Maine, provided some critical foundations for empowerment of young people through deeply personal interactions with their counterparts from ‘the other side.’” Image from article: Robert Blake, U.S. Assistant Secretary, South and Central Asian Affairs, and Judith McHale, Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs (in red suit) with Seeds of Peace delegates in Washington on Wednesday.

A World Expo flop by the U.S.: Our pavilion at the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai is a huge disappointment, failing to showcase the best of the United States - Fred A. Bernstein, Los Angeles Times: “The U.S. pavilion has all the appeal of a suburban multiplex. ... What will the millions of Chinese who visit the Expo think of the United States? The most sophisticated of them, especially the 45,000 a day who get inside the U.S. pavilion, will see a country determined to promote its corporations rather than its people or its political system. The rest — and this is even scarier — may visit the Expo, a microcosm of the world in 2010, and not think about the U.S. at all.” See also John Brown, “America as a Shopping Mall? U.S. Cultural Diplomacy in the Age of Obama,” Huffington Post

Military should be exempt from White House policy - Cecil Lee Clark, Shreveport Times: "Recently John Brennan,

the president's chief national security adviser for counterterrorism, announced a shift in White House policy. Mr. Brennan says the White House will no longer refer to Islam when discussing certain terror organizations or individuals (i.e. al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden). I respect Mr. Brennan and White House policy but argue that policy is unsuitable for the U.S. Department of Defense. This policy is an obvious political initiative to appease American Muslims and the estimated one and a half billion Muslims worldwide. From a public diplomacy perspective it's entirely sensible; however, such a precautionary policy would prohibit our military a commonsense means by which to openly identify and accurately characterize our enemy. ... [N]o rational person can deny we are locked in a worldwide conflict against transnational Islamic militant organizations." Brennan image from

The Fatwa: Ayatollah Khomeini and the legacy of the Salman Rushdie affair - Kenan Malik, Foreign Affairs: “Many analysts expected Islamists to sweep to power across the world. The former U.S. ambassador to Algeria, Christopher Ross, who in the wake of 9/11 would become a ‘special coordinator for public diplomacy and public affairs,’ declared in 1993 that the Middle and Near East were ‘fated to witness a wave of Islamist revolutions, successful or failed, over the next decade.’ A decade later, a CIA report predicted that Islamists would ‘come to power in states that are beginning to become pluralist and in which entrenched secular elites have lost their appeal.’ It never happened."

Condemning ‘Islamism’ Denies Ourselves A Valuable Tool – Matt Duss, The Wonk Room, Think Progress: "The Washington Institute for near East Policy has a new report, Fighting the Ideological Battle: The Missing Link in U.S. Strategy to Counter Violent Extremism, that looks at the need to commit more resources to counter violent Islamic ideologies. While recognizing that the Obama administration has done some good work repairing America’s image by rejecting the Bush administration’s 'global war on terror' rhetoric, the report argues — convincingly, in my view — that it’s a mistake for the Obama administration to simply avoid mentioning the role of Islamic faith when discussing violent extremism. ... The WINEP report’s arguments about what the administration can to highlight and isolate offensive Islamic ideologies are seriously undermined, however, by one of its very first 'core recommendations': Ensure that

Islamism — a radical political ideology separate from Islam as a religion — is recognized internally within the U.S. government as the key ideological driver of the violent extremist threat posed by al-Qaeda and other radical Islamist groups. Meanwhile, U.S. public diplomacy efforts should sharpen the distinction between the Muslim faith and the violent political ideology of Islamism. This is a pretty astonishingly reductive rendering of Islamism, one that seriously undermines the rest of the report." Image from

The New Face of US-China Relations: “Strategic Reassurance” or Old-Fashioned Rollback? - Peter Lee, Japan Focus: “Either by accident or design, U.S. public diplomacy campaigns involving climate change, nuclear proliferation, Internet freedom, Iran, and the Cheonan sinking, while yielding few concrete gains, have succeeded in one key respect. They have placed China at a geopolitical disadvantage, forcing it to line up with pariahs or near pariahs like Iran, Burma, and North Korea in opposition to the Western democracies, Japan, and South Korea. the report said."

How China Is Making Friends and Influencing People - Helle Dale, National Review Online: “Now, as the United States faces a potential double-dip recession, China continues to maintain strong economic growth. The Chinese believe they are winning — that Western capitalism and culture will ultimately fall short of their own model. Many Westerners implicitly believe this too and are convinced that the next decade will be China’s. Today I have a new article that delves into another way that China is beating the United States: public diplomacy.

This fight is one that we are voluntarily losing. The Chinese have invested heavily in making friends and influencing competitors. China has opened 60 cultural centers (called Confucius Institutes) at American universities. The U.S. has nothing comparable in China. China uses its version of the Peace Corps to influence developing countries such as Laos, Ethiopia, and Myanmar. Their diplomats stay in their posts far longer than the U.S. average, which is two years, and their students are studying abroad in ever increasing numbers. China is developing a widespread, highly sophisticated influence machine to demonstrate that Chinese state capitalism is the way of the future.” Image from

The Fall of the Roman Republic: Lessons for David Petraeus and America - bernardfinel.com: “The status of the military has become so elevated that advocates of all stripes already use military ‘validators’ to promote their positions on virtually every public policy issue. Retired general officers are actively recruited to lend their prestige to campaigns to spread awareness of global warming, the need for better public diplomacy, initiatives to improve schools, efforts to combat prostitution, and recently in an effort to improve the nutritional value of school lunches. In the often cynical world of issue advocacy, one of the first steps in any campaign is now to get some brass on board. In this context, the United States needs to engage in some serious reflection about current political choices, but also about civil-military relations.”

US names Thailand envoy - Straits Times: "President Barack Obama on Thursday named veteran diplomat Kristie Kenney as the US ambassador to Thailand, where political tensions are running high after deadly street protests. ... Ms Kenney,

who has also served as US ambassador to Ecuador, was known in the Philippines for her public diplomacy including taking to blogs and Facebook to reach out to Filipinos." Kenney image from

Digital diplomacy? - The Campaign War Room: "Despite all the suggestions that Government agencies could use social media to persuade more people of their case, and take an active role in major global incidents like the Iranian demonstrations, I don't see any prospect of this happening in any meaningful way. ... Just like the Government uses NGOs in development, so it should probably consider outsourcing more of its public diplomacy."

What's important, what's happening, and what's public diplomacy - John Brown, Huffington Post:

"Twitter and other social media can provide an entree into PD discussions, but such discussions should go far beyond 140 characters." Image from

HUD dashboard to evaluate program results - Tom Spoth, Federal Times: "The Obama administration has emphasized dashboards — websites that compile data on which programs are working and which are not — as a way to identify and address projects that aren't getting the job done. ... • The State Department has a dashboard to assess performance in public diplomacy at its embassies worldwide and is using sophisticated modeling software to link spending to concrete results, said Jon Desenberg, senior policy director at the Performance Institute, a think tank that tracks government performance and consults with agencies. State Department officials didn't return phone calls seeking comment."

The Ultimate Weapon is No Weapon by Shannon D. Beebe and Mary Kaldor - The Bowed Bookshelf: "Instead of the 'militarization of diplomacy'

where DOD personnel assume public diplomacy and assistance responsibilities that civilian agencies to not have the trained staff for to fill, perhaps we should think about the ‘diplomization’ of the military, where a civilian-led operation has a policing arm separate from a military arm separate from a construction arm." Image from

Ex-Swiss envoy praises Lebanese 'resilience' - Daily Star, Lebanon: “Driven by his diplomatic experience as the Swiss Ambassador to Lebanon, Dr. Francois Barras profiled the different dimensions of ambassadorship at a panel entitled: ‘To Be an Ambassador to Lebanon: Challenges and Opportunities,’ organized by the Issam Fares Center for Lebanon last week. ... He mentioned key points which enabled him to initiate many programs as part of a bilateral public diplomacy. He told the audience that Switzerland does not have a political agenda for Lebanon. Rather its focus was on cultural, social, and economic objectives. His talk was followed by an intervention from former US Ambassador to Lebanon Vincent Battle, who was among the audience, who considered a lack of a political agenda amounted to a ‘luxury.’”

Young Parliamentarians delegation urges NATO to halt drone attack - Associated Press of Pakistan: “An 18-member delegation of Young Parliamentarians Forum led by Deputy Speaker National Assembly, Faisal Karim Kundi, currently on a visit to Brussels on the invitation of NATO, visited Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), European Parliament, NATO and Kashmir Centre in Brussels. It was an opportunity for Young Parliamentarians to interact with the representative of UK, Ambassador of Turkey, Deputy Assistant General for Public Diplomacy Division, Deputy Assistant Secretary General Political Affairs, Ambassador Robert F. Simmons and Admiral Giameaolo Di Paola, Chairman of the Military Committee. ... The Members of delegation conveyed the feelings of Pakistani public against drone attacks and called for their immediate halt so that the process of dialogue may get a chance to restore peace in the area.”

U.S. Students Join Winners Circle for Prestigious NATO Competition - lifestyletom.com: "The Aliante competition originated five years ago in the Czech Republic with 300 high school students participating that first year. In 2007, more than 4,000 students represented 11 countries in the competition. The purpose of the competitions is to promote greater understanding of international security issues and strengthen transatlantic cooperation amongst NATO members. This was the first time the U.S. has participated in the event.

San Diego-based U.S. Tactical, Inc., working with the program originator, has brought the program to U.S. students. As the sponsor, U.S. Tactical helped organize U.S. participation, and inform potential candidate schools. 'I believe that our students will benefit from greater exposure to our European allies -- especially in these turbulent times,' said Mark Divine, CEO of U.S. Tactical. ... The Aliante project is made possible thanks to a generous support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, the Slovak Ministry of Defence, the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence, the United States Department of Defence, the NATO Public Diplomacy Division, the Office of the Governor of California, and U.S. Tactical, inc." Image from

US puts a stop to hyphenation - M K Bhadrakumar, Asia Times Online: “There is need to shield India's normalization with China from episodic US interference. The worrisome part is that on the sidelines of the recent US-India strategic dialogue in Washington in June, senior American officials resuscitated in their public diplomacy the George W Bush era ideas of the US and India patrolling the Indian Ocean and working together with Japan and Australia - doctrines which seemed irrelevant and quixotic once the world financial crisis erupted and new realities emerged in the international system.”

The choice is as simple as ABC - Hamish Mcdonald, Sydney Morning Herald: “[T]he ABC's 24-hour TV news channel that launches next Thursday will be named after Chester Wilmott, the legendary World War II radio correspondent. The news channel has got Rupert Murdoch's goat up, as it competes directly with his Sky News and has a lot more Australian resources, not least the ABC's 12 overseas bureaus. Coincidentally, many writers in News Ltd newspapers feel the same way about this socialist intrusion into the free market place of news. Murdoch and his men are also exercised about another arm of the ABC, its overseas TV broadcasting operation, called the Australia Network, which, by satellite dish and cable, claims to shower 32 million homes in 44 countries, mostly in Asia and the Pacific, with such samples of Australian culture as McLeod's Daughters, Missing Persons Unit and Play School, sports replays and English language tutorials. This operation began in 1993, under Paul Keating's government.

The Howard government chopped it back, along with its vandalism of the shortwave service Radio Australia, and it had a brief and unsatisfactory period under the Seven Network before coming back to the ABC in 2001. It is funded mostly by a $20 million annual allocation from the public diplomacy budget of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, augmented by a limited amount of advertising. With the Radio Australia budget it means Australia spends only $34.8 million on international broadcasting. By contrast the BBC World Service operates on a $568 million budget (Murdoch hates this, too) and the Netherlands spends $112 million on its overseas radio and TV. Rising powers see broadcasting as an adjunct to strategic and economic projection: China puts an estimated $280 million into making its CCTV available around the world. Australia's politicians are still equivocal.” Image from

Editor's Notes: The word according to Frank - David Horovitz, ‎ Jerusalem Post: “Frank Luntz, communications king ... [has] been imploring Israel ... to avoid the use of unhelpful language and imagery in its public diplomacy. ... Luntz: ... that is what I see missing from so much of the [Israeli] communication: the essence of empathy. If I believe that you have the right intent, then I will believe that you have the right policy. But if I perceive that the intent is wrong, then I will never trust you. ... The Israeli communications strategy is to declare a conclusion and then provide the evidence. And I’m asking [the Israelis I’m working with] for exactly the opposite approach: to provide all the evidence and then demonstrate the conclusion. ... The greatest challenge for the Israeli position isn’t in the media. It’s on the typical college campus. Because there, the truth doesn’t matter. ... That’s what I want to do – to work for Natan Sharansky. To help the [Jewish Agency] ‘ambassadors.’ They are sending 40 of them to college campuses in September. ... Why can’t Israel demonstrate, communicate, the human dimension of all that has happened in this region?”

Record-Setting Half-Year for Israeli Tourism - Baltimore Jewish Times: “Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov

said the increase in tourism ‘is the result of massive investment in marketing activities around the world with significant budgets, especially against the background of the public diplomacy challenges that Israel is facing.’ ... Jerusalem was voted the No. 1Best City in Africa and Tel Aviv No. 3 by the readers of Travel+ Leisure magazine.” Misezhnikov image from

‘Only Israel’ strikes a chord on YouTube: Pro-Israel hasbara song- 350,000 views - David Brinn, Jerusalem Post: “A 22-year-old pianist from the Gush Etzion settlement of Neveh Daniel has become the latest YouTube phenomenon with her pro-Israel hasbara song ‘Only Israel.’ Yedida Freilich, a composition student at the capital’s Rubin Academy of Music and Dance, wrote the mournful piano ballad along with her father, Gabby, and brother Yuval, following the Gaza flotilla incident last month. In only two weeks, the video has attracted over 350,000 views on YouTube and turned Freilich into a celebrity in nationalist circles. ... ‘It was obvious to me that this was a hasbara [public diplomacy] song. Our efforts at explaining what happened with the flotilla were so appalling, and this did so well in explaining our positions, I knew it had to go on YouTube,’ said Freilich.”

RELATED ITEMS

NATO not winning Afghan hearts and minds: poll - Adrian Croft, Reuters: NATO is failing to win hearts and minds in Afghanistan,

according to a poll released on Friday showing most people in Taliban heartlands view foreign troops negatively and believe the Taliban should join the government. However, 55 percent of Afghans surveyed by the International Council on Security and Development (ICOS) think-tank believed NATO and the Afghan government were winning the war against Taliban insurgents. Image from

Back in Iran, 'abducted' nuclear scientist becomes new propaganda hero for country's leaders - AP: "Flashing a victory sign, an Iranian nuclear scientist who claims he was abducted and abused by U.S. agents a year ago has returned to his homeland and into the heart of the latest crossfire between Washington and Tehran. The conflicting accounts about Shahram Amiri - captive or defector who got cold feet - are unlikely to alter the Western-led pressure on Iran over its nuclear program."


Iranian Scientist's Propaganda Value Booms – Theunis Bates, AOL News: U.S. officials today stepped up their propaganda war with Iran over nuclear scientist Shahram Amiri, who they say willingly defected to the U.S. last year only to return to Tehran on Thursday. Above Amiri image from

Al Qaeda Goes Viral: The terrorists' latest recruiting device: an English language Internet magazine - Peter Hoekstra, Wall Street Journal (subscription)

S. Korea to resume propaganda broadcast in border areas‎ - Han Jingjing, Xinhua

Abject D’art - Georgina Maddox, Indian Express: Public art in India veers between granite homages to politicians and godawful kitsch.

Public art, to Indians, is still synonymous with political propaganda. Image from article

AMERICANA


--"Best thing to come out of Antennagate? Apple's 'antenna testing chamber porn" (from Boing Boing).

July 14-15

"How else could I endure English dinner parties?"

--Russian secret police and infiltrator of anarchist groups Peter Rachkovsky, regarding his practice of wilful deafness, acquired in a Bosnian prison; cited in Times Literary Supplement (July 9, 2010), p. 7; Rachkovsky image from

ESSAY

What's important, what's happening, and what's public diplomacy - John Brown, Notes and Essays: "PD is worth talking intelligently about, especially when approached from the perspective of academics/practitioners who value life and history above theory and abstraction."

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY IN THE NEWS

Visitors distract embassy diplomats, report says - Aamer Madhani - USA Today: "A constant crush of visiting VIPs from Washington

ties up officials at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad and distracts the diplomats from crucial work, according to an inspector's report. In 2009, the embassy hosted almost 700 such travelers, including members of Congress, high-ranking administration officials and staffers who traveled to Pakistan to meet with top U.S. diplomats and Pakistani leaders. Embassy officials conducted at least 100 preparatory meetings before the visits and tied up 300 embassy-owned vehicles during a total of 175 days in Pakistan, according to a report released last week from the Office of the State Department Inspector General. 'Large numbers of high-level visits are a fact of life when U.S. national interests are as deeply engaged as they are in Pakistan,' the report said. 'However, many of the same reporting and public diplomacy officers who are expected to meet Washington's voracious reporting and outreach requirements find that substantial parts of their time must be devoted to visits while contact work and reporting languish.'" Image from

US engaged in intense strategic talks with Pakistan: Holbrooke‎ - Times of India: "Making his 14th trip to Pakistan in 18 months he has been in this position, Special US Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke has said the Obama administration is engaged in intense strategic discussion with Pakistan which is yielding desired results. ... Holbrooke said Pakistan's foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi asked that all the groups visit Islamabad to discuss activities. These groups are agriculture; communications and public diplomacy; defense; economics and finance; education; energy; health; law enforcement and counterterrorism; market access; science and technology; security, strategic stability and nonproliferation; water; women's empowerment."

Kaira stresses Pak-US collaboration in fighting terrorism - Associated Press of Pakistan: "Minister for Information and Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira has said that Pakistan and the United States should continue working together to change the extremist mindset to achieve peace and development in the region. He was talking to American Ambassador in Pakistan, Anne W. Patterson who called on him here on Wednesday.

The meeting discussed bilateral relations as well as cooperation in the field of public diplomacy and communications between the two countries. The minister stressed the need of enhancing technical and financial cooperation between the two governments, especially in the field of information and media." See also. Image from article

South Asian Seeds of Peace Participants Visit Department of State US Department of State: "Under Secretary for Public Affairs and Public Diplomacy Judith A. McHale will welcome South Asian participants of the Seeds of Peace program to the Harry S Truman building on July 14, 2010. This group consists of young leaders from Afghanistan, India, and Pakistan who have just completed a three-week conflict resolution program in Maine. The Seeds of Peace International Camp encourages increased understanding, tolerance, and new friendships among youth from conflict-torn regions."

Assistant Secretary Stock's Swearing-in Remarks – U.S. State Department: “I ... wish to thank the men and women of the State Department, especially the Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs, often known as ECA, who were my companions through the confirmation process—a process that took perhaps a wee bit longer than I had imagined.

My new colleagues have warmly welcomed me to their work that is so important to us all. Madame Secretary, I am proud today to join you again and to support many of the principles that have guided you your entire life:
• fostering an open and civil society;
• providing education and opportunity for all; and
• ensuring a stable future for young people, especially women and girls." Image from article: Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton congratulates newly sworn in Assistant Secretary for Educational and Cultural Affairs Ann Stock.

Smith-Mundt Modernization Act of 2010 - ‎Matt Armstrong, MountainRunner.us: "On July 13, US Congressmen Mac Thornberry (TX-13) and Adam Smith (D-WA), both members of the House Intelligence and Armed Services Committees, introduced 'The Smith-Mundt Modernization Act of 2010' (H.R. 5729), a bipartisan bill to revise an outdated restriction that interferes with the United States’ diplomatic and military efforts. The Smith-Mundt Act, formally known as the United States Information and Educational Exchange Act of 1948, was intended to improve and institutionalize information and exchange activities to counter Communist activities around the world that America’s ambassador to Russia described as a 'war of ideology… a war unto death.' ... Today, however, the Smith-Mundt Act is invoked not to enable engagement but to limit it. It is time we revisit the existing restrictions in the Smith-Mundt Act and their implications on America’s engagement with the world. We need a more effective, agile, and transparent communication and engagement programs, call them 'public diplomacy programs' if you want, in an environment where the Internet, satellite communications, 24/7 news, and cheap international travel enable and foster dynamic diasporas that may or may not be based one’s ethnicity, language, or passport. The Smith-Mundt Modernization Act by Reps. Thornberry and Smith will help move us in that direction."

Framing the counter-terrorism (violent extremism) challenge - Philip J. Palin, Ordering Viagra Bars - Trusted Online Pharmacy: News and analysis of critical issues in homeland security: "Earlier this week the Washington Institute for Near East Policy released a report entitled, Fighting the Ideological Battle: The Missing Link in US Strategy to Counter Violent Extremism.

The report has gotten more than its share of attention by being framed as 'challenging the administration's shift in its recently unveiled National Security Strategy...' (Lolita C. Baldor, Associated Press and others) . ... The Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of John are much more differentiated than the Washington Institute's report is from the National Security Strategy. I can, however, imagine at least one senior administration official taking serious exception to one of the report's specific recommendations: 'Designate a single address for the coordination of U.S. public diplomacy, strategic communication, and counterradicalization strategy within the White House. Empowering someone close to the president to orchestrate the overall effort to combat radicalization both at home and abroad is critical to maintaining strategic focus over the longer term.' I'm pretty sure John Brennan considers that his address. He is in the midst of a significant refurbishment. I don't think he intends to move any time soon." Image from

Think Tank to White House: Define Your Enemy‎ - Matthew Harwood, Security Management – "In a 30-page strategic report for The Washington Institute for Near East Policy [1], report authors J. Scott Carpenter, Matthew Levitt, Steven Simon, and Juan Zarate argue that while the Obama administration has had some successes in addressing violent extremism, it too often fails to call out the specific ideology that spawns terrorist violence. ... While the authors note that the Obama administration has helped to restore America's image in the Muslim world through public diplomacy and depleted al Qaeda's leadership through military counterinsurgency operations, they argue the administration has failed to address the Islamist ideology that continually produces more violent Islamist militants and terrorists. The authors maintain this is a necessary part of a comprehensive counterterrorism program."

Tackling the Challenges of the Broadcasting Board of Governors - Helle Dale, Morgan Roach, ‎Heritage.org: "The new Broadcasting Board of Governors, announced on Friday by the Obama White House, have their work cut out for them. For a variety of not very satisfactory reasons, the U.S. broadcasting entities (Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, et al.) on whom the federal government spends $745 million a year of the taxpayers’ hard-earned money, have been without strong leadership and management for an unconscionably long period. ... The board’s newest members are now entering a world where tensions run high and opinions are anything but lacking. At a recent Heritage Foundation forum, 'Perspectives on U.S. International Broadcasting,' some of the biggest voices in public diplomacy aired sharply diverging views on the effectiveness of the BBG as an institution. ... With the host of issues that demand attention, the new BBG will have its hands full. Most important of all, however, is that the board has a global strategy and a passionate commitment to the free flow of information and ideas."

Latest broadside against VOA Persian News Network - Kim Andrew Elliott discussing International Broadcasting

Trying to find where TV Martí really is on DirecTV can cause a dolor de cabeza - Kim Andrew Elliott discussing International Broadcasting

Integrating PD2.0 - Public Diplomacy, Networks and Influence: "In the last week or so there have been kerfuffles about the blogging British ambassadors and the twitterific cake eating Americans. In both of these cases the PD2.0 activity has been picked up by audiences other than the intended ones.

This is an issue that is especially intense in a digital communication ecology but it is not a new one. The history of public diplomacy programmes is full of this type of incident where audience at home raise questions (sometimes with good reason) about the activities of their external representation. … PD2.0 has to be integrated into the total package of diplomatic activity while recognizing that a changing communication environment will change how we think about diplomacy." Image from

Digital Diplomacy - Jesse Lichtenstein, New York Times: "Traditional forms of diplomacy still dominate, but 21st-century statecraft is not mere corporate rebranding — swapping tweets for broadcasts. It represents a shift in form and in strategy — a way to amplify traditional diplomatic efforts, develop tech-based policy solutions and encourage cyberactivism. ... Yet control — over the message, who delivers it, who originates it — is still a cherished tenet of foreign policy." Via CC

Appeasing Reality? - Lindley-French's Blog Blast: "President Obama and his team can help explain why NATO is indeed relevant and in fact in a seemingly paradoxical manner, may be more important in the 21st century in assuring stability and security simply by being and joining 28 like-minded states in a pact based on that proposition. However, to publics on both sides of the Atlantic growing sceptical and cynical over the relevance of the alliance, this will not be an easy task. Hence, a campaign of public diplomacy is critical."

The true language of counter-terrorism‎ - Ronald Rychlak, Washington Post: "The government's inability to talk about religion reached almost comical proportions in 2003, when the Department of State launched a 'cultural magazine' for young men and women in Arab-speaking countries. A special coordinator for public diplomacy in the State Department explained: 'This is a long-term way to build a relationship with people who will be the future leaders of the Arab world.... This is, in a very subtle way, a vehicle for American values.' 'Hi' magazine

focused on things like entertainment, technology, and sports. Among the early articles that I remember was one about sand-surfing and another about protecting against over-exposure to the sun. There was, of course, no direct discussion of religion or religious values. The magazine floundered for a year or two, added an English version, went online, and finally died a quiet death." Image from

To War?‎ - Hooman Majd, Monthly Review: "[T]he Washington Institute for Near East Studies, with an innocuous enough name, is actually an institution founded by AIPAC, in 1985. That it should have hosted Reza Kahlili (pseudonym) on July 9, an Iranian who claims he was a CIA agent while he was in the IRGC (Sepah) during the eighties and early nineties and has written a book called A Time to Betray should come as no surprise, nor should the publicity generated by his speech. Kahlili appearing at the Institute in a mask and with a voice modulator to disguise his identity -- which he claims is necessary because of concern for his own safety and his family still in Iran -- argued that Iran is intent not just on developing nuclear weapons but on using them, and not just on Israel but on Europe, too (!). ...The media in the U.S. has been unquestioning of Kahlili's claims and has fallen prey to the drama of his disguises and mysteriousness, rarely (with few exceptions) wondering how credible it is that the Iranian government 1) doesn't know who he is, and 2) is unable to find his 'sources' inside Iran. (Where is the Iranian foreign ministry's Public Diplomacy apparatus in all of this?)"

Back in Iran, 'abducted' nuclear scientist becomes new propaganda hero for country's leaders - AP: "Flashing a victory sign, an Iranian nuclear scientist who claims he was abducted and abused by U.S. agents a year ago has returned to his homeland and into the heart of the latest crossfire between Washington and Tehran. The conflicting accounts about Shahram Amiri - captive or defector who got cold feet - are unlikely to alter the Western-led pressure on Iran over its nuclear program."

VOL. VI NO. 14, July 2-July 15, 2010 - The Layalina Review:

"NASA's Outreach to Muslim's Grounded
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden sparked a firestorm when he announced during an interview with the Qatari network Al-Jazeera that the agency’s “foremost” mission was to conduct outreach to the Muslim world through various programs. Many former NASA members and conservative news outlets criticized the move as a misguided mission.

CNN Fires Journalist over Twitter
Senior Editor for Middle Eastern Affairs at CNN, Octavia Nasr, lost her job over a posting on Twitter praising Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah for his views on women’s rights. Although the posting generated an instant uproar among pro-Israeli groups and conservatives, analysts and media outlets in the West and the Middle East condemn the sacking as a double standard on freedom of expression.

Ground Zero Tolerance
A group of Muslim Americans seeking to build a community center named The Cordoba House in Manhattan next to the 9/11 site, known as Ground Zero, faces strong protests from several groups. Televangelist Bill Keller thought to respond by building a $1 million church on the same site. Some fear that the behavior displayed by Keller and his supporters may convey the idea that America has become an anti-Muslim nation.

France Bans the Burqa
France’s lower house of parliament has approved a ban on the face-covering veil, raising concerns among Muslim citizens about how the ban will be enforced.

Al-Qaeda's English Magazine: Authentic or Fraud?
The first English language Al-Qaeda magazine surfaced on the web, bearing the emblem of the Arabian Peninsula branch of the organization. However, technological flaws, poor English and humorous titles have raised doubts regarding the document’s authenticity.

BBG's New Leadership Brings New Opportunities
The new board of the BBG faces old bureaucratic challenges, but may represent an opportunity to re-vamp some of the agency’s broadcasting efforts.

Middle East Peace Negotiation: A Light at the End of the Tunnel?
The outcome of President Obama's recent meetings with President Abbas and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signifies a positive mood shift in the Middle East peace negotiations. While the Arab League has endorsed proximity talks with Israel, some believe that encouraging positive media coverage will further promote a successful movement towards peace.

Rotana Goes Yahoo!
Arab media conglomerate Rotana and American internet service Yahoo! recently signed a distribution agreement, allowing Arabic-speaking audiences to access Rotana’s music, film, TV and radio programming from Yahoo!’s new online Video Network channel. Both companies are enthusiastic about the new opportunities for growth and development the agreement presents.

No Justice for the Media
Media figures gathered to debate the role of media in Arab society at the Arab Media Leaders Forum, discussing the relationship between the state and the media. While some mild improvements are noticed in Egypt, other countries in the region such as Tunisia and Bahrain are taking a step backward.

Al-Waleed and Murdoch Take on the Middle East
Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talal's Kingdom Holding Company recently announced that it will launch an Arabic-language news channel in partnership with the Fox News Network." Image from

Israel Wins, Hamas and Libya Lose in Latest Blockade Stunt‎ - Leo Rennert, American Thinker: "After days of bluster by Libya that its aid ship was going to challenge Israel's blockade of Gaza, the Libyan-rented, Greek-owned, Maldovan-flagged vessel turned tail and, following IDF orders, docked instead at the Egyptian port of El-Arish. Israel obviously emerges as the big winner from this episode -- the first time a Gaza-bound ship turned around without the Israeli Navy even having to board it or escort it to an Israeli port. ... With Israel expanding the scope of goods supplied to Gaza through land crossings, Prime Minister Netanyahu made headway with his message that there was absolutely no need for any ships to run the blockade with more provisions than Gaza needed or could absorb. Israel, in its public diplomacy blitz also reminded the world about Libya's lengthy record of supporting terrorism, including the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988 over Lockerbie, Scotland, which claimed 270 lives." See also.

Israel's New Clowns‎ - Ari Bussel, NewsBlaze: "Larry King asked Prime Minister Netanyahu about a recent clip of Israel soldiers dancing in Hebron. The Prime Minister, who had more pressing matters on his mind, had not yet seen the clip. ... Over the past three days, this YouTube segment titled 'It's easy to laugh at the occupation when you're the oppressor (and a douche bag)' has been viewed more than two and a quarter million times. ... Comments have now been disabled due to the overwhelming international response. ... Soldiers dancing in the streets of Hebron

are no better than clowns in a circus. They do not help Israel's efforts for Public Diplomacy and continue to harm and corrupt the image of the Jewish State. However, they did bring up an important point: Today, as in the past, Muslims demand various freedoms, yet are the first to deny them to everyone else." Image from

FM Liberman appoints Tal Brody as Goodwill Ambassador - press release, Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Avigdor Liberman has appointed Israel Prize winner Tal Brody as Israel's international Goodwill Ambassador. Brody will assist with Israel's international public diplomacy efforts. During the appointment ceremony, FM Liberman stated that 'Brody's diverse activities, which, apart from him being an outstanding sportsman, include years of community volunteer service and largesse, have turned him into a Zionist symbol and role model. His unique biography, which includes participation in both the US and Israeli basketball teams as well as service in the US Army and the IDF, make him the ideal Israeli Goodwill Ambassador to the world in general and the United States in particular. I am certain that Brody will make a huge contribution to Israel's positive image around the world.'"

1.6 million visit Israel in six months‎ - Israel 21C: "In the first half of 2010, a record-breaking 1.6 million tourists visited Israel. This is 39 percent more than in the same period last year and 10% more than in 2008, which held the previous record. … Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov noted that, 'The increase in incoming tourism during the first half of this year... is the result of massive investment in marketing activities around the world with significant budgets, especially against the background of the public diplomacy challenges that Israel is facing.'"

Say “No” to U.S. Aircraft Carriers: Chinese Public Diplomacy Must Show Its Strength - Huanqiu, China (Translated By Brian Tawney): "As China’s national power has grown, the nation’s interests have also expanded, but trouble often spreads faster than diplomatic strength.

This is because an increase in a nation’s power doesn’t automatically translate into increased tools for national diplomacy. Only if there are powerful channels of public diplomacy can this kind of transformation become complete. Any government must use a soft touch in handling diplomatic crises, and radicalism is out of place in every nation’s foreign ministry. But among the people of China there is a power that should scare the governments of the United States and other Western powers. The Chinese people have contributed the hard currency that purchases America’s national debt, propping up numerous American companies responsible for the financial crisis. The U.S. has neither the reason nor the will to begrudge the needs of these Chinese people. We should create even more channels by which these needs can be fully voiced and admonish America. We should activate the brainpower of 1.3 billion people, encourage their enthusiasm, and put together a series of rational approaches that could genuinely prick the United States and make them feel the pain." Image from

Speech of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at meeting with Russian ambassadors and permanent representatives in international organisations (July 2010) - ISRIA: "[M]echanisms that open up substantial opportunities include the Russian Council on Foreign Affairs and the Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Fund."

UK radio program launches weekly RP embassy news - Divina, Ang OFW (Overseas Filipino Workers) Ngayon... - "A United Kingdom (UK)-based online radio program launched a weekly segment to inform Filipinos in London of the Philippine Embassy’s various programs and activities, particularly on consular matters. ... Philippine Ambassador to the UK Antonio M Lagdameo said this is part of the public diplomacy program aimed at reaching more Filipinos particularly those in far-flung areas under the embassy’s jurisdiction. The segment is available at no cost to the embassy."

Public Relations Division 2010 Abstracts - AEJMC, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication: "Factors Contributing to Anti-Americanism Among People Abroad: The Frontlines Perspective of U.S. Public Diplomats • Kathy Fitzpatrick, Quinnipiac University; alice kendrick, Southern Methodist University; Jami Fullerton, Oklahoma State University • This study examined the views of U.S. public diplomats on factors that contribute to anti-American attitudes among people abroad. The purpose was to gain a better understanding of the most significant causes of anti-Americanism

through the first-hand experiences of the men and women who have served on the front lines of U.S. public diplomacy and to consider the implications for U.S. public diplomacy going forward. A factor analysis revealed four underlying dimensions of anti-Americanism, which were labeled Information, Culture, Policy and Values. The public diplomats rated the Policy factor as the most significant, followed by the Information factor, the Culture factor and the Values factor." Image: Anti-Americanism in Pakistan

Recalling the 2009 Smith-Mundt Symposium‎ - Matt Armstrong, MountainRunner.us: "The 2009 Smith-Mundt Symposium brought together public diplomacy and strategic communication practitioners from the State Department, the Defense Department, the Agency for International Development, and other governmental and non-governmental groups, including academia, media, and Congress for a first of its kind discussion. The goal to have a frank and open discussion on the foundation and structure America's global engagement was achieved."

Wish You Were Here... - Laura McGinnis, manIC: "I'm currently staying in the home of an incredibly generous woman in Oaxaca, who has hosted some 70 American and Canadian students in the past. Like many participants in the citizen diplomacy process, I'm not sure she would choose to describe herself that way. Sh e seems less concerned with representing Mexico or Oaxaca

than in being a gracious host (a task at which she excels). To be honest, if it weren't for my interest in public and cultural diplomacy, I doubt I'd describe myself that way either. Trying to think of myself as a representative of my country reminds me of elementary school field trips and teachers ominously warning us that were 'representatives of our school' who would be disappointing our entire community should we prove incapable of behaving respectfully at the Kennedy Center." Image from

On Sugar and Spice - Megan Pav, Musings of an Uneasy Writer: "Last month I got in a fight with a cab driver. He wanted a tip. I refused to give it to him because he had offended me. He had muttered some uncomplimentary things about me while he drove me to my destination. He didn’t realize at the time that I understood Darija. ... The cab driver was the proverbial straw that broke my back. At that moment I couldn’t take it anymore. I’d had enough. Enough of fighting for respect. Enough of having to defend and explain myself. Enough of letting things go, or pretending I don’t understand what people mutter. I had built up months of anger and wounded pride. I definitely am not that girl, screaming like a lunatic over an insult and 11 cents. But nor am I the Sugarplum Ferry of public diplomacy, conquering hearts and minds with sunshine, lollipops and rainbows. There has to be some middle ground. A particularly poetic Moroccan said to me a while back, 'If you’re too sweet, people will eat you like a cake.' True, friend. But if you’re too bitter, they’ll spit you out altogether."

U.S. Embassy Vacancy in Kuala Lumpur as Cultural Affairs Assistant - Top Asian Job Vacancy: "The U.S. Embassy invites applications for a Cultural Affairs Assistant.

The incumbent is expected to utilize a range of public diplomacy tools in planning and implementing exchange programs, outreach programs, and English Language programs targeting Youth and other mission plan stipulated communities in Malaysia." Image from

RELATED ITEMS

N.Korean Propaganda Poster Hints at Cheonan Sinking‎ - The Chosun Ilbo: "North Korea has been distributing a propaganda poster apparently boasting about its sinking of the South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan in March, Radio Free Asia reported Tuesday. The U.S.-funded radio station based the claim on a poster it obtained from a Chinese businessman just back from a trip to the North. The poster shows a North Korean soldier's fist smashing the ship into two pieces, accompanied by a slogan saying, "We'll take it down with a single blow if it attacks!"

Net Propaganda Plans Jump Over China's Great Firewall - Kit Eaton, fastcompany.com: "A rare leak from inside the Communist Party--the text from a private speech by the country's top Net official Wang Chen--has made its way onto the Web. It reveals that the government will be using the Net to consolidate power, assist in 'our diplomatic battles' and safeguard 'national interests.' By clever use of 'soft propaganda'

Chinese leaders can even use the Net to 'create an international public opinion environment that is objective, beneficial and friendly to us.'" See also. Image from

Roy Medvedev: Russian TV uses aggressive propaganda against Belarus - ‎National Legal Internet of the Republic of Belarus: Russian TV uses biased, slanderous and aggressive propaganda against Belarus, well-known Russian historian Roy Medvedev told a press conference in Moscow, BelTA has learnt. “Belarus is not like it is portrayed by the Russian TV,” the historian said. In his words, the film that had been recently shown on the NTV channel caused an outcry not only in Belarus, but also in the Russian province. “I have not seen such films since the Soviet times when such films were shown to depict American militarists. It is an absolutely preposterous film and an absolutely preposterous episode in the Belarus-Russia relations. It is not only an unfriendly gesture, it is an offending gesture,” Roy Medvedev underlined.

Enemy’s propaganda campaign proves IRGC’s efficacy: Leader - Tehran Times: Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei

has stated that the extensive propaganda campaign the enemy is conducting against the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps is a sign of the IRGC’s efficacy. Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei image from

New Neocon Israeli Propaganda Outfit Run By Opponent of Two State Solution - ThinkProgress: Gary Bauer the former Republican presidential candidate who leads the group American Values, opposes the creation of a Palestinian state.

AMERICANA

From: A lust letter to NYC's indie burlesque scene (from Boing Boing)