“Everybody lies, but it doesn't matter because nobody listens.”--Theatre builder
Nick Diamos ;
image fromNOTE
While the PDPBR is apparently "filtered out" of mainland China, according to sources there, it was mentioned today on twitter by
nktodaynews North Korea News: "John Brown's Public Diplomacy Press and Blog Review, Version 2.0 ... http://tinyurl";
image from tweetPUBLIC DIPLOMACY
Ways to boost Tunisia-American co-operation in higher education and scientific research looked at - e-taalim.com: "Ways to boost Tunisian-American co-operation in the higher education and scientific research fields were discussed by Mrs. Judith A. McHale, U.S.Under Secretary for
Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, during her visit, on Friday, to the Higher Education and Scientific Research Department in Tunis. The U.S. official, who was received by high-ranking executives in the Ministry, expressed admiration at the Tunisian people’s revolution and their legitimate aspiration for freedom and democracy.
Talks revolved around three major axes. The first focused on development of English-language teaching in Tunisia, particularly through the instructors’ training and certification. The second axis centres on making the most of the international academic Fulbright programme for the exchange of visits between researchers and academics. As to the third axis, it pertains to developing scientific and technological co-operation between the two countries to effect positive impact on the national economy. The Tunisian side stressed the need to step up launching of projects that would bring a concrete contribution to the community of Tunisian professors and researchers and promote employability in the country."
Image from18 April, 2011, Monday, SoS Clinton and Staff Schedule - Rush Limbaugh Report: "US FOR
PUBLIC DIPLOMACY AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS JUDITH MCHALE: 2:00 p.m. Under Secretary McHale meets with her
public diplomacy leadership team, at the Department of State. (CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE) 5:00 p.m. Under Secretary McHale participates in the Pakistan Strategic Dialogue, at the Department of State. (CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)"
POMED Notes: HFAC Hearing on Middle East Transitions - Ali, peacelogs.com: "On Wednesday, the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia held the first in a proposed series of hearings entitled, 'Shifting Sands: Political Transitions in the Middle East.' Testimony was given by a panel featuring, Elliott Cohen, Ph.D, Professor of Strategic Studies at The Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies, J. Scott Carpenter, Keston Family Fellow at Washington Institute for Near East Policy, and Michael Makovsky, Ph.D, Foreign Policy Director at the Bipartisan Policy Center. ... Questioning revealed that the Chairman and the three panelists were in agreement on the issues of Bahrain, Libya, Iran and Yemen. Marovsky warned that Yemen was unstable, but added that the basket case argument did not serve U.S. interests in Yemen or Pakistan in the long term.
He also criticized the Obama administration for being skeptical of the Green Movement in Iran and not wanting to be 'out front' in support of such movements. He recommended that the U.S. renew bolster its
public diplomacy efforts to convey its values abroad. Cohen added that more U.S. engagement is needed in Libya to prevent the situation from deteriorating. He also recommended civil society aid through the Democratic and Republican institutes, which he said were small investments. Broadly, Cohen argued that policymakers take regional dynamics into account, citing Tunisia as an example that was not intrinsically important prior to the unrest. Carpenter added that a separate strategy should be developed for North Africa."
Image fromCountry Diplomacy - Paul Rockower, Levantine: "American country music is a brand in itself, and something that communicates uniquely American cultural values and could be a powerful bit of
cultural diplomacy."
Head to Head: Colin Gray and Joseph Nye on Soft and Hard Power - zenpundit.com: "[T]he United States, through the private sector production of goods, services and intellectual property, has since WWII been overwhelming successful in exporting our 'soft power' into foreign cultures to an extent seldom matched in history.
However, the ability of the USG to capitalize on this latent-passive global acculturation through
public diplomacy has ranged from minimal to excruciatingly counterproductive when our words, deeds and image are in serious disharmony."
Image fromNew Director of VOA, Voice of America, is David Ensor - "Ensor spent 19 years with ABC News, covering the White House and then the national security beat. In 1999, he joined CNN, and he is currently working for the government in Kabul, Afghanistan, as the U.S. Embassy’s Director of Communications and
Public Diplomacy in Kabul. Politico.com reports his selection, and says he will will succeed Dan Austin, VOA Director since October 2006. The decision about Ensor was reached at last week’s meeting of the Broadcasting Board of Governors in Washington, D.C. BBG Chairman Walter Isaacson says 'The democracy uprisings of the past two months have shown the critical importance of the free flow of credible information in empowering people around the world.'”
The VOA Is Losing Its Voice -- Hillary Clinton: 'We are in an information war, and we are losing.' - L. Gordon Crovitz, Wall Street Journal: China's state news agency, Xinhua, is building a broadcasting headquarters in New York's Times Square as part of Beijing's $7 billion investment in global propaganda, including a 24-hour news channel in English. Meanwhile, Congress recently held hearings on a plan for Voice of America to cut its Chinese- language news broadcasts in order to save $8 million a year. If
public diplomacy helps determine which countries are on the way up and which are on the way down, U.S. actions speak louder than the broadcasts themselves. 'We are in an information war, and we are losing that war,' Secretary of State Hillary Clinton admitted to Congress last month. That's the predictable result of unilateral disarmament. As China, Russia and Islamist groups have accelerated their efforts, America has been withdrawing. Reductions in VOA, including an end to Arabic-language programming in the Middle East, are especially dismaying given the leading role the broadcaster played in winning the Cold War
against earlier information- suppressing ideologies. ... To its credit, VOA is one of the few parts of the U.S. government that has dared to use circumvention technologies, which allow access to the open Web. It has invested in software from services including Freegate and Ultrareach, and it includes icons on its websites around the world called 'Getting Around Internet Blockage.' These let people listen to VOA broadcasts and also then use their connections to surf the free Internet. ... Firing the journalists who create the content in languages like Mandarin undermines both Web and radio efforts. 'The Chinese people are our greatest allies, and the free flow of information is our greatest weapon,' Says Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R., Calif.). This is a simple but persuasive argument for restoring planned cuts to VOA and re- engaging in the information war."
Image from article, with caption: President Ronald Reagan gives his weekly radio address, Saturday, November 9, 1985, at the Voice of America studio in Washington. The address was beamed by the Voice of America to the Soviet Union.RT: Just for the record... - Yelena Osipova, Global Chaos: "
In public diplomacy, Russia will seek its objective perception in the world, develop its own effective means of information influence on public opinion abroad, strengthen the role of the Russian mass media in the international information environment providing them with essential state support, as well as actively participate in international information cooperation, and take necessary measures to repel information threats to its sovereignty and security .
This is from the 'Foreign Policy Concept of the Russian Federation', as updated and approved in 2008. ... [T]he U.S.
is [also] trying to influence foreign publics. But then, that's the very point of international broadcasting, especially when it comes to its '
public diplomacy role'. I can even argue that the ultimate objective of
any media is to influence (and influence should
not necessarily be malignant, should it?)."
Image from Reader Comment on: “Public Diplomacy in Uniform: The Role of the U.S. Department of Defense in Supporting Modern Day Public Diplomacy www.unc.edu/depts/diplomat/item/2011/0104/comm/greensapn_pduniform.html - James Rockwell, Financial Management Specialist, Global Financial Services Center, Department of State, American Diplomacy: "This (rather biased) article shoots itself in the foot. No one really denies that DOS is/should be in-charge-of
Public Diplomacy (
PD). Further. I doubt that anyone disputes the facts that the Department of Defense (DOD) has somewhat similar (although limited) capabilities, and MAYBE receives more funding (it is most difficult to split such 'fine hairs' in DOD). ... While the author supports
PD being primarily/ultimately directed under the DOS, she defeats her own argument when acknowledging that DOD does step into some voids, which are unfilled/unwanted by DOS. And, of course DOD is 'nice to have along' for security in hostile conditions… but should not have any PD functionality? Duh? The writer fails to recognize that there are more, many more, contacts between an indigenous population and a uniform vice a non-uniformed
PD specialist from the Department of State (DOS)."
Wikileaks, 2008: USINT in the dark about USAID activities - Phil Peters, The Cuban Triangle: "The U.S. Interests Section in Havana viewed the Cuba democracy programs run by USAID and the State Department’s Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Bureau (DRL) as part of the U.S. government’s normal outreach to the Cuban public, and USINT was in the dark about the program’s activities and needed to make special efforts to receive information about grantees’ activities. That’s part of the message of a Wikileaked 2008 cable just published by El Pais. ... The bulk of the cable is about the challenges the U.S. diplomatic mission faces in reaching out to the Cuban public. ... Acronyms: DVC for (I think) videoconferences, COM for chief of mission, GOC for government of Cuba,
PD for
public diplomacy."
Image fromFriend in need - Eric Feferberg, Frontline: P.S. Suryanarayana: "French President Nicolas Sarkozy visited Tokyo in early April in a symbolic gesture of empathy towards the Japanese people and offered to help them overcome the civil nuclear crisis. Gaining currency in that context was the expectation that
France might be able to deploy its specialised robots at the radiation-blanketed Fukushima Daiichi plant. In a sense, the surprise question in such a situation, and perhaps into the future, is whether France has stolen a march over the United States, perhaps in terms of
public diplomacy, in trying to pull Japan out of its civil nuclear emergency. The answer from the U.S. is an emphatic 'no'. Washington does not also see the issue – of being Tokyo's friendliest friend in a situation of utmost need – as one of competition with Paris. After all, the U.S. prides itself on being Japan's closest ally from a point in time after their hostilities and hard feelings of the Second World War episode ended."
Image from article, with caption: French President Nicolas Sarkozy (left) with Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan in Tokyo on March 31 during his solidarity visit to the quake-hit nation.
Delegation of Pakistani Parliamentarians Visits NATO - nato.int: "A delegation of three members of the Pakistan National Assembly paid a half-day long visit to NATO Headquarters on Monday, 18 April 2011 in the framework of NATO's
public diplomacy programmes. They met with high-level NATO officials from the
Public Diplomacy, Political Affairs and Security Policy and from the Operations Divisions.
During the visit, they discussed the Alliance's new Strategic Concept, NATO's new partnership policy and the Alliance's operations, in particular the NATO-led ISAF mission in Afghanistan."
Image from articleManmohan's Pain Balm in the region may not work - Saurabh Shukla, India Today: "Indian bureaucracy needs to take some lessons on
public diplomacy from their Western counterparts."
Foreign Ministry Attracts Wide Attention with Microblog - Li Zhongfa, Sun Yi, /english.cri.cn: "Chinese Foreign Ministry's newly-registered microblog has drawn considerable attention at home, marking the government's latest efforts to connect to some of China's 457 million Internet users through increasingly popular web services. The account named Waijiao Xiaolingtong, which literally means 'information on foreign affairs,'
is registered at sina.com, one of China's leading Internet portal. Since posting the account's first message on April 13, the account has attracted more than 43,000 followers as of Tuesday afternoon, with numbers continuing to rise. ... 'The microblog (of the Chinese Foreign Ministry) helps establish a new platform for
public diplomacy, through which Chinese netizens can get more timely, rich information,' said Liu Jiangyong, deputy chief of contemporary international relations institute with Tsinghua University. Liu said China is trying to take advantage of social networking, including microblogging, for the good of its
public diplomacy. 'It is an irresistible trend,' Liu said." Image
fromPower of SMEs to promote Italian-Turkish ties - Abdullah Bozkurt, Today's Zaman: "On Friday we had a stimulating debate in İstanbul on how to better promote Turkish-Italian ties by giving a positive boost to mutual perceptions that were often tainted by misconceptions, stereotypes or even prejudice stemming from lack of knowledge. ... During the course of our bilateral relations with Italy, we have had our ups and downs. ... That calls the
public diplomacy pitch, undertaken by both Turkish and Italian diplomats for some time, into question with regard to promoting a better image for both countries among their respective publics. We have to come up with new modalities in re-engaging citizens in order to solve lingering image problems. My suggestion was to adopt two closely related approaches to re-energize engagement on both sides: One is to enhance the mobility of the people and the other is to commit small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to boosting trade ties between the two countries."
The voice of Israel: The Government Press Office’s director, Oren Helman, muses on his new job– and the foreign media - Herb Keinon, Jerusalem Post: "On January 11, at Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s annual new year press conference with the foreign media in Jerusalem, Oren Helman was introduced to the foreign press corps as the Government Press Office’s new head, taking over from Danny Seaman, who had a rather torrid 10-year relationship with the foreign press. In what seemed an effort to turn over a whole new leaf with the reporters, Helman told the journalists gathered that the GPO was there to serve them. The journalists, he said, were the GPO’s clients. Just before he took the podium, however, Israeli- Arab Al-Jazeera reporter Najwan Simri Diab refused to take off her bra
for a security search in an incident since dubbed 'bra-gate,' and angrily walked away from the event. ... Whereas Seaman was often criticized for being overly confrontational with, and cynical of, the foreign press, Helman’s tone suggested a much different approach. ... Seaman has since moved over to become deputy director general of the
Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs Ministry, the ministry which now is in charge of the GPO, instead of the Prime Minister’s Office, which was the case until now. 'My predecessor was an excellent professional, a true Zionist,' Helman said. 'Everything he did was for the good of Israel and Israeli hasbara.' ... Helman, who comes across both as personable and energetic, said that his overall aim was to turn the GPO into the government’s public relations office to the foreign press. He refuted the idea that with the foreign ministry, the
public diplomacy ministry, and a number of new private initiatives – including The Israel Project, Media Central, and Israel21c– all aiming efforts at the foreign press there were too many cooks spoiling the broth and there were bound to be bureaucratic battles over turf. 'I think it is good there are many different elements dealing with hasbara,' said Helman, whose office employs 30 people, including the official government photographers, and has a budget of 'between NIS 5 to 10 million a year.' ... Helman
said his approach was not to chastise or yell at the press. Rather, he said, he wanted to create a dialogue with the reporter, 'take them to see things, give them briefings, give them more information.' Helman, like so many other hasbara operatives, talks about the need to show Israel beyond the conflict – he gives it the acronym TIMTI, there is more to Israel” – and hopes through briefings and various tours to expose journalists to the country’s dynamic economy and technological innovations. But he doesn’t only want to take them to an Intel plant or get them briefed by Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz, he also is planning a trip for foreign journalists to Hebron, to show them an aspect of the city that doesn’t come out in reports abroad: a robust, bustling city with three malls and a new $10 million sports center." On "Bra-Gate,"
see.
Bra image from;
Helman image from articleIsraeli Military To Arm Troops With…Cameras - Web Concepts: "Fearing that war-crimes allegations could arise from future conflicts, the IDF is considering turning troops into impromptu combat journalists who will document wartime operations on video. As the Israeli military gears up for a likely ground war with the Palestinian military organization Hamas, the nation's brass is hoping a new plan could deflect possible war-crimes charges.
The solution: Bringing cameras into the warzone. Under a new proposal, each infantry division within the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) would be provided with a trained cameraperson. According to IDF spokesperson Barak Raz, the army would train soldiers in combat photography and filming under fire rather than following the American method of embedding professional journalists with troops. ... The IDF already has an extensive presence on YouTube and a long history of engaging in
public diplomacy via video content. Palestinian rocket fire into Israel is routinely filmed by air and placed online by the IDF; the Israeli military also routinely releases footage of weapons intercepted on their way to the Gaza Strip."
Image from articleKampala Carnival launched - Abbey Tatya, Daily Monitor: "Come July 29 and 30, the streets of Kampala will be lit up with hot girls in dazzling colours with lots of recreational activities as the Kampala Carnival launches.
The good news was delivered by His Excellency Patrick Edwards the Trinidad and Tobago High Commissioner to Uganda during a media launch party held at UMA show grounds on Wednesday. The diplomat revealed that the government of Trinidad and Tobago is working hand-in-hand with the Ugandan government and the private sector to ensure the Shs2.5b event is a success. ... Mr Edwards said that the Kampala Carnival will be the first Trinidad and Tobago-style carnival in East Africa. 'Kampala carnival is intended to build stronger relations, through cultural tourism and
public diplomacy, between Uganda and Trinidad and Tobago; Uganda and the East African region and eventually Uganda and the rest of the world,' reads a statement from the organisers."
Image from article, with caption: Models in carnival attire during the launch.Come in, Aussie, come in - Daniel Flitton, Sydney Morning Herald: "The contract to run the Australia Network has been put out to tender, pitting Murdoch's partially owned Sky News Australia up against the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, which currently runs the network and is seeking to renew the contract. This satellite and cable service, broadcast only internationally, is the Australian government's official channel for what is called
public diplomacy, a television station similar to what the BBC World Service or Voice of America offers on radio. Australians travelling overseas may have caught a few minutes of it on the TV in a hotel room in Thailand, Indonesia or elsewhere and been fascinated to hear familiar accents among the mix of local stations. But unlike other international broadcasters, the government does not fund a permanent international service. Australia Network is a brand, open to media companies to bid for the rights to broadcast it. The present five-year contract held by the ABC expires in August. ... The network is funded by the Foreign Affairs Department, with the goal to promote Australia 'as a dynamic and culturally diverse nation of the
Asia-Pacific region'. One of the government's objectives for the station is 'raising international awareness of Australia's strengths and achievements across a range of fields'. The hope is to reach the emerging middle class of societies in the region, appealing to viewers who may have influence in politics or business. The station is intended as an expression of national values, engendering a friendly disposition towards Australia by projecting 'soft power', as the foreign affairs experts call it. The station itself says: 'Australia Network reflects the values of the Australian nation - open, independent, respectful and fair.' But its effectiveness is open to question."
Image from article, with caption: Indian children watch television in Mumbai, which receives the Australia Network broadcasts. Paul Sum will present lecture on public diplomacy and cultural exchange in Romania May 2 - University Letter: University of North Dakota Faculty/Staff Newsletter: "Paul Sum, professor, Political Science and Public Administration, will present 'Locke Meets Rousseau: Reflections on
Public Diplomacy and Cultural Exchange as a Fulbright Scholar in Romania' at 7 p.m. Monday, May 2."
Public Diplomacy - jweiss5, The International Relations Blog: "After participating in the Model United Simulations this past week, I have learned the importance of diplomatic communication, which showcased diplomacy at its finest. Diplomacy is the ability to get what you want through attraction rather than manipulation, which is a soft power.
Public Diplomacy is a way of leveraging this soft power and saying,
'I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine'."
Image fromPD Layer Cake - Paul Rockower, Levantine: "To paraphrase Layer Cake: The art of good
public diplomacy is being a good middleman.
Defending the second child - Paul Rockower, Levantine: "So as you may or may not be familiar with pessach, in the passover spiel there is the story of the four children. First one is wise; second is mischievous. Yet mischievous for this child's question, "What does passover mean to you?" I am standing up for the second child, because I think the second child is ultimately a
public diplomat. This child is listening for your answer, and trying to understand you and your connection better. While I hate to sell out a first child, that one is merely asking about the letter of laws. The second one is more interested in the spirit of the holiday and what those laws mean to you. The third child is simple, no reason to pay attention to him (o' Matzamoros!). For the fourth one doesn't know how to ask, many rabbis say to start the question for this child. I disagree. I think the example of the fourth child requires that we show the child what the holiday means, not trying to feed a question."
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The future of Libya: The conflict may result in various outcomes — the regime implodes, Kadafi is ousted by former aides or the country is split into two. But stability in any scenario will require continued Western attention - Rajan Menon, latimes.com.
Image from article, with caption: Libyan rebel fighter Hamsa Mohammed Cherkasi, 25, was a riot policeman for Moammar Kadafi's regime before defectingWhy P.J. Crowley went rogue - Ben Smith, Politico: Crowley lost his job as assistant Secretary of State last month by characterizing Wikileaks suspect Bradley Manning’s treatment by the Pentagon as “ridiculous, counterproductive and stupid.” Washington, D.C. is full of people one sentence, one tweet, one false – that is, true – word away from ending their careers. A sarcastic comment about the boss, a passionate statement on policy, or an insensitive status update – all can be fatal to everyone from a member of Congress to a junior staffer at a public relations firm. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton brought Crowley, 59, to the State Department in part because he was viewed as someone who was virtually certain to make none of those mistakes. Crowley had always seemed the soul of discretion, a spokesman so wedded to the daily guidance during the Clinton White House years that reporters joked that he might go on background if asked what the next day’s weather forecast looked like. Crowley, for his part, plans to begin teaching, he said. “I’m not a larger than life person,” he said. “I’m short, bald and old.” Via LB
The Anti-al-Jazeera: Bahrain's Notorious State-Run TV Channel - Karen Leigh, theatlantic.com: The narrative that BTV keeps driving is one in which Sunnis should fear the mostly Shi'ite protesters, with an implicit warning -- if they win, you are in danger. And after weeks of state media propaganda,
the sectarian divide between Sunnis and Shi'a is at an all-time high, with one Sunni describing his Shi'a neighbors as "cockroaches" that "must be put down." On more than one occasion, officials from al-Wefaq worried about similarities between BTV's rhetoric and that of the Hutu radio stations that rallied Rwandan Hutus to slaughter their Tutsi brethren 17 years ago. Image from article
Beijing museum-goers choose propaganda over Enlightenment - www.dw-world.de: Hot debate in Germany, indifference in Beijing: the German-sponsored exhibition of Enlightenment art has hardly drawn any visitors in the Chinese capital. Expensive ticket and catalog fees are not inspiring interest. Just one floor below, the national propaganda exhibition attracts some 8,000 visitors a day.
There, the accomplishments of socialism are glorified. However, there is nothing to be seen about the Great Chinese Famine from the 1950s, the persecution that accompanied the Cultural Revolution, and suppression of the democratic movement in 1989. It is apparent that in this museum Enlightenment is a foreign concept. Image from article
South Korean convicted of 'retweeting' North Korean propaganda - Herald Sun: A South Korea court today convicted a 55-year-old man for "retweeting" North Korean propaganda, the Yonhap news agency reported. The man, surnamed Cho, was given a two-year suspended sentence for violating South Korea's National Security Law, in the first conviction of its type. Cho relayed Twitter messages from communist North Korea's official website, Uriminzokkiri, which also releases information through the micro-blogging service. Cho retweeted messages to 3,000 followers between August and December last year, the report said.
Propaganda posters of Soviet space program 1958-1963 - DeIntegro,russiatrek.org:
We are born to make the fairy tale come true!
ONE MORE QUOTATION FOR THE DAY
"the north side of the alps is an error." --
Ezra Pound
