"Bin Laden is the quintessential public diplomat."
--Scholars A. Evans and D. Stevens; see also; image from
PUBLIC DIPLOMACY
U.S. reduces radio news broadcasts to Iran, Afghanistan, Belarus, China and other nations without free media - BBGWatcher, usgbroadcasts.com: "The United States is cutting or reducing radio news broadcasts to Afghanistan, Belarus, China, Iran and other nations without free media due to decreased funding for U.S. international broadcasting as a result of sequestration and, as some critics claim, also because of waste and mismanagement at the federal agency in charge of these broadcasts.
Under Secretary Sonenshine to Deliver Remarks at the Brookings Institution - Media Note, Office of the Spokesperson, U.S. Department of State: "Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Tara D. Sonenshine will deliver remarks at The Brookings Institution on Thursday, April 4 at 11:00 a.m. Under Secretary Sonenshine will discuss the challenges Arab women face in a changing Middle East and North Africa, and what the United States is doing to help advance the status of women and girls in the region. More information regarding the Under Secretary’s remarks at Brookings can be found at."
Department of State Public Schedule, April 2 - posted at Rocky Coast News: Maine's online news and entertainment magazine: "UNDER SECRETARY FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS TARA SONENSHINE 1:00 p.m. Under Secretary Sonenshine delivers remarks to the Public Diplomacy officers of the 171st Foreign Service Class, at the Department of State."
Undersecretary explains shifts in diplomacy and public affairs - Zach Crowley, thehkscitizen.com: "In 2007, Professor Nye co-chaired a bipartisan commission on smart power, a group whose findings have moved from theory to policy during the Obama administration. Smart power is a term of art meant to describe a sensible mixture of hard and soft policy options, from the overt display of military force to simply talking with our foreign partners. ... In the past year, Under Secretary Tara Sonenshine has been the principal implementer of one our smart power tools. Public diplomacy is something of a natural extension of the success of the Obama presidential campaigns, where the netroots (political activism through social media) and small dollar donations fed a huge national effort. ... As an Emmy-winning former member of the media establishment, Sonenshine is all too aware of how the media landscape has changed. ... Her work bears out this philosophy. In the latest entry on her blog, she describes meeting with Afghan artists. On her active Twitter feed she shared an opportunity for the public – foreign and domestic – to ask two American ambassadors questions in real time. I wondered about the dangers of too much transparency – giving out too much information. Does she worry about staff blogs and tweets, Facebook pages? Are their security concerns or worries about misstating the administration’s intentions? Sonenshine replied that errant communications represented a tiny fraction of what is out there, and that the benefits of providing that information – the oxygen – far outweighed the possible risks. The risks of not engaging, she said, were just too great."
Andrew Saul, Genovation Cars CEO, Tapped by State Dept. for Speaking Tour to Australia and New Zealand - fortmilltimes.com: "Andrew Saul, CEO of Genovation Inc., has been selected by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Information Programs (IIP) as a guest speaker for the “Entrepreneurship and Renewable Energy” program to Australia and New Zealand. The three-week speaking tour will begin in early April and cover eight cities. Mr. Saul will address youth audiences; national, state, and municipal officials; environmental NGOs; entrepreneurs; business leaders; academics; and media about entrepreneurship in renewable energy and climate change through the application of new and innovative technologies. Genovation is a designer and custom builder of environmentally friendly automobiles. ... About the State Department’s Bureau of International Information Programs: The Bureau of International Information Programs (IIP) is the State Department’s public diplomacy (PD) communications bureau, leading the Department’s support for U.S. Embassy efforts to engage overseas audiences. Where innovation, policy, and public diplomacy intersect, IIP programs engage international audiences in sustained, meaningful conversations on the full spectrum of U.S. policy objectives."
Council Members meet SCA Deputy Director Nicole Chulick - Rup Sunar, roopsunar.blogspot.com: March 28, 2013, Kathmandu: "U.S. Embassy Youth Council Members met Nicole Chulick, Deputy Director of Office of Press and Public Diplomacy from the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs at YUWA. During the visit, Miss Chulick listened to the council members’ concern over the recent political development of the country and other social social issues including the changing gender roles and women rights movement of Nepal.
Council members also shared the common problems that the Nepalese youths are facing. During the one-hour long meeting, Miss Chulick promised her continued support to Nepali youths. She also promised to initiate the virtual exchanges among the council members from around the glob." Image from entry
James L Bullock - on Facebook: "This is a world only remembered by us old timers - USIS [United States Information Service] Baghdad, pre-1967, when teletype machines and short-wave radios and long discussions over small cups of coffee were how we did our jobs.
We didn't do so badly ... and will the next generation, with so much technology and so little time, do as well?" Image from entry
Stop the lies! Tibetans shut China’s “propaganda exhibit” - free-tibet.org: March 27: "The Chinese Consulate at Chicago has packed off their performances and opening ceremony during their exhibit 'Tibet Today: Sight of Western China Photo Exhibition' at the University of Minnesota on Monday. 'There is a lesson here for China. If you want to improve your image abroad, do it by making genuine change on the ground inside Tibet, not by hosting a propaganda show to mislead the global public,' said Tenzin Sonam, Regional Coordinator of SFT-Midwest. Prior to the said exhibit, Tibetan organizations, including Students for a Free Tibet, Tibetan Youth Congress, Tibetan Women’s Association and Tibetan American Foundation-Minnesota, opened a parallel exhibit ‘Tibet Today: Exposing the Truth’ with pictures of independent Tibet, self-immolations and China’s repression in Tibet.
The Chinese opened their 'propaganda' exhibition with photographs of smiling Tibetans waving the Chinese flag and other items, which Tibetans feel were 'clearly aimed at whitewashing China’s occupation of Tibet and misleading Western audiences into thinking Tibetans are happy under Chinese rule.'” Image from article, with caption: The “Tibet Today: Exposing the Truth” exhibition opens with photographs of pre-1949 independent Tibet, China’s invasion, and recent Tibetan protests for freedom.
don’t drone me, bro - Niqnaq: "There are not many organisations that will dedicate an entire day to young leaders of tomorrow and ask them to help find solutions to challenges that could profoundly impact the lives of millions, but not every organisation advocates for continuous improvement in an Alliance of 28 different nations like ACT. ACT, along with the Center for Transatlantic Relations at Johns Hopkins University, CSIS and the Atlantic Council, hosted its annual YuP Day 2013 at the Paul Nitze School of Advanced International Studies of Johns Hopkins University in Washington on Mar 26, to bring a diverse group of university students and yuppies together to provide new perspectives on issues that drive NATO’s future Transformation. During the day-long event, yuppies analysed challenges and opportunities inherent in four potential future scenarios for the Alliance. They were then assembled in four working groups, guided by mentors from ACT and other organisations, to formulate their own ideas for taking on these challenges. Ultimately, the discussion generated by these young people will help shape the future of the Alliance and ensure that NATO remains a capable and adaptable military force. Among NATO leaders in attendance were Asst Sec Gen for Public Diplomacy Ambassador Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović and ACT Deputy Chief of Staff Strategic Plans and Policy US Army Maj-Gen Peter Bayer, who gave opening and introductory remarks."
Sino-Russian relationship carried by shared concerns, not common foe - Li Jieyu, Global Times: "After taking office, Chinese President Xi Jinping chose Russia for his first stop abroad, met with his counterpart Vladimir Putin and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, and signed a series of treaties. This demonstrates the close strategic relations the two countries enjoy. ... Russia is a practical choice as China's resource supplier. ... From a political and security perspective, China and Russia have cooperative opportunities. ... Then there is public diplomacy. This year is Russia's 'Tourism Year of China,' offering China a chance to present a good image to Russia and the world and make its case against the rhetoric targeting China."
Singing a Note of Caution About New First Lady Peng Liyuan - Liang Pan, tealeafnation.com: "China’s new First Lady, Ms. Peng Liyuan, [is] a renowned Chinese folk vocal artist. ... Ms. Peng’s confidence, grace and fashion made a splash: China’s political commentators lauded her as a new wing for China’s public diplomacy, which helps
soften and humanize China’s image as a monolithic authoritarian regime. ... The photos of Ms. Peng singing to paramilitary troops brought in to crack down on Tiananmen Square protesters resurfaced online at the same time that she was praised as China’s new envoy of beauty and kindness. This background should be a caveat to pro-democracy intellectuals and media anticipating the possibilities brought by the new First Lady.
After all, beneath the fashionable façade, the First Lady is a decorated major general in the PLA, and the First Family is, to some extent, an epitome of the conglomerating and intertwining relations among politics, military power, and the arts in today’s China." Peng Liyuan image from entry; Raquel Welsh image from
Boao Forum’s informality aids diplomacy - Xue Lei, Global Times: "The Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) has stepped into its second decade of development. Although it was designed mainly as a forum for discussion on economic issues, the past decade has witnessed its great contribution to the development of China's full-fledged diplomacy. With all the conferences and events held during the past years, it has given China's multi-level diplomacy more momentum and channels. As a non-governmental organization, the BFA provides an informal platform for meetings and exchanges of views among senior leaders of governments from different Asian countries. Actually the high-level participants from governments around Asia have turned the BFA into a kind of hybrid forum. ... As for public diplomacy, the participants of the BFA are a varied bunch: officials, businessmen, academic scholars. Their concerns are also varied: economic growth, social welfare, and environmental protection. The mingling of all these peoples around the world with different views has actually helped deepen understanding and communication between Chinese people and those around the world."
Turkey starts training young foreign diplomats - worldbulletin.net: "Turkish Foreign Ministry has kicked off an annual program to train 67 young foreign diplomats from 67 different countries. The training program, called “International Young Diplomats Training Program, will be held between April 1 and 24, a Foreign Ministry statement said on Sunday. The diplomats will receive theoretical classes from the Turkish Foreign Ministry personnel and academics on issues ranging from Turkey's core foreign policy principle of mediation to the relations with the European Union.
Along with theoretical classes, the young diplomats will also visit Turkish Parliament, Turkish Cooperation and Development Agency (TİKA), Prime Minister's Overseas Turks Agency (YTB), Yunus Emre Institute and Public Diplomacy Coordination office to attend various activities. The program was first commenced in 1992 and has hosted 785 young diplomats from 101 countries. The program will start by the opening speech of Deputy Foreign Minister Naci Koru in Ankara on Monday. The program will continue in Konya, Cappodocia and İstanbul." Uncaptioned image from entry
For Israel and Turkey, an Apology is Rarely Just That: What Israel’s apology does and does not mean for a new era of Turkish-Israeli relations - Leor Sapir, thejerusalemreview.com: "Diplomacy is at least as multilayered as apologies are, and the diplomacy of apologies all the more so. This is a precaution we should keep in mind when considering Netanyahu’s recent apology to Erdogan over Israel’s use of lethal force against Turkish 'activists' aboard the 2010 Gaza-bound flotilla. ... Some tend to forget that the Gaza flotilla was not an isolated incident.
It followed on the heels of the public humiliation of the Turkish ambassador to Israel, which itself was a reaction to a rise of anti-Semitic television programs in Turkey. Nonetheless, despite all the sensational brouhaha of public diplomacy in recent years, Turkey and Israel have maintained strong economic ties, and with each nation’s vibrant civil society, attitudes on both sides of the Mediterranean have remained mixed. ... Whether Netanyahu’s apology will be the first step en route to a more constructive relationship with Turkey is an open question." Image from article
Israel’s ongoing public diplomacy fiasco - David Isaac, shmuelkatz.com: "[C]onsideration of the strategic importance of public diplomacy could protect Israeli leaders from making policy decisions convenient in the short term but harmful both to themselves and Israel in the long-run. Decades have passed, and despite the continuing outcry to do something, Israel has ignored the public relations front in the Arabs’ war against her. If Israel took seriously her public relations — including the impact of her policy decisions on them — it could have a transformative effect, empowering her existing friends as well as gaining her new allies."
Gas pipeline scenarios - Parth Pujara, blogbigtime.com: "In addition to active and public diplomacy efforts of Doha, Qatar's government provides substantial financial assistance to armed opposition in Syria. In case of victory in the civil war, circumstances would have dropped the last obstacle in the way of gas from Qatar to the Mediterranean Sea."
Real Journalism on the Syrian Civil War - karl-naylor.blogspot.com: "With those hapless mere politicians PM Cameron and William Hague playing at being global 'statesmen', when really being little more than oily proponents of 'Public Diplomacy', they might wish to inform themselves of the real state of affairs on the ground in Syria beforeconsidering lifting the arms embargo in the EU and uncritically backing the Washington line on Syria."
“We have to explain that Spain can make it on its own without Catalonia” - Òscar Palau, newscatalonia.com: "Despite his youth, Roger Albinyana i Saigí (Barcelona, 1980) has ac[c]umulated a notable amount of experience in foreign affairs. After studying Economics and International Relations, he led the Joventut Liberal Europea [European Liberal Youth] between 2004 and 2008 before cofounding and directing for two years the Cercle d'Estudis Soberanistes [Sovereigntist Study Circle]. From 2011 on, he was the director of the governmental program, Unió per la Mediterrània [Mediterranean Union].
He has been a member of CDC [Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya, Catalan political party] since 1997 and a coordinator of international relations since 2011. In January he was named Secretary of Foreign Affairs, and thus directs one of the key areas in the pro-sovereignty process. ... [Q:] You've also pulled 'public diplomacy' out of your sleeve... [A:] Not exactly. It's a concept invented by the English and Americans, and responds to the fact that it's more necessary to involve the civil society in foreign affairs. With public diplomacy we try to lay out a model of how a future Catalan foreign service would look like, not based on classic state criteria but rather on the sovereignty of the 21st century, with a shared process. All of that will be thoroughly studied but the process that we are initiating allows us to reinvent ourselves as a country, and one of the areas in which we can do the most work is in foreign affairs. It's clear that, realistically, and given our needs and current financial capacity, Catalonia will not be able to allow itself a foreign network as extensive as the Spanish one, but that doesn't interest us anyway, given that theirs hasn't had particularly effective results." Albinyana image from entry
Borderline Views: The UCU, Zionism and anti-Semitism - David Newman, Jerusalem Post: "[N]ot every case of anti-Israel sentiment can be attributed to anti-semitism, and we have to be very careful not to throw the anti-semitism argument back in the face of every organization and every individual who are critical of Israeli government policy. When we do so, we cheapen anti-semitism and make it all the more difficult to garner support for the fight against real, hard core, anti-semitism when it occurs – and occur it does, all too often – even at universities. The forthcoming 4th International Conference of the Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism, to be held in Jerusalem at the end of May and jointly organized by the Ministries for Public Diplomacy and for Diaspora Affairs, along with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has a chance to seriously examine this topic."
Alex de Waal’s response to questions - sites.tufts.edu: "Several people sent in questions to Alex de Waal in response to his article, 'African Roles in the Libyan Conflict of 2011' available in the March 2013 edition of International Affairs. Below are de Waal’s responses. [Among them:] ... ['] The Libyan conflict caused considerable turmoil within the AU, leading to the hotly-contested election for the chairperson of the Commission.
The claim, by South Africa among others, that Chairperson Jean Ping had mishandled the Libya file in 2011 was one of the reasons why he was challenged by Mrs. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, with the first election (January 2012) resulting in a draw and the second (July 2012) in Mrs. Zuma’s victory. After the next AU summit, in May, we can expect a considerable shakeup of the administration of the Commission, and hopefully an improvement in its public diplomacy. [']" de Waal image from entry
Public Diplomacy And The Catholic Church (Welcome Pope Francis!) - Bianca Zhang, pdwatercooler.wordpress.com: "Okay, apparently my trains of thought are still in sync with
The resurrected Twitter account, history-breaking name selection, and representation of Latin America all could represent the modification and enhanced public diplomacy efforts of the Catholic Church. It is going to be exciting to see what unfolds from the new Pope, and I will be paying a lot closer attention now!" Image from blog heading
Reflections on Diplomacy: 227 -“Greek-style diplomacy” – an emergent style - Aldo Matteucci, deepdip.wordpress.com: “'Greek-style diplomacy' – 'one-to-many' diplomacy – is making a comeback. Diplomats who want to play a role within this framework must address many stakeholders at once. One needs means other than those available within 'one-to-one bilateral' diplomacy. Public diplomacy, or e-diplomacy, comes to mind. Diplomats today begin to grapple with the same problems Greek diplomacy tried to address: how to get 'many' to agree with one’s positions. They supplement their public rhetoric with electronic tools: they aim to garner widespread accord with their positions by large dissemination. Three problems arise. The first is that 'one-to-many' diplomacy is unstable. It goes toward 'many-to-many'. Cacophony ensues. Celebrity diplomacy helps e.g. in capturing the agenda. It is rather haphazard, however. Also, it is so loud an instrument, it blacks out the rest. The ability to temper the electronic instruments – speaking softly and slowly – will be one determinant of success. The second is the often emergent character of the outcome. Once the author launches a twitter message, she never knows whether it goes viral, or fizzles out, or how it gets changed in the process. The crowd always surprises. The third is lack of legitimacy. Stakeholders are self-appointed. They are not democratic in a larger sense, nor do they try to be. From my Berkeley days, I can attest at the lack of democracy inherent in 'movements'. Though I disagree with Allan BLOOM on many things, I must agree with him on this: 'The most successful tyranny is not the one that uses force to assure uniformity, but the one that removes awareness of other possibilities.' The price of rallying rapidly around a common goal is the loss of deliberation. As bilateral diplomacy declines 'Greek-style diplomacy' emerges. Unlike Athena rising as an adult from the head of her father – we have to learn to live with this emergent reality. It will not be easy."
Public diplomacy - eric, Diplomacy Old and New 2012a: A group blog by students at London Metropolitan University: "Public diplomacy in contemporary worlds has grown in its wide formation that foreign relation of states are no longer shaped by governments and its officials."
Former British ambassador to Cuba to present public lecture - today.salve.edu: "Paul Hare, the British ambassador to Cuba from 2001-2004 who is currently a lecturer in international relations at Boston University, will discuss 'Cuba: Past, Present and Future' at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 3 in the Bazarsky Lecture Hall. ... Hare is a fellow of the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University and a member of the Brookings Institution core group on Cuba. He has written two policy briefs for Brookings: 'The Odd Couple; The EU and Cuba 1996-2008″ and 'US Public Diplomacy for Cuba: Why It’s Needed and How to Do It.''”
Single in the Foreign Service: Heather Steil Blogs from Afghanistan - Heather Steil, blogs.psychcentral.com: "Aside from my mother, the only people who usually read my blog are other Foreign Service Officers (FSOs) and future FSOs researching the career and lifestyle. One of the questions I get, particularly from young women, is, 'What’s it like as a single female FSO?' The short answer is, 'It’s not for everyone.' There’s a joke in the Foreign Service that goes like this: If you want to know where a male FSO’s first overseas post was, look at his wife. If you want to know where a female FSO’s first overseas post was, look at her furniture.
I know enough female FSOs who have found husbands abroad to dispel that myth. But I think the Foreign Service lifestyle is harder for single women than for single men. ... Heather Steil joined the Foreign Service in 2005 after a successful career in the software and Internet industry. Her first overseas assignment was at the U.S. Embassy in Bucharest, Romania as a Consular Officer. She has also served in Baghdad, Iraq and Kathmandu, Nepal. She is currently a Public Diplomacy Officer in Kabul, Afghanistan." Image from article
Journey to the Foreign Service - Wendy Ekua Quansah, News and Events, Seton Hall University: "Whitehead School of Diplomacy and International Relations Master of Arts student, Stephanie Parenti, recently published an op-ed in The Globalized World Post, an up-and-coming international relations blog, discussing alignment politics in the former Soviet Union.
This accomplishment marks one of many milestones on her journey to the Foreign Service. ... Post-graduation, Parenti plans to work in Public Diplomacy in the U.S. Foreign Service. Parenti has been selected and will begin training this September to be a U.S. Foreign Service Officer."
Migration is Beautiful - BelleXenoFille: My search to find compelling art, people and ideas that encompass a country’s ingenious competitive strategy, human creative skill and imagination - "As both a future public relations specialist and public diplomacy practitioner, I have to strike a balance between my passion to communicate with publics and the execution of foreign policy. And at the core of that, I have to perpetually remind myself about the constant movement of people, goods, and ideas that affect established 'national boundaries,' global governance and international intervention. Like an anthropologist, I professionally need to train myself to analyze actions at the 'micro-level', focusing not on the 'what' but on the 'who' of a project and undertaking that is typically difficult and requires effort and resourcefulness. How I will engage a public will be as important as the message itself. ... What will be our motif as public diplomacy practitioners, metaphorically speaking?"
My Presidential Management Fellowship – From Cyber Security to Grilling Madeleine Albright - Cari Guittard, PDNews-CPD Blog, USC Center on Public Diplomacy: "After briefing various members of Secretary Powell’s transition team, I went to work for then Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy, Charlotte Beers, during her tenure, rounding out my portfolio of work to include press and public affairs, political-military affairs, work with several regional bureaus, and work with then Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, the venerable John Bolton."
May 20 – Hector Perla [:] Latin American and Latino Studies, UCSC: Salvadoran Transnationalism: Diasporic Mobilization and State Engagement - socyeventsucsc.wordpress.com: "Dr. Perla’s areas of specialization are International Relations (IR) and Latin American Studies. His research and teaching interests range from IR Theory, US-Latin American Relations, Latin American Politics, Asymmetric Conflicts, Transnational Social Movements, to Public Diplomacy, Media and Public Opinion, US Foreign Policy Formation, Latino Politics, and Political Psychology."
Internships at the Serbian Institute for Public Diplomacy - cosmopolitalians.eu: "Serbian Institute for Public Diplomacy is looking for vigorous and motivated undergraduate and graduate students and other individuals interested in European and Serbian affairs to volunteer in its Brussels office. This position provides an opportunity for interns to learn about European affairs, to prepare their thesis projects regarding EU-Serbia relations and meet prominent people of various European government, think tank, academic, and media circles."
RELATED ITEMS
Drone policy hurts the U.S.’s image in Yemen - Danya Greenfield and David J. Kramer, Washington Post: Despite considerable U.S. humanitarian aid and development support to their government, most Yemenis associate U.S. engagement with the ongoing drone campaign to destroy al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), and they see it as having little regard for its effect on civilians. Beyond the security portfolio, Yemenis need to feel that Washington is committed to supporting democratic institutions and the prosperity of the Yemeni people.
North Korea: Not Crazy but Very Misunderstood - Didi Kirsten Tatlow, New York Times: What
It seeks dialogue with the United States, which it fought in the Korean War, but that dialogue was virtually nixed after former President George Bush declared North Korea part of an “axis of evil” in 2002. Image from article, with caption: A North Korean soldier rides a bicycle beside a river crossing on the Yalu River near the North Korean town of Sinuiju.
North Korea Caught Photoshopping Hovercrafts IntoIts Propaganda - Maggie Lange, gawker.com: An image released by North Korea 's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows several imposing hovercrafts approaching a snowy beach, while armed and battle-ready soldiers dash toward the shore. Writing for the Atlantic, Alan Taylor points out that the image was almost certainly Photoshopped: "At least two, possibly three hovercraft appear to have been pasted into the scene of a military exercise, reportedly taking place on North Korea 's east coast on March 25, 2013.
Two hovercraft crashing through the surf, nearest to the photographer, appear to be just a single hovercraft, with a digital twin copied and pasted nearby. Two of the more distant craft appear to be digital twins as well. A third vehicle in the scene has some of the hallmarks of digital pasting, including color mismatch, a slight halo, and soft edges." The original caption of the photo reads: "This picture released by
Our Pacific Predicament - Joseph S. Nye, Jr., the-american-interest.com: Japan, India, Vietnam and other countries do not want to be dominated by China, and thus welcome an American presence in the region. Unless China proves able to better develop its soft power of attraction, the rise in its hard military and economic power is likely to frighten its neighbors into seeking coalitions to balance against it. We should not over-militarize the rebalance toward Asia.
The United States and China (as well as other countries) have much to gain from cooperation on a range of transnational issues. One cannot manage solutions to global financial stability, climate change, cyber-terrorism or pandemics without such cooperation. If power is the ability to affect others to obtain the outcomes one wants, it is important to remember that sometimes our power is greater when we act with others rather than merely over others. This important dimension of a smart power strategy is not captured by the concept of containment. Image from article
A Pacific Island Prefers Chinese Investment to U.S. Welfare: For decades, American aid did little but promote dependency. Now here comes a Chinese entrepreneur - Neill Mellen, Wall Street Journal: A Micronesian island of about 39 square miles in the western Pacific will in the coming years became a destination for Chinese tourists if a massive resort complex proceeds as planned. The island, called Yap, is part of the Federated States of Micronesia and is strategically located at the crossroads of the Pacific, 500 miles southwest of the major U.S. military bases on Guam. Americans will be tempted to focus on growing Chinese influence in a former U.S. client state and strategic ally. Yet the real lesson is about America's 75-year failure to export one of its greatest assets: free-market capitalism. Since 1945, the U.S. has seemed to direct little more than state socialism to Micronesia and the rest of the American-affiliated Pacific.
On China’s State-Sponsored Amnesia - Yan Lianke, New York Times: It has been over 30 years since China opened its economic window. China now is more prosperous and is stronger than it was 30 years ago. China should also be mature enough to reflect on and remember its past.
Repression in Russia, in Black and White - Masha Gessen, New York Times: As in Soviet times, the search for hidden meaning or complicated signals is misguided. The Putin administration’s rhetoric, practice and law have been remarkably consistent — and the agenda for the months ahead is laid out in plain sight. In December 2011, responding to the emergence of the protest movement,Putin accused the U.S. State Department and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton of personally inciting the unrest. Once he was re-elected president, the Kremlin shepherded a succession of new laws through Parliament. These included a law requiring nonprofits that receive funding from abroad to register as “foreign agents” and submit to debilitating reporting requirements; amendments allowing virtually anyone to be prosecuted forhigh treason; a law restricting the civic activities of Russians who have U.S. passports and giving the authorities discretion to shut down any nonprofit that receives money from the United States. A law on “foreign agents” in the media is in the pipeline.
From Afghanistan to Syria: Women’s rights and US propaganda - Julie Lévesque, Russia Today: "Women’s rights are increasingly heralded as a useful propaganda device to further imperial designs. Western heads of state, UN officials and military spokespersons will invariably praise the humanitarian dimension of the October 2001 US-NATO led invasion of Afghanistan, which allegedly was to fight religious fundamentalists, help little girls go to school, liberate women subjected to the yoke of the Taliban. The logic of such a humanitarian dimension of the Afghan war is questionable.
Lest we forget, Al Qaeda and the Taliban were supported from the very outset of the Soviet-Afghan war by the US, as part of a CIA led covert operation." Image from entry
Venus and Mars Revisited: Under Obama, the vitality of 'the West' as a global security lodestar is fading - Kenneth Weinstein, Wall Street Journal: Obama's foreign and defense policies—troop drawdowns in Iraq and Afghanistan, attempts at diplomatic engagement with Iran, and so forth—are guided by concerns that might once have been described as "European": a presumptive skepticism about military power, and an instinctive preference for multilateralism and diplomacy in its place. These days Europeans don't complain to visiting Americans about feeling bullied by the White House. They complain about feeling ignored. It isn't a question of policy per se, but rather a general sense of alienation: a cumulative impression across the Continent that liberal, democratic Europe—as both idea and practical priority—is sliding off Washington's radar.
Angelina Jolie opens girls’ school in Afghanistan - Cheryl K. Chumley, The Washington Times: Hollywood’s Angelina Jolie, who is also an ambassador for the United Nations Agency on Refugees, has opened a girls-only school in Afghanistan, just outside of Kabul. She chose the location — it’s a region that holds a tradition of favoring boys’ education, not girls’ — based on the high numbers of refugees who settle there. The school offers primary level classes.
Belarus: Media literacy vs propaganda - ndexoncensorship.org: In Belarus , little over half of the population accepts state propaganda as truth. Yanina Melnikavaargues that the Belarusian state would like to keep it this way. State media in Belarus are widely considered to be a part of ideological machine of the ruling regime, but still they enjoy a high level of trust from the audience. The latest survey by the Independent Institute of Social, Economic and Political Studies (IISEPS) shows 55% of Belarusians trust state media, while only 39 per cent say they trust independent media. The reason for that is a traditional perception of media in post-Soviet society: everything said in an “official” paper or on TV is considered to be trustworthy.
Propaganda, Modern Media, and the Dijssel-Bomb - Paul Vigna, Wall Street Journal: Investors, traders and journalists alike need to be aware of the degree to which they are having their opinions formed by an unseen army of propagandists. Now, read this: "The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country." Those are the opening lines of Propaganda, a book by Edward Bernays, one of the founders of the modern PR machine, written in 1928. The book was his manifesto explaining how propaganda could be used to control a democratic society. The elites (decidedly not the media) who understand how society truly works, are in fact necessary for the proper functioning of a modern society, Bernays argues. Modern democracy, with millions of individuals drawing their own conclusions and making their own decisions, with a vast multitude of media outlets, with the populace split into uncountable “cleavages,” would be chaos without the guiding force of propaganda. Bernays is writing in the 1920s, but he might as well be talking about today. As an example, Bernays takes a random front page of the New York Times from 1928, and explains how at least four of the eight major stories there are basically government versions of events being portrayed as independent news stories. It goes on today still.
Critics Say Texas School Curriculum Teaches Anti-American Propaganda - dfw.cbslocal.com: The State Board of Education is planning a special meeting Friday morning in Dallas in response to criticism over some of the lesson materials used to teach your children. More than 800 Texas school districts teach the state’s mandated school curriculum, under the system provider known as CSCOPE. Grand Prairie, Irving, Argyle and 65 other Dallas area districts use CSCOPE. The curriculum program has been labeled socialist and anti-American by some critics. In one of the lesson plans, the Boston Tea Party is described as a terrorist attack. That lesson plan has been eliminated, according to a CSCOPE spokesperson. Alice Linahan’s children are taught in the Argyle School District, but she is not pleased with the materials her school district uses to teach her children. “There are lessons in CSCOPE that I believe that are not education, but indoctrination,” says Linahan.
AMERICANA
Via Levantine
MORE QUOTATIONS OF THE DAY
"Dr. Frank Fear, retired senior associate dean of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, will receive the Charles A. Gliozzo International Award for Public Diplomacy."
--Tom Coon, "Retired CANR associate dean to receive public diplomacy award," MSUE Spotlight; image from
"[S]he uttered the verbal tic 'you know' 138 times in one New York Times interview."
--Caroline Kennedy, about to be chosen as U.S. Ambassador to
No comments:
Post a Comment