“Audiences are like dogs — they can smell what’s underneath the material, and that’s something you can’t plan or fake."
--Comedian Sarah Silverman; image from
BOOK REVIEW
Empire of Ideas: The Origins of Public Diplomacy and the Transformation of U. S. Foreign Policy by Justin Hart, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2012 - Review by John H. Brown, American Diplomacy: "Hart argues ... that public diplomacy’s origins can be traced back to the Buenos Aires conference (1936), 'where the State Department proposed a series of government-sponsored technological and educational exchanges with the nations of Latin America,' calling this international initiative 'cultural relations.' ... Of course, the nature of public opinion and of communications has changed immensely since the late eighteenth century. So have the audiences and programs for U.S. government overseas outreach. But U.S public diplomacy, no matter what you call it, did not begin in 1936. It began, unnamed, with the Founding Founders, 'we the people,' who knew they had to blow their horns to get the world’s attention" [with the Declaration of Independence]. See another recently-appeared review of this book at. Image from entry
PUBLIC DIPLOMACY
My Hometown Village Was Attacked By U.S. Drones in Yemen - Farea al-Muslimi, posted at globalpossibilities.org: "If you live in Yemen, the golden rule is to expect anything any time. That, however, does not include expecting your hometown village — one of the most peaceful and beautiful places in Yemen — to be bombed. The peacefulness of such a place makes you believe that no one has ever heard of it, let alone that it is bombed by a US drone strike at night. That, however, is the reason that I received many messages from villagers on my two cell phones last night. They informed and asked me about a strike that had just taken place, and targeted a man named Hammed al-Masea Meftah, also known as Hammed al-Radmi — a name I wasn’t familiar with as I have been away from the village over the last few years and have only returned for short visits once a year.
I was stunned by both the news of the drones and the fact that someone in Wessab, the Yemeni capital of misery with its beautiful mountains no one from outside remembers, had connections with al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). ... We used to think that drone strikes were a localized problem, with villages far from the Yemeni capital being spared. This is no longer the case. It seems no part of Yemen is safe from US drones. In an area like Wessab, there is nothing easier than capturing a man like al-Radmi. Two police officers would have been more than capable of arresting him. ... Today, the vast majority of Yemenis do not support AQAP. Enough senseless killings, though I very much doubt that this will change. I also fear it is not a good idea for me to go back to the village, as in the past the villagers have associated me with the US as someone who believes in the American values and moved out of the village via generous American scholarships. Whoever pressed that button thousands of miles away killed my longstanding counterterrorism efforts. All the US public diplomacy of me being America’s informal ambassador to an area that US officials cannot even locate on a map are now lost in this wreckage. Worse still, they made al-Radmi look like a hero. The US continues to play with fire in Yemen by being inconsiderate and ineffective in its counterterrorism policies. With such behavior as its headline, it digs a grave for people like al-Radmi and more graves for any future peace in Yemen and the American values. As the US continues to hold workshops to educate Yemenis in the capital on the rule of law — through its right hand USAID — it is killing them outside the law through its left hand, the drones strikes." Image from entry
Russian Group Fears Fine After Talk With Americans - Andrew Roth, New York Times: "Russian prosecutors have opened a legal case against a nongovernmental organization in a city outside Moscow for failing to register as a 'foreign agent,' after the group participated in a round table with representatives of the United States Embassy. ... Nikolai V. Sorokin, the head of the Kostroma Center, said in a telephone interview that the organization had been punished for cooperating with the embassy. Mr. Sorokin said that his organization was not political and that recent conferences had focused on local ecology and Russian history. 'We have been holding our events since 2005, and we have never received the smallest complaint,' he said. 'But after an employee from the embassy, Howard Solomon, came to us and we held a round table about problems in relations between the United States and Russia, that’s when the prosecutors came.' A representative for the embassy, in Moscow, told the Interfax news agency that Mr. Solomon’s visit was 'normal public diplomacy,' and added that the embassy was following the case with 'great concern.' Under recently enacted legislation, an organization is required to register as a 'foreign agent' if it receives money from foreign sources and engages in political activity, a loosely defined term that remains untested in Russia’s courts.'"
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister: The Mentor’s Tone Of The United States Prevents Further Development Of Russian-US Relations - inserbia.info: "The mentor’s tone of the United States is standing in the way of the further development of Russian-U.S. relations, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said. 'The present difficulties in relations stem from a number of unfriendly steps taken by the American side that provoked a furious response in Russian society,' he said at a session of the Russian Public Council for International Cooperation and Popular Diplomacy on Thursday. ... 'I am speaking about the replacement of the old anti-Soviet Jackson-Vanik amendment, which did not suit the interests of American business, by the anti-Russian Magnitsky Act,' he said.
'Moscow is committed to promoting relations with the U.S. at the same extent of determination and persistence that Washington is prepared to embrace,' the high-ranking Russian diplomat said. 'If new irritants appear, we will respond to them in an uncompromising and consistent manner. There is time to find a solution to the problem, but this calls for political will, which the U.S. is not displaying enough of,” Ryabkov said at a session of the Russian international cooperation and public diplomacy council under the Russian Public Chamber on Thursday." Uncaptioned image from article; see also.
Helping Women in Afghanistan Go to Jail - Peter van Buren, We Meant Well: "By now we have all heard that the [public diplomacy] Foreign Service Officer killed recently in Afghanistan was there in part to help Afghan women be 'free' (she 'gave her young life working to give young Afghans the opportunity to have a better future').
Indeed, women’s empowerment has become a sub-meme for U.S. involvement in Afghanistan, replacing the now less-politically correct freedom and democracy thing. ... Hey nation builders, here’s a practice tip: take a break from the deadly feel-good book drops (yeah, too soon and too harsh, but people are dying over this stuff) and the endless string of women as entrepreneurs-a-paloozas and see if you can’t at least do something for the women held in a NATO-built prison that did not even exist under the Taliban, ‘kay?" Uncaptioned image from article
Establishment of an Academic Partnership in Communication Design with the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture in Karachi, Pakistan - grants.gov: "Funding Instrument Type: Cooperative Agreement [;] Category of Funding Activity: Education Category Explanation: Expected Number of Awards: 1 [;] Estimated Total Program Funding: $1,000,000 [;] Award Ceiling: $1,000,000 [;] Award Floor: $750,000 [;] CFDA Number(s): 19.501 -- Public Diplomacy Programs for Afghanistan and Pakistan ... The Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad and the U.S. Consulate General in Karachi announce an open competition for a cooperative agreement to establish an Academic Partnership in Communication Design between a U.S. educational institution and the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture (IVS) in Karachi, Pakistan. Accredited U.S. four-year colleges and universities meeting the provisions described in Internal Revenue Code section 26 USC 501(c)(3) may submit proposals to pursue institutional or departmental objectives in partnership with the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture. Objectives detailed as priorities for this partnership include: collaborative research in Design Projects, curriculum development, professional development for faculty by U.S. counterparts, and semester-long faculty and student exchange. The Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture has also expressed interest in collaborating to organize a seminar or conference on any aspect of design, with papers from partner schools, designers, and various schools to further design education in Pakistan. IVS also seeks assistance in developing a seminar on the publishing of critical essays, papers and books on design theory for the benefit of students and teachers."
U.S. Embassy Kinshasa PAS Annual Program Statement - topgovernmentgrants.com: "The U. S. Embassy Kinshasa Public Affairs Section (PAS) of the U. S. Department of State is pleased to announce that funding is available through its Public Diplomacy Small Grants program. ... Purpose of Small Grants: The PAS awards a limited number of grants to individuals, non-governmental organizations, think tanks, and academic institutions. These institutions may be located in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) or abroad. The PAS Small Grants Program supports projects whose focus is on the DRC, and which: 1. Engage Local Communities 2. Raise Awareness of U. S. Culture and Values 3. Build the Capacity of Members of the Media [.] Grant proposals should aim to create or extend the community of reform-minded individuals and groups."
North Korea and cultural diplomacy - Maggie Moore, exchangediplomacy.com: "Only a month ago Dennis Rodman traveled to the country with several Harlem Globetrotters, a spectacle deemed 'basketball diplomacy'. ... I don’t think that cultural diplomacy with North Korea and the United States will improve the relationship between the two governments. King Jong Un might like Rodman, basketball and Disney, but he has clearly separated culture and government into two distinct entities. ... Rodman has
announced his intentions to return to North Korea in August. If I were in the educational and cultural exchange branch of the U. S. Department of State I would try to persuade him to cancel that trip." Image from entry, with caption: Photo taken by Blake Stilwell, SUPD 2013, during his trip to DPRK in 2012.
Korea: MSM Disappointed as DPRK Observes Holiday - E. F. Beall: my.firedoglake.com: "wendydavis April 16th, 2013 at 6:56 am 2 You all may have spoken about this before, but while speaking with a virtual friend on the Korean doings, I’d mentioned one concept we used to consider in relationships that were (very loosely) between Orientals and Occidentals. The cultural concepts of ‘keeping face’, ‘losing face’, and so on were known to be very important to grasp as fully as possible, but most especially in diplomacy. While we understand from the Wikicables that internal US and Western diplomacy is more about weapons sales, and public diplomacy is very gun-barrel sounding, we don’t know what back-channel talks are like."
Bureaucrats proposed cutting US broadcasts to North Caucasus, home of Boston bombing suspects - usgbroadcasts.com: "U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) still broadcasts uncensored radio programs in local languages to the largely Muslim North Caucasus region in the Russian Federation, the reported home of the Boston bombing suspects. But if U.S. government bureaucrats and the Obama Administration had their way, these broadcasts, which include uncensored news about terrorism, would have been silent by now.
And even though radio broadcasts in Avar, Chechen and Circassian barely survived, RFE/RL is still short of dozens of experienced Russian-speaking reporters whose programs were once heard in the region. These reporters were fired last year by the former management of the station and have not yet returned to work. Russian is widely spoken in North Caucasus, which Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty describes as 'one of the most violent and dangerous regions in the world, where media freedom and journalists remain under severe threat.'” Image from entry
BBG Proposes Creating New Ceo, Editor In Chief - Adam Clayton Powell III, PD News – CPD Blog, USC Center on Public Diplomacy: "All of
‘Gastrodiplomacy’ [scroll down link for item] - Alex Gallafent, theworld.org: "Paul Rockower is a food lover with a masters in public diplomacy, and he’s researched some of the ways entire countries have used food to extend themselves around the world. Rockower calls the field ‘gastrodiplomacy’. ... Peru, Taiwan and others: all sort of countries have been getting in on gastrodiplomacy, including, as of last fall, the United States. The State Department launched a ‘Diplomatic Culinary Partnership’ which connects chefs from around the world with people in the industry over here. Then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton introduced the initiative. 'Food isn’t traditionally thought of as a diplomatic tool,' she said, 'but I think it’s the oldest diplomatic tool. Certainly some of the most meaningful conversations I’ve had with my counterparts around the world have taken place over breakfasts, lunches, and dinners.'”
The second GCCT newsletter - TransConflict: "GCCT Insight and Analysis [:] This section provides an overview of the insight and analysis produced by members of the GCCT on a variety of conflict and conflict transformation related topics: ... 6) Serbia and Syria – by Julian Harston – There has been a failure of public diplomacy by the
It's not just cricket: Indians have their say on Australia - Liz Minchin and Nancy Youssef, phys.org/wire-news: "The director of the Australia-India Institute Amitabh Mattoo said while the Gillard government had strengthened the nations' ties – especially by signing a long-awaited uranium export deal – far more needs to be done. 'Federal funding for India-focused institutions is already only a fraction of the tens of millions of dollars committed to similar programs for China and the United States [by the Australian government],' said Professor Mattoo. 'The core problem concerns negative perceptions about student safety generated largely by media reporting. Public diplomacy efforts should be expanded.' Professor Mattoo suggested several ways to improve relations, including a documentary on the lives of Indian students in Australia; an exchange program for media leaders from the two countries; and subsidised language training, especially for Australian diplomats, business people, journalists and non-government organisations."
“Turkey And Russia Accentuate Predictability, Crisis Management And Sustained Stability” – Emre Tunç Sakaoglu, Interview, eurasiareview.com: "We have conducted an elaborate interview with Habibe Özdal, USAK Expert on Russia, over the meeting held between Turkish Foreign Minister Davutoglu and Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov in Istanbul yesterday, on 17 April 2013. Mrs. Özdal shed light on the current context surrounding bilateral relations between the two countries and the detailed outlook of high level cooperation mechanisms from Turkey’s as well as Russia’s respective perspectives. ... [Özdal:] [W]e see here two countries which have put aside their conflictual pasts and which eagerly look forward to adapt rapidly to the novel conditions of the new world order evolving in the aftermath of the Cold War through the contemporary era of globalization.
New definitions and refreshed perceptions were adopted by both parties as a necessity of changing times; as evident in the fact that various diplomatic channels are actively, efficiently and regularly utilized today concerning bilateral perspectives. Today, accelerated improvements in several fields of cooperation pertaining public diplomacy and tourism, energy issues, mutual investments and trade volume constitute the major emphasis in bilateral relations." Image from article, with caption: Three-quarters of Indians say cricket helps the relationship between India and Australia, a new survey has found.
The Caucasus Neighborhood- April 15, 2013 [video] - civilnet.am: "The Caucasus Neighborhood is a weekly round-up of important stories from the region. This week we look at a day of protests surrounding the presidential inauguration in Armenia, sharp words for Azerbaijan after the abrupt closure of a 'Free Thought' University, and an increase in public diplomacy between American and Turkish leaders."
Response to Foreign Affairs Committee funding report - finchannel.com: "British Council statement in response to the Foreign Affairs Committee report on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s performance in 2011-12. As British Council said, Martin Davidson CMG, Chief Executive of the British Council, said ... 'The British Council has responded to challenging financial conditions since the 2010 Spending Review and we are glad that the Committee has recognised that we have continued to successfully deliver our work and be 'a major instrument of UK public diplomacy and ‘soft power’.' Our aim is to deliver an entrepreneurial public service for the benefit of the UK and for the people and institutions who we work with around the world. This requires us to generate more income, therefore we welcome the Committee’s summary that we have 'managed to take on a more entrepreneurial character without significant detriment to the quality of its work or its global reach. We also welcome the Foreign Affairs Committee’s recommendation that Government should consider our warnings on the impact of the Government’s student visa policies around the world. ...'"
Experts: Set up China’s first lady office - chinaabout.net: "According to CRI News, President Xi Jinping’s wife Peng Liyuan had accompanied with Xi’s tour to Russia and Africa as well as attending the Boao Forum for Asia, triggering widespread concern at home and abroad.
Experts said that currently there is no office for First Lady set in Zhongnanhai, the government can consider the establishment of such office for the First Lady to play a better role in public diplomacy system." Image from entry
In Australia, a Zionist tent of many colors - Dan Goldberg, iajv99.wordpress.com: "As thousands of Australian Jews join communal celebrations for Israel’s 65th birthday this week, subtle shifts appear to be evolving within the Zionist camp Down Under, making way for more ambiguity in viewpoints that once leaned either strictly black or white.
A landmark survey recently found about 80 percent of Australian Jews identify as Zionists, but the narrower goalposts founded on the premise of Israel-right-or-wrong appear to have broadened to include more progressive, critical voices as well as more Orthodox Jews. ... The New Israel Fund announced this week that four eminent Australian Jews had become the inaugural members of its advisory board: [including] ... historian Mark Baker, the director of the Center for the Study of Jewish Civilization at Monash University in Melbourne . ... 'Many Jews want an authentic conversation about Israel which is not based on hasbara,' Dr. Baker told Haaretz, using the Hebrew word for public diplomacy on behalf of Israel. 'It would be wrong of us to celebrate Israel’s independence while not acknowledging the vibrant disagreements among us about the relationship between Israel as a Jewish and also a democratic state, between religious and secular culture, between the exercise of military power and the pursuit of diplomacy, between civil rights in Israel and the impact of the occupation.'” Image from article
Israel is Far Too Liberal and Accepting - Ronn Torossian, israelnationalnews.com: "Labor Party Knesset Member Nachman Shai recently wrote a book (in Hebrew) titled War: Reaching for Hearts and Mind where he wisely calls for the creation of an independent Jewish version of Al-Jazeera. As owner of a PR Firm, I believe he is completely right as he writes 'Setting up a station likes this, costs a lot less than one F-16 [fighter jet]. I propose to deploy throughout the world, a configuration of ‘public diplomacy cells’ — meaning hundreds of thousands of people, Jewish and non-Jewish supporters of Israel, who will disseminate information in every corner of the globe. What could it possibly take for Israel to get a fair shake in the media? No one in the American media will blame Boston officials for the bombings there, right? So why is it fair to do so when it involves the State of Israel?"
Israeli Defense Budget Under Attack - Mazal Mualem, al-monitor.com: "Now that the state budget’s deficit (about
RI diplomacy prioritizes Palestinian independence [link no longer active] - Arya Dipa, The Jakarta Post: "The Government will continue to prioritize Palestinian independence in its diplomacy while encouraging other countries in Asia and Africa to contribute to building human resources, Deputy Foreign Minister Wardana has said." Image from article, with caption: Keeping the spirit: (Left to right)
Foreign Ministry’s director general for information and public diplomacy AM Fachir, and foreign envoys to Indonesia: Sanaullah of Pakistan, Fariz N. Mehdawi of Palestine, Maj. Gen. (ret) Nanda Mallawaarachchi of Sri Lanka, Gurjit Singh of India and moderator Teuku Reza Syah share their views during a session to commemorate the 58th anniversary of Asia Africa Conference in Bandung on Friday.
CECAFA Championship in Sudan .. Implications and Meanings - sudanvisiondaily.com: "It is definite that hosting CECAFA Championship in South Kordofan and North Darfur states is considered a historical quantum in this arena. We believe that the concerned authorities in coordination with the Sudanese Football Federation are qualified to make the event a success. No doubt that organizing the tournament in North Darfur and South Kordofan has its deep implications and meanings on top of which is reflecting the apostolic role of sports in the issues that surround our today's world and its success in resolving the conflicts. ... The sports can play a great role in public diplomacy and make the nations closer."
Concordia to host 2014 Acfas congress - concordia.ca: "This year, several Concordia University researchers (professors, lecturers and graduate students) will once again take part in this high point of francophone university life. Nearly 6,000 researchers, including 500 international participants from some 40 countries, will take part in the 81st congress to be held at the Université Laval from May 6 to 10. They will present and share their research findings and address such topics as public diplomacy and the culture of the future, feminist movements, Aboriginal governance, groundwater, innovative microsystems, nanoparticles and striking a research-activism balance, to mention but a few. "
RI’s Naval War College Terrorism Expert: Marathon and Ricin Scare - Ashley Klann, golocalprov.com: "Professor Marc A. Genest is ... the Area Study Coordinator for the Insurgency and Terrorism electives program at the college, as well as the
Forrest Sherman Chair of Public Diplomacy in the Strategy and Policy Department and Co-Director of the Center on Irregular Warfare and Armed Groups." Image from entry, with caption: On the heels of the Boston Marathon bombing, a letter addressed to President Barack Obama tested positive for ricin, a deadly poison.
Full-time Visits and Communications Officer at The British Embassy - bizmean.com:
"Job Title: Visits and Communications Officer ... Location: Dubai Reporting to: 2nd Secretary Political and Media ... Dubai is a busy place for VIP visits with Ministers and senior officials from across Whitehall visiting or passing through the city throughout the year. In this exciting and fast moving role the jobholder will coordinate all aspects of VIP visits for the Embassy, working closely with colleagues across all departments and in Abu Dhabi. The jobholder will need to be able to communicate with confidence and influence Ministers’ offices in the UK and UAE and develop partnerships with senior people in the Royal Court and elsewhere. Candidates should ideally have previous visits experience. The Embassy has also taken impressive steps in building its online presence over the past two years. It has a website (www.gov.uk/government/world/united-arab-emirates), a popular Facebook page (UKinUAE) and a Twitter account (@UKinUAE). It is also increasingly using YouTube and Flickr for Public Diplomacy outreach. Consulting with, and developing ideas from, the wider Embassy Communications Team, the job holder will lead on sustaining and building the Embassy’s online presence and reputation. In doing so the jobholder will work in close conjunction with the FCO digital hubs in Dubai and Delhi for technical implementation and upload."
RELATED ITEMS
After Boston: Here’s Our World - Peter Van Buren, We Meant Well: America needs to take a long, hard look at itself and answer the question of why we have so many enemies. Answering that question and doing something about the sources of such hatred may make us safer than anything else.
The language of terror - Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post: Terrorism is speech — speech that gathers its audience by killing innocents as theatrically as possible. The 19th-century anarchist Paul Brousse called it “propaganda by deed.” Accordingly, the Boston Marathon attack, the first successful terror bombing in the United States since 9/11, was designed for maximumch effect. At the finish line there would be not only news cameras but also hundreds of personal videos to amplify the message.
But what message? There was no claim of responsibility, no explanatory propaganda. Indeed, was it terrorism at all. Obama has performed admirably during the Boston crisis, speaking both reassuringly and with determination. But he continues to be linguistically uneasy. His wavering over the word terrorism is telling, though in this case unimportant. The real test will come when we learn the motive for the attack. Image from
Terrorism Is Blackmail, Whoever Is Behind It: Don't take undue comfort if a state sponsor can't be fingered behind the Boston attack - Holman W. Jenkins, Jr., Wall Street Journal: Terrorism in our world is a paradox. Terrorism creates huge problems for politicians and statesmen even if, objectively, the cost and casualties have no impact on the functioning of our civilization. The average American is in more danger from a taco salad. Yet we intuit the stakes nonetheless.
Who Lost Afghanistan? Something funny happened to Richard Holbrooke on the way to the negotiating table - James Traub, Wall Street Journal: So is Mr. Obama too fond of the hammer of American power, or too wary of it? He is certainly not a "dove." The president isn't, ideologically or temperamentally, opposed to American military power or coercion. He shies away from the use of force where he doesn't think it will work—e.g., Syria. But he is quite prepared to sign off on drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen. He has largely followed in George W. Bush's footsteps on counterterror policy. And whatever one thinks of his bona fides, he has pledged himself to bomb Iran if it gains nuclear-weapons capacity.
Banned by Moscow, and Proud of It- Old-style Russian moral equivalence is the latest chapter in the sad case of Sergei Magnitsky - John Yoo, Wall Street Journal: By placing American officials and others on a sanctions list, Vladimir Putin is replaying the old Soviet game of claiming a moral equivalence with the West.
The Folly of the Euro - William Pfaff, New York Times: If New York, Texas and Iowa could have a single dollar currency, why couldn’t France, Germany and Italy? Europe already had — or was completing — the single European market, free of tariff barriers. Why not a single currency for the single market? A great many enthusiastic supporters of European unification seemed to think that all that was needed was to give it a name and design, and then print it up. The euro experiment is failing. The European Union can be saved in many other respects, but the single currency was folly.
Rising Tensions With Russia - Denis Corboy, William Courtney, Kenneth Yalowitz, New York Times: Russia’s relations with the West are again plunging. This time the cause is repression in Russia and the Western reaction to it. Last time it was the invasion of Georgia in 2008, and before that NATO expansion to the east. Unless the West develops an enduring and resilient strategy toward Russia, the deterioration in ties may be prolonged. The Russians will determine the pace of their democratic evolution, but the West can help by nurturing collaboration while keeping faith with those who seek a more open Russia.
Propaganda 101: N. Korean kids train to seek ‘revenge on U.S.’ - Associated Press, Washington Times: cross the country, banners, slogans and artwork have been redrawn to focus on fighting "the imperialist Americans and their traitorous followers," a reference to South Korea.
Slogans on improving North Korea's economy had dominated since 2009, but anti-American propaganda has re-emerged over the past year, particularly following U.S.-led censure of North Korea's decision to launch a long-range rocket and test a nuclear bomb. Image from article, with caption: Eleven-year-old students at the Mangyongdae Revolutionary School, in Pyongyang, North Korea
ONE MORE QUOTATION FOR THE DAY
“to outwit God.”
--Marek Edelman, the last living commander of the Warsaw uprising on why, after World War II, in Communist Poland, he became a cardiologist
RUSSICA
--Via
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