“I’m sorry, but the guest of honor has requested that you not be admitted to the dinner.”
--A publicity person, at a dinner honoring relatively new director of Radio Liberty’s Russian service Masha Gessen, informing Broadcasting Board of Governors member and former U.S. Ambassador to Poland Victor Ashe, who was standing at loose ends in the lobby of where the event was held, that he was a persona non grata at the celebration, despite having received, according to reporter Judy Bachrac, an invitation to attend it; The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) is an independent federal agency supervising all U.S. government-supported, civilian international media, including Radio Liberty; image from
SITE OF INTEREST
Welcome to International Exchange Alumni Fund - alumni.state.gov
PUBLIC DIPLOMACY
US, Others Wrangle over Future Arctic Governance - Joe Hitchon, Reuters AlertNet: "With climate change rapidly opening up new opportunities for shipping and resource extraction across the once permanently frozen Arctic, the United States and other northern countries are being compelled to re-examine their policies, both national and collective, towards this region of growing geostrategic importance. ... On Monday, the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank, proposed a series of reforms to U.S. Arctic policy. 'U.S. Arctic policy must respond to the economic, environmental, security, and geopolitical concerns that confront the region,' the report states. 'It is now time for the Obama administration to enhance U.S. Arctic policy by updating and prioritizing national security … improving interagency cooperation, enhancing U.S. international and public diplomacy related to the Arctic, and increasing the focus of senior U.S. officials.'"
Governments find their way to the public's heart - through the stomach: More and more governments are connecting with the foreign public over their national cuisine through state- and citizen-sponsored programs - Alex Beall, wtop.com: "A new diplomacy program -- called gastrodiplomacy -- is giving food a seat at the negotiating table. This type of diplomacy seeks to incorporate a country's traditional food into the everyday life of the foreign public.
This, in turn, expands that's county's diplomatic influence. ... The term gastrodiplomacy originated from an Economist article, but was popularized by Paul Rockower, the communications director for American Voices. ... Rockower explains that public gastrodiplomacy is mostly used by middle powers that lack military or political power, such as Thailand, South Korea and Peru. ... There are, of course, challenges with the program. Because the practice is a new development, current shortcomings are limited to the public's ignorance of the specific programs or the consumer's dislike of a certain food. ... Though the U.S. is not a middle power, it created its own gastrodiplomacy campaign to celebrate its regional cuisine. The State Department launched its Culinary Diplomacy Partnership Initiative in September, which named about 80 chefs to be part of the American Chef Corps to serve American dishes for foreign leaders. These chefs also travel abroad to teach the foreign public about regional American cuisine. The U.S. chose regional chefs to represent cuisines from different areas of the nation." Image from entry, with caption: More and more governments are connecting with the foreign public over their national cuisine through state- and citizen-sponsored programs.
Chef Art Smith is coming to Israel as a cultural ambassador under the US State Department's Diplomatic Culinary Partnership - Jerusalem Post: "American chef Art Smith, who cooked for Lady Gaga and was Oprah Winfrey's personal chef for 10 years will be coming to Israel to cook for Holocaust survivors and hold a cooking workshop for youth at risk. The American Embassy in Tel Aviv said that Smith was coming as a cultural ambassador under the the Diplomatic Culinary Partnership, a program according to the US Department of State's website, that is meant to 'elevate the role of culinary engagement in America’s formal and public diplomacy efforts.'
While in Israel Smith is also slated to work with Israeli and Palestinian chefs who belong to the organization Chefs for Peace and meet with Beduin women in the Negev who established a food operation that makes food for children, the embassy said." Image from article, with caption: Lady Gaga in a meat dress.
U.S. State Department Daily Press Briefing: Press Freedom and Nigeria - posted at umcoba-usa.org: "Excerpts from the United States Department of State daily press briefing: MR. VENTRELL: ... As you all know, World Press Freedom Day is approaching next Friday, May 3rd. ... So to launch the campaign, today we’re highlighting the case of Isaiah Diing Abraham Chan Awuol, a journalist who was shot and killed in December 2012 outside his home in Juba, South Sudan. ... And also, just to let you know that we have – later this week, we’ll have a briefing with our Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and our Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. They’ll be launching this campaign at the Foreign Press Center later this week on Thursday."
Department of State Public Schedule Wednesday, April 24, 2013 - posted at rockycoastnews.blogspot.com: "UNDER SECRETARY FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS TARA SONENSHINE 6:30 p.m. Under Secretary Sonenshine attends an event hosted by the Brookings Institution honoring
Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Qatar Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, in Washington, DC." Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr al Thani image from
Full Form of USIA - full-formof.blogspot.com: "What is the full form of USIA? USIA = United States Information Agency U = United S = States I = Information A = Agency []. About = USIA which existed from 1953 to 1999, was a United States agency devoted to 'public diplomacy' and often considered by critics to be a propaganda arm of the Central Intelligence Agency.
In 1999, USIA's broadcasting functions were moved to the newly created Broadcasting Board of Governors, and its exchange and non-broadcasting information functions were given to the newly created Under Secretary of State for Public Affairs and Public Diplomacy at the U.S. Department of State." Image from; "Useless" was the term used by some U.S. diplomats to refer to USIA, which in the field was known as United States Information Agency (USIS).
Report: Director of RL Russian tries to disinvite the boss of her boss from dinner in her honor - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting
Ionian Village adds “Repower Greece Day” to its 2013 Summer Camping Program - Maria A. Karamitsos - thegreekstar.com: "The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese’s Office of Ionian Village is excited to announce the establishment of a cooperative one-day program, 'Repower Greece Day at Ionian Village.' This groundbreaking event will encourage
What is SFI [Students for Israael] really all about? - sfi.org.il: "The Nazis aren’t dead; they’re just hiding on the internet, filling it with anti-Semitic posts, Holocaust denial and caricatures of PM Netanyahu with a Hitler mustache. Ido Daniel, a student from Tel Aviv University, decided to fight back. Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have already deleted dozens of Israel hating pages due to his actions, and more Israelis are joining the fight. 'There are hardly any Nazis left for us to hunt down, but they have replacements, and now it’s our turn to find them' ... Daniel, 25, a political science major at Tel Aviv University, knows that the battle he’s been fighting for over two years is a one of both the present and future. Ido came to this discernment not only because he is responsible for the removal of dozens of anti-Semitic and anti Israeli websites, but also because the most famous of all Nazi Hunters, Rafi Eitan, the man who apprehended Adolf Eichmann in Argentina, told him so in person himself. 'Look, it’s obvious that the old Mossad ways of operation are still valid and relevant', says Ido, 'but yes, even old-timer Rafi Eitan, and others, understand that there are anti-Semitic crimes, spreading of propaganda and incitement on the web. And just as Israeli public diplomacy is being carried out at the same time targeted thwarting of terror attacks does, online activity can be equally valuable; removing and deleting profiles, taking down websites, pages and groups. You just have to know how to do it'. ... When Ido embarked on this journey he was optimistic; not to mention naïve. “At first I was taking the public diplomacy and dialogue route. ... Daniel began regularly replying to hateful or Holocaust denying groups, posting photos from Auschwitz and quotes from Holocaust historians. 'Some of the people would reply but they didn’t make any intelligent argument, they just wrote that my claims are incorrect...' ... He even found a way to earn a living from this hobby: Daniel works at an organization called What Israel, taking Israeli students and academics on delegations to campuses with anti Israeli or anti-Semitic activity. ... The number of anti-Semitic websites is alarming.
According to data by the Anti-Defamation League, there are about 15,000 anti-Semitic websites; however, this number is only a relatively small portion of what actively exists. ... Daniel, who used his real name when he first ventured into this world, quickly discovered that the discussions he participates in, in an attempt to sway the opinions of Holocaust deniers, won’t always simply end with agreeing to disagree. 'I received quite a few threats and anti-Semitic messages. ...' Daniel realized that in order to protect his virtual profile, and possibly himself as well, he had to create a fake account. Armed with his new alias, he continues his fight." Image from entry
Is Tourism the Most Destructive Enterprise? Tourism explodes with globalization, enriching lives but destroying nature and culture - Elizabeth Becker, YaleGlobal: "'[F]ew would have guessed that Deng Xiaoping would be among tourism's early proponents. In late 1978, as he was preparing to consolidate power in China, Deng gave five 'direction talks' on the central role tourism might play in China's reform movement. For Deng, tourism was a natural to earn China much-needed foreign cash - he predicted US$10 billion a year by the new millennium, and China reached that goal in 1996. He viewed tourism as an effective way to flip negative impressions of China. While he didn't use the phrase 'public diplomacy,' he set into place a system to create a state-controlled tourism sector that includes government-trained tourist guides extolling the joys of the open market and China. Deng even calculated that if China brought tourism to Tibet it could influence international opinion, ensuring that Tibet remained in China's orbit. He also rightly warned that pollution from rapid industrialization could despoil the beautiful spots that would attract tourists."
Israel finds “key to the Islamic world” - Peter Lyukimson, vestnik kavkaza: "Yesterday, the foreign minister of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov completed his visit to Israel. The final accord of the visit was a meeting of the head of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry with Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu. The foreign minister of Israel Ze’ev Elkin took part in the meeting as well. Elmar Mammadyarov expressed gratitude to Israel for effective cooperation in the sphere of development of water household of Azerbaijan and for effective cooperation in other branches.
The head of the Foreign Ministry also noted that there was a serious potential for development of cooperation between countries in the sphere of TV-communications and tourism. Moreover, Azerbaijan would like to study Israeli experience in public diplomacy, which is very important for Baku in the context of a permanent information war. ... Of course, a significant part of the meeting took place behind closed doors, and not all details are publicly covered. 'We are very glad that this important historic visit took place. This meeting will lead to launching our relations into a new level, and we will significantly extend current cooperation. I am sure that in the future Azerbaijan can become a popular destination for Israeli tourists,' Ze’ev Elkin said." Uncaptioned image from article
Chechens - Alex Magno, The Philippine Star: "This had to be the ultimate in reality television. The whole world watched as Watertown, and then Boston itself, was locked down while 9,000 officers hunted the second of a pair of suspects for the marathon bombing. The suspects were identified from an intense review of thousands of video clips of the area around the finish line. This was crowd-sourcing at its best: thousands of citizens contributed photos they took of the area. In the end, the authorities managed to identify the most likely perpetrators. If there is such a thing as public diplomacy, this will have to be called public police work. Investigators relied on massive inputs of information from the public — and then relied on public cooperation to finally corner the fugitives."
An Entire City -- and One Muslim - thinkinghousewife.com: "To Rob: ... [W]hile it’s true that the secessionist movement that fought the Russians in 1992 did not avail itself of very much jihadist imagery or language in its public diplomacy, and as a Muslim people was dominated by non-Salafist warlords, the Chechens were always going to be peculiarly vulnerable to jihadist influence. This is due to their status as Muslims. The 'unprecedented' change from a nationalist movement to an Islamic supremacist one has been overstated."
300-million dollar soft diplomacy scholarship scheme in China - radioaustralia.net.au: "The money will go to a scholarship program at Beijing's Tsinghua university, spanning a fifty-year period, where about 10,000 students will use the scholarships to study and also create closer ties with China. The scheme is one of the biggest forays in soft diplomacy in decades, but will it work? Correspondent: Kumi Taguchi [;] Speakers: Mark Thirlwell, director, International Economy Program, Lowy Institute, Australia; Philip Seib, director, Center for Public Diplomacy, US.KUMI TAGUCHI: Money talks, and in this case it's $300 million.
One hundred million has already been donated. Another 100 million will be raised by the end of the year. The other third is from the personal fortune of American private equity tycoon Stephen Schwarzman. Philip Seib is the director of the Center for Public Diplomacy and spoke to PM from Los Angeles. PHILIP SEIB: He realises that the more Westerners, particularly Americans, who go to study in China, the greater the trade relationship between the two countries will be, but also the more stable the relationship will be. And stability is a good thing in diplomacy and in international economics. ... The idea of understanding and understanding being the foundation of peace is extremely important and these educational exchanges can contribute a lot to that." Image from
Meet Your Professor – Dennis Kinsey - newhousepr.wordpress.com: "Dennis Kinsey is the director of the public diplomacy program, as well as a professor of public relations, media studies, mass communications and communications management, at the Newhouse School. ... Q: Did you always want to work
in public relations and/or communications? A: No, I wanted to be a rock star like a lot of my peers growing up. For something to fall back on I decided to go to college just in case the rock star thing didn’t pan out." Kinsey image from entry
44th World Trade Centre General Assembly being held in India after 25 Years at Mumbai - mumbainewsbox.blogspot.com: "Mumbai April 2013: The financial city will see participation of over 300 global experts, policy makers and marketing gurus all come together to deliberate on the theme 'The New Economic Order and World Trade Centers' at the noteworthy event that ensues from the Sunday, 21st April’13
to Wednesday, 24th of April 2013. ... A special address will be given on the 23rd of April by Mr. Garcia Bercero, Director of External Trade, European Commission about his perspective on 'EU India Relations and Perspectives on FTA' along with Mr. Jochum Haakma, Global Director of Business Development in the TME Group giving the delegates his valuable insight on 'Public Diplomacy and The Changing Role in Trade Promotion Between Public and Private Parties'." Image from entry
Unique Opportunity with the State Department -- Deadline 5/1 - School of Foreign Service - Georgetown: "The European Public Diplomacy Office within the U.S. Department of State is looking for the right virtual eIntern to work on a public outreach project regarding the recently launched expanded free trade agreement with the EU. They are looking for a graduate student with interest in Europe and expertise in trade/economics. eInterns must be U.S. citizens, and this position will be selected by the European Public Diplomacy Office. Like standard VSFS internships, this project will involve 5-10 hours a week and last into the summer. If you are interested in applying for this position, please complete the application and email your resume to VSFS@state.gov by May 1, 2013."
Banaras Hindu University Job Openings for the post of Project Fellow - indiastudychannel.com: "Banaras Hindu University invites applications for the post of Project Fellow in Varanasi. It is good opportunity to get job with BHU
and brighten your future. Last date for this recruitment is 08/05/2013. ... Job Description: Banaras Hindu University Job Openings for the post of Project Fellow [;] Title of the Project: Effectiveness of India's Public Diplomacy Programs: An Analytical Study [;] Name of the post: Project Fellow ... Salary: Rs. 14000/- PM [;] Age Limit: 28 years [;] Eligibility: Candidate must possess M.A in Political Science with 55%." Image from
RELATED ITEMS
The Terrorist's Sojourn in a Most Dangerous Place: Tamerlan Tsarnaev spent seven months in Dagestan, where the capital sees violent attacks weekly, if not daily - Glen E. Howard, Wall Street Journal: It is important that the U.S. continue counterterrorism cooperation with Moscow (even as the Kremlin tries to dismiss all of its opponents as terrorists or other enemies of the state). But Washington should balance its cooperation with Moscow by reaching out to staunch American allies in the region—such as Georgia and Azerbaijan, which border the North Caucasus—to glean insights and exchange information about threats.
Kerry calls for a ‘special relationship' with China - Josh Rogin, Foreign Policy: For decades, the United States has reserved the term "special relationship"
for two countries, Britain and Israel, but Secretary of State John Kerry called for a new "special relationship" with China during his recent trip to Asia. Image from article
Has NATO Outlived Its Usefulness? - New York Times: Questioning the need for NATO and
Assad defies the U.S. and Russia - David Ignatius, Washington Post: The growing evidence that the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons against its own population provides an opportunity
for the United States and Russia, the two countries that have the most influence over the situation, to jointly force President Bashar al-Assad to hand over power. Image from article, with caption: Animal carcasses lie on the ground, killed by what residents said was a chemical weapon attack on Tuesday, in Khan al-Assal area near the northern city of Aleppo, March 23, 2013
Cultural-sensitivity soldiers save diplomats, corporate titans from themselves - Emily Wax, Washington Post: Executive Director Gary Weaver's institute, American University’s Intercultural Management Institute and one of Washington’s global-etiquette gurus, is part of a nationwide industry of cross-cultural trainers; some work for private consulting groups and others do in-house courses for the State Department and Peace Corps. They form the United States’ sensitivity soldiers, armed with cultural cautionary tales and a clear mission: Save diplomats and corporate titans from themselves.
Boston Marathon bombing suspect read jihadist propaganda, was motivated by religious extremism: U.S. officials - Denise Lavoie and Eileen Sullivan, Associated Press, leaderpost.com: Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev was an ardent reader of jihadist websites and extremist propaganda, U.S. officials said Tuesday, adding another piece to the body of evidence they say suggests the two brothers were motivated by an anti-American, radical version of Islam. Two officials said the older brother frequently looked at extremist sites, including Inspire magazine, an English-language online publication produced by al-Qaida's Yemen affiliate. The magazine has endorsed lone-wolf terror attacks.
Website Helps Dissect North Korean Propaganda - Alastair Gale, Wall Street Journal: North Korea’s propaganda machine has become more diverse in recent years with the addition of social media tools such as Twitter and creative video projects depicting attacks on the U.S. among other things. But the main source of information about what the country is saying to the outside world remains the output of the Korean Central News Agency, the state media organization. In early 2011, KCNA ramped up its output, and for journalists and other Pyongyang-watchers, trawling through the dispatches each day to look for important signals can be a mind-numbing task.
A new website dedicated to cataloging KCNA dispatches and sorting them by subjects such as people and places helps to make more sense of the firehose of information. KCNAwatch.org is the labor-of-love of Frank Feinstein, a New Zealander based in Christchurch, who started working on the site about a year ago and has tended to it in between his work as a researcher. The website catalogues every KCNA English report on the official KCNA website, or about 90,000 articles going back to January 1997. It also gives graphical representations of the frequency of mentions of key subjects and people, and Mr. Feinstein says more useful functionality is in the works. Feinstein image from article
Belarus Music: From Propaganda To Protest (+Videos) - On Saturday 13 April, around 4 pm the most popular Belarusian music channel BelMuzTV was broadcasting porn. When discussing this incident, many Belarusian media outlets were, somewhat bizarrely, focusing not on the fact of porn broadcast but on the fact that the channel also showed videos of a blacklisted rock-group Liapis Trubetskoy on that day. In today’s Belarus, as in the last years of the USSR, music is strongly connected with politics. Some artists are against the political regime and for that reason they cannot perform in Belarus. They perform concerts in Vilnius, Kiev and Polish cities. Some travel agencies even organise tours for fans so they can watch concerts of blacklisted Belarusian bands abroad. Other artists are part of the state system of entertainment and they regularly have to prove their loyalty to the ruling elite by putting on shows during election campaigns in support of Lukashenka. The propaganda songs for and against Lukashenka have become a part of the cultural landscape of Belarus. The best examples of such art are eventually becoming a part of folklore. After the current political regime has collapsed these propaganda songs still will be on Youtube and they will be able to tell us and future generations a lot about the period - the “Lukashenka times."
DARPA wants 'the love hormone' to treat PTSD, master propaganda - Katie Drummond, theverge.com: The Pentagon's loftiest research agency wants to add a little love to national security. Sort of. In a new request for research proposals, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is asking investigators to develop refined techniques for the measurement of oxytocin — a neurohormone implicated in myriad human behaviors, but best known for its roles in bonding and sexual arousal. In recent years, research into oxytocin has surged. We've long known that oxytocin is important for reproduction, and that it plays a pivotal role in maternal bonding after childbirth. More recent studies suggest that oxytocin might hasten wound healing, bolster against stress, and enhance levels of connectedness and generosity. As DARPA points out, those attributes "affect behaviors relevant to national security" — including vulnerability to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as well as social interactions that might impact military cohesiveness or even the outcome of an international conflict.
'Black Bodies in Propaganda' New Exhibition at the Penn Museum - A unique collection of posters, collected and curated by Penn professor and PBS History Detectives host Tukufu Zuberi, forms the basis of a provocative new exhibition at the Penn Museum: Black Bodies in Propaganda: The Art of the War Poster, opening at 1:00 pm on June 2, 2013, and running through March 2, 2014. Propaganda has long been used to mobilize people in times of war, and this exhibition presents 33 posters, most targeting Africans and African-American civilians, in times of war.
These carefully designed works of art were aimed at mobilizing people of color in war efforts, even as they faced oppression and injustice in their homelands. The exhibition explores changing messages on race and politics through propaganda—from the American Civil War, to World War I, World War II, and through to the African independence movements. “These posters tell a story about the dynamics of race,” said Dr. Zuberi. “Black bodies are racialized in these posters as they capture defining moments in history. Race is always about second-class citizenship, it is always about a relationship between two groups and how one group is defined as superior and the other group is defined as inferior.
These posters represent definitive moments in this historical process.” Top image from entry; below image of item in exhibit from
AMERICANA
Former CIA director David Petraeus to start CUNY professorship in August - nydailynews.com: Add this to former CIA director David Petraeus’ résumé: a professorship at the City University of New York.
The retired Army general, who quit in disgrace last year after admitting he had an extramarital affair with biographer Paula Broadwell, has been named visiting professor of public policy at Macaulay Honors College at CUNY. He starts his new post Aug. 1. Petraeus image from article, with caption: Call him Professor Petraeus: the general will be teaching at CUNY in the fall.
Caught on camera: Teacher, student get into fist fight [video] - usatoday.com
13 corrections officers indicted in Md., accused of aiding gang’s drug scheme - Ann E. Marimow and John Wagner, Washington Post: At the center of the investigation was an alleged leader of the Black Guerilla Family, Tavon White, who prosecutors said fathered five children with four of the corrections officers — Jennifer Owens, 31, of Randallstown; Katera Stevenson, 24, of Baltimore; Chania Brooks, 27, of Baltimore; and Tiffany Linder, 27, of Baltimore — since his incarceration on attempted murder charges in 2009.
5 dead in Illinois shooting; suspect dies after shootout with police - Edmund DeMarche, foxnews.com
BELARUSSICA
"Belarusian pop-group Siabry presented the song Listen to the Father. In Russian speaking world Lukashenka has a nickname 'Father' and the audience was identifying Lukashenka with the main character of the song. The concert was broadcast on Belarusian state TV to make sure the whole country could see the concert [:]
[Lyrics from Listen to Father]
He is great and powerful!
He will not teach bad things.
Father can put everything in order
And he is way cooler than the others!
Just look around - and it's immediately obvious
Who's the boss of the house.
So listen to father!
In the morning, during the day and at night
Listen to father!
If you feel bad
Listen to father!
And everything will be alight [sic]."
From (includes video of song); Lukashenko image (with his son) from
ONE MORE QUOTATION FOR THE DAY
"You don’t know who’s who."
--James Gleick, author of "The Information," about the "millions of voices, but millions of masks" on the Internet
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