"In short, Luck's always to blame."
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PUBLIC DIPLOMACY
The Case for Blowing Things Up - PD News–CPD Blog, USC Center on Public Diplomacy: "Despite the allure of soft power as a way to deal with international disputes, there is no getting away from the sad reality that hard power is sometimes needed.
Forceful action will speak to global publics as its own kind of public diplomacy. It is time to blow up at least part of Assad’s capability to slaughter innocents." Image from
US envoy bowing out - with satisfaction: But outgoing ambassador will stay on here to pursue business interest - Ravi Velloor, The Straits Times, posted at If Only Singaporeans Stopped to Think [scroll down link for item]: "Sitting on the verandah of his sumptuous villa near Holland Village, comfortably clad in a cotton shirt and khakis held up by a golfer's belt over leather loafers, Mr David Adelman looks out on tropical vegetation as he expresses satisfaction over his 31/2 year stint as the American envoy. Still, his innings in Singapore had a hint of controversy even before it began. At his confirmation hearings before the US Congress, Mr Adelman said he intended to use public diplomacy to work towards greater press freedoms, freedom of assembly and ultimately, more space for opposition parties in Singapore. Perhaps it did not need a heave from the American ambassador to accomplish that. 'Singapore has changed in many ways over the last four years,' he notes. 'PM Lee Hsien Loong described the elections in 2011 as a watershed. And he recently gave an interview to The Washington Post where he describes Singapore's politics as to-ing and fro-ing. Singapore's politics is increasingly a marketplace of ideas and continues to develop.' The Government here has made nascent moves to regulate the online media during his tenure here, prompting companies such as Google to write letters of concern. Mr Adelman defends online freedom, saying the content brought to the public square by such companies is a great benefit, promoting open discussion, which is a bedrock American principle. ... So, what now that his tenure is ending? Back to the land of Coca- Cola, as Bob Dylan would say, or is Georgia on his mind? Well, here is the surprise. 'I am going to stay here,' says Mr Adelman. 'I am going back to private life. I am going to have a business interest in Singapore and elsewhere in the region. My family is thriving here. The US will always be home. But Americans are increasingly engaged around the world and I am a part of that.'" Adelman image from below entry
S'pore top destination for US investments in Asia - Outgoing US envoy lauds country's 'very hospitable business climate' - Ravi Velloor, The Straits Times, posted at If Only Singaporeans Stopped to Think: "
Back to the Future of Public Diplomacy - taliawhyte.com: "In order to create an effective public diplomacy campaign, the United States might need to seriously
re-evaluate its own domestic and foreign policies that create unfavorable information." Image from entry
The Role of Social Entrepreneurship in the U.S. and Indonesia - atamerica.or.id:
Image of event from entry
AM Fachir: ASEAN Community by 2015 Fast Should Socialized [Google translation] - Sutanto Johannes de Britto, jaringnews.com: "When holding Halal bi Halal and Media Gathering, Director General of Information and Public Diplomacy Ambassador AM Fachir convey that meaning and opportunities of the ASEAN Community from 2015 to be completely and immediately disseminated to the people of Indonesia. 'People should know what the impact of the ASEAN Community.
If employers likely already know, but people generally do not know,' said Ambassador AM Fachir at Warung Daun, Menteng, Central Jakarta, Tuesday, 27/8. ... On this occasion Mr PM Fachir also introduced a number of new Echelon II officials within DG IDP, including Director of Information and Media Sudarma Sofia, Director of Public Diplomacy Al Busyra Basnur for Diplomatic Security and Director of I Gusti Ngurah Ardiyasa." Image from article, with caption: Director General of Information and Public Diplomacy Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, AM Fachir
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Netanyahu resurrects government's student public advocacy unit: The government would like to harness the skills of Israeli students to the make the case for Israel using social media; Israelis, who must have a command of a second language, would be part of an effort similar to the one Netanyahu ran as a diplomat - Shlomo Cesana, israelhayom.com: "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to resurrect the government's student public advocacy unit to improve Israel's image overseas. After Operation Peace for the Galilee was launched in 1982, the Foreign Ministry had Israeli students and faculty members in American universities serve as unofficial spokespeople to make the case for Israel. At the time, a young Netanyahu served as a the head of the Public Diplomacy Department at the Israeli Embassy in Washington. Although the student-led effort operated out of New York, the activities were held in campuses all over the U.S. After the Jan. 22, 2013 election, the Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs Ministry was disbanded. Its various functions were transferred to the Prime Minister's Office, where Deputy Prime Minister Ofir Akunis runs the office's student-related activities. The new unit is designed to address the need for an effective body that would deal with contemporary challenges facing Israeli public diplomacy by tapping Israeli students' command and access to social media. The project will be run together with the National Union of Israeli Students.
Some 2.7 million shekels ($740 million) have been earmarked for this project, some of which would go towards scholarships for Israeli students who partake in this endeavor. ... The project would cater to Israeli students who have a command of foreign languages and who have lived abroad. They would be tasked with communicating Israel's policies by telling their own story as Israelis who have lived in the Jewish state and who have their own unique experiences, all the while steering clear of ideological refrains. The focus would be on Israel's right to exist and to defend itself. Students would counter the delegitimization efforts and highlight Israel's positive traits. Dr. Motti Friedman, who headed the public diplomacy organization in the U.S. during its previous iteration in the 1980s, says things are very different this time around. 'We didn't have Facebook; the cutting-edge technology at the time was a slide projector, but it was still effective,' he says. 'These new things can be harnessed to great use.' 'The trick is to use what is available,' says a veteran of Israel's public diplomacy apparatus." Image from article, with caption: Pro-Palestinian demonstrators.
RELATED ITEMS
Why ‘triplomacy’ is the new diplomacy - Deborah Winslow Nutter, globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com: "Is diplomacy dead? No, but perhaps it could do with a name change – think triplomacy. Governments today can no longer rely solely on 'diplomats' in the traditional sense. They need to harness the participation of multiple government agencies, private industries, NGOs and international institutions – specialists from various fields of expertise who as a group view issues through a triplomatic lens and who can collaborate in cross-cutting alliances."
Before You Conclude That 'Precision' Bombing Makes Sense With Syria ... - James Fallows, theatlantic.com: Fact 1: Atrocities are happening in Syria. Fact 2: The United States has bombers, cruise missiles, and drones. Putting those two facts together does not make the second a solution to the first. Consider the last twenty years: What has been achieved by (1) using cruise missiles to bomb a pharmaceutical plant in the Sudan and (2) an obstacle course in Afghanistan, or (3) the endless attacks on air defense sites in the Iraqi no fly zone in the 1990s, or (4) the bombing campaigns of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars; and now (5) Obama’s ever growing drone campaign in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, and god knows where else? While such precision-guided coercion operations may infatuate the foreign policy wonks, media elites, and feather the nests of defense contractors, the resulting strategy of drive by shootings has failed utterly to coerce the likes of Milošević, Osama Bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, Qaddafi, or the Taliban to behave in ways our pol-mil apparachiks deem to be acceptable. Only ten years after the disastrous "what could go wrong?" "something must be done!" rush to war in Iraq, you would have thought these cautions would not need restatement. They do. In the face of evil we should do something, except when the something would likely make a bad situation worse.
The Problem Is Assad: The goal of U.S. military action should be regime change in Damascus - Review and Outlook, Wall Street Journal: The real problem in Syria isn't the chemical weapons. It is the leader who has used them, Bashar Assad. This is where to focus the military response.
Target Assad A strike directed straight at the Syrian dictator and his family is the only military option that could hasten the end of the civil war - Bret Stephens, Wall Street Journal: The world can ill-afford a reprise of the 1930s, when the barbarians were given free rein by a West that had lost its will to enforce global order. Yes, a Tomahawk aimed at Assad could miss, just as the missiles aimed at Saddam did. But there's also a chance it could hit and hasten the end of the civil war.
And there's both a moral and deterrent value in putting Bashar and Maher on the same list that once contained the names of bin Laden and Anwar al-Awlaki. Image from article, with caption: Cruel duo: Syrian President Bashar Assad (right) and his brother Maher.
The U.S. must act against Assad - Eugene Robinson, washingtonpost.com: If it is true that the regime killed hundreds of civilians with nerve gas in a Damascus suburb last week — and Secretary of State John F. Kerry said Monday that the use of chemical weapons is “undeniable” — then Obama has no choice. Such use cannot be tolerated, and any government or group that employs chemical weapons must be made to suffer real consequences. Obama should uphold this principle by destroying some of Assad’s military assets with cruise missiles.
Syrian war leaves no easy choices - Michael Gerson, Washington Post: A cruise-missile campaign to protest and deter the use of chemical weapons would do little to change the situation on the ground. And Obama would need to decide if this is his goal.
Enforcing a 'red line' in Syria: If new reports of a government chemical weapons attack are confirmed, the U.S. must act - Editorial, latimes.com: For almost a century there has been an international consensus that chemical weapons are beyond the pale because of their cruelty and potential for widespread loss of life. That understanding was reflected in Obama's comments about a "red line." The Syrian government must not be allowed to cross that line with impunity.
Attack on Syria could trigger terrorists acts against U.S., Israel - Guy Taylor, The Washington Times: With the White House closer to launching a surgical military strike on Syria, questions swirled Monday over the extent to which such an attack could trigger a wave of terrorism directed at the
The evidence of chemical attack seems compelling – but remember - there’s a propaganda war on
The evidence so far for the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian army is second-hand and comes from a biased source (August 22) - Patrick Cockburn, Independent: Pictures showing that the Syrian army used chemical weapons against rebel-held Eastern Ghouta just east of
Although the
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad takes to Instagram as a propaganda tool (photos) - blog.al.com: In the midst of the Syrian civil war that has left more than 100,000 dead, according to a June U.N. estimate, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has taken to Instagram to showcase the good side of the conflict, or of his administration, anyway. Since his social media account became active in late July, Assad has been busy. He's posted more than 130 photos. Using the handle @syrianpresidency, Assad's new propaganda arm steers clear of the images of people in the hospital suffering from a chemical weapons attack (Assad denies his troops used chemical weapons), and instead focuses on photos of Assad shaking hands with troops on Syrian Army Day, meeting citizens (some in hospitals), Syrian award winners and recipients, and Assad's day-to-day work. The account also spotlights Syrian first lady and wife of Assad, Asma al-Assad, a British-born Syrian who married Assad in 2000. Asma al-Assad is shown serving food to "internally displaced families," kneeling to greet a woman in a wheelchair, and reaching out to children.
800 Public Libraries Bringing Islamic Propaganda to your Children - Janet Levy, familysecuritymatters.org: This is a dangerous companion program to Common Core and CSCOPE designed to indoctrinate your children and grandchildren about Islam.
As part of a National Endowment for the Humanities program funded by $150 million of our taxpayer dollars, 25 books and a DVD are being provided to 800 public libraries. No books are included on Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, etc. Image from article
Winery says Hitler-themed bottles aren't propaganda, 'it's history' - Alyssa Kleven, mynorthwest.com: Lunardelli, an Italian winery, has been using Hitler and other fascist dictators to sell their wine for nearly 20 years. It certainly has always faced its share of criticism, but with a rise in anti-semitism in
KIRO Radio host Tom Tangney said at the heart of the matter, it is not an interest in history or fascist dictators that keeps the winery labeling their bottles with Hitler's face. It's capitalism. "I think if I ran across it, I would think of it as a novelty item," said Tom. He said if he were to buy a bottle, it certainly wouldn't be to support the Nazi cause. Image from entry, with caption: Gianfranco Bettiol receives wine from a bottle bearing the image of former Nazi dictator of Germany, Adolf Hitler, made by winemaker Alessandro Lunardelli, in a bar in in Acilia, near Rome, in this Aug. 21, 2001 file photo.
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