April 15-16 Public Diplomacy Review

"Trying to get foreigners to like us is the default endeavor of the State Department’s public affairs officers, and, in my view, it’s largely a waste of time."

--Former Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs James Glassman; image from

EVENT

The Future of Diplomacy - "This innovative half-day summit will explore the nexus between technology and social media and how they are changing modern diplomacy. These agents of change are acting as constructive disrupters by modernizing systems and by bringing new voices into old ones.

The summit will bring together public diplomacy experts, leaders in policy and influencers in global partnerships to discuss best practices and offer engaging insight into the future of diplomacy and global issues. Follow live on @diplocourier #DiplomacySM #digitaldiplomacy." Image from

COMPILATION

Theater of the Absurb: Recent pieces, under Questioning Russophile eyes, on Ukraine and Sochi - John Brown, Notes and Essays

Image from Gila Monsta, "Oprichnina," cited in one of the entries ("Tsar Vladimir's Masks in Ukraine")

VIDEO

Hair advert mocking Kim Jong-un upsets North Korean officials: A West London barber's poster poking fun at the North Korean dictator's hairstyle upsets country's officials - telegraph.co.uk

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

U.S. Takes Off The Gloves In Rhetorical Rumble With Russia - Carl Schreck, eurasianet.org: "The U.S. administration has ratcheted up the rhetoric as it wrestles with Russia over mounting tensions in Ukraine, engaging the Kremlin in the kind of confrontational and caustic war of words it largely eschewed during U.S. President Barack Obama's first five years in office. From a campaign to debunk Russian claims point by point, to social-media dust-ups teetering on the edge of 'flame wars,' the media blitz contrasts sharply with Washington's public diplomacy under Obama's 'reset' policy with Moscow during his first term. 'There's certainly a change in tone, but there's also a change in tone...on the Russian side as well. It takes two to play at this game,' a former U.S. official who worked closely with the Obama administration on its reset policy says. Even a severe deterioration in bilateral ties in 2013 -- including over issues like the U.S. Magnitsky Act sanctions, the bloody civil war in Syria, and Russia's decision to grant asylum to fugitive U.S. intelligence analyst Edward Snowden -- did not spark the type of coordinated, multilayered information crusade from Washington like the one it's waging in response to the Ukraine crisis. ... Even before mass protests erupted in Ukraine in late November, some in Washington saw several personnel changes in the Obama administration as portending a shift away from reset-era realpolitik and toward a tougher line with Moscow. These included the appointment of Victoria Nuland as U.S. assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, whose candidacy was backed by foreign-policy hawks John McCain and Lindsey Graham, Republican senators who have accused Obama of glad-handing the Kremlin. Nuland, who was confirmed by the Senate in September 2013, has been a prominent face and voice at the front line of Washington's support for the Ukrainian government in Kyiv and for opponents of ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. But the rhetorical sea change in Washington has primarily been driven by the extraordinary events in Ukraine, whose implications are seen by U.S. officials as having far more profound and unpredictable reach than other bilateral disputes in recent years, says Steven Pifer, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. ... But some critics in Washington say the Obama administration is failing to back up its tough talk."

Swearing-in Ceremony for Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Rick Stengel [incluces video] - Remarks, John Kerry, Secretary of State, Ben Franklin Room, Washington, DC, April 15, 2014, U.S. Department of State: Kerry: "One of the things that I think about in this job a great deal, more and more as I look at the number of failed and failing states and the challenges of a cacophonous, turbulent world with an extraordinary amount of sectarianism, religious extremism, ideological radicalism, and teams of young people all in touch with the rest of the world through their smartphones, all looking for the promise of prosperity, jobs, education, and too many of them looking out at a political wasteland – so communicating in the midst of all of that is more important than it has ever been.

And one of the things that I’m looking for and really was excited about sitting down with Rick to explore was the question of: How do we tell America’s story with credibility? How do we validate our own values and reach out to the world in this difficult time? And how do we sell – and maybe “sell” is the wrong word – I think how do we promote, advocate for the values that put that great seal up there and made this the Ben Franklin Room and have created a tradition and history of diplomacy that we are so proud of?" Stengel: "[W]e’re a country not based on blood, not based on religion, but based on ideas. And a country based on ideas has to tell its story. It has to tell its story over and over again, it has to tell its story to ourselves, to the folks abroad, and we have to test that story. We have to debate that story. That is part of the story that we are telling people all around the world – that we’re not infallible. In fact, that gentleman, Benjamin Franklin, as Walter knows, on his speech, when – the day that the Constitution was ratified and signed, he said, 'Let’s all doubt a little bit of our own infallibility.' It’s, in fact, democracies that question themselves. Autocracies never question themselves. And that’s part of the story that we need to tell." Kerry/Stengel image from

Former Time editor sworn in at State Department - Keith J. Kelly, New York Post: "Stengel actually started work as Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs in February, but the official swearing-in ceremony did not take place until Tuesday afternoon in the State Department’s Benjamin Franklin Room. There, Secretary of State John Kerry

joked that Stengel was back sharing an apartment with Steve Jobs biographer Walter Isaacson, another former top editor of Time — and CNN — who now runs the Washington, DC-based think tank, the Aspen Institute. In their salad days at Time Inc., Stengel and Isaacson shared a summer home in Sag Harbor with Vanity Fair Editor Graydon Carter and New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd. A number of top Time magazine people, including Michael Crowley, Mark Halperin, Michael Scherer and Bobby Ghosh, were on hand for the ceremony as were NBC’s Andrea Mitchell and Ali Zelenko, a former senior VP of Communications at Time, now at NBC News." Stengel image from entry

El redactor jefe de Time Magazine es nombrado jefe de la propaganda estadounidense [site provides English translation]- voltairenet.org: "Richard Stengel fue juramentado el 15 de abril de 2014 como subsecretario estadounidense de Propaganda (Public Diplomacy) y Relaciones Públicas (Publics Affairs). ... Al tomar posesión de su nuevo cargo, Stengel mencionó el artículo de opinión donde el presidente ruso Vladimir Putin lanzaba una advertencia sobre el 'excepcionalismo estadounidense', advertencia a la que el nuevo director de la propaganda oficial de Estados Unidos respondió ahora afirmando que una nación cuya fundación se basa en el principio mismo de la libertad tiene que ser excepcional. Según Richard Stengel, el primer objetivo de la propaganda estadounidense deber ser convencer de que Estados Unidos es 'el país de la libertad."

Рик Штенгель назначен на должность заместителя госсекретаря по публичной дипломатии и связям с общественностью: По словам Штенгеля, одним из факторов, побудивших его принять назначение, стала статья Владимира Путина в The New York Times [site provides English translation] - golos-ameriki.ru: "Госсекретарь США Джон Керри утвердил в должности заместителя госсекретаря по публичной дипломатии и связям с общественностью Рика Штенгеля – 16-го главного редактора журнала Time. Церемония присяги прошла в Вашингтоне. По словам Керри, Штенгель идеально подходит на должность заместителя по публичной дипломатии – в особенности учитывая момент его назначения. «Важен вопрос, как мы расскажем американскую историю, как подтвердим наши ценности перед миром в тяжелые времена. Найти этот путь – искусство, и поэтому мы нашли того, кто подходит для этого вызова. Никто не знает этого лучше, чем бывший редактор одного из ведущих журналов», – сказал глава внешнеполитического ведомства США. В своем выступлении Рик Штенгель отметил, что одна из причин, в силу которых он принял назначение, – статья Владимира Путина в The New York Times. 'Есть глубокие причины, по которым я решил пойти на это, – заявил Штенгель. – Прошлым летом Владимир Путин опубликовал статью в The New York Times, в которой сказал, что очень опасно для народа думать о себе, что он – уникальный. Я думаю, что это опасно, когда американцы так о себе не думают', – сказал Штенгель. – И вот почему: как никакая другая нация на земле, мы не сформированы одной религией, одной кровью и даже не одной культурой; мы сформированы общим выбором людей, согласно которому все люди созданы равными и имеют равные права'."

Why Do Diplomats Tweet? - Michael Rubin, Commentary: "Not only does the State Department tweet, but so does John Kerry. Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, tweets constantly, even if at timesnonsensically. While it’s all well and good to embrace the new communications tool, the technology is no substitute for substance. Last month, the Public Diplomacy Council published an insightful interview with Laurence Pope, an experienced diplomat with long service in the Middle East. Pope was asked a long-overdue question with regard to the State Department’s Twitter outreach: [‘]Q:  The Department has embraced the social media to re-shape public diplomacy and transform American diplomacy.  What contribution can it make? POPE:  There is nothing wrong with the use of Twitter and Facebook and Zillow and Youtube and all the rest of it, but diplomacy requires speech on behalf of the state, and social media are individual expressions by definition.  This can easily create confusion —think for example of Susan Rice tweeting about the need to bomb Syria while the President was changing his mind about that.  I don’t know how many Facebook pages and Twitter accounts there are at the State Department —hundreds if not thousands.  When individuals speak through them, one of two things are true: either they are expressing American policy, in which case 140 characters is unlikely to be a useful way of doing so, or they aren’t, in which case their views may be interesting, but there is a risk of confusion… The Youtube videos newly minted ambassadors make are downright embarrassing.  They give an impression of proconsular self-regard which is in bad taste.  Diplomacy is premised on a world of sovereign states.  The State Department’s  fascination with social media suggests that it no longer thinks that is the world we live in, a strange notion for a foreign ministry. [‘] Just as diplomatic correspondents and the secretaries of state they cover err by seeming to conflate miles flown with success, so too does the State Department fail by believing tweets matter. Russian President Vladimir Putin must laugh when, against the backdrop of ordering the invasion of Crimea, he faced little more than a cavalcade of angry tweets from Power. The sad thing is that the State Department now spends millions on public diplomacy, Twitter, and translations of its Twitter feed without once asking what good its Twitter feed does. That is not to deny that outreach can be positive, but it’s silly to spend such money without ever establishing metrics by which to judge Twitter diplomacy—and sillier to treat new communications technology as a substitute for substance."

U.S. Leadership Rating Rises. Huh? - James K. Glassman, american.com: Strange indeed are the results of the annual Gallup survey of U.S. leadership. The massive survey, mainly conducted face to face, asked roughly 1,000 people in each of 130 countries, ‘Do you approve or disapprove of the job performance of the leadership of the United States?’ For the 2013 survey, 46 percent approved and 24 percent disapproved. That is a marked improvement over 2012, when approval was 41 percent. In 2008, the last year of President George W. Bush’s final term, approval was 34 percent. It jumped to 49 percent in 2009, then dropped slightly to 47 percent in 2010 and 46 percent in 2011. The five-point jump over the past year is hard to explain — except when you consider that the surveys in many of the countries took place as long ago as the spring of 2013, before the initial revelations by Edward Snowden that June, the U.S. false start after Syria’s use of chemical weapons, and the Russian seizure of Crimea. Even so, isn’t it clear that this administration has been abdicating leadership, leading from behind, leading by letting others lead? ... [I]f you look carefully at the question, you’ll see that the survey is not exactly about leadership anyway. It asks how our ‘leadership’ (that is, President Obama) has performed. No doubt, foreigners don’t think the president has fulfilled his promise, but they generally like what he’s done. ... The poll raises a question that I found on my own plate when I became the U.S. official in charge of public diplomacy toward the end of the Bush 43 administration: How important is it that citizens of other countries like us — or judge us favorably? The objective of foreign policy is to secure the defined interests of the United States — for example, preventing the Iranians from getting a nuclear weapon or the Russians from taking over other countries.

Often, that means persuading foreigners to do what we want them to do. It may appear to be easier to succeed at such an endeavor if those foreigners like us, but don’t be so sure. ... Trying to get foreigners to like us is the default endeavor of the State Department’s public affairs officers, and, in my view, it’s largely a waste of time. Their job, instead, should be to use the tools of soft power to achieve our foreign policy and national security ends — directly, by, for example, telling the story of Vladimir Putin’s imperial ambitions to the people of Russia, Ukraine, and Moldova. Telling it not by preaching or explaining but by showing, with the most imaginative means, including the best technology.  ... Perhaps President Obama’s high favorability is ground in the respect side of his formulation. But not so fast. Respect is more than listening. It is also honoring other countries by showing that they can rely on our word. Is the leadership of the United States, 46 percent rating or not, really winning respect by reneging on its red lines and its promises to Ukraine and Afghanistan?" Image from

The Sources of Russian Conduct - Richard N. Haass, project-syndicate.org: "[T]he West does not have the luxury of waiting to make sense of recent events in Ukraine, simply because there is no assurance that what occurred in Crimea is unique. ... A public-diplomacy dimension to Western policy is ... needed. Russians might think twice about supporting their government’s foreign policy if they came to appreciate its impact on their standard of living. And they might be surprised to learn the full extent of Putin’s personal wealth, a matter that should be documented and publicized."

Is Hillary the best choice for top job? When Clinton does step into the presidential ring a lot of attention is likely to be paid to her time as Obama’s secretary of state - Gordon Robison, "Clinton’s most important accomplishment [as Secretary of State was]... her effort to rebuild America’s image abroad after eight years of the George W. Bush administration. Public diplomacy is often derided by diplomats who operate in a more traditional, behind-closed-doors, arena, but it is hugely important.

Hillary’s willingness especially during the first year or two of Obama’s presidency, to use her star power should not be dismissed. In places like Indonesia and Pakistan she held unscripted Q &A sessions with students and other ordinary people. The contrast with previous administrations was striking, and the benefits should not be underestimated. That does not necessarily make her a better president (though it might make her a better candidate). Neither does it mean she should simply be handed the keys to the White House. It does, however, give her a compelling case to make as the 2016 political season grinds into gear, and that is worth remembering before anyone tries to brush away her time as America’s top diplomat." Image from entry

OMEGA’S Chairman: We Must and Will Support Freedom Of The Press and Individual Liberties in Haiti - "A strongly worded warning issued only days ago by Haiti’s CONATEL – the government agency that assigns radio frequencies and television channels, and also regulates the privately-owned commercial media – is now fueling a country wide rebellion against the new tyranny that is nearly fully established by President Michel Martelly and the autocratic government of the nation’s Prime Minister, Mr. Laurent Lamothe. ... 'No representative system of democratic government anchored on the rule of law, can emerge and take hold in any country, without a free press,' says omega world news’ chairman, prof. Parnell Duverger, an economist and professor of economics who is thoroughly familiar with Haiti’s economic, social and political problems.

When questioned about what many critics see as an apparent lack of response from the U.S. embassy in Haiti against the blatant establishment of a new totalitarian government that has occurred on their watch, given the huge financial support extended to Haiti by American taxpayers during the last few years for the development of a functioning democracy anchored on individual freedoms and the rule of law, prof. Duverger stated his belief that: 'America is a force for good in the world, and this can be seen in the behavior and achievements of not only U.S. diplomats, but also in the way the brave servicemen and women in the various uniforms of the U.S. military carry out their mission, throughout the world. More often than otherwise, quiet diplomacy is more effective than public statements made in the glaring lights of the news media, and there is a great likelihood that freedom of the press is among the broad issues on which the United States, the 'core group' and 'MINUSTAH' actively cooperate to help Haiti becomes a better country for the good of its own citizens.' I am sure, says Prof. Duverger, 'that Ambassador Pamela White, who has extensive knowledge of and established friendships in Haiti, is an excellent judge of when and how to use public diplomacy in lieu of a quiet but potentially more effective approach.' At any rate, it is up to Haitians to fight to transform their nation into a free society supported by strong institutions of liberty. A free press is one such institution." Image from entry

U.S. International Broadcasting: Framing the Challenge – Apples or Fruit Salad? - takefiveblog.org: "The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) met again last week in its ongoing efforts to manage and improve our international broadcast operations. As both a public diplomacy practitioner and as a U.S. taxpayer, I have a keen interest in seeing that our limited resources for international broadcasting are spent as effectively as possible. As such, I have followed the long and ongoing debate over where and how we should broadcast, as well as how to measure the impact and effectiveness of our efforts with considerable interest. ... The BBG and its services are not – and should not be – driven by a commercial desire for profit. Nevertheless, by framing them – either consciously or unconsciously – in the model of a conventional commercial broadcaster we run the risk of adopting global audience and budget-to-audience ratios as proxy commercial measurements of effectiveness. Instead, we should uncouple BBG performance from such measurements and use that freedom as a comparative advantage as we pursue our true objectives of advancing U.S. foreign policy and promoting access to objective news and information. In the end, we may find that the most effective ways of doing that involve targeting smaller audiences in particular markets or adopting all-digital internet platforms in others. Fortunately, many of these conversations are already taking place. Let’s just not get distracted by the global aggregate budget and audience numbers, avoid conflating fruit salads with apples, and stay focused instead on what really matters here. Jonathan Henick is a career diplomat with over 20 years of experience ... . He is currently working as the Public Diplomacy Fellow at the Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication at George Washington University." On BBG, see.

ZunZuneo: Do Former Users Even Care That It Was Secretly Built by USAID? - Yuliya Komska, psmag.com: U.S.-bound political narcissism obscures ... [t]he fact that imported 'public diplomacy' only takes off when the domestic preconditions are there.

Our criticism of the U.S. government’s covert or 'discreet' funding of communication channels like ZunZuneo or RFE presumes that they try to seed something non-native. But in reality, they often succeed precisely because they hit the nerve of the pre-existing discontent. Let us not deny authenticity to those who deserve it the most." Komska image from entry

U.S. Public Diplomacy Mission Statements - John Brown, Notes and Essays: Compares a 2003 State Department mission statement on public diplomacy with its most recent one.

Haifa University launches course in pro-Israel propaganda - Ben White, Middle East Monitor: "The University of Haifa has launched an academic course to combat the online 'delegitimization of Israel', in what it claims to be a 'first' for academia. In a press release dated 30 March, the University proudly describes the four credit course, offered by the Department of Multi-Disciplinary Studies, as preparing 'students to be unofficial 'ambassadors' for Israel on the Internet'. In the University press release, programme instructor Prof. Eli Avraram cites Israeli Apartheid Week as an example of the kind of 'phenomenon' students are taught to 'fight', describing the annual, globally-observed event 'an expression of pure anti-Semitism' (IAW also features in this promotional video for the programme). The 'Ambassadors Online' course began life as an extra-curricular project, before its 'upgrade' to the level of 'a full academic course' contributing credits towards a student's degree.

According to the University, 'achievements' by students to date have included 'an operation room that propagated the reality in Israel during the military operation Pillar of Defense', initiating 'propaganda delegations abroad', and creating 'viral memes' (including in support of Scarlett Johansson). The University notes praise for 'Ambassadors Online' by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, whose officials have instructed students on how 'to use social networking sites to defend government policies'. Other elements have included 'writing Wikipedia entries, publicizing hasbara (public diplomacy) talking points and confronting anti-Israel activists in online chat rooms'. The project is described on its own website as 'a joint partnership of several academic and student offices', including the Dean of Students Office and Haifa University Student Union. The programme works 'together with' relevant Israeli government ministries, as well as established lobby groups like StandWithUs and the Israel on Campus Coalition." Image from entry

Minister Hoxhaj: Parliamentary diplomacy and civil society play an important role in the recognition process Prishtina, April 7, 2014 – "Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kosovo, Mr. Enver Hoxhaj, hosted in two separate meetings, on Monday, a delegation of Members of the Assembly and a group of civil society representatives, who in the past month have conducted lobbying visits for recognition of Kosovo’s independence in Romania and Cyprus. These two visits were organized in the course of intensifying efforts of cooperation and relations with the five countries of the European Union, which are still hesitating to recognize Kosovo. Lobbying visits are undertaken within a joint project of the MFA with the British Embassy and the British Council in Prishtina.

During the meetings, Mr. Hoxhaj thanked both delegations for their contribution and stressed the importance of lobbying on several levels, beyond the institutional and diplomatic efforts. Minister Hoxhaj emphasized that public diplomacy, often accompanied in parallel with parliamentary diplomacy and civil society, plays an important role in shaping public opinion in countries where recognition is required and can positively change the broad spectrum of political, economic, and social approach." Uncaptioned image from entry

Abu Dhabi’s New Approach to Cultural Diplomacy - William Rugh, uscpublicdiplomacy.org: "The Abu Dhabi government has therefore taken on a major role in cultural diplomacy that is new in the Middle East, and the motivations for it are different than those behind American cultural diplomacy. This new type of cultural diplomacy does not mean that the

Emiratis are exporting their culture abroad, but instead they are sponsoring major international cultural projects at home. While the shaikhs aim to benefit the Emirati public, they are also trying to use foreign culture to put Abu Dhabi on the map as an international player and to demonstrate tolerance, sending a message that the UAE not only welcomes foreign businesses but also other kinds of foreigners. In the process, this strategy benefits America’s image in the Gulf." Uncaptioned image from entry

Challenging the Pakistani Taliban Through Culture - Cynthia P. Schneider, uscpublicdiplomacy.org: "With these fighting words, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari did something no other Pakistani politician has done: publicly defy the Taliban (Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan or TTP): ‘I want to tell the terrorists that Sindh will…be the battleground where we will fight and save our Islam…The grandson of Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, the son of...Benazir Bhutto, wants to tell you that Islam’s message is of humanity, of serving the people...Through Sindh Festival we have shown the world we are alive, and hand in hand with the contemporary world.’

The venue for Bilawal Bhutto throwing down the gauntlet to the ‘barbarians who want to take us back to the Stone Age”’ was the closing ceremony of the 15 day Sindh Festival  that the young Bhutto organized in order to ‘save our heritage and culture…’ and reclaim the social and cultural space Pakistan has ceded to the extremists.  ... What is clear from Bilawal Bhutto’s contentious and courageous debut at his cultural festival is that he alone in Pakistani politics is willing to take on the Taliban. And he has done it while celebrating the music dance, art, kite flying and other aspects of Pakistani culture the Taliban would like to eradicate." Uncaptioned image from entry

The Daily: Weibo Diplomacy Makes the News - Michael Ardaiolo, thepublicdiplomat.com

Reimag and Kantine - Louis Clerc,  theogreofthetale.wordpress.com: "A little one to emphasize a new research project funded by the Academy of Finland: 'Reimag', for Reimagining Futures in the European North at the End of the Cold War. The goal of the project is to explore the systemic transformation of international politics and economics at the end of the Cold War as it was experienced in Finland and its external geopolitical environment in Northern Europe. The whole enterprise is based on the fact that archives concerning the late 1980s are slowly opening in Finland, giving the possibility to look at events unfolding between 1989 and 1992. My contribution to the project aimed at looking at the way Finland’s trade promoters, cultural diplomats and public diplomats did conceive of the changes happening in and around Finland. A part of this project concentrated on studying Kantine, a public diplomacy committee that gathered between 1987 and 1990. The article mostly makes use of Kantine’s archives, and tries to replace this committee in the developments of Finland’s national image management during the Cold War. The article has now been published by the Hague Journal of Diplomacy, over there."

Are terrorists 'media smart'? - asunews.asu.edu: "In an interview with Robyn Williams, commentator for The Science Show with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, ASU professor Steve Corman discussed how research at Arizona State University is unlocking patterns in extremist media. ... The Center for Strategic Communication is a research unit of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and a strategic initiative of the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication at Arizona State University. Established in 2005, the center promotes advanced research, teaching and public discussions of the role of communication in combating terrorism, promoting national security and improving public diplomacy."

RELATED ITEMS

U.S. Student Visa Update: Upward Trend Continues - markashwill.com: According to the latest figures from the US Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs, a record 10,867 F-1 (student) visas were issued in Fiscal Year 2013, which ended on 30 September 2013.  That represents a 5%  increase over FY2012.  As you see from the chart below, the take-off phase, which reflects the rapidly expanding Vietnamese economy and the concomitant growing ability to pay, began in 2005.  With the exception of a spike in FY08 and a significant dip the following year, the increases have been steady.

Russia Is Quick to Bend Truth About Ukraine - David M. Herszenhorn, New York Times: Bluster and hyperbole, misinformation, exaggerations, conspiracy theories, overheated rhetoric and, occasionally, outright lies about the political crisis in Ukraine

have emanated from the highest echelons of the Kremlin and reverberated on state-controlled Russian television, hour after hour, day after day, week after week." Image from entry, with caption: Singing the national anthem at a pro-Ukrainian rally on Tuesday in eastern Luhansk, where ethnic Russians are the majority.

Putin’s Propaganda Campaign: Journalists struggle to disseminate the truth about recent events - Jillian Kay Melchior, nationalreview.com: Propaganda has played a central role as the situation has escalated in Ukraine. Disseminated by Russia and, until recently, the Yanukovych regime, misinformation has undermined the efforts of the Maidan reformers and also contributed significantly to the destabilization of Ukraine’s eastern regions.

You Tube Shatters Russian Lies About Troops In Ukraine: Putin Denies Truth To Obama - Paul Roderick Gregory, Contributorforbes.com: With the covert invasion of southeast Ukraine by its special forces, the Russian propaganda machine is struggling to keep the lie of Russian non-involvement afloat.

Inside Russia’s Gaffe-Prone Propaganda War: As tension mounts in Ukraine, the Kremlin's spin doctors appeared to make an epic oops - vocativ.com: From Joseph Stalin’s socialist sloganeers to Vladimir Putin’s spin doctors, Russia has a long history in the propaganda business. But a series of gaffes by Kremlin-run TV in recent months suggests they haven’t exactly perfected their craft. Case in point: Ukraine. Earlier this year, Western-leaning protesters toppled a pro-Moscow president. All along, the Kremlin’s line has been that ethnic Russians in Ukraine are under threat from “fascists” the new Ukrainian government allegedly supports. And state-run television, the main source of news for most Russians, has done its best to reinforce this hotly disputed message—often with bizarre results.

Fule: Russian propaganda now more aggressive than during Cold War [subscription] - kyivpost.com: European Union Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy Stefan Fule has said that Russian propaganda today is more aggressive than during the Cold War, and should be urgently counteracted.

Unidentified Troops And Dangerous Propaganda: The Latest Comment On Ukraine - independent.co.uk: It’s easy to assume that the unmarked troops appearing in eastern Ukraine are Russian, but a more nuanced approach is needed, says Volodymyr Ishchenko in today’s Guardian.

The way in which the attacks have been co-ordinated all point to Putin's involvement,  he says. But we should take a closer look at the situation, as “this does not necessarily mean that Russian special operations units are directly taking part.” “Those men could be former Ukrainian riot police officers,” writes Ishchenko, “many of whom fled to Crimea and Russia to escape punishment from the new government.”

Deputy Says CIA Wrote Songs for Soviet Musician Viktor Tsoi - Anna Dolgov, The Moscow Times: A lawmaker from Russia's ruling political party has lashed out at legendary Soviet rock musician Viktor Tsoi, accusing him of having been a CIA agent who worked to destroy the U.S.S.R. with a song that demanded social and political "change."

The iconic song titled "We Want Change!" — released amid the easing of Soviet restrictions on the freedom of expression in the late 1980s — was supposedly "given" to Tsoi by CIA spymasters, Deputy Yevgeny Fyodorov from the United Russia party said in an video published early April on his website. Tsoi image from entry, with caption: Legendary Soviet rock musician Viktor Tsoi had a tremendous cult following in the Soviet Union.

Japan's propaganda will not alter facts: Chinese FM - chinadaily.com.cn: Japan's ongoing propaganda will never change the fact that the Diaoyu Islands are an inherent part of China's territory, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Tuesday at a daily news briefing. On Monday, Japan published materials on its Foreign Ministry website, alleging there was no basis that the "Diaoyu Islands have been China's inherent territory since ancient times." "China has sufficient historical and legal basis," Hua said. "The Diaoyu Island and the adjacent islands have been China's inherent territory since ancient times." No matter how Japan tries to propagandize its wrong position on the Diaoyu Islands, it will never change the objective fact that China owns sovereignty over the islands, Hua said.

Pretty Environmental Propaganda Posters from 1980s China - Rebecca Onion, Slate:  The great site ChinesePosters.net offers deep thematic coverage of Chinese propaganda posters from the collections of the International Institute of Social History in Amsterdam. The images below are from their collection of environmental posters of the 1970s and 1980s. In introducing the images, the curators of the site point out that this group of posters, produced at a time when Chinese authorities “became more aware of the impact of environmental problems on the country’s economic performance,” don’t represent negative outcomes of industrialization (pollution, blight, acid rain). Instead, citizens are asked to attend to their immediate personal environments—to pick up litter and plant trees. Among the images: