September 26

"What is truth? said jesting Pilate; and would not stay for an answer."

--Francis Bacon; Bacon image from

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

U.S. public diplomacy under the radar screen - Pavol Demes, The German Marshall Fund of the United States: "When the Obama Administration announced on September 17 that it was calling off plans for land-based missile defense in Europe, it sparked off a lively debate, not just in the Czech Republic and Poland, but across all of Central Europe.

The central issue was not so much the military installations but uncertainty about U.S. policy towards the region. In truth, U.S. public diplomacy had failed for the second time: the first time, when the plans were announced; and the second time when the project was terminated, causing growing concern among elites as well as publics in our region. In short, the United States must do a better job at formulating and communicating its policies toward Central and Eastern Europe. Otherwise, it risks losing the pro-Atlantic sympathies of Central Europeans, and its public diplomacy will fail for a third time. … I believe that the upcoming commemorations of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Iron Curtain provides an opportunity for clear signals by a still very popular U.S. President to Central and Eastern Europe." Image from

Obama's Announcement About Iran's Secret Enrichment Facility - Brookings Institution: "The Obama Administration should gain some boost for its public diplomacy efforts to persuade skeptical governments and the international community more broadly of the dangerous nature of Iran’s nuclear program. But here too, there is probably less than meets the eye; at this late date in the debate, the Iranian regime has relatively few defenders, and anyone who still needing convincing that Iran’s massive, frantic nuclear investments involved something more worrisome than civilian power generation probably will find a way to disregard this latest evidence. … [T]he difficulty with assembling international support for robust economic measures against Iran has never involved doubt over Iran’s intentions or differences over the desirability of preventing Iran from crossing the nuclear threshold. Rather, the long track record of Russia and China on this issue has made it clear that neither capital will fully jettison its strategically and economically valuable relationship with Tehran in order to curtail Iran’s nuclear ambitions."

Iran: Obama’s getting it, but it’s time to go all the way and support freedom for the people - Lawrence J. Haas, The North Star National:

"[T]he State Department has been reluctant to push for more funding for democracy promotion in Iran. Nor have the organs of U.S. public diplomacy, such as the Voice of America, made a concerted effort to encourage democratic change. Fine. But the president and his team need not worry any more about that dynamic. The regime has clearly lost its credibility at home, and it will be hard-pressed to recapture the legitimacy that it once claimed. The regime’s days are clearly numbered." Haas image from

Analysis: Obama strikes a tough tone on Iran: But the diplomacy needed to get Iran to halt its nuclear program will require more than tone - C.M. Sennott - GlobalPost: "At the Group of 20 summit in Pittsburgh, President Barack Obama locked arms with the leaders of France and the United Kingdom to warn Iran that it must immediately halt its nuclear program. … In the city of bridges, Obama essentially threatened Iran that it has just burned one too many with the international community. But in choosing to do so on the public stage of Pittsburgh’s G20 summit with all the world’s media watching and looking for any story more interesting than a long-winded communique on the economy, Obama was essentially doing what he does best. That is, public diplomacy. And, as always, his tone is pretty close to perfect. He sounded firm, convincing and respectfully multilateral, and that tone goes a long way to swooning the world. It gets people around the globe to believe that the real America is rational and a natural leader in a dangerous world. This is a decidedly different image from the unilateral and seemingly belligerent America put forward by President George W. Bush. But former diplomats and Middle East analysts believe Obama will need more than perfect pitch in the public diplomacy of Iran, which interlocks directly with the profound policy challenges on Afghanistan, Iraq and the wider goal of global nuclear proliferation. This is chess on many levels, not pop music."

Obama’s Mideast Strategy: Useless if Not Harmful – Jewish Internet Defense Force: "[B]y reinforcing Islamists’ version of history and calling it 'public diplomacy,'

Obama has systematically alienated the Israeli people, who have increasingly backed Netanyahu’s more skeptical approach to both U.S. policy and peace making." Image from JIDF homepage.

VOL. V NO. 20, September 11-September 24, 2009 - The Layalina Review on Public Diplomacy and Arab Media

RFE/RL's Nasibova wins a Rafto - Kim Andrew Elliott discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy: "I've never heard of RFE/RL referring to itself as 'Voice of the West,' especially as it positions itself as the voice of the target country."

Lying About War: Deliberate Propaganda And Spin By The Pentagon - Diane Farsetta, Sheldon Rampton, Daniel Haack, and John Stauber of the Center for Media and Democracy - The Media Freedom Foundation: "Public diplomacy is a catchall term for the various ways in which the United States promotes itself to international audiences (as opposed to 'regular' diplomacy, which targets foreign governments). These include international media, such as the Voice of America; cultural and educational exchanges, such as the Fulbright Program; and a wide range of information activities, including foreign press centers, speaking events and publications. As the University of Southern California’s Center on Public Diplomacy notes, the term 'was developed partly to distance overseas governmental information activities from the term propaganda, which had acquired pejorative connotations.'

In the United States, public diplomacy’s legislative history also involves propaganda. The Smith-Mundt Act of 1948, which provided a legal framework for public diplomacy activities, forbids the government from disseminating within the United States information intended for foreign audiences. Other legislation, such as appropriation bills, theoretically reinforces the ban on using taxpayer money for 'publicity or propaganda purposes.' … A January 2009 public diplomacy conference was organized in Washington, DC to critically reconsider Smith-Mundt. Many presenters supported changing the Act; specifically, removing or watering down its restriction on domestic dissemination. … 'Let me posit what I believe should be the rule,' said outgoing Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs James Glassman, a keynote speaker at the conference. Domestic dissemination should be permissible, he suggested, 'if the intent of the work involving domestic audiences is to influence foreign audiences.' According to Glassman the government’s motivation behind engaging US residents is key. … We know that the conveniently slippery standard of intent has already resulted in fake TV news that would make Soviet-era propagandists proud. … Instead of loosening propaganda restrictions by relying on intent, why not adjust to the global information era by ensuring clear attribution of all government communications? Truth is an obvious second standard, but public diplomacy, by definition, deals with issues in which the US government is an interested party. It’s therefore naive to claim that a standard of 'truth'—which must transcend, or at least fairly acknowledge, competing interests—could be upheld." See also John Brown, "The Anti-Propaganda Tradition in the United States, " Public Diplomacy Alumni Association. Image from

Welsh Assembly Government in New York promoting Wales - News from Wales and the World! September 23rd - 2009!:

"The role of the representative of the External Affairs Department of the Welsh Assembly Government in New York is to raise the profile of Wales in the USA through event marketing, media outreach, publicity and public diplomacy.
http://www.wales.com/en/content/cms/English/USA/USA.aspx" Image from posting.

Arrivederci Pittsburgh - Η Λαρισα Δεν Αντεχει Αλλο!!!From Larissa Greece We Say!!!! No More!!!!!!!!!!: "The primary purpose of public diplomacy is to explain, promote, and defend principles to audiences abroad. This objective goes well beyond the public affairs function of presenting and explaining specific policies of various Administrations. Policies and Administrations change; principles do not, so long as a country remains true to itself. By all accounts, Americans have been absent from the battlefield of ideas. ... Public diplomacy has a particularly vital mission during war, when the peoples of other countries, whether adversaries or allies, need to know why we fight. What are the ideas so dear to us that we would rather kill and die than live without them? And what antithetical ideas do our enemies embrace, about which they feel the same way? After all, it is a conflict of ideas that is behind the shooting wars, and it is that conflict which must be won to achieve any lasting success. The main reasons for failure stem from intellectual confusion regarding what it is we are defending and against whom we are defending it."

Profiles in International Education: David Comp - Jessie Voigts, Wandering Educators: David Comp:

“Next on my plate is completing my dissertation for my degree in Comparative and International Education. I’m at the dissertation proposal stage and my current topic/working title is Towards the Development of a Methodology to Measure Public Diplomacy Outcomes of International Education Programs.” Comp image from

RELATED ITEMS

Fed Up With War - Bob Herbert, New York Times: "If the conflict in Afghanistan is as crucial to American national security as President Obama has said,

then he needs to make that case to the public, clearly and compellingly. Image from

Vietnamization is not an option: Victory not yet beyond our reach - Martin Schram, Washington Times: Our body politic would be healthier if "everybody ought to take a deep breath" while Washington takes the time to get it right, at last, in Afghanistan.

Osama Betting on a U.S. Withdrawal from Afghanistan - Bill Roggio, Weekly Standard

The Big Cheat – Editorial, New York Times: Iran has a long history of lying and cheating about its nuclear program, so the news that it has been secretly building another plant to manufacture nuclear fuel is hardly a shock.

But it provides one more compelling reason (are any more needed?) why the United States and other major powers must be ready to quickly adopt — and enforce — tough new sanctions if negotiations fail to persuade Tehran to abandon its nuclear ambitions. Image from

Another Nuclear Plant: The calculations of Iran's nearness to building a bomb -- and the urgency of stopping it -- just changed – Editorial, Washington Post: The United States must make clear to those governments that it will not settle for inaction against a regime that is brazenly defying international treaties and U.N. Security Council resolutions. At the same time, the administration should reassess the intelligence community's conclusion about whether and how quickly Iran is seeking a weapon.

Toward peace in the Middle East: Breakthroughs require real leadership from all sides - Aaron David Miller, Los Angeles Times: When breakthroughs in Arab-Israeli peacemaking come, they come with unforeseen and unpredictable urgency driven by big men and big events.Today we have neither, just the prospects of a long, hard slog.

The BBC - History and propaganda - Michael Greenwell, OpEdNews: "This podcast is about the BBC. I speak with Professor David Miller of the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland."

Over 60…And Getting Younger: September 25, 2009 - Stanley Greenberg, Plainview Old Bethpage Herald:

"I was surprised when my professor at SUNY-Old Westbury, John Friedman, listed all the subtle types of propaganda in my 'Politics and the Media' course. I never realized the varieties of propaganda that are used in daily life and in political campaigns." Image from