December 25

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Words of Wisdom from a Senior Foreign Service Officer: Jack Harrod on USIA and Public Diplomacy -- Notes and Essays

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY IN THE NEWS

Equal Alliance? Sure! A US perspective on the Japan-US relationship imbalance - Curzon, mutantfrog.com: "There are some real disparities in the equality of the US-Japan alliance, but there is also a major perceived one due to poor public diplomacy and public relations. The U.S. does not make a case to regular Japanese people on at least the purpose, let alone any tangible/intangible results of the U.S. presence in Japan. I have heard this brought up by Japanese officials in the U.S. at least twice the past Fall. The deficit of U.S. public diplomacy is not unique to Japan either."

Re-Tooling Public Diplomacy - Jeb Koogler, Foreign Policy Watch: "In a sign of a changing public relations strategy, General Mike Mullen did an extended interview last week on Al Jazeera about the newly-announced American strategy in Afghanistan.

The interview, which I have just been watching, represents a good step towards better presenting the 'American perspective' in the Middle East. That said, General Mullen, try as he might, comes off as overwhelmingly dull, humorless and unengaging. ... Nonetheless, criticisms aside, the decision to up our presence on Al Jazeera, which this interview represents, is a good one. Mullen, as well as our public diplomacy folks in the State Dept, deserve credit. Now, let's just fine-tune our style a bit..." Mullen image from

US hails govt efforts in promoting education – dailynews.co.tz: "Investment in education is an important asset which governments must provide to youths as they aspire to become leaders in various sectors in the country. United States embassy Public Diplomacy Officer, Ms Karen Grissette said in Dar es Salaam today that the Fourth Phase government’s focus on education was strongly supported by Washington. 'We know that the government of Tanzania is putting a lot of interest in education and we support this,' Ms Grissette said at a ceremony to welcome home five secondary school students and a Ministry of Education and Vocational Training official who went for a four-week youth leadership training programme to the US. She said the visit has double benefits in that Tanzanians learn a lot from the US way of life by staying with American host families but also imparting knowledge and experience from Tanzania to American families that have never travelled to Africa."

Where Thinking Goes to Tank – Hysterical Raisins: "From The Huffington Post: The George W. Bush Institute — the 'action- oriented think tank' that is part of Bush’s Presidential Center — will co-produce a public television show hosted by its executive director, Ambassador James Glassman, in a rare convergence of public broadcasting and a partisan research organization. 'Ideas in Action' will premiere in February and will be co-produced by Andrew Walworth, who produces PBS’s 'Think Tank.'

Because we all know how Chimpy always surrounds himself with geniuses. ... Glassman, the former Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy under President Bush [comment by blogger: there was public diplomacy under Chimpy? ... ] and one-time moderator of CNN’s 'Capital Gang Sunday,' will lead a discussion on public policy issues in front of a live audience at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. He will remain executive director of the Institute. The show will be distributed by Executive Program Services (EPS) to public television stations nationwide, including many PBS affiliates." Image from article

Tbilisi Unveils Draft of its S.Ossetia, Abkhaz Strategy - Civil Georgia - ‎ "Tbilisi is against of 'isolation of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali/South Ossetia' and aims at fostering ties between the communities 'separated by dividing lines,' according to a draft strategy paper laying out Georgia’s intended policies towards its two breakaway regions. The 9-page document, which has yet to be endorsed by the government before becoming an official paper, includes measures through which Tbilisi says it wants to foster engagement with the breakaway regions including through economic, education, healthcare and cultural projects, as well as through public diplomacy and people-to-people contacts. ... In the context of public diplomacy, the document notes the need of having dialogue with the Abkhaz diaspora in Turkey - ancestors of those tens of thousands of Muslim Abkhazians, who had to move to the then Ottoman empire, as part of a larger Muslim migration process from the Caucasus in the nineteenth century."

'Online' goes 'off-line' - Charlie Xu, Alibaba News Channel: ‎ "Some of China's top Web companies are turning to traditional forums to highlight their importance as news outlets. 'Off-line' forums are a prime example.

In the past, Web companies used such events to promote products or discuss professional topics, such as investment and finance. But recently, such forums have been used to discuss topical issues in the news. ... For example, Sohu, one of the most popular commercial portal sites in China, invited five experts in international relations this fall to discuss the new model for China's diplomacy. It was the ninth event in the Sohu Observer Forum series, which started in 2008. ... 'Sohu is not the first Web site that discussed news issues, but it was unusual to invite so many experts at one time and hold a series of forums,' said Zhou Qingan, chief researcher of the institute of public diplomacy in the School of Journalism and Communication at Tsinghua University. Zhou was invited to a Sohu Observer forum event as a guest speaker." Image from

RELATED ITEMS

Avatar: the most expensive piece of anti-American propaganda ever made - Nile Gardiner, telegraph.co.uk: While the vast majority of cinemagoers will simply see it as popcorn entertainment, Avatar is at its heart a cynical and deeply unpatriotic propaganda piece, aimed squarely against American global power and the projection of US economic and military might across the world. Below image from


Avatar: Cameron's Contradictions Loom Large - William R. Hawkins, American Thinker: The storyline is hard-left, anti-imperialist propaganda. Cameron depicts romantic images of humanoid wave attacks by colorful natives riding exotic beasts overwhelming human soldiers armed with gunships, armor, and automatic weapons. It's reminiscent of Soviet propaganda posters.

Norway funds anti Israel propaganda - Vlad Tepes, Eeyore

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From Boing Boing