January 25

"[I]f we had State’s personnel and Defense’s organization, we would have the perfect government agency."

--Author and diplomat Yale Richmond, recalling what he was told by Gen. McChrystal’s father, Herbert J. McChrystal; cited in MountainRunner.us; Herbert J. McChrystal image from

ORIGINAL SOVIET POSTERS

Welcome to the Soviet Poster Gallery, the exhibition of the vintage Russian posters made in the USSR!

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

The Internet war - Editorial, Washington Post: "The Internet has produced a vast expansion of free speech and access to information around the world. But for China and Russia, it has also become a means for waging a covert war against other nations, including the United States -- a brazen effort to steal secrets and plant malware.

For those countries and for a host of other authoritarian regimes, Internet freedom is a threat, to be countered by censorship, the imprisonment of bloggers and domestic spying. The U.S. government has been grappling with these challenges for years. But it has not done enough to fight back politically by making Internet freedom an issue in diplomatic and commercial relations and by seeking the international censure of those who violate it. That's why the speech delivered Thursday by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was so important. Ms. Clinton made it admirably clear that abusers such as China will no longer get a free pass in U.S. public diplomacy or in international forums. ... Ms. Clinton pledged that in addition to defending its own companies and cyberspace, the United States would take measures to help human rights advocates, political dissidents and civil society groups overcome their governments' censorship. Until now, the State Department has been negligent in this area; it has misspent -- or failed to spend at all -- money appropriated by Congress for firewall-busting." Image from

$250 Million to Counter Extremist Voices in Af/Pak Region – Domani Spero, DiploPundit: "This one is extracted from the Office of the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan’s Af/Pak Regional Stabilization Strategy (January 2010) released last week: The Taliban and al-Qaeda use information as a weapon, dominating the information space. While our previous strategy focused largely on traditional public diplomacy and communications tools, we are now elevating our communications efforts in importance and innovation. New programs will empower Afghans and Pakistanis to challenge the extremist narrative and offer their own vision for Afghanistan and Pakistan’s future. A sustained media and outreach strategy will set the record straight, highlight key civilian efforts, and explain our larger strategic rationale for the fight in Afghanistan, as well as our strategic support for Pakistan, to the Afghan and Pakistani peoples."

What if Gitmo isn't Shut? - Marisa L. Porges, Khaleej Times: "First and foremost, the Obama administration now has breathing room on Guantánamo closure efforts. The Jan. 22 deadline President Obama set his first day in office was a public diplomacy windfall with US allies, and represented a key piece of his strategy for improving America’s relations with the Muslim world.

It also served to jump start efforts within the US government that are often hamstrung by bureaucracy and internal politics; one year to shutter the detention facility was a tall order from the start, but it helped US policymakers needing the weight of the Oval Office to move things along. However, it created an unrealistic timeline that, at points, prioritised momentum over long-term strategy. US officials struggling with the Guantánamo problem now have a much-needed respite — time to reassess both the timeline and approach being taken. This has the added benefit of solving a looming public diplomacy crisis. Unfortunately, creating such an unattainable goal set up the president for international embarrassment when he fails to achieve the most well-known objective of his first year in office. Recent events dampen this backlash — both for the president and, more importantly, the United States overall. No one will question why Guantánamo remains open." Image from

'Anti-Semitism highest since WWII' - Abe Selig, Jerusalem Post: "Anti-Semitic incidents in western Europe peaked to a level not seen since the close of World War II, according to numbers released by the Jewish Agency ... . The data, which was released as part of an annual report on global anti-Semitism, was presented during a press conference at the Jewish Agency's main offices in Jerusalem, and included comments from Diaspora Affairs Minister Yuli Edelstein, Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky, the head of the agency's Task Force on anti-Semitism Amos Hermon, and agency spokesman Gil Litman. ...

Although much of the press conference focused on the worrying data, Sharansky and his counterparts added that they were using the new information as an opportunity to step up vigilance in combating anti-Semitism. While the bulk of the initiatives they announced included drawing on existing groups and individuals to make progress in the fight against anti-Semitism, Sharansky also presented a plan to augment the number of emissaries engaged in public diplomacy in large universities overseas. While there are currently 19 such emissaries, Sharansky said that he wanted that number to exceed 100. Additionally, Sharansky said that creating new avenues for fighting anti-Semitism might not be the best method, while existing efforts could still be consolidated and better-integrated with one another." Sharansky image from

Israel at war - Paul Woodward, War in Context: "Depending on where you stand politically, hasbara is either Israel’s public diplomacy or pro-Israeli propaganda. "

Nation Branding, um panorama: Gustavo Santos, isotipo.labs: "Resumir um projeto de Nation Branding como propaganda política é de uma superficialidade sem precedentes. E para tentar argumentar contra esse senso comum, lastreado em teorias de diversas áreas do conhecimento, resolvi desenvolver uma visão geral do assunto, sobrevoando desde suas referências históricas até os resultados e as consequências de suas aplicações nas sociedades contemporânesa.

O resultado é uma introdução ao tema, inexistente em língua portuguesa, que irá guiar minhas pesquisas para projeto de mestrado, onde irei me aprofundar um pouco mais.Abaixo, disponibilizei a apresentação usada como apoio para a defesa do tema. Em breve estará disponível também uma versão digital para download do trabalho escrito, que será editado em formato de livro através do projeto embrionário de uma mini-editora com o selo isotipo.labs, destinada a vasculhar esse tema e seus subconceitos como Public Diplomacy, Place Branding, Gov 2.0, Sociedade 2.0, Soft Power, DesignCities, Economia Criativa, etc." Image from

CULTURAL DIPLOMACY

The Journal of Arts Management, Law, and Society
Issue: Volume 39, Number 4 / 2009
Special Issue:
Repositioning Culture in US International Relations (access requires fee)

Introduction pp. 237 - 239 Joni Maya Cherbo and Frank Hodsoll

Issues in the Genesis and Organization of Cultural Diplomacy: A Brief Critical History pp. 240 - 259 William Glade

The Unrealized Potential of Cultural Diplomacy: “Best Practices” and What Could Be, If Only… pp. 260 - 279 Cynthia P. Schneider

Cultural Engagement In a Networked World pp. 280 - 285 Frank Hodsoll

An Initiative to Facilitate International Cultural Exchanges: The RCCE Project
pp. 285 - 289 Joni Maya Cherbo

The Crisis in U.S. Cultural Representation Abroad or Where's My Cultural Attaché?! pp. 289 - 292 Kenton W. Keith

The Impact of International Cultural Engagement: The British Council's Approach to Evaluation pp. 292 - 297 Sharon Memis

Fostering a Cultural Diplomacy Policy Dialogue: The Quest for Stewardship and Cooperative Engagement pp. 297 - 304 Damien M. Pwono

Moving Forward: A Renewed Role for American Arts and Artists in the Global Age pp. 305 - 315 John Brademas

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How Hugo Chavez's revolution crumbled - Jackson Diehl, Washington Post: Haiti only deepens Chávez's hole. As the world watches, the United States is directing a massive humanitarian operation, and Haitians are literally cheering the arrival of U.S. Marines.

Chávez has no way to reconcile those images with his central propaganda message to Latin Americans, which is that the United States is an "empire" and an evil force in the region. Image from

China steps up defense of Internet controls - Chris Buckley, Alex Richardson, Reuters