March 1

“Silence is one of the great arts of conversation.”

--Cicero; image from

CONFERENCE

International Conference: Conflict Prevention and Resolution: the Role of Cultural Relations Tuesday, March 02, 2010 - Bibliothèque Solvay

Obama plan: $50M for friendly media in Pakistan - Gavin Dahl, Raw Story: "New US-sponsored Pakistani media will raise awareness and build a brand for America, according to sources in the international press. The Obama administration is set to spend $50 million on media in Pakistan. The goal is to raise awareness of projects aimed at reversing anti-American sentiments. The US Special Representative to Pakistan and Afghanistan, Ambassador Richard Holbrooke believes that a substantial amount of monies spent on media, especially private TV channels, will reduce tension and may even bring Pakistan-US relations back on the right path." Image from



United States to spend $50 million in Pakistani advertising - Michael Bearak, DigitalJournal.com - "The Obama Administration has announced that they are set to spend roughly $50 million in advertising in Pakistan to bolster relations between the two countries. The main intent of the advertising campaign is to build branding in the country, thus improving the Pakistani image of America. The ads are going to be put a focus on projects that have been or are being done in the country with the help of the United States. The administration is that they are also hoping that in the process the ads help reverse some of the anti-American sentiment in the country."

Public Diplomacy-doing it online - jackhojo, Outpost: "During the Cold War, public diplomacy (PD) was the underlying concept behind organisations like Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, Radio Free Asia and Radio Liberty. The mission was to ‘tell America’s story to the world’-essentially to influence the populations of communist-governed countries and enlighten them as to the American way of life. Propaganda by any other name would smell as sweet? Well, maybe…but lets not forget that one of the high priests of Journalistic ethical practice, Edward R. Murrow, was one of the first directors of the cold war era PD powerhouse, the United States Information Agency. Tuft’s university even named their school of Public Diplomacy after Murrow. So what does that say about PD? Well, basically, it says that the best kind of PD is honest PD. As Murrow himself put it when he modified the maxim of PD, 'We have to tell America’s story to the world, warts and all'. But the public spaces that were targeted in the Cold War were more or less limited to radio, press and funding various traveling exhibitions, activist groups etc. With the explosion in online media, these spaces have multiplied and diversified to a point where quantifying or targeting them becomes an impossibility. So whither the earnest art of Public Diplomacy? For the US, engaging with online publics has become a priority. See this speech by Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy James Glassman.

Its all very friendly, fuzzy bumph at the moment: teaming up with trendy, down with the kids companies like Google and Facebook to facilitate discussions about peace, democracy, fighting violence and oppression, as well as the best techniques for nursing abandoned kittens back to health (I may have made that last one up)." Image from article

Alhurra cited here and there - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting

Reality Check: The joke's on Edelstein - Jeff Barak, Jerusalem Post:

"Given that the thuggish Avigdor Lieberman is foreign minister, one has to accept that anything is possible in Israeli diplomacy, but even still, the Ministry of Public Diplomacy special Web site (http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/www.masbirim.gov.il) is a new low in the very undistinguished history of hasbara (which can be translated as 'public information' but 'propaganda' is nearer the mark). … There are no shortage of useful Web sites putting overout Israel’s case, among them the Foreign Ministry’s site (http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/www.mfa.gov.il) which is an excellent repository of useful information, both on current issues and the country’s history. Ignoring for one moment the Ministry of Public Diplomacy’s scandalous use of a government Web site to push a biased view of the conflict, there is also the question of why Edelstein thought it necessary to create a Web site explaining Israel to the world when the government already has an excellent one doing the job." Image from

New campaign aims to improve Isreal's world image - Susan Zalkind, Daily Free Press: "The Israeli government has begun a citizen diplomacy campaign to improve Israel’s global image, prompting approval from Jewish faculty and students at Boston University. The campaign, announced on Feb. 17, was initiated after the ministry surveyed 600,000 Israeli citizens and discovered that 91 percent of Israelis believe their country suffers from a negative image abroad. The same survey also revealed that 85 percent of those surveyed would be willing to take an active step in order to improve that image, said. Director of Diplomacy at the Ministry for Public Diplomacy and the Diaspora Shay Attias … orchestrated the survey. The Ministry of Diplomacy contracted consultant firms to educate volunteers in a four-hour course, Attias said."

China doing all it can in global affairs - Wu Jiao, China Daily - "Innovation on diplomatic theories and institutions has become a major factor driving China's diplomacy. For instance, in view of the new demands on diplomatic work, new departments including the Department of Boundary and Ocean Affairs, Center for Consular Assistance and Protection and Public Diplomacy Office have been set up in the foreign ministry."

Image from article, with caption: "Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi says China’s development poses no threat to anyone; instead, it offers more opportunities for all."

Freedom first, and China last - Bruce Sterling, Wired: "Robinder Sachdev is president of Imagindia Institute, an independent think tank dedicated to promoting the imagination and public diplomacy of India across cultures."

Louise B. McKnew, spinal cord expert - Frederick N. Rasmussen, Baltimore Sun - "Louise B. McKnew, a lawyer who was a champion of spinal cord injury patients and founder of the National Research Institute for Neural Injury, died Tuesday ... . From 1976 to 1982, Mrs. McKnew worked at the US Information Agency as special assistant to the US Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy."

George Creel's Bay Area home in the 1930s - Geoff Whittington, San Francisco Chronicle: "Investigative journalist, politician and American World War I propaganda specialist George Creel owned the Pacific Heights home at 2761 Divisadero St. in the 1930s, according to the 1938-'39 Who's Who in America Vol. 20 (A.N. Marquis Co.). Creel served as the head of the United States Committee on Public Information - a propaganda organization created by President Woodrow Wilson - during World War I. Creel, who worked as a reporter with the Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News until 1917, outlined his methods in a controversial book, 'How We Advertised America,' published in 1920. It called for official promotion of America in commercial ads. He died in 1953. The three-story, 4,700-square-foot home features elements of Edwardian and Mission Revival architecture.

It is located on the southwest corner of Divisadero and Green streets - a block from the shops and restaurants on Union Street. Nearby, a three-bedroom, two-bath at 3024 Pierce St. is listed for sale at $3.395 million, and a four-bedroom, 3.5-bath at 2830 Filbert St. is on the market for $2.695 million. The 4,700-square-foot Pacific Heights home features elements of Edwardian and Mission Revival architecture." Image from article