March 23

“The object of oratory alone is not truth, but persuasion.”

--Thomas Babington Macaulay; image from

"[T]he best solution is people, not systems."

--New social media guru Darren Krape, on Linked-in

SITE OF INTEREST:

Public Diplomacy Ideas - IdeaScale

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Daily Press Briefing - US Department of State: "QUESTION: Can I change the subject? As far as this U.S.-Pakistan’s Strategic Dialogue is concerned, Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao is here in the State Department and she met with the Secretary. We don’t have much about between their – what took place, what happened, really. But before meeting the Secretary here, she told the groups of think tanks at Wilson Center that a very blunt warning to Pakistan that Pakistan must do more as far as if they want to continue dialogue between India and Pakistan to stop terrorizing India across the border. Do you have any idea of what went here in the building between the two, Secretary of State and Foreign Secretary of India? MR. CROWLEY [Assistant Secretary Philip J. Crowley]:

I mean, there – the secretary did join Under Secretary Bill Burns recently in a meeting that was charting the way forward on the U.S.-India Strategic Dialogue. I think we are satisfied with the level of engagement that we have across a wide-range of issues with the Indian Government. We’ll have a similar conversation with Pakistan this week on a wide range of issues from agriculture, water, and energy, economic development and finance, defense and security, social issues, and public diplomacy. We are broadening and deepening our relationship with both India and Pakistan, and we certainly are looking for ways in which we can encourage – continue to encourage the two countries to increase their dialogue as well." Crowley image from

Pay me to fight my war - Mosharraf Zaidi, The News International: "[T]he people of Pakistan don't have very much say in the direction that Pakistan's strategic dialogue takes in Washington DC. ... [W]hen faced with the ridiculous dual-faced Pakistani narrative of 'this is our war' and 'we are fighting your war so give us your money' the Americans have no response other than to delay and defer the payments which Pakistan is legitimately entitled to, while investing in public diplomacy programmes to see if a few adverts and talk shows can't turn the tide of a decidedly cynical Pakistani public opinion. The proper American response to a strategic dialogue with Pakistan should have been to ask Pakistan to develop an approach to the dialogue on the basis of a robust parliamentary debate. America could then have expected Pakistani parliamentarians, including both the coalition and the opposition, to own the dialogue. That dialogue may not have been qualitatively very different from what is being presented in Washington DC today. This is because of the generic lack of confidence of parliamentarians, and the resulting ownership of the policymaking function by bureaucrats, rather than politicians. Still, such a process would have had the same stamp of legitimacy that Secretary Clinton so desperately seemed to want to invest in when she visited Pakistan last year."

Where are Obama’s Arabic speakers? – Dan, www.mcdermottwire.com:

“Where is the revamped public diplomacy and international awareness that we’ve heard so much about? ... Silence is in many ways worse than even the most awkward attempts at public outreach. I hate to say it, but I think George W. Bush did a better job of ensuring consistent, noticeable engagement with mainstream Arabic media. ... [A]t least Bush had that one voice on mainstream Arab media outlets. That voice, as you may remember, was that of Alberto Fernandez. He was the Director of the Office of Press and Public Diplomacy in the State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs. Fernandez speaks good Arabic, and while I disagreed with most of what he was saying during his time on the air, I thought he did an admirable job of actually trying to engage with Arabic-speaking audiences.” Image from

On the Road – Again - Martha Bayles, World Affairs: If you have access to MBC-1, the premier entertainment channel in the 22-nation Arab market, tune in this Thursday and Friday for the first and second episodes of Ala al Tariq fi Amrika (On the Road in America). ... It is the creation of Layalina Productions, a Washington-based nonprofit that makes Arabic-language programs with the old-fashioned aim of increasing international understanding. ... MBC is one of ten firms that attract the lion’s share of the Arab audience, while America’s tax-guzzling white elephant, Al Hurra, is one of hundreds scrounging for crumbs. ... There are three reasons for this. First, the bureaucratic landscape of U.S. international broadcasting is so complicated, and so invisible to the average voter, that elected officials have little incentive to pay attention to it. Second, the BBG, a presidentially appointed bipartisan body that is supposed to oversee international broadcasting, is, in the words of political scientist Carnes Lord, 'a highly dysfunctional organization, whose members have become accustomed to freelancing according to their own particular interests.' The third reason for Al Hurra’s continued existence is related to the second. For the last several years, the majority of BBG members have come from the private sector and followed the simplistic logic laid down by former member and commercial radio mogul Norm Pattiz: Anything government can do, business can do better. That may be true in some realms, but it is not true in others—especially when the 'business' in question is not really competing but rather attaching itself ever more tightly to the government teat. Layalina takes a different path. By partnering with an Arab company that knows its audience, Layalina makes programs that appeal to Arab curiosity about the United States, without either preaching in the mode of diplomats, or pandering in the mode of the commercial media. At least, that was my impression when I reviewed the first season of On the Road in America. When I have watched the second, I will post an update."

Exclusive: So Much for Restoring our International Reputation - James Jay Carafano, Family Security Matters: "For a president who came into office claiming that he wanted to listen to what the world had to say, Mr. Obama has developed a fairly solid tin ear.

Last week, the White House pretty much tried to shut out the rest of the globe altogether. First, the president cancelled a highly anticipated trip to Asia. ... Second, the administration still holds out it can 'do business' with Russia, even as the Russians are keeping to their demands for negotiating a strategic arms reduction treaty. ... Finally, the president ended week with the release of video address to the Iranian people on Saturday in which he renewed his offer of dialogue with the Iranian government despite pretty solid evidence that Tehran has no interest in negotiating away its nuclear weapons program. It is just incredible to believe that the White House thinks it can 'do business' with an Iranian government that is beyond the pale. 'As censorship in Iran continues to increase, more journalists are being detained, tortured, and sentenced to long prison terms and in some potential cases, execution,' reports Heritage public diplomacy expert Helle Dale." Image from

Exclusive: Nuclear Terrorism: How Did We Get Here? Where Are We? And Where Can We Go? - Peter Huessy, Family Security Matters: "China, Russia and North Korea, as well as Venezuela, are the most important accomplices to the Iranian regimes quest for nuclear weapons. Threats to the U.S. include nuclear coercion as well as the a) detonation of a nuclear device in an American city by a terrorist group provided nuclear weapons by a terror master state/nuclear armed state, such as Iran, Pakistan or North Korea or a nuclear device used in an EMP-type attack from a ballistic missile. Current analysis of these threats is relatively weak, as it is shaped by [inter alia] ... (3) an assumption that the Iranian regime and other 'terror masters' are amenable to traditional international norms and public diplomacy."

Rebuilding a Republican Majority - Don Sutherland, blueocean.darktax.com: "The United States has an enlightened story to tell.

It can embrace the world’s democratic countries and its peoples of all ethnicities and religions who seek to live free and prosperous lives. It can support the world’s free peoples and those who resist subjugation without embarking on Neoconservative adventurism. Public diplomacy, economic assistance, and an attractive ideology have been its most potent means of creating a better future." Image from

An elaborate REPORT – A discussion on Communal Harmony – AMP India:

"Association of Muslim Professionals (AMP) had organized a Discussion on Communal Harmony. The program titled 'Building Trust and Partnership among communities in India' was conducted in association with the American Centre at the American Centre Auditorium, Mumbai." Image from article

CIEE Launches the Rainbird Scholarship to Bring International Students to U.S. [account suspended, according to Google Blogs] - Hao-Odnla, Press Release Service and Distribution: "CIEE, a world-leader in international study abroad and work exchange programs, has established the Rainbird Scholarship to support international university students coming to the U.S. for Summer Work/Travel exchanges. The scholarship, created in memory of long-standing CIEE senior staff member Ann Rainbird who passed away unexpectedly in October 2004, will cover the full program fees for up to 10 students who otherwise would not be able to participate on CIEEs Work & Travel USA program because of financial constraints. In its inaugural year, the Rainbird Scholarship will be offered to students from Poland, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria, and in subsequent years recipients will be chosen from three new countries on a rotating basis. In announcing the launch of the Rainbird Scholarship, CIEE President and CEO Dr. Stevan Trooboff commented, Ann Rainbird had dedicated her career at CIEE to expanding the number of countries and students able to partake on an exchange program in the US and we are pleased that the CIEE Ping Foundation has agreed to set up this scholarship in Ann[']s name. Student exchange programs such as this play a critical role in the increasingly important public diplomacy efforts of the United States."

Lynne Weil goes to USAID - Matt Armstrong, Facebook: "One of public diplomacy’s best friends on the Hill, Lynne Weil,

is going to USAID. ... The House Foreign Affairs Committee and Chairman Berman’s loss is AID’s gain. This move should help USAID in ways more than just press relations. Lynne won’t check her public diplomacy legislative experience at the door. As a result of the wonderful world of dysfunction created by Senator Jesse Helms when he abolished the United States Information Agency, Lynne will report to PJ Crowley. Yes, that PJ, State Department’s Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs. More on that when I write on the State Department Inspector General inspection report on the Bureau of Public Affairs. I’ll include comments from my sit down with PJ last week – after participating in a little send off of Ian Kelly to from State to Vienna – when we discussed this report." Weil image from

Israel: Escaping the Image and Language Trap – A. Jay Adler, the sad red earth:

"Note how Israel’s public diplomacy efforts, its public relations, expressed in Hebrew as hasbara, are turned against Israel via an almost invisible, instrumentally racialist linguistic campaign, in the persistent use, by non-Hebrew speakers, of the insidious foreign word – hasbara – which in its foreignness, its cognitive unfamiliarity, conveys the sinister concealment of true meaning and motive. This quality of sinister concealment is not inherent in a word or a language. It is, in its foreignness, simply other, so the foreignness is appropriated as a vehicle for an attitude. The very reverse occurs in the standardized use of Intifada by non-Arabic speakers, a term that in its own foreignness, beyond its literal meaning, tends further to ennoble and hallow." Image from

IDF wraps 'counter-Goldstone Report'- Herb Keinon, Yaakov Katz, Jerusalem Post: "The IDF has completed a 1,000-page document dissecting the allegations in the Goldstone Commission report piece by piece, and lawyers in various governmental bodies are now going over the text to ensure it sounds like a legal document, rather than a military/public diplomacy one, The Jerusalem Post has learned. The report was written by the IDF and reads like a military document, one diplomatic official said Monday, adding that it needed to be 'laundered” so it sounded more like a legal paper. "

A Legend, A Velodrome & A Boludo - Miles Knowles, ♪Rockstar Diplomat♫ -- Culture and Public Diplomacy in Latin America:

"While I hate the stereotype that Argentines are arrogant, self-absorbed, wannabe-Europeans who could care less about the rest of South America, this is more or less how they are viewed in Colombia and throughout the continent. Having lived some months in Argentina, I’ll gladly stick my neck out for all my coworkers, friends and acquaintances whom have shown me what great people they are. But ¡Carajo! You guys have to learn something about Public Diplomacy! I was in Argentina when World Cup soccer coach Diego Maradona made the infamous 'keep on sucking' comment that bounced around worldwide sports networks, making all Argentines look like arrogant jerks. To have more athletes reinforcing this stereotype is just terrible. Some advice for any Argentine athletes (or travelers) outside of Argentina: If you don’t want to be a BOLUDO in the eyes of other countries, please, just leave the attitude and 'boludez' at home. Take it from a gringo who managed to the humility to befriend a cycling legend from Colombia without bringing up Lance Armstrong once." Image from

Public Diplomacy and Erasmus? - Nilo, The New Diplomacy 2010 D: "[P]ublic/cultural diplomacy goes beyond public speeches made by head of states and instead takes often various diverse forms."

Hope & Change vs. Fear & Loathing – Paul Rockower, Levantine: "[In the health care fight,] Obama stepped it up and pushed back, using that gift of communication that he so deftly wields. Still the Dems need good domestic public diplomacy to counter Republican misinformation and propaganda. Still, a good win that all partisans of Hope and Change can be be proud of."

MountainRunner.us: now available on Android - Matt Armstrong, MountainRunner.us:

"MountainRunner.us, the leading blog on public diplomacy and strategic communication ... , is now available as an Android mobile application." Image from

Sixty-eight year-old veteran of the Information Wars confirms to NATO ally that he is still 'Vividly Alive' - Matt Armstrong. MountainRunner.us: "Today, in an example of the lasting power of USIA Public Diplomacy and the new power of social media, Harry Kuiper, a former Dutch journalist, posted a question about an American embassy Information Officer he knew in the 1970’s: Is Mr. Woody Demitz still vividly alive and looking as he likes? In less than two hours, Woody responded. Dag Meneer Kuiper! Hoe gaat 't met jouw? Ik voel me niet zo slechts. En jij? "

Leaving a legacy: Maxwell dean looks back on accomplishments as departure approaches - Kathleen Ronayne, SU The Daily Orange: "Mitchel Wallerstein,

dean of the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, is leaving Syracuse University in July to become president of Baruch College. He served as dean of Maxwell for seven years. ... In addition to partnering with the College of Law, Wallerstein, together with [David] Rubin], the dean of Newhouse [School of Public Communications], began two new degree programs between Newhouse and Maxwell. One combines masters in public relations and international affairs for a degree in public diplomacy. The only other school that offers this type of degree is the University of Southern California. One combines masters in public relations and international affairs for a degree in public diplomacy." Wallerstein image from

Faith and Culture: Scarf Diplomacy - Attia Nasar, ahmadiyyatimes.blogspot.com: "Attia Nasar is a graduate student in the Public Diplomacy program at Syracuse University where she is a candidate for an M.S. in Public Relations from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and an M.A. in International Relations from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. She is currently the Web Chair for the Association of Public Diplomacy Scholars and Public Diplomats for Human Rights."

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Mobile Phones Combat Taliban’s Afghan ‘Information Wastelands’ - Indira A.R. Lakshmanan, Bloomberg: Where the Taliban’s presence was strongest, phone coverage was weakest, crippled by Taliban sabotage of the towers, recalled Smith [Rear Admiral Greg Smith] and U.S. special envoy Richard Holbrooke in separate interviews. “We found that Afghans in the most-troubled, insurgent- held areas lived in information wastelands dominated by militant propaganda,” Holbrooke said March 17. “We are fighting back with a revamped strategy that puts the people and their ability to communicate at the forefront of our effort.” The U.S. is betting about $263 million in 2010 that winning this campaign will help it prevail on the battlefield. Smith, head of public communications strategy for U.S. and international military forces in Afghanistan, has a budget of almost $150 million for 2010. The U.S. State Department has $113 million to spend this year for civilian communications.

The money will pay for new towers and projects such as developing community media outlets and supporting educational radio. Joanna Nathan, author of a 2008 report on Taliban propaganda for the Brussels-based International Crisis Group, cautioned that expanding mobile-phone capacity isn’t enough to counteract the Taliban. They have dominated the war of words by exaggerating victories and fueling conspiracy theories, she said. Afghan officials are cautiously optimistic about the American efforts. “It’s not the words, but how credible is your message,” said Said Jawad, Afghan ambassador to Washington. The U.S. must not only “respond to propaganda but deliver and make a difference in people’s lives.” Image from

The Internet is used as an operative and propaganda tool of Al-Qaeda and global jihad networks and needs policing and selective cyber strikes of jihad websites - Bill Warner Private Investigator