April 14

"Events of course are the real propaganda ... but in the long run these events can only be made to tell in the right way if they are seen in the proper perspective."

--Foreign Office undersecretary David Scott, arguing (1940) that much more active measures were needed to advance Britain's cause in America; image from

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Voice of the mullahs: Public broadcasting takes a pro-Islamist tilt – Editorial, Washington Times: "The Voice of America is becoming the Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Recent programming choices have revealed a creeping bias toward opponents of the pro-democracy movement and de facto supporters of the regime. This ill befits the VOA mission and the purpose of U.S. public diplomacy. On March 17, Rep. Trent Franks, Arizona Republican, sent a letter to President Obama signed by 69 members of Congress requesting that the White House 'investigate reported mismanagement and bias at Voice of America's Persian News Network (VOA-PNN).'

The lawmakers expressed concern over 'the apparent lack of oversight regarding the management, staffing, mission and content of VOA-PNN broadcasting.' The letter notes that the service 'may have harmed the plight of those seeking human rights, rather than helping it.'" Image from

Iran: Grassroots Voices And The Blogosphere - Richard Weitz, EurasiaNet: "An April 12 conference held in Washington assessed Iran’s social-networking sphere. Panelists asserted that even in the face of severe government repression, the vibrancy of Iran’s blogosphere is offering the international community opportunities to develop citizen diplomacy and people-to-people connections with Iranians. The conference, titled Iran’s Blogosphere and Grassroots Voices: Risks and Rewards of Engagement, was sponsored by the US Broadcasting Board of Governors and the Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication at George Washington University. ... Hida Fouladvand, who works for VOA Persian News Network TV, explored the importance of international broadcasting for Iranian bloggers, saying that the events of the past year have demonstrated 'when the Iranians want to pursue information, they have ways to do it.' Fouladvand related that there were 22 million visits to the VOA Persian website during the past year, adding that VOA listeners were no longer mostly older people. Instead, 70 percent of those accessing the site in recent months are 30 years old or under. To best address this audience, VOA is using social-networking tools to reach them--including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube--as well as more traditional TV and radio broadcasts."

An Iranian Editor Fires Back – Alex Belida, VOA News Blog: "When I wrote a reply to the editors of six Iranian news websites who had complained about international news coverage of Iran, I wasn’t sure whether they would respond. Well, now the senior editor of one of those websites, Alef, has fired back.

He, and I’m only assuming it’s a he, isn’t happy." Image from

US Public Diplomacy gets a Cultural Facelift! - ta3beer.blogspot.com: "At Georgetown University, former chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts Bill Ivey opened the launch of a new edited volume 'International Cultural Policies and Power' (Ed. JP Singh) by comparing how Cold War broadcasting is no longer a model to follow. He expressed the manner in which culture can serve as a resource to communicate an identity, a group or a nation-state. There is hope that decentralization of creative and cultural production can show that the individual and the collective might be the new producers of content, previously the sole purview of the state. So the question becomes what is the state's capacity to subsume individual and collective creative productions and industries. The answer comes from another event hosted by the Center for Strategic International Studies (CSIS) which announced the launch for a high-budget second season of the reality television program 'On the Road in America' (Layalina Productions) which brings together four Arab youth from various countries and backgrounds and takes them on a tour of America so as to showcase the country's breadth, diversity, openness, liberty and democracy. How much of this process--funded and sponsored by the state and executed by the private sector production companies--is authentic and constitutive of legitimate public cultural expression? The case was also made for this kind of 'cultural diplomacy' in the Georgetown session by former Ambassador Cynthia Schneider who advocates for a new generation of cultural diplomatic initiatives. This suggestion comes on the heels of an event she sponsored to showcase Pakistani Sufi rock musician Salman Ahmad who is a self-fashioned icon of cultural hybridity and intercultural tolerance, albeit in a cheesy fashion."

Cows, Burgers and Countries: the Nation-Branding Fad - Patricia Lee Sharpe, Whirled View: "There’s been much talk of nation-branding recently. Brand America. Sell it! Franchise it! Export it! How does this sound to you? It bothers me, so I’d like to explore the matter of applying the business of branding to countries.

Among those who care about America’s interactions with the rest of the world, this branding idea is just one aspect of the apparently irresistible urge to regard diplomacy as anything but a sui generis function. Above all, the metaphors for the public diplomacy function get frisbeed back and forth between military/strategic concepts and advertising/public relations concepts. Oddly enough, metaphors pertaining to journalism and the exchange of reliable information are largely ignored. It’s as if public diplomacy is conceivable only in relationship to some kind of manipulative calculating salesmanship. Does that say something about the product? Is America a product that can’t be 'sold' straightforwardly?" Image from

Establishment of University Partnerships in Journalism, Afghanistan - grants.gov: "The Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul announces an open competition for a cooperative agreement to establish a University Partnership between a U.S. four year college or university and Kabul University in the field of journalism. The strengthening of higher education in Afghanistan is a compelling and critical need. There is a shortage of professionals and leaders to meet the needs of reconstruction, growth and poverty reduction. It is essential to establish high academic standards at the university level to improve the quality of the education sector."

Mr. Obama, keep walking please – Lena, Global Chaos:

"In a post this January, I was rather skeptical about Obama's public diplomacy achievements over his first year in office. There was quite a lot of disappointment in the air then, and - still - confusion over his Nobel Prize. And yet, over the past few months, he seems to have been proving himself to the world. ... [T]he best image the U.S. can put out there is that of a truly engaged and committed President, who keeps his promises, and genuinely tries, at least, to achieve them." Image from

Don't waste the Obama peace plan card - Marc Lynch, Foreign Affairs: [Comment by Programmer.Craig]: "Obama should shelf any talk of mid-east peace until he can get the people who are doing US public diplomacy all on the same page, and have them clearly understanding what the US message is. Do they have that term in Public Diplomacy? 'On Message'? Or is that just for real diplomacy? Both parties would be fools to sit at the table with the US when the US can't even figure out what it wants to do."

CIA, Crusade for Freedom and Radio Free Asia - Richard Cummings, historytimes.com: "In previous articles, we have looked at two Cold War broadcasting entities Radio Free Europe (RFE) and Radio Liberty (RL) in Germany, which were described as two successful Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) 'covert operations.' [In this article] we will look at one of the CIA’s 'unsuccessful covert operations': Radio Free Asia (RFA). ... The original Radio Free Asia has no connection to the current U.S. government supported Radio Free Asia, which began broadcasting on September 29, 1996, into China in Mandarin.

Today, funded with a grant from the U.S. Congress to conduct surrogate broadcasting, the second Radio Free Asia continues to broadcast to China, Tibet, North Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Burma as 'a private, nonprofit corporation that broadcasts news and information to listeners in Asian countries where full, accurate, and timely news reports are unavailable.'” Via; image from

Arrested Tibetan monk "allegedly" had equipment to receive VOA - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting

RFE/RL Back On the Air in Kyrgyzstan - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting

Morning tech tip sheet: News and events for Tuesday, April 13 - Tony Romm, The Hill: "The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) ... convene[d] a panel early Tuesday evening on 'Public Diplomacy and Foreign Policy in the Technology Age.' Moderated by Bob Schieffer, host of CBS's 'Face the Nation, current and former State Department staff members and private experts ... discuss[ed] how the Internet and mobile phones, among other technologies, have shaped U.S. diplomatic efforts abroad."

To improve Israeli image, minister gives diplomacy lessons - Susan Zalkind, Daily Free Press: "Yuli-Yoel Edelstein, the Israeli minister of information and diaspora, arrived in Boston on Sunday for a three-day visit to promote a new campaign to educate Israeli citizens in diplomacy. The campaign, which was launched in February, aims to teach Israelis how to improve their image abroad. ... On Tuesday, Edelstein

met for a roundtable discussion at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government with the Israeli Consulate, professors, diplomats and selected students. ... Natasha Epstein, the student co-chair of the Israel caucus at the Kennedy School, said that at first she 'was not a big supporter' of the campaign because she said that wasn’t sure what the difference between public diplomacy and propaganda was. Because the campaign is voluntary, Epstein said, 'he convinced me that [it’s] not propaganda.' But attendee Yair Lior, an Israeli citizen and BU graduate student, remained skeptical of the ability of the program to improve the Israeli image. Lior said he liked Edelstein’s suggestion to be yourself when encountering foreigners but he did not like the idea of telling others about Israel’s accomplishments." Edelstein image from

Exclusive: Radical Awakening: From America Hater to Hero - Matthew Vadum, Big Government: “[A]s the U.S. government was taking a beating in the media for its post-Katrina relief efforts ...Venezuela’s communist strongman, Hugo Chavez, began trying to embarrass the Bush administration by offering aid to the Katrina-hit Gulf Coast. Chavez had already been running what political scientists call a 'public diplomacy' campaign in the U.S. to help bolster American support for his regime. The propaganda effort consisted of funneling discounted home heating oil to former U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy’s, D-Mass., nonprofit group, Citizens Energy Corp.”

Disciples of the Russian World - Elena Rubinova, Russia Profile: "Cultural institutions such as the Goethe Institute, the British Council and the Centre Culturel Franсais fulfill the mission of promoting their nations’ language and culture throughout the world. Russia is currently in the process of building such a network, and the 50th Russian Center opened in the Ukrainian city of Donetsk on April 8. The idea of promoting the Russian language and Russian culture as national heritage and creating a Russian diaspora abroad has received strong support from the state ever since the Russky Mir (Russian World) Foundation was founded in 2007. Over the course of 2010, the foundation plans to establish some 30 more such centers all over the world. Executive Director of the Russkiy Mir Foundation Vyacheslav Nikonov, a well-known political analyst and the head of the political science department at the International University in Moscow, outlined the main achievements of the foundation and shared his views on the prospects of the foundation and its further development in an interview with Russia Profile. ... V. N[ikovov]: In some countries, Russia’s activities have always been viewed with suspicion or perceived as evil.

So I can’t say that politics never affects cultural and public diplomacy and that our activities are welcomed everywhere we go. ... Cultural diplomacy does not open any doors: we had difficulties with our activities in Japan, while in Northern Korea we had no problems. Sometimes difficulties are linked to some objective circumstances, like in Afghanistan, where we already operate in six locations but have not opened a Russkiy Mir center in Kabul. ... I am convinced that if Russia possessed strong modern cultural brands comparable with those of the past they would be carried around and popularized without too much effort. We lack such brands and first of all, Russia needs to work hard on its own branding as a country. ... The Russian libraries we open comprise a wide selection of books that represent not only classical literature, but the latest examples of modern Russian literature. ... Unfortunately, the young generation in the West is not so familiar even with world-famous Russian cultural brands or with Russia in general." Image from

Editor-in-chief of New York based newspaper speaks about what Obama, Erdogan and Sargsyan discussed in Washington - Today.Az - ‎"Day.Az interview with editor-in-chief of the New York-based Russian-language 'Noviy Rubezh' ('New Frontier') newspaper Nobert Yevdayev. ... How do you see resolution to the Karabakh conflict in a short-term period? [Nobert Yevdayev:] Unfortunately, each new elected president of Armenia does not want to be first who would make concessions in the Karabakh conflict. In this case we can only hope to enhance and strengthen the work to attract sympathy from other countries, including public diplomacy in this matter in favor of Azerbaijan, as well as wisdom of the negotiators, who must find a solution that would satisfy both countries."

The register...116 - I'll Take Mine... To Go, Please!: "So the 'register' is the list of people who have successfully passed all the tests and essays and medical invasions and security scrutiny and are deemed 'OK' to be hired by the Dept. of State as a Foreign Service Officer. They aren't 'in' yet. They are waiting to be invited. They are people who have invested a good deal of time into this process. And lots of energy. And thought. We are in that boat. We = they. My husband is on the Public Diplomacy register. That register now has 116 people on it. The top 18 people get invited off the register every couple of months. Which makes you think, 'Okay, just wait a few months and then his score will be called.' Except that people keep getting added to the register. All the time. With good scores and skills in Arabic. So they get bumped to the top. His score is more than half-way down. Which means either a long wait or forget it. (A person stays on the register for 18 months and then...bye, bye, start over.) Since taking the OA he has been studying German, hoping to raise his rank on the register.

But it's grueling. He works every day, then goes to German three times a week after work. He wakes up at 5am to do his homework. Plus there's the expense. And he's a cub scout leader. And there's soccer starting up. And the kids miss him. And I miss him. And we don't know if he'll get to a level 3 in German. And we are all sick of talking about German, and dreaming about German. We wish we could just enjoy each other and our lives. He is also signing up to retake the entire process and hope for a higher OA score the second time. The thought of more German, more studying, more study groups, more essays and waiting and more not knowing... ...I don't know. ... About Me[:] We are a family of five, married ten years. I am the wife of a former journalist who took his buy-out check and is entering the US Foreign Service. We have three kiddos, a dog and a cat. We are leaving our 4 bedroom 2.5 bath house in a planned community for a life of adventure living overseas. But first, we have to survive this transition phase of our lives. Deep breath...let's go." Image from article: the blog's author and her family

RELATED ITEMS

Obama Puts His Own Mark on Foreign Policy Issues - Peter Baker, New York Times: When he took office last year, President Obama told his foreign policy advisers that he had two baskets of issues to deal with. The first would be the legacy issues left from his predecessor, like Iraq, Afghanistan and America’s image in the world. The second would be his own agenda for the future. After 15 months addressing the vexing matters he inherited, Mr. Obama is now aggressively advancing his own vision of foreign policy and defining himself more clearly on the world stage.

If there is an Obama doctrine emerging, it is one much more realpolitik than his predecessor’s, focused on relations with traditional great powers and relegating issues like human rights and democracy to second-tier concerns. He has generated much more good will around the world after years of tension with Mr. Bush, and yet he does not seem to have strong personal friendships with many world leaders. Image from

Obama comfortable as head of nuclear summit before world leaders - Scott Wilson, Washington Post: During his first year in office, President Obama was often best overseas when he was behind a lectern or onstage before a crowd with a microphone in his hand. But in convening his first international summit -- the largest on a single issue in Washington history -- he focused more squarely on his relationship with world leaders. He slapped backs, kissed cheeks and met one on one with more than a dozen heads of state, leavening his appeal to shared security interests with a more personal diplomacy. The approach marked a shift for Obama as he seeks to translate his popularity abroad into concrete support from fellow leaders for his foreign policy agenda, most urgently now in his push for stricter sanctions against Iran.

Obama's disregard for media reaches new heights at nuclear summit - Dana Milbank, Washington Post:

The only part of the nuclear summit, other than a post-meeting news conference, that was visible to the public was Obama's eight-minute opening statement, which ended with the words: "I'm going to ask that we take a few moments to allow the press to exit before our first session." Image from

Attention: Baby on Board - Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times: While Obama came to office looking at both Iraq and Afghanistan as places where we need to be focused more on protecting our interests than promoting our ideals, he’s finding himself, now in office, having to promote a more idealist approach to both.

The Price of Assassination - Robert Wright, New York Times: If Harold Koh — the State Department lawyer — carries the day, America will be telling the world that it’s O.K. to lob missiles into countries that haven’t attacked you, as long as you think a terrorist may live there. Do we really want to send that message to, for example, Russia and China, both of which have terrorism problems? Or India or Pakistan?

What's at Stake in Kyrgyzstan?: Russia is rolling back George W. Bush's Eurasian advances – Ariel Cohen, Wall Street Journal (subscription)

‘Israeli threats against Iran just propaganda’ - Tehran Times: Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast has dismissed the Zionist regime’s threats against the Islamic Republic as just propaganda. If the Zionist regime had the capability to destroy the Muslim world, nothing would stop it, Mehmanparast told reporters at a press conference on Tuesday. “The root of all problems in the region is this cancerous tumor,” he added. The fact that Israel constantly threatens other nations shows that it is becoming more insecure and increasingly at odds with other countries, he noted. He also warned that Iran would seriously respond if it came under attack.

North Korean State Comedy Not Very Funny - ntdtv.com:

"It's so Funny,” a long-running comedy television show [video in link], is a production of the North Korean government. Its intention is to lift the morale of troops, but critics of the show say it is no more than a platform for government propaganda. Image from

Britain's Propaganda War on America - Stephen Budiansky, historynet.com: From the beginning of World War II to well after its end, the British government carried out a massive propaganda offensive designed to sway popular opinion in the United States. The MOI and other agencies recruited and mobilized hundreds of British writers, actors, lecturers, labor leaders, filmmakers, religious figures—and not a few American journalists, radio executives, and Hollywood moguls—to help bring the British message to America. The philosopher Isaiah Berlin, one of a number of British academics who served in the British information operation in New York during the war, concluded afterward, "We didn't convert anybody." But, he added, Britain's propaganda campaign in America had made "friends friendlier." And in the volatile world of American popular opinion, that was more than enough to achieve many of Britain's vital aims.

DVR Alert: 'Song of Russia' - Lou Lumenick, New York Post: Gregory Ratoff's "Song of Russia" (1944), like "Mission to Moscow'' and "The North Star,'' two other 1944 epics, was made with the active encouragement of the Roosevelt Administration, which wanted to win public support for our Soviet allies during World War II. [Robert] Taylor plays John, an American conductor who falls in love with a Russian concert pianist Nadya he meets during a tour of the Soviet Union that begins not long before the German invasion.

Despite a cameo appearance by Josef Stalin (Michael Visaroff) during which the Russian dictator invokes Soviet democracy during a radio address, "Song of Russia'' mostly avoids the heavy-handed propagandizing of "Mission to Moscow.'' The House Un-American Activities Committee first called Louis B. Mayer, MGM's arch-conservative, Russian-born czar, who carefully avoided calling the film propaganda. So the committee then brought in novelist/screenwriter Ayn Rand ("The Fountainhead''), who had nothing to do with the making of "Song of Russia,'' to render her opinion on the movie as a supposed expert on Russia, though she admitted she had not set foot in her native country since 1926. She was more than happy to label "Song of Russia'' as propaganda, pointing out the absence of the Soviet secret police. But mostly she repeatedly called the film a "lie'' because it depicted happy, well-fed Russians. Rand's complete testimony is here. Also online is a large sampling of "Ayn Rand and Song of Russia, '' an odd 2005 book that attempts to defend her often unintentionally hilarious HUAC testimony. Image from article