July 13

“There is no written guidance establishing the responsibilities and authorities of the strategic communications coordinator.”

--From the OIG [State Department Office of the Inspector General] report on US Embassy Pakistan; OIG website at; image from

NEW BLOG

Africa Public Diplomacy …managing the image of Africa through active Brand Management

VIDEO

M10 Tank Destroyer: Propaganda Film

BOOK REVIEW

Literary Lobs [Review of Books As Weapons: Propaganda, Publishing, and the Battle for Global Markets in the Era of World War II By John B. Hench. Cornell Univ. Press. 333 pp. $35 ] - John Brown, Wilson Quarterly [subscription; partial text accessible via above link]: "[T]here was a time when the United States had no qualms about using books as 'weapons in the war of ideas' —

in the phrase made famous by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. In Books as Weapons, John B. Hench, a staff member of the American Antiquarian Society for more than three decades, recounts this chapter in America’s efforts to defeat the enemies of democracy during World War II." Image (also found in book under review) from

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

US Embassy Pakistan: Understaffed, inexperienced staff handles $30 million Public Diplomacy Programs: Program budget jumps from $1.5 million to $30 million in one year – Domani Spero, Diplopundit: "The OIG report on the US Embassy in Islamabad talks about the public diplomacy operation in Pakistan. It is worrisome, given the big foreign policy deal placed on that country by the current administration, only to have a understaffed, inexperienced staff tackle one of the largest, most complex public diplomacy in the world."

Trouble in Kenya - Laurel Leader-Call: "[Vice President Joseph] Biden was in Kenya leading what sounded a lot like a rally for that nation’s new constitution, one that’s going to be voted on in August. It’s a fatally flawed document, inimical to the values of many Kenyans. ... [T]he proposed constitution would also create a legal system within a legal system – codifying the strengthening of sharia by making it apply to every Muslim Kenyan. ... Ray Walser of the Heritage Foundation ... : 'I would suspect the administration is pushing the constitution package as a whole with the promise to reduce presidential power and to place constitutional safeguards against corruption.' That would take Vice President Biden at his word. But the Achilles heel

of this administration is that it is not, in the subtle words of Walser, 'adverse to measures that permit space for sharia-like legal customs – for Muslim outreach/public-diplomacy purposes,' or squeamish about rolling back Bush administration strictures against abortion, for that matter." Image from

US State Department to host South Asian teenagers - Narayan Lakshman, The Hindu: "This week the United States will welcome South Asian teenagers to the State Departments under the 'Seeds of Peace' programme. Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Judith McHale will, on Wednesday, address a group of young leaders from Afghanistan, India, and Pakistan who have just completed a three-week conflict resolution programme in Maine. Founded in 1993 by journalist John Wallach, Seeds of Peace describes itself as being dedicated to empowering young leaders from regions of conflict with the leadership skills required to advance reconciliation and coexistence."

Radio Free of Bureaucracy - Kim Andrew Elliott, New York Times: "After seven months of politicking, the new Broadcasting Board of Governors was confirmed by the Senate at the very end of last month. The bipartisan board, now headed by the former CNN chairman Walter Isaacson, supervises the government-financed programs Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, the Arabic-language Radio Sawa and Al Hurra TV, and Radio and TV Martí, which broadcast to Cuba. ... [I]nstead of having one entity that produces all broadcasts, American international broadcasting is a collection of often redundant agencies

working under the banner of the Board of Governors. ... The present mixture of broadcasting bureaucracies, created over the decades by this and that legislation, must be replaced by a consolidated structure that can increase audience reach without reaching for taxpayers’ wallets." Image from

InterMedia Appoints Public Diplomacy Leader and Practitioner Robert Coonrod as New CEO - Press release, PR Newswire: "The Board of Directors of InterMedia, the global media and communications research company, today unanimously appointed Robert T. Coonrod as InterMedia's new Chief Executive Officer (CEO). ... Coonrod joins InterMedia from Meridian International Center in Washington DC, where he has served as Chief Operating Officer. Meridian is a leading non-profit organization dedicated to strengthening international understanding. Coonrod also serves as President of the Board of the Public Diplomacy Council, and is a former member of the Defense Science Board Taskforce on Strategic Communication. ... Coonrod

was Deputy Director of the Voice of America. As a career Foreign Service Officer, he held several senior positions at the United States Information Agency in Washington and was posted in both in Italy and Yugoslavia. ... InterMedia is also pleased to announce that Dr. Gerry Power is its new Managing Director of InterMedia UK, headquartered in London." Image from

FIFA World Cup 2010 and Public Diplomacy: Winners and Losers - Jean Lukaz, Africa Public Diplomacy …managing the image of Africa through active Brand Management:

"To the winners, there is nothing like football in public diplomacy, to the losers it is the most uncontrollable and unpredictable channel of public diplomacy to one massive global audience. If public diplomacy is about government communication aimed at foreign audiences with goal of winning hearts and minds, then the role of national teams that are government-sponsored and -branded to feature before the foreign audiences watching the World Cup is a latent promotion of these nations that has the effect of infecting foreign fans." Image from

The difficulties in Sino-European relations - Jonathan Holslag, New Europe: "[T]the EEAS [European External Action Service] needs to develop a public diplomacy towards stakeholders in the member states. In the last few years, the Commission has been spending millions of euros to organize all kinds of networks and conferences. Many of these initiatives seemed to be more a matter of window dressing than contributions to the decision making process or strengthening the legitimacy of a strong European China policy. These projects need to be thoroughly evaluated. The EEAS has to come up with a long-term action plan as well as the coordination capacity for mobilizing experts, journalists, business people and NGOs."

First half of 2010: record number of tourists in Israel - Ron Friedman, Jerusalem Post: "According to Tourism Ministry estimates, income from incoming tourism (excluding air travel) reached about $1.55 billion in the first half of 2010. This figure is about 35% higher than the income generated in the first half of 2009 and similar to that from the same period in 2008. 'The increase in incoming tourism during the first half of this year should not be taken for granted.

It is the result of massive investment in marketing activities around the world with significant budgets, especially against the background of the public diplomacy challenges that Israel is facing,' said Tourism Minister Stas Meseznikov." See also. Image from

Hard questions, tough answers with Yossi Alpher - ‎Lara Friedman, Palestine Note: Q. "Last week, in an extraordinary step, the IDF published detailed and sensitive intelligence data concerning Hezbollah arms caches, bunkers and operations centers in the midst of civilian installations in al-Hiyam, one of 160 southern Lebanese villages. What motivated this unusual move? A. A combination of factors. The most important involves public diplomacy. ... Will this indeed improve Israel's international image if and when it destroys Lebanese villages while targeting Hezbollah bunkers? Will this deter Hezbollah and Iran? It's impossible to say. But given the realities of Israel's struggle against militant Islamist non-state actors on its borders, publishing the map of Hezbollah's installations in al-Hiyam seems like a smart idea."

Fighting the stereotypes on Islam [review of Islam in a Globalized World: Negotiating Fautlines by Mushurul Hasa] - Shaikh Mujibur Rehman, The Hindu: "The first part [of the book], which covers a wide range of issues such as pluralism in Islamic societies, relationship between Islam and Christianity, and politics of gender discrimination in Islam, discusses how 9/11 has shaped the content of news media, public diplomacy, and the war on terror."

Georgia on my mind in Taiwan – Paul Rockower, Levantine:

"I was busy reading an interesting piece by Gary Rawnsley called 'Selling Democracy: Diplomacy Propaganda and Democratisation in Taiwan' on the role of Taiwan's political transformation to democracy on its foreign policy and public diplomacy during the Chen Shui-bian administration. In that piece, Rawnsley wrote: 'Yet democracy has also tempted Taiwan to be bolder and more assertive in its relations with China. It has endeavoured to push the boundaries even further, to test its newly-discovered confidence in the belief that public opinion and the United States will come to Taiwan's aid if and when the military conflict breaks out across the Taiwan strait.' The question that lit up in my head after reading that line was related to Georgia in its war with Russia in the summer of 2008. The question that started bouncing around in my head is what effect the Georgian war had here insofar as the example of a small, democratic country." Image from

Book Review: American Negotiating Behavior. Wheeler-Dealers, Legal Eagles, Bullies, and Preachers Solomon, Richard H. and Nigel Quinney (eds) Washington, D.C.: United States Institute of Peace, 2010 www.usip.org ISBN 978-1-60127-048 xiv + 357pp. - Francisco Gomes de Matos, Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies:

"The book´s Index provides a comphehensive view of its conceptual-terminological coverage. Among key-concepts and terms, these have been found: civic journalism, context of communication, creativity, culture, cultural differences, empathy, English language, Human Rights, language (11 subentries), listening skills, media, miscommunication, Negotiation (12 subentries), offensive language, public diplomacy, relationship building." Offensive image from

Best Thing for State Department Since General Marshall‎ - Brian Carlson, MountainRunner.us: "The Administration's intention to put General James Mattis in charge of the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) is the best thing to happen to the State Department since General George C. Marshall showed up in Foggy Bottom to become Secretary of State.... Brian Carlson, former ambassador and public diplomacy officer, until last December, was the liaison between the State Department and the Defense and the Defense Department for strategic communication and public diplomacy."

Engaging in a Now Media Continuum [video] - Christopher Dufour, MountainRunner.us:

"[Dufour:] A few months ago, Matt asked me to help him transform his blog, MountainRunner, into a full-fledged nonprofit institute devoted to the study of and conversations about public diplomacy and strategic communication." Image from

Diplomacy from the Block: J.Lo Not Performing in Cyprus - Reaching the Public: "About Me: Hi, this is Efe Sevin. I am a researcher interested in public diplomacy, nation/place branding, and public opinion studies. I am also a PhD student at American University, School of International Service in Washington, D.C."

Political & Economic Internship – UCLA EconOmics Blog: "The British Consulate-General in Los Angeles is the United Kingdom’s diplomatic mission responsible for the Pacific Southwest, including Southern California, Arizona, Nevada’s ClarkCounty, Utah and Hawai’i.

The Consulate-General’s Political, Press & Public Affairs section is offering unpaid summer and fall internships focusing on political & economic issues. ... About the section: The Consulate-General’s Political, Press & Public Affairs section handles the communications side of a host of public diplomacy issues, including climate change, Afghanistan, the economic recovery, UK-US trade and UK-US scientific cooperation." Image from

RELATED ITEMS

White House denies NASA remark on Muslim outreach - AP: The White House is contradicting the NASA administrator's claim that President Barack Obama assigned him to reach out to Muslims on science matters.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden recently told Al-Jazeera network that one of the charges Obama gave him was "to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with dominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science and engineering." Some conservative activists criticized the remarks. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Monday that such activities are not among Bolden's assigned tasks. Image from

Western 'propaganda' won't stop woman's execution by stoning, Iranian official says - Patrick Martin, Globe and Mail: In a push back against international efforts to save a 45-year-old woman from death by stoning, an Iranian justice official insists that “Western media propaganda” will not prevent him from carrying out the execution as soon as he gets final judicial approval.

Rand Paul Under Fire For Saying Poor in U.S. Better Off Than Poor Elsewhere – FoxNews: Louisville, Ky. -- Republican U.S. Senate candidate Rand Paul says the poor in America are "enormously better off than the rest of the world," citing an old Cold War film that showed even impoverished homes had color televisions. Paul's recent remarks at his first forum with Democratic opponent Jack Conway stirred some anger in impoverished pockets of Kentucky, where as many as a third of residents live in poverty. The libertarian-leaning Paul addressed the issue of poverty by alluding to a decades-old, anti-American propaganda film by the Soviet government designed to criticize the free-market system. "They filmed a building in the poorer section of New York with some broken windows and they said, `Oh, this is how the poor in America lives,"' Paul said at last week's forum. "But it backfired on them because the Soviet citizens looked at that video closely and they saw flickering color television sets

in all those windows." Image from

MORE AMERICANA (from Boing Boing)


A strange new food product called the Candwich is currently at the center of a SEC lawsuit involving a Utah money manager and his investment failures.