"It's workshops, training, master classes."
--Assistant Secretary of State for Education and Cultural Affairs Ann Stock, regarding the $1.7 million DanceMotion USA program; image from
"Devoted to my leisured days,
By lonely lake I make my ways,
For law I far niente take
And every blessed day I wake
To sweet comfort and liberty ...
--Russia's poet Aleksandr Pushkin, Evgeniy Onegin (1, LV); cited in Dolce Far Niente (Moscow, 2000) by Svetlana Makurenkova, who writes in her introduction that
"Dolce far niente is an Italian phrase which means -- literally -- the sweetness, the pleasure, of idleness. Its origin is ascribed to Pliny the Younger (Epistle, VIII, 9) 'illud iners quidem iucundum nihil agere, nihil esse'; 'that inertia, that joy of not doing, and being anything.'" (p. 4); image from; see also
"Sois sage, ô ma Douleur, et tiens-toi plus tranquille.
Tu réclamais le Soir; il descend; le voici:
Une atmosphère obscure enveloppe la ville,
Aux uns portant la paix, aux autres le souci."
--Baudelaire
PUBLIC DIPLOMACY
U.S. International Broadcasting: The Need for a New Strategic Plan [December 13] – Helle Dale, Heritage Foundation: “One of the mysteries surrounding U.S. international broadcasting is why more money spent each year is buying less and less airtime. Even as the budget for such operations continues to grow, U.S. broadcasting services are being cut back—and, no less, in parts of the world that are of immense strategic value to the U.S. The new Congress should ask questions about the long-term strategic goals of U.S. international broadcasting and how best to meet those objectives while adapting to a changing environment. ... Recommendations ... Congress should: Support the strategic review of the BBG. As the Senate has been dragging its feet on oversight, it will fall to the House to take an active interest in international broadcasting through the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the House Strategic Communications and Public Diplomacy Caucus. ... Demand that the National Security Council fulfill the congressionally mandated requirement for analysis of the need for an intergovernmental public diplomacy and strategic communications agency or center.”
The American Security Project calls for a new Bipartisan National Security Vision - indiadebate.in: "New American Arsenal also contains some rough recommendations for addressing each of the four major security problems. These include: terrorism: combat New alliances and international framework to extremists by coordinating military, law enforcement and intelligence agencies and the creation of a sustainable international legal framework to counter terrorist movements;
Fighting undermines and jihad ideology in a more effective fight for the hearts and minds in the Islamic world through the expansion of development aid, trade and investment opportunities and health and education programs to increase the economic outlook and increasing public diplomacy and to begin investing in alternative energy to diversify energy sources for the U.S. and its allies. ... For further information or a copy to read the full report, visit The American Security Project." Image from
Leight on Light - Naomi Leight, Fire & Leight: Thoughts on public diplomacy, the world and my life: "A great public diplomacy initiative--that could be a public-private partnership between governments, NGOs and the corporate sector--could be 'light accessibility'. ... The public-private campaign could focus on education -- Light for Learning, and wherever educational training is offered by governments (or UN programs) to local teachers, NGOs could fund-raise with corporate sponsorship (CSR or globe engagement projects) to provide light to children outside of the classroom. These partner corporations, some of which must be in the electricity/LED/solar technology businesses could sponsor/fundraise with the NGOs in order to provide the newest light technology LED lightbulbs powered by batteries, recharged by the sun to each child (and in turn families). This would not only provide much needed access to more energy efficient, cost saving, environmentally friendly light products, but also facilitate the education of young children who with better education have future opportunities and more access to help their family and country."
Afghan women in Bamyan learn to be entrepreneurs - Mahtab Farid, Public Diplomacy in Afghanistan: "Two distinguished Afghan women in Bamyan, Fatima Kazemian, former Director of Women Affairs with Tayeba Khawari, manager of Youth Cultural Manager for civil Society NGO received applications and a briefing by Bamyan PRT gender advisor, Mary Jae Abbitt SushkaJae Abbit Sushka on a business training program at the American University in Kabul.
This program is in partnership with Thunderbird School of Global Management in the U.S. funded by Goldman Sachs charitable fund for women in emerging economies. The training includes entrepreneurship, marketing, management, accounting and strategic planning. After the completion of the course women will have access to mentors, networking and opportunities for internship so they can contribute to the development of Afghan economy." Image with caption: Fatima Kazemian and Tayeba Khawari applying for business program
WikiLeaks cable: US-NZ cooperation on #climate, environment and human rights – NZ Herald - "This is one of the diplomatic cables about New Zealand held by Wikileaks. January 29, 2008 SUBJECT: UNDERSECRETARY DOBRIANSKY EMPHASIZES STRONG US-NZ COOPERATION ON CLIMATE, ENVIRONMENT, AND HUMAN RIGHTS ... 1. (C) Summary. During her January 14 meetings with Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) officials, Undersecretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs Paula Dobriansky highlighted the recent successful discussions in Bali, underscored USG support for a multilateral approach to climate change in the post-2012 period, and applauded the close bilateral cooperation between the U.S. and New Zealand on a range of issues covering the environment, Antarctica, human rights and democracy and governance. U/S Dobriansky also highlighted the strong premium the USG places on interfaith dialogue and public diplomacy programs to counter radicalism among youth."
Richard Holbrooke - hswallpapers.com: "Holbrooke combined strategist and tactician in one. ... His clear and consistent articulation of positions, both moral and strategic, was not just for back-rooms either; he tirelessly took his case to the world’s public through the media, a reminder soft-spoken and camera-shy diplomats to stop debating 'public diplomacy' and actually take diplomacy to the public. At the same time, sly signaling is no substitute for direct, face-to-face communication.
How else to send the message to Milosevic and Karadzic that if he left the negotiating room in 1995 without a satisfactory guarantee that they would end the siege of Sarajevo, they might not live through the next American bombing." Holbrooke image from
The Huff Post Blog on India's Public Diplomacy - Madhurjya Kotoky, The Public Diplomacy Blog: "In an interesting post in The Huffington Post, Philip Seib, Professor of journalism and public diplomacy and director of the Center on Public Diplomacy at the University of Southern California, remarked that India lacks a comprehensive Public Diplomacy strategy. ... What is implied is that India is yet to come up with a compelling and coherent narrative that is consistent across all its communications to global audiences. ... I could not agree with Philip more. In fact, I had written on my blog last year about the lack of a coherent strategy."
Indian Public Diplomacy keen to access "social media" - dailyindia.com: "Joint Secretary (Public Diplomacy) of Ministry of External Affairs (MHA) Navdeep Suri said today that India realises the need to have its presence in social media. Addressing people at a two-day conference on 'Public Diplomacy in the Information Age' here, Suri said: 'We took an initial decision that very quickly we had to ramp up our presence in the social media. We started initially with the Twitter account which, I believe, at that time was the first for any Government of India department, maybe still is, and a Facebook page, and then a YouTube channel, and so on.' 'Where we are going with this and trying to make sure that there is a digital convergence of all content that we produce. It doesn't mean we stop publishing Indian perspectives in 17 languages but it means making sure that each edition is available on online websites, on online publishing websites,' he added. During the conference, experts said India is on its way to becoming a global power if it uses its soft power assets. Speakers at the conference said India's presence in social media combined with cultural diplomacy and effective use of soft power assets could lead to it becoming a 'superpower'.
Professor of Public Diplomacy at the Annenberg School of Communication in the University of South Carolina [sic] Nicholas J. Cull said India has a strong chance of making a name for itself in world politics. 'I think in a world where diplomacy is based on culture, India is in a very, very strong position. If you are comparing Indian power and Chinese power, India has an advantage because when people think of India around the world, people smile', said Cull." Image from
Digital divide - Elpenor: [Google translation] "One of the lessons of this [Wikileaks] affair, office Ntouichi the 'Mod' is the need to review the theories of 'public diplomacy' (public diplomacy) and 'soft power ' (soft power) that are fashionable in the United States. ...Can 'public diplomacy' to be based on secret documents; or whether the policy of large countries should be protected by restrictions and testing of digital revamped public space? Image from
CULTURAL DIPLOMACY
Cultural Diplomacy and the "Oh, I Didn't Know That" Factor - Cynthia Schneider, Huffington Post: "At a time when borders are dissolving because of economic and virtual connections, the United States, with its insular education system and media (try to find news on international affairs if you live anywhere other than the East or West coast) is woefully unprepared. In addition to the Embassies in Washington, some American organizations are filling the gap through cultural exchange programs.
For example, the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities (PCAH) is teaming up with the Sundance Institute (which almost single-handedly has preserved and revived domestic and international independent film) to tour a collection of five American and five international independent films, plus their the film makers, to destinations in the US and abroad. ... A non-profit organization I co-direct, MOST Resource, ... provides information -- at no cost -- on any and everything related to Muslims, Islam, and the Middle East with the goal of facilitating the development of more balanced, nuanced characters and themes related to Muslims and Islam. By providing content creators with access to research and experts, MOST hopes to facilitate the kind of normalization of people and themes from the Middle East or other Muslim majority regions that exposure through popular culture has brought about over time for African Americans, or gays and lesbians." Schneider image from
BAM Gets Cultural Diplomacy Nod: Heads DanceMotion USA Program After a Successful Pilot - Pia Catton, Wall Street Journal: "The Brooklyn Academy of Music has been tapped to produce the first official year of DanceMotion USA, a cultural diplomacy project. The U.S. State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs worked with BAM on a pilot program this year that sent three U.S. dance companies to tour three regions of the world. Now, after competing in a national RFP process, BAM has been selected to be the grantee and administrator of the cultural exchange program in 2012. 'Since we'd turned out the pilot successfully, we had experience,' said BAM President Karen Brooks Hopkins. 'We had learned a lot, so we were able to take what we learned and structure the proposal.'
DanceMotion USA has been expanded to include four companies that will tour in early 2012: The New-York based Seán Curran Company will tour Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic and Turkmenistan; the Jazz Tap Ensemble (Los Angeles) will be sent to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique and Zimbabwe; Rennie Harris Puremovement (Philadelphia) will go to Egypt, Israel/Palistine [sic] and Jordan; and the Trey McIntyre Project (Boise, Idaho) will make stops in China, South Korea, the Philippines and Vietnam. The companies were chosen by an eight-member peer-review panel that included representatives of BAM, the State Department, a program evaluator and the three artistic directors of the companies that were involved in the pilot program (Evidence, Urban Bush Women and ODC/Dance). The State Department chose the regions based on the Obama administration's policy priorities, according to Assistant Secretary of State for Education and Cultural Affairs Ann Stock. 'DanceMotion USA builds on Secretary [of State Hillary] Clinton's vision for 'smart power'—diplomacy, defense and development,' she said. 'It's workshops, training, master classes. It's opening a dialog.' ... The program's $1.7 million budget is funded by the State Department and is supported by Pfizer and the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, a New York-based not-for-profit." See also: (1) (2) (3). Image from
Museum project puts Paiwan culture online - June Tsai, Taiwan Today: "An international project will help Taiwan’s indigenous Paiwan gain remote access to museum collections, document intangible aspects of their culture and disseminate information about their heritage to a broader public, including indigenous groups abroad. The collaborative 'iShare: Connecting Museums and Communities East and West' project, proposed by the National Taiwan Museum and supported by the U.S.-based University of Colorado Museum of Natural History, was selected for the American Association of Museums’ Museums and Community Collaborations Abroad grant program. A U.S. delegation comprising representatives of the indigenous Navajo Nation and UCMNH researchers arrived in Taiwan Dec. 12 for a nine-day visit to facilitate mutual understanding and establish closer ties.
The delegation visited Paiwan tribal villages in Laiyi Township in southern Taiwan’s Pingtung County, accompanied by NTM officials. ... Museums and Community Collaborations Abroad is a partnership in cultural diplomacy between the AAM and the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs, designed to foster museum-based international exchanges and help people of the world understand themselves and one another through direct community engagement." Image from article: Representatives from the Laiyi Aboriginal Museum, National Taiwan Museum, Navajo Nation Museum and University of Colorado Museum of Natural History sip from a Paiwan “langalj,” joined wooden cups, Dec. 14
Freedom on the front line - Peter Aspden, Financial Times: "It is a dilemma for public policy makers: the most effective cultural ambassadors are rarely those with the most explicit messages. The international tours of the 'jambassadors', some of the great jazz musicians of the postwar years, were popular and highly acclaimed. But the musicians themselves, like the abstract expressionists, just wanted to weave new patterns for their art forms, not make fatuous statements of cultural superiority. Louis Armstrong, resentful at being used to illustrate the progress of the 'Negro Race', pointedly refused to go to the Soviet Union. As long as the US remains a cultural hegemon, it will continue to make art that will be attractive to the whole world. No one outside the Tea Party wants to hear lectures about the US Constitution but everyone loves a sexy movie star. How to harness that power? Well, you can’t. That’s the pesky thing about freedom."
Making sure dance doesn't disappear - Carrie Seidman, Sarasota Herald-Tribune: "During his many months spent in Bhutan, a tiny kingdom in the Himalayas between China and India, whenever Joseph Houseal met someone who claimed to be reincarnated, he had one question for them: 'Do you remember any dances?' Preserving ancient dance and endangered movement traditions in the healing, meditation and martial arts has been Houseal’s passion for the past decade.
It is also the mission of the nonprofit Core of Culture Dance Preservation, which he serves as executive director. ... One idea, as of yet in its infancy, is the potential to use dance as a tool for cultural diplomacy in volatile areas like Pakistan. Houseal believes dance has a role to play in the harmonization and stabilization of the world, particularly in current times of such political unrest. 'Dances are about fundamental human identity and tradition and they’ve transmitted for generations,' he says. 'I think any dance project is a peace project.'” Image from article
Share credit call to Bihar non-residents - Calcutta Telegraph: "Hundreds of delegates, including 20 NRIs [Non-Resident Indian] of Bihar origin, participated in a two-day conclave to discuss the challenges of change in the state today. NRIs who have proven themselves in various fields outside the state and country discussed ways to accelerate the pace of socio-economic change in Bihar. ... An[...] NRI,
Anurag Sinha, who is running a firm on public diplomacy in South Asia, said: 'I want to start a counselling centre on public diplomacy to make people aware about diplomacy and use it to bring peace and harmony in the society. It may be possible by organising workshops, symposiums, seminars, lectures and debates where people would learn the tools and skills of public diplomacy. Image from article: Deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi inagurates the conclave organised by a news portal in Patna on Saturday."
RELATED ITEMS
North Korea complains about balloons carrying leaflets and 'waste paper' US dollar bills - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on Internatinal Broadcasting
PROPSPERO: A Cold War Money Launching Operation - Richard H. Cummings, Cold War Radios: "In 'The Winds of Freedom' I presented some details about the first balloon-leaflet launching of the Free Europe Press (FEP). North Korea complained last week about balloons and "waste paper" dollars, DVDs and radios being launched from South Korea.
[In this entry] I will examine one major follow-up balloon-leaflet and currency operation of the FEP: Operation PROSPERO that led to complaints from Communist Czechoslovakia in 1953." Image from article: PROSPERO Gummi Balloons
MORE QUOTATIONS FOR THE DAY
"We both use Colgate toothpaste.”
George W. Bush, quipping about what he and Tony Blair have in common
"Weird"
--Western, educated, industrialized, rich and democratic
"the sound put forth by a slug eating lettuce"
--According to Ford Madox Ford, "the noise of English conversation"; cited in The Times Literary Supplement (December 10, 2010), p. 27
AMERICANA
The fantasy site fanball.com, which is operated by Liberty Media, estimates that at least 29 million Americans play fantasy football.
An entire media industry devoted to the subject has exploded, seeking to satisfy the "owners'" insatiable demands for the latest stats on the approximately 1,700 players in the NFL. That the Internet is uniquely suited to fill that type of number-crunching and record-keeping role has only accelerated the expansion of fantasy football.
--"Fantasy boosts reality: NFL TV ratings hit a record this year thanks in part to fantasy football leagues: Fantasy football has broadened the game's appeal to include people who previously followed football little or not at all, and rewards viewers for watching from kick-off to the game's end," Los Angeles Times; image from article by Robert Nolan, "What is Fantasy Football?," Fantasy Football Guru
IMAGES
Image from
Image from
