"We're a nation of jerks."
--Los Angeles Times columnist Meghan Daum; image from
"Any American pubic [sic] relations seeds are scattered on rocky soil."
-- Rob Asghar, Pakistan: When U.S. Policy Limits Public Diplomacy, Newswire–CPD Blog, USC Center on Public Diplomacy (as accessed on January 7, 8:47 am)
SITE OF INTEREST
The Wikileaks News & Views Blog - Greg Mitchell, The Nation
PUBLIC DIPLOMACY
Obama’s Foreign Aid Strategy: Hire More Federal Workers, Spend More Taxpayer Money - Helle Dale and James Roberts, Heritage Foundation WebMemo #3093: "The Obama Administration’s long-awaited and inaugural Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR), subtitled 'Leading Through Civilian Power,' was finally released on December 15, almost a year after it was initially promised. ... The QDDR hardly reflects on the need to reform the public diplomacy and strategic communication tools of the U.S. government. This despite the fact that both President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have spoken about the key role that these aspects of U.S. foreign policy would have in their Administration. In 1999, the State Department absorbed the functions (minus international broadcasting) of the dismantled U.S. Information Agency (USIA). Since then, it has allowed the U.S. government’s messaging capabilities as well as associated funding streams to dissipate. Given the continued importance of 'winning hearts and minds' in the global competition for ideas and information, it is therefore disappointing to find a mere five pages
out of the QDDR’s 242 pages devoted to public diplomacy. The global ideological competition includes today not only radical Islamism but also state actors—such as China, Russia, Iran, and others—who are investing heavily in communications infrastructure. By contrast, the measures proposed in the QDDR are modest in scope, hardly innovative, and mainly focused on completing the integration of public diplomacy into the State Department’s current structure. The only innovation appears to be the concept of 'Community Diplomacy,' which is actually a new term for outreach and engagement by embassy personnel. ... The new Congress should take a close look at the policy proposals in the QDDR. Specifically, Congress should consider taking these actions [inter alia]: ... Demand that the Obama Administration produce a feasibility study of establishing a separate center or agency for public diplomacy and strategic communication as mandated in last year’s defense authorization bill." Image from. See also John Brown, "Public Diplomacy: 'Out' for the U.S., 'In' Overseas?," Huffington Post
Pakistan: When U.S. Policy Limits Public Diplomacy - Rob Asghar, Newswire – CPD Blog, USC Center on Public Diplomacy: "When a nation is busy devouring itself, in a manner that threatens the larger global peace, other nations' policies and public diplomacy will be complicated indeed.
In the case of a disintegrating Pakistan, American policy has tended to make effective public diplomacy virtually impossible and irrelevant. ... American aid is pointless as a public-diplomacy maneuver." Image from
US Embassy Cables Reveal Imperialism’s Dark, Mundane Side - Nick Brown, antiimperialism.wordpress.com: "More revelations have come forward from Wikileaks, this time in the form of 250,000 cables between 250 US embassies worldwide. The leaked documents provide a revealing look into not only what the US and other world powers are up to, but also offer a glimpse behind the rhetoric and into US officials’ real opinions on their allies and enemies alike. ... Chavez was the topic of many leaked cables.
The opening summary of 2007 cable with the topic, ‘A Southern Cone Perspective on Countering Chavez and Reasserting US Leadership,' reveals some of the US’s strategy in dealing with the South American leader. The cable helps us understand US imperialism strategy in dealing with any number of regional opponents. ... 'This [cable] looks at ways the US can counter Chavez and reassert U.S. leadership in the region. … '[T]here are six main areas of action for the US government as it seeks to limit Chavez’s influence: –Know the enemy: We have to better understand how Chavez thinks and what he intends; –Directly engage: We must reassert our presence in the region, and engage broadly, especially with the 'non-elites'; –Change the political landscape: We should offer a vision of hope and back it up with adequately-funded programs; –Enhance military relationships: We should continue to strengthen ties to those military leaders in the region who share our concern over Chavez; –Play to our strength: We must emphasize that democracy, and a free trade approach that includes corporate social responsibility, provides lasting solutions; –Get the message out: Public diplomacy is key; this is a battle of ideas and visions.[...]'" Image from article
Why Indo US Relations Pass Through Beijing - Team SAI: "USA wants to thin down Chinese influence for which it needs India’s support. The theory of String of Pearls [not defined in article] may well be a part of this public diplomacy initiative to let India and China keep each other engaged. Ravaged by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, USA wants a collaborative regime to counter Chinese influence in Asia Pacific through its 'friends'. India fits the bill."
Public Diplomacy Envoy Michelle Kwan Travels to Singapore January 9-15, Will Meet with Youth and Government Officials - Tabitha Berg, enewschannels.com: "Two-time Olympic medalist and five-time world champion Michelle Kwan will travel to Singapore January 9-15, 2011 on behalf of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
As a U.S. public diplomacy envoy, Kwan will conduct three skating clinics, engage with several groups of students, as well as meet with the Singapore National Olympic Committee and senior-level government officials from the Ministry of Community Development, Youth, and Sports. This is Michelle Kwan’s sixth trip abroad on behalf of the Department." Image from article
Experts interpret the image of public relations in China: the image can not rely on concealment to maintain [word missing?] - licayun: "In 2006, the U.S. State Department to hire Chinese-American former world figure skating champion Michelle Kwan as Public Diplomacy Ambassador, but the use of external communication 'celebrity effect' one of the many examples." Article also discusses China's efforts at public relations.
She [commentator Kathy Kattenburg] finds it "hilarious" that VOA reports on Wikileaks-released cables even as US government employees can't read them - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting:
"Some VOA reporters are authorized by VOA management to report on Wikileaks." Image from
Commentator discusses sourcing of news from North Korea by Radio Free Asia, etc. - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting
On Radio Free Asia: North Korea's Parade of Homes - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting
Latest Social Media Public Diplomacy News - affiliatesintraining.com: "The Bulgaria 2010 Review: Diplomacy and Foreign Policy ... Sheldon Himelfarb: Media and International Conflict: Where We’ve Been and What’s Ahead for 2011 ... Schengen: Will Bulgaria’s 2011 Hopes Be Frustrated?"
‘Most right-wing MK’ used to be in Kadima - Gil Hoffman: "Mattot Arim, a right-wing grassroots organization, compiled lists of achievements by ministers and MKs ... . The ministers recognized in the study included ... Public Diplomacy Minister Yuli Edelstein
for forming a hasbara website for Israel in English." Image from
ei: Rawabi developer Masri helps deepen Israel’s grip on West Bank - occupiedpalestine: "The Israeli-Palestinian Chamber of Commerce (IPCC) appears to be a body established and controlled by Israel to facilitate even deeper Israeli control and exploitation of the Palestinian economy. ... Underlining that IPCC is part and parcel of the Israeli occupation, the organization’s CEO is none other than Israeli Lt. Col (ret) Avi Nudelman who, according to his resume on the IPCC website, spent most of his military career either in intelligence or as a military ruler in the occupied West Bank. ... Preceding Nudelman as head of the IPCC was Ofir Gendleman, long an Israeli diplomat, who was appointed last May by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as Israel’s 'Arabic-language spokesman for public diplomacy.'”
Prominent Egyptian journalist pessimistic about ME in 2011 - todayszaman.com: "Prominent Egyptian journalist Fahmy Howeidy thinks that 2011 will be a very difficult year for the Middle East, as several serious clashes and conflicts are at the door.
Speaking to Today’s Zaman in an exclusive interview during his visit to Turkey as a guest of the Directorate of Public Diplomacy, Howeidy underlined that an undemocratic regime in Egypt is the main reason behind the recent tension among the Egyptian Coptic community, but foreign influence on the issue should not be neglected." Howeidy image from article
Announcement: CDS International & AIPT Merger - cdsintl.org: "AIPT and CDS
have merged to form an innovative new organization with expanded program diversity and a larger global network. As leaders of the exchange community with similar histories, we have long shared common objectives—first, to improve international understanding and enhance cultural awareness; second, to develop global competencies through professionally-oriented exchanges, international internships, professional fellowships, public diplomacy initiatives and J-1 programs. We have also found that our organizational cultures and strengths complement each other to an extraordinary degree with a passion for international exchange at our core. ... Together, we have over 100 years of history and have opened doors for over 100,000 people around the world. Creating new and dynamic ways to foster cultural understanding and public diplomacy, one person at a time, is at the heart of what we do." Image from article
Baskin-Rockower - Paul Rockower, Levantine: "1) If you could have your b-day dinner with anyone (living, dead), who would it be? I would spend it with all my PubD friends, over at Sarko's parents place eating his Mom's immaculate humus and smoking shisha."
RELATED ITEMS
U.S. Sends Warning to People Named in Cable Leaks - Mark Landler and Scott Shane, New York Times: The State Department is warning hundreds of human rights activists, foreign government officials and businesspeople identified in leaked diplomatic cables of potential threats to their safety and has moved a handful of them to safer locations, administration officials said Thursday. The State Department is mainly concerned about the cables that have yet to be published or posted on Web sites — nearly 99 percent of the archive of 251,287 cables obtained by WikiLeaks.
With cables continuing to trickle out, they said, protecting those identified will be a complex, delicate and long-term undertaking. There is anecdotal evidence that the disclosure of the cables has chilled daily contacts between human rights activists and diplomats. Image from
Dangerous Warning? -- John Brown, Notes and Essays: "U.S. Sends Warning to People Named in Cable Leaks: Comment: I wonder how the State Department is going about 'warning' these people. By 'warning' them -- and thereby, conceivably, attracting the attention of unfriendly groups/governments -- is the Department putting such 'confidential' sources in even greater danger than before the WikiLeaks?"
Former CIA officer Jeffrey A. Sterling charged in leak probe - Greg Miller, Washington Post
Obama's 'Arab Spring'? - Marc Lynch, foreignpolicy.com: Across the Arab region, the authoritarian regimes will continue to clamp down hard, try to censor the media, and blame Islamists or Iran or some other convenient boogeyman. The Obama administration's public rhetoric on democracy is really the key variable here --- these regimes will do what they must when they feel threatened, and understand that Obama is no more likely than was Bush to really challenge the fundamentals of their regime survival in the name of democracy.
A Debate on Systemic Change on Twitter, Visualized - Joshua Fouts, theimaginationage.net: "Though Twitter has become pervasive to the point that millions of people have Twitter accounts, I still find myself in conversations where people perceive the value of Twitter as being more ephemeral rather than substantive. To those in the ephemera camp, I submit the above screenshot and below link, thanks to Kevin Marks.
Last night five thoughtful Twitterers, Rita J. King (@ritajking), Alex Howard (@digiphile), Kevin Marks (@kevinmarks), Andrew Hazlett (@AndrewHazlett) and Andrew Rasiej (@rasiej) engaged in a provocative and thoughtful discussion in Twitter about Systemic Change. For those following, the night before Rita J. King had been talking about this with Helen Walters (@HelenWalters), Saul Kaplan (@skap5) and Lina Srivastava (@lksriv), also worth following. A link to last night's exchange follows. A Debate on Systemic Change on Twitter, Visualized. Image from article
Pay Attention, Please: The new Darwinian imperative may be 'the survival of the focused' [Review of Is the Internet Changing the Way You Think? Edited by John Brockman Harper Perennial, 408 pages] - Christine Rosen, Wall Street Journal:
One theme emerges frequently from iInternet enthusiasts and skeptics alike: Precisely because there are such vast stores of information on the Internet, the ability to carve out time for uninterrupted, concentrated thought may prove to be the most important skill that one can hone. "Attention is the fundamental literacy," writes Howard Rheingold, the author of "Smart Mobs."
Catholic propaganda on the Enterprise: Star Trek is the most consistently pro-Christian and pro-Catholic series in American television history, says lifelong fan Angelo Stagnaro - catholicherald.co.uk: In a time when much of television fare is unreflective of Christian morality and values, it’s encouraging and affirming to have shows that successfully present a kinder and gentler world. A world in which people of different values, backgrounds and perceptions can cooperate. Each offering their uniqueness as a gift to the others. A world in which enemies are ultimately forgiven and learn to cooperate.
A true tale of totalitarian eroticism: an unforgettable fall day with comrade Kim Il-Sung - Mark Frauenfelder, Boing Boing: Translated from "Korea" magazine, No. 346, 1985: This happened in early November 1973. I drove a tractor with a trailer loaded with rice sheaves, and I had the honor of meeting Our Beloved Leader, Comrade Kim Il-sung, on the road. I pined for him in my dreams.
Our Beloved Leader warmly shook my hand smeared with machine oil, and praised me by saying that a young girl like me works so hard. He inspected the engine, the cab, and the gearbox of my tractor, and gently asked how many sheaves are loaded on the trailer. ... Our Beloved Leader looked at me for a minute, and asked in his hoarse voice, "So, if you drove the tractor until 12, do your hands hurt now?" After that, he stroked my palm and hand, and rolled up the sleeve of my robe to feel for the thickness of my wrist. Image from article
Hitler mania: First postwar exhibition so popular it has been extended three weeks - dailymail.co.uk: The Berlin exhibition, which will now run until February 27, explores explores the links between German society and Hitler's rise to power in 1933, and how he managed not only to win power but to cling on to it it even as total defeat loomed.
It features a hoard of bizarre Nazi artefacts including propaganda posters, busts of Hitler, a card game helping players to learn the names of top Nazis, SS cufflinks, toy soldiers and a red swastika lampshade. Image from article, with caption: Despite widespread concern in German media that the exhibition could prove popular among neo-Nazis who idolise Hitler, no problems have been reported.
PAKISTANI JOKES
There are a few jokes about [Pakistan president] Zardari making the rounds:
1. A man standing in a long line for food tells the others in the line that he is leaving the line to go to shoot the president. He returns after a few hours and rejoins the line.
“Did you manage to kill him“, everyone asks him.
“No, that line is longer than this one“, he replies.
2. Robber: “Give me all your money!”
Zardari: “Don’t you know who I am? I am Asif Ali Zardari.”
Robber: “OK. Give me all my money.”
3. A TV anchor announces: "Terrorists have kidnapped our President Zardari and are demanding $5,000,000 or they will burn him with petrol. Please donate what you can. I have donated five liters."
Zardari's reaction to these jokes was to threaten the jokesters with up to 14 years in prison.
--Rob Asghar, "Pakistan: When U.S. Policy Limits Public Diplomacy," Newswire–CPD Blog, USC Center on Public Diplomacy
VIDEO FOR POLONOPHILES
