April 27

"There’s too much going on in the poor guy’s head."

--Washington Post pundit Dana Milbank on President Obama; image from, showing his from of respect to the President of the United States,

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Washington scholars debate the Arab Spring - Danielle Feinstein, Bikya Masr: "In recent months the Obama administration and foreign policy makers have been confronted with determining new policies concerning the Arab Spring. Additionally, the academic community has been increasingly active in considering the burgeoning political landscapes in the Arab World. In Washington, think tanks, NGOs, and government branches have sponsored vigorous debates and dialogues on new regional questions and uncertainties in scholarship and foreign policy. Some major themes have materialized in recent discussions. One major recurring point is that prevalent taboos regarding the Arab World have finally been broken, particularly 'Arab exceptionalism,' the idea that Arab nations are resistant to

democratization and modernization. ... Another myth has been confronted: idea that Muslim nations desire the Iranian model. ... After the long-awaited Arab Spring, many thinkers have embraced the protests’ successes and noted the satisfying irony of the sudden turn of events. ... Other scholars were not convinced that the worst was over for the struggle for democracy in the region. ... Notably, the topic of the Arab Springs has begged the question of what the American response should be. ... With many challenges ahead, U.S. public diplomacy will have much to consider in formulating new approaches to revolutionary states in the Arab World." Image from

Egypt Poll Showing Strong Opposition to US Policy Stems from Confused Response to Arab Uprising - David Dayen, Firedoglake: "[A] Pew poll on Egyptian attitudes ... concerns their antipathy toward the United States[.] [']39% have a negative view of the American involvement in the upheaval, the survey showed, compared with 22% who have positive views. Only 15% of those polled want Egypt to have a closer relationship with the United States in the future, while 43% want a more distant relationship, and 40% would like it to remain about where it has been.['] ... While the White House wrestled over which dictator to condemn and which to offer tacit support, which anti-government rebels to provide with military support and which to ignore, it shows their preoccupation with political consensus over the correct policy. And this pragmatism, while perhaps noble in other contexts, is extremely hurtful when the issue on order is human rights, repression, literally the life and death of a people. The President talks about universal principles but doesn’t apply them. ... [C]onfusion, and hesitancy, and tilt toward the established order rather than embracing the new moment in the Arab world, is at the heart of those poll numbers . ... America’s actions in that part of the world do not live up to their public statements by any measure. A lot falls to US public diplomacy to make this right. But all the public diplomacy in the world cannot make up for tangible actions, or lack thereof, that is poisoning what could be a dramatic reset of relations with the Arab world, one which would promote national security, global economic opportunity and democracy at the same time."

The Chinese Are Coming!‎ - Douglas H. Paal, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace:  "China is about to put into operation its first aircraft carrier, rumored to be called Shi Lang, after a seventeenth century admiral who conquered Taiwan. Previously known as the Varyag when it was under construction for the Soviet and later the Ukrainian navies, China acquired the uncompleted carrier in 1998 at auction for $20 million. ... Washington

and the Pacific Command need to deploy a strategy of regional reassurance as the Chinese carrier itself deploys. One element of this strategy would be to use hearings and public forums to make clear that China’s carrier is vulnerable to counter measures that the United States and its allies already possess. A second element will be public diplomacy that includes regular and high-profile deployments and exercises by American forces in the region." Image from

Continued US/China Human Rights Clashes -democracyandsociety.com: "There’s little if any reason to believe that the government of China is likely to change domestic policy based on the desires the United States, or vice versa. Is this an avenue where there’s much innate worth in public diplomacy then? Is the mere voicing of 'concern' by one government or another enough to impact some eventual change? As in other authoritarian states, China’s difficulties with human rights are marked here and there with minor successes and noteworthy gestures, painting a portrait of a government growing gradually more tolerant and even handed. However much stories of prisoner releases are comforting, and however excellent it is for the people freed, there will always be other dissidents to imprison and or dispose of, and ultimately the goal must be to change the culture of government intolerance and the institutions which allow these abuses to continue."

U.S. Congresswoman Hirono Testifies in Support of East-West Center - forum.eastwestcenter.org: "I recently testified before a House Appropriations Subcommittee in support of providing federal funding for the East-West Center in the Fiscal Year 2012.

The East-West Center is pure public diplomacy in action and I wanted to make sure my colleagues appreciated the value of the Center as much as I do. ... Congress established the East-West Center more than a half century ago. You can be sure that as a Member of Congress, I will continue to support this important institution for public diplomacy. Mahalo, Mazie K. Hirono Member of Congress Hawaii 2nd District." Hirono image from article

Under Secretary McHale to Deliver Remarks at Exchanges 2.0 Summit - Notice to the Press Office of the Spokesman Washington, DC April 26, 2011: "Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Judith A. McHale will deliver keynote remarks highlighting the U.S. Department of State’s use of connection technologies to enhance the impact of people-to-people exchanges, at the Exchange 2.0 Summit on April 27, at 9:30 a.m. at the U.S. Institute of Peace, 2301 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. Subtitled Connected Youth: The Future of Peacebuilding and Problem Solving, this event is co-sponsored by U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP), Soliya, Partners for a New Beginning (PNB) and United Nations Alliance of Civilizations. This event will be open for press coverage. Journalists also may tune in for the livestream here and join the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #Exchange20."

State Department Abandons Cold War Mindset! - Monica, eventuresincyberland.com: "I was greatly relieved to learn the U.S. Department of State is recalibrating its public diplomacy efforts toward social media and finally abandoning its Cold War mindset. As part of these efforts, America.gov, an ambitious public diplomacy portal launched during the Bush years, has been shut down.  America.gov didn’t even make sense when it was launched on Jan. 15, 2008. It belonged in the enduringly stable propaganda environment of the Cold War

when the United States needed to shine a bright light of free-flowing information into tyrannical and closed societies. The United States’ main adversary, al-Qaeda, has been thriving in the Information Age’s environment of free and open global information flows (e.g., satellite television, Internet, and mobile) outside of state control for more than a decade. Simply put, you would use a state communications channel to offset propaganda from a state communications channel, networks to fight networks, and free-flowing ideas to counter balance free-flowing ideas. Thankfully, the role of social media in empowering Revolution 2.0 'validated' State’s shift in strategy, following a major review that took place from September to January of this year. ... With State tumbling at StateDept.tumblr.com on April 4, just a few weeks after Tumblr was added to Apps.gov, it’s clear this new entrepreneurial attitude is getting things done as well. It will be fascinating to watch how these efforts progress!" Image from

"A new generation of managers" at Radio/TV Martí - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting

American Citizens: More Effective than Diplomats in Engaging Foreign Publics? - morganroach, U.S. Diplomacy: The World Affairs Blog Network: "Simply giving foreign audiences an opportunity to engage with Americans—be it to vent frustrations on U.S. policy or to converse at a personal level—is a crucial element in public diplomacy. Foreign publics can more readily relate to other private citizens—grantees traveling in an unofficial capacity—than to diplomats.

This provides foreign audiences with a broader and more complete understanding of the United States and its people." Image from

'Raymond' gets lost in translation‎ - Patrick Goldstein, Myrtle Beach Sun News: "TV comedies have the advantage of being remade in a native language. Film comedies feature dubbed dialogue, and some of a comic's unique personality may be lost in translation. On the other hand, American comedies reveal far more about our national character than our action films, which are so generic they could be made anywhere. They have no American point of origin, the way films like 'The Godfather' or 'Easy Rider' did. 'When I was a kid, growing up in Holland, Hollywood movies served as a huge beacon of public diplomacy - you saw American life through its movies,' says Lynton [Sony Pictures Entertainment Chairman Michael Lynton]. 'But in our efforts to make franchises that play everywhere around the globe, we've lost what made our films distinctive. It's only through our sitcoms and TV dramas that you still see a reflection of American values and lifestyle.' You get the feeling that in their quest for global domination, American action films have left us behind. They're aimed at people in Madrid and Mumbai, not Des Moines and Detroit."

Taking A Page Fom Japan's Cultural Diplomacy Playbook. Or Should We?  - Denise, Occasionally Clever: A semi-regular blog on public diplomacy: "The travails of the Japanese has never been easy or pretty. Public Diplomacy is a relatively new concept for Japan, one which the have managed arguably dexterously, incorporating listening, exchange and dialogue as intrinsic to presenting Japan's world image and perception of itself. Japanese Foundation's moves have been smart, not arrogant. Unlike China, its PD efforts have not been merely concerned

with propagandizing the world and its own public, a bending of the global mind to the will of government. ... [T]hey recognized as Tadashi Ogawa argues in Origin and Development of Japan's Public Diplomacy that [']cultural exchange should be a two-way track carried out in a non-hierarchical manner,' which would introduce the cultural richness of ASEAN countries not just to neighboring countries but to the world. ... There is much to learn from Japan's approach to public diplomacy particularly as evidenced by the Cultural Diplomacy and use of two-way communication model. ... [But] [h]as Japan done too great a job at Public Diplomacy, a consideration which may be coming back to bit at the time of their greatest need? Could they be a victim of their own image of self-sufficiency and superior capability." Image from

Don Pablo Quijote returns to LA Mancha - Paul Rockower, Levantine: "At INDIA Future of Change, we help to project an India that is a global partner and leader in global affairs; what is still required is for India, and China, to use public diplomacy to explain to a weary West in economic recession that their respective rises are part of a non-zero sum game of global prosperity, and that the rising tides raise all boats. But that is a longer blog for another day."

The business of diplomacy -  Sanjaya Baru, Business Standard: "The world of the Indian diplomat has changed. An important chronicler of this change has been former diplomat Kishan Singh Rana (IFS, 1960), ambassador and high commissioner to many countries and author of many books including Managing Corporate Culture (2000), Bilateral Diplomacy (2002) and The 21st Century Ambassador (2004). Rana

has teamed up with Bipul Chatterjee to produce this book under review [Economic Diplomacy: India's Experience, CUTS International, Jaipur, 2011] — a compilation of essays by Indian practitioners of 21st century diplomacy. ... Businessman Som Mittal’s forward-looking essay on the industry-government partnership offers policy makers and diplomats a useful guide on how to improve on existing experience. Mittal emphasises the value of public diplomacy, with the involvement of business in it, for the pursuit of the larger goals of both economic and political diplomacy." Rana image from

Russia plans to create a Russian-Montenegrin Center in Bar‎ - Balkans.com Business News: Sergey Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, paid a working visit to Montenegro on April 19. ... Within the framework of the visit, a Memorandum on Cooperation between the Federal Archives Agency and the State Archives of Montenegro was signed, along with an Agreement on Cooperation between St. Petersburg State University and the University of Montenegro and an Agreement of Intention between the Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Fund and the Bar Municipality on the Creation of a Russian-Montenegrin Center of Culture, Science, Education and Sport in the City of Bar."

The New Public Diplomacy - maddieleamon: "Interesting article by Andrew Carr on a paper recently released by Fergus Hanson discussing the social media sphere.

Carr summarises Hanson’s argument into three key, but not especially ground breaking, points. Carr also hints at the progression of technology being the result of a change in society rather than society changing due to ever evolving technology." Image from

Too Many Words - Global Extrovert: "I had the chance to visit with a bright group of students at a Johns Hopkins University graduate course on International Public Diplomacy this week. Giving guest lectures at classes like this is a chance to learn as much as teach – and this week was no exception. I was asked by the professor (a pioneer in her own right) to talk with the class about trends in public diplomacy and global issues including women’s and children’s health. So I decided to show the class a short video that falls under the classic 'public service announcement/PSA' label that the United Nations Foundation had produced a few months back for a micro-campaign related to health. What the class’ critique reminded me was one of the great truths of public messaging: simple doesn’t mean dumbed-down. Simple just means clear."

Ex-Dept. of State spokesman to teach at Penn State - AP: "A former U.S. State Department spokesman who quit after criticizing the military's treatment of an Army private accused of leaking documents to WikiLeaks has accepted a position at Penn State's law school. P.J. Crowley's one-year appointment as the Omar Bradley Chair of Strategic Leadership begins Aug. 1. It's a joint post with Dickinson College and the U.S. Army War College. The law school said Tuesday that Crowley's teaching and research will focus on national security, public diplomacy and the media's effect on policy and politics. Crowley quit as Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's chief spokesman after calling the military's handling of Army Pfc. Bradley Manning at a brig 'ridiculous, counterproductive and stupid.'" Image from

Burson-Marsteller Named US Large Agency Of The Year - Paul Holmes, holmesreport.com: "[The PR] firm’s senior counseling ranks [have been strengthened] with big names such as former deputy secretary of state [sic] for public diplomacy Karen Hughes."

RELATED ITEMS

Obama sees U.S. as sage, not a bully - Lewis M. Simons, USA Today: Many Americans still see the world as their ancestors did, when the U.S. could bend other nations to its will with military muscle rather than brainpower. Obama, with his exceptional

(though certainly not exceptionalist) worldview, realizes that all people must be permitted their innate sense of self-respect. In the same regard, if a people desire freedom, or democracy, or any other form of governance for that matter, they must struggle for it and win it themselves. No foreign army can hand it to them and expect it to survive the test of time. Image from

Obama, lost in thought - Dana Milbank, Washington Post: Nearly everybody puzzles over Obama’s ad hoc responses to Egypt, Libya and now Syria, grasping for a still-elusive Obama Doctrine.

Why Afghanistan could upend Obama’s reelection strategy - Katrina vanden Heuvel, Washington Post: It is time for the president to declare victory and get out of Afghanistan. Al-Qaeda has been reduced to remnants. We can’t and shouldn’t afford the human, moral or fiscal costs of continued occupation in Afghanistan, and the people who live there will have to decide what kind of nation they build, if any. We can support smart diplomacy to bring a political resolution to this civil war.

Obama faces critical decision on Afghan troop withdrawal: President Obama's pledge to start pulling troops from Afghanistan in July was imprudent. It will be downright dangerous if the conditions on the ground he pays attention to are political ones at home - John Bolton, latimes.com

The Syria Lobby: Why Washington keeps giving a pass to the Assad regime - Review and Outlook, Wall Street Journal (subscription)

Jihadists use mobiles as propaganda tools: Islamic militants have developed sophisticated ways of spreading propaganda via mobile, a study suggests - bbc.co.uk:

Image from article, with caption: Photoshopped images are widely used in Jihadist data shared online

Armenia must change methods of fighting against Turkish propaganda: expert says - arka.am: A prominent Armenian expert in Turkish studies urged the authorities today to revise the methods of struggling

against Turkey’s anti-Armenian propaganda. Ruben Melkonian, deputy dean of the Faculty of Oriental Studies of Yerevan State University, said when speaking at a news conference, "I think the way we fight against Turkey’s anti-Armenian propaganda is outdated. Turkey’s flexible policy is creating a new situation and we must give an appropriate response." Melkonian image from article

What Is Totalitarian Art? Cultural Kitsch From Stalin to Saddam [review of What Is Totalitarian Art? Cultural kitsch from Stalin to Saddam by Igor Golomstock] - Kanan Makiya, Foreign Affairs: The crucial element in the creation of totalitarian culture was the involvement of the state, not indirectly, through the financing of culture, but directly, by imposing a "dictatorship of taste,"

as the Russian futurist poet Vladimir Mayakovsky enthusiastically called it. Image from article: F.S. Shurpin, The Morning of Our Fatherland (1948)

First Look: Red Skull Covers Draw on Nazi Propaganda - Angela Watercutter, wired.com: Red Skull won’t hit stores until July, but Marvel Comics is already teasing David Aja’s stark, Nazi-themed covers for the limited series. The five issues of Red Skull,

whose covers are previewed in the gallery above, will chronicle the rise of Nazi supersoldier Johann Schmidt before his clash with Captain America. The story, written by X-Men: Magneto Testament scribe Greg Pak, follows Schmidt from starving orphan to soldier trained on a Hitler-designed regimen. “Due to the nature of the story, I wanted to portray the historical aspects on the covers,” Aja said in a press release. “In doing so, I approached the covers as if they were real posters, newspapers and Nazi propaganda from that time, kind of in a documentary style.” Image from article

FUN MOVIES

Cold War Propaganda Films Capitalism vs Communism 2 DVD Set

13 Films About The Global Struggle Between Capitalism & Communism! 4 Cold War Era Hours Packed Into 2 All Regions DVDs!

Contents:

A WELCOME GUEST IN THE HOUSE (1957, 23:29)

The National Association of Broadcasters sponsored this salute to the power of television and its service to the people in waging and reporting the cold war.

COLD WAR: THE CHALLENGE OF IDEAS (1961, 29:34)

John Wayne, Edward R. Murrow, Lowell Thomas, Frank McGee, Helen Hayes & more explain the battle of ideas between the U.S. and U.S.S.R. in this U.S. Army Pictorical Center production. A one-of-a-kind film of the sort not to be seen recreated in our day.

COMMUNISM (1952, 10:18)

Another one of the raving agit-prop pieces Coronet Instructional Films was famous for, this one crystalizing in time the emotions and attitudes of cold-warring America at one its coldest moments.

DESPOTISM (1946, 11:00)

Extraordinary film that seeks to explain how societies can be placed upon a graduated scale between democracy and despotism.

DON'T BE A SUCKER (1947, 17:21)

An extraordinary film produced by the U.S. War Department on the eve of the Cold War urging Americans not to give into the kind of fanaticism and hate-mongering at home that the country fought to defeat abroad during the Second World War.

ON GUARD! THE STORY OF "SAGE" (1956, 12:15)

Color film by IBM's Military Products Division documenting SAGE (Semi-Automatic Ground Environment), an early version of the distant early warning system utilizing primitive computers whose appearance to modern eyes make viewing this film a real treat.

PSYCHOLOGICAL OPERATIONS IN SUPPORT OF INTERNATIONAL DEFENSE AND DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS (1968, 25:18)

Ever wonder just what America meant when it said it was sending "advisors" to foreign lands? In many cases, it means just what this film undertakes to show - how psychological operations can used to help a government win the hearts and minds of its people. You can guess where the U. S. Army Materiel Command places "Hostland"!

SECURE THE BLESSINGS (1951, 23:44)

A time capsule containing what the National Education Association sought to teach the children of America about their responsibilities as good and free citizens of a democratic republic.

RED CHINESE BATTLE PLAN (1964, 25:15)

The U.S. Navy sponsored & produced this remarkable survey of the military and political history of the Chinese Communist revolution from 1921 to 1964. The "yellow peril" is here given bombastic propaganda treatment at a time when the U.S. was most immediately concerned with the prosecution of the war raging in China's neighboring country, Vietnam. The film goes some length in establishing a strong link between the two countries, which was accurate at the time though, as history has seen, only to a degree, and a rapidly eroding one at that.

SUBVERSION AND ESPIONAGE DIRECTED AGAINST THE MILITARY / OPERATIONAL SECURITY (198X, 9:53)

A classic dual production of the Intelligence and Security Division of Walter Reed Army Medical Center intended to brief their employees on how to identify, respond to and report attempts by foreign governments to compromise the national security of the United States by penetrating the security of their medical center and how to safeguard such breaches in security from occurring.

THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF CITIZENSHIP (1955, 10:29)

A National Education Program production illustrating how the communist way of life runs contrary to American values and the institutions that embody them.

THE WAR WE ARE IN, PART TWO: COMMUNISM VS. CAPITALISM (1962, 23:23)

Here NEP teams up with Harding College again, this time enlisting the College's President, Dr. George Benson, to scare the bageezus out of tv viewers about the international communist menace (Part One unavailable).

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT BIOLOGICAL WARFARE (1952, 7:17)

What the U.S. Federal Civil Defense Administration wanted the people of the United States to know about what biological and toxilogical attacks could occur, how they might be delivered & and what individuals should do in case of such attacks.