Dennys Art Sanctuary: 35 Stunning Wallpapers For February

Dennys Art Sanctuary: 35 Stunning Wallpapers For February: "Choose your favorite of the month to enjoy!"

February 1-2

--Fox News' Egypt Graphic Fail From 2009 (PICTURE)



"War is God's way of teaching Americans geography."



--Ambrose Bierce



PUBLIC DIPLOMACY/RELATED ITEMS



Headlines



Top Five Lessons from the Fight for Freedom in Egypt



Public Diplomacy and Egypt's Real-Time Revolution



U.S. Foreign Policy and Egypt



Egyptian Democracy's False New Friends



More on Egypt (Part III)



State Department Interviews Reveal Potential Egyptian Bombshell: Interviews Show Egypt was a Major Concern, Could Come Back and Bite Them



The State Department's School for Revolutionary Bloggers



US: ‘We know where you keep crown jewels’



Presentation to American Female Soldiers on Media



State Department Briefing by Phillip J. Crowley, January 31, 2011‎



Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review Focuses on Civilian Power



Revamping Public Diplomacy at the State Department (updated)



BBG successfully tests its FOE circumvention system. Would it have worked during Egypt's internet shutdown?



MFA Discourages Idea of Soft Power Programming in Eastern Libya



Wikileak summary on Venezuela



desi bouterse & hugo chavez ideological allies – wikileaks



Strategic Research Center to be represented at NISA session



Hasbara 2.0: Why the Israel-Haters Are Winning Today‎



Battle for narrative: Mideast upheaval highlights marginal significance of Israeli-Palestinian conflict



Seminar for Russian-Jewish leaders opens in Jerusalem‎



Soft power: Learning from China's charms



LTTE Cells Operating out of Canada



Rage (or Reason) Against the Machine



Egypt restores internet access



Egypt and the Realists: So much for stability in lieu of freedom in the Middle East

The Arab revolution grows up



B.E., Before Egypt. A.E., After Egypt



PUBLIC DIPLOMACY



Top Five Lessons from the Fight for Freedom in Egypt - James Carafano, Anthony Kim, Brett Schaefer, Helle Dale, James Phillips and Mackenzie Eaglen - WebMemo #3127, Heritage.org: "4. The Administration Has Made Missteps in Public Diplomacy[:] As during the Iranian election protests in 2009, social networking tools have proven to be significant both inside Egypt and in how the rest of the world has interpreted and engaged on the issue. Washington, however, is still far from an effective participant in the global online conversation. In 2010, the U.S. State Department launched a program to promote 'Internet freedom.' But as with many of Washington’s online initiatives, the first thing the project seems to have accomplished is generating a good deal of controversy.







In January 2011, Foreign Policy contributing editor Evgeny Morozov concluded not only that the effort had accomplished little but also that 'by aligning themselves with Internet companies and organizations, [Secretary of State Hillary] Clinton’s digital diplomats have convinced their enemies abroad that Internet freedom is another Trojan horse for American imperialism.' American efforts in online public diplomacy are not on par with what should be expected from the world’s lone superpower. ... The White House and Congress can show that they have learned the lessons of the challenges we face today by [inter alia]: ... Getting serious about U.S. public diplomacy reforms. Government’s engagement online and its other public diplomacy activities demand attention." Image from



Public Diplomacy and Egypt's Real-Time Revolution - Philip Seib, Huffington Post: "As events in Egypt move forward, the United States has appeared to be a befuddled bystander, reacting slowly and with a muted voice that cannot be heard above the din of those demanding freedom. The essence of public diplomacy is direct contact with diverse publics around the world. The pace of this outreach cannot be determined by governments alone. Rather, it is dictated largely by new media that move at the speed of events themselves. U.S. public diplomacy is mired in archaic practices dating to the days when a superpower could proceed at a tempo of its own choosing and could deal primarily with governments, addressing the public only as an afterthought. Reports from the streets of Egypt indicate substantial anti-American feeling, ranging from disappointment to anger. ... Lessons abound for the future of U.S. public diplomacy. As the speed of global news flows -- through social media as well as conventional news organizations -- public diplomacy must move apace. Outreach to people in the streets must be simultaneous with, not trailing, the conventional diplomatic minuet in which governments engage. ... The United States was born because its people's resentment of oppressive rule turned to action. If a bit of that spirit could infuse the American message to the Arab world, U.S. public diplomacy might finally gain some traction there."



U.S. Foreign Policy and Egypt - maisonm.blogspot.com: "Here is Ed Kenney's take on Egypt: ... The U.S. should also be talking to Israel, diffusing the tension that our most important Middle Eastern ally feels at this moment in time. If Israel feels threatened and takes action, even defensive action, this could be interpreted in Egypt the wrong way, lending support to the radical parties’ anti-Semitic agenda. By all accounts the Obama administration is working behind the scenes and around the clock





using private channels. But public diplomacy is equally important in this situation and thus far the administration’s policy of public hedging is counter-productive. The U.S. needs to recognize the political realities on the ground, ask Mubarak to step down, and demand new fair elections. This is not a question of 'being on the right side of history in the traditional sense. Democracy, unfortunately, does not always triumph as the green revolution in Iran proved in 2009. In Egypt however, democratic forces will triumph, so it makes no sense for the U.S. to continue to back a losing horse." Image from



Egyptian Democracy's False New Friends - Jim Sleeper, tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com: "Why not stay with the autocrat Mubarak, the cornerstone of Israeli security strategy - or, for that matter, with Saddam Hussein?





The point is that [the neocons] did exactly that for years, democracy be damned. They even marginalized democracy-promoters within their own ranks at the American Enterprise Institute, such as Joshua Muravchik, who wrote ardently about helping ordinary Arabs to democratize Egypt. ... Muravchik, the ardent neoconservative democracy promoter, ... [i]nan essay for the American Enterprise Institute, 'How to Save Neoconservatism,' ... urged neo-cons to make sure that the U.S. would 'bomb Iran' and teach the American public about the necessity. Muravchik also urged the country to 'Fix the Public Diplomacy Mess.' How? 'The Bush administration deserves criticism for its failure to repair America's public diplomacy apparatus,' he observed magisterially before announcing, 'No group other than neocons is likely to figure out how to do that. We are, after all, a movement whose raison d'être was combating anti-Americanism in the United States. Who better, then, to combat it abroad?'" Image from



Cry Freedom and Let Loose the Blogs of War - John Cole, posted at balloon-juice.com: "[Comment by:]22. Redshift ... I suspect as part of the non-public diplomacy they offered him [Mubarak] a very nice retirement."



More on Egypt (Part III) - Yelena Osipova, Global Chaos: "With such a crisis on hand and all the mounting international pressure, one would think that the Egyptian authorities would put some serious effort into trying to manage the story and the perceptions abroad. Needless to say, they are failing miserably. ... let's look at Mubarak's current 'public diplomacy' disaster. Shutting down Al Jazeera's Cairo bureau on Sunday was essentially meant to prevent the network from broadcasting abroad. After all, it has become the source to turn to 'on all things Egypt' these days (especially its English-language programming), revealing all that is going on in Egypt for real and framing headlines and perceptions all over the world. Not only doesn't Egypt have an international English-language broadcaster of its own (to at least try and put its own version of the story out there), but it cannot even start hoping that it could ever manage to beat the reach and the credibility enjoyed by Al Jazeera. ... [T]here are several major lobbying and PR companies, that had been long employed by the Egyptian government, to do the 'DC-job' on its behalf. Of course, here we are not really talking about public diplomacy per se, and yet, influencing congressional decision-makers themselves constitutes an essential part of the country's image-management efforts. Salon's 'War Room' featured an article several days ago detailing some of these long-standing agreements, which were later laid out - in graphics - by Muckety. ... The Mubarak regime might have deep ties with the American government, no matter who heads the administration; and yet, at the moment, it seems like the Egyptian people's public diplomacy - whether within the 'New Public Diplomacy' concept, or just that promoted by Al Jazeera (still reporting, even if 'illegally') - is working better than the government's one in terms of winning public support internationally."



State Department Interviews Reveal Potential Egyptian Bombshell: Interviews Show Egypt was a Major Concern, Could Come Back and Bite Them - Douglas Stewart, associatedcontent.com: State Department Interviews Reveal Potential Egyptian Bombshell: "On Friday, Wikileaks published a secret cable that detailed the U.S. government's involvement with an Egyptian dissident. His notes of a democratic revolution for Egypt in 2011 were confiscated. The April 6 youth activist had attended the Alliance of Youth Movements in New York City 2008, sponsored by the State Department. Undersecretary James K. Glassman was interviewed on Nov. 24, 2008, and the questioner shows his concern specifically about Egypt. He asks the Undersecretary, speaking of Egypt and Turkey, 'Don't you run the risk of unleashing something here that is going to come back to bite you, especially with our allies?' Glassman explains





that they support pro-democracy movements and that sometimes 'puts us at odds with other governments.' It almost looks as if they were thinking ahead. But the interviewer's response is immediately cut-off. Undersecretary Glassman clarifies how the State Department works: 'What we do in public diplomacy and what is often done in official diplomacy. We are communicating and engaging at the level of the public, not at the level of officials. So you know, it certainly is possible that some of these governments will not be all that happy that - at what we're doing, but that's what we do in public diplomacy.' " Image from



The State Department's School for Revolutionary Bloggers - Michael Giglio, Newsweek: Although the NGO that organized the summit—the Alliance for Youth Movements [in New York in 2008]—did receive funding from the State Department, the event was squarely focused on the power of social media and other connective technology like SMS as an organizing tool, and carried no one particular political agenda beyond 'pushing against repression, oppression, and violent extremism,' according to Stephanie Rudat, a cofounder of AYM. State Department officials did not return calls for comment. ... Present also were a number of people from the State Department, among them James Glassman, the undersecretary of state for public diplomacy during the administration of George W. Bush, and whose idea it was to hold the conference, along with Jared Cohen, a member of Glassman’s staff who specialized in technology and innovation. In a telephone conversation this week, Glassman described the event as 'Public Diplomacy 2.0.'





'My dream when I got to the State Department was always how we could help to develop an antiviolence movement around the world,' said Glassman, who is now the director of the George W. Bush Center in Dallas. He had been on a trip to Colombia when he discovered Morales, and, impressed by his work in the social-media realm, asked Cohen, now at Google, to find other people doing similar work around the world. Glassman said he knew that bringing over someone from Egypt’s April 6 Movement, which had taken a very public stand against the Egyptian government, would be controversial, given the American administration’s support of Mubarak’s regime, which includes significant financial and military aid. But the event fit into an 'overall strategy in Egypt, which was to support civil society and to encourage people to promote democracy as much as they could,' he said, adding: 'My job was public diplomacy, which means communicating with the public.' In other words, Glassman said, his job was to help people like the Egyptian activist—and he had no qualms about letting Egyptian officials know about the conference." In fact, he was furious when another Egyptian he had invited was prevented from boarding his flight in Cairo, and called in the Egyptian ambassador for a stern dressing-down." Image from article



Written by me: How has new media changed public diplomacy? #Egypt - James O'Malley, psythor.posterous.com: "I've been asked by Arkansas Abroad to write about how technologies like ipadio have essentially changed the power dynamics of situations like the forthcoming revolution in Egypt. Thinking about what to write, I was reminded of this essay which I wrote in (I think) February 2009 about public diplomacy in the information age. It was for the diplomacy module of my Masters degree - but don't let that put you off. It's not terribly well written, and is annoying in its brevity - I think I had to trim it for word length - but I still think it makes an interesting point about the changing nature of diplomacy. Especially when you think about how new media is affecting events in Egypt."



US: ‘We know where you keep crown jewels’ - blogs.rediff.com/mkbhadrakumar: "Thus, the case of Raymond Davis, an American national on remand in police custody in Lahore, becomes a test case to check out the US-Pakistan relationship, which like all true love never runs smooth. The Americans say Davis enjoys diplomatic status, but the Pakistanis are yet to ascertain. Actually, the process shouldn’t take more than five minutes flat. The FO would have a protocol division that keeps a list of guys from Washington who were granted dip visa. But that isn’t the point.





The Pakistanis are showing the thumb at the Americans and generally showing unhappiness at the way Barack Obama throws his weight around with his shifting regional strategies, and in this case, the latter can’t do much - like if you have an unmarried daughter at home who you would like to keep away from the unpredictable guy next door. One lakh US troops are in Afghanistan and their groceries reach them via Pakistan. So, you can’t get tough. A US congressional delegation pleaded with Asif Zardari to let Davis go. Zardari showed helplessness. US embassy resorted to public diplomacy with a tough statement demanding immediate action. FO said, sorry, chum, the matter is sub judice. Finally, General David Petraeus flew into Rawalpindi yesterday straight from the Afghan battlefield for a heart-to-heart talk with the army chief." Image from



Presentation to American Female Soldiers on Media - Mahtab Farid, Public Diplomacy in Afghanistan: "Female Engagement Teams or FET teams are now all across Afghanistan helping Afghan women. There are various programs that include vocational training, poultry training, bee keeping, building capacity, media training, sporting events, and so many other programs depending upon the need of each province. On Feb 1, 2011, I was delighted to get an invitation to be a presenter at the Female Engagement Team training in Bagram.





The purpose of my presentation was to teach female soldiers how to deal with Afghan media. During the class, we shared the best practices on how to tell the American story through the lens of the American female soldiers who are also mothers and sisters. The soldiers also had a chance to conduct some mock interviews on how to best interact with Afghan media. I told the American female soldiers, the Female Engagement Teams in Afghanistan conduct the great act of public diplomacy with Afghan women." Image from article, with caption: Mahtab Farid, Public Diplomacy Officer training soldiers on media in Bagram



State Department Briefing by Phillip J. Crowley, January 31, 2011‎ - Phillip J. Crowley, eNews Park Forest: "All this week, we are hosting the 2011 Global Chiefs of Mission Conference here at the Department. It’s an historic gathering which provides the opportunity for our ambassadors to review the outcomes of the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review and discuss strategies for implementation of this and other key initiatives in the context of current and future budget realities. ...[T]here will be breakout sessions where we at the Department, here at Main State, will be listening to the ambassadors as they help us understand the challenges of preventing conflict in weak and struggling states, reforming security and justice around the world, countering violent extremism, building private-public partnerships, supporting commercial and economic diplomacy, strengthening public diplomacy, enhancing regional engagement, strengthening planning and budgeting, advancing human rights and democracy, and promoting sustainable development."



Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review Focuses on Civilian Power - newsblaze.com: "Director of Policy Planning Staff Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies Anne-Marie Slaughter today emphasized QDDR's visions for United States Government engaging the world through civilian power. ... Question: There is generally a very favorable impression of American universities, American business culture, American social culture, very negative or cynical views of U.S. Government and its aims. And so I'm wondering sort of on the public diplomacy angle if there's been any change in thinking on that? Dr. Slaughter: There is. In fact, I was meeting for the under secretary for Public Diplomacy this morning. There's a whole section in here on a new strategy on public diplomacy, which has many different dimensions. Part of it is not thinking about public diplomacy as communications or not only as communications and messaging, but much more about building relationships, responding, engaging, so that it isn't we have a message and we deliver it. It's when someone stands up and says something that's not right about what the U.S. Government's doing, we respond immediately. We don't just respond and say, 'You're wrong.'





We actually are willing to engage. And then more broadly, building relationships with broader sectors of society. So there's another section in here that talks about engaging beyond the State of which this is a part. But there - it really has to go further than that, because we know that people say, 'Look, it's not how you talk about it; it's what you're doing.' And ultimately, to change our public diplomacy, the people who focus on society and their responses and their views and public opinion broadly have to be at the decision-making table in making policy in the first instance. And Deputy Secretary - Under Secretary McHale has already added a public diplomacy deputy assistant secretary to every regional bureau precisely for that. It's going to be a while. I mean, we have - we've got a ways to go, but I do think we're at least understanding it right, and we're supporting it as much as we can within here." Image from



Revamping Public Diplomacy at the State Department (updated) - Matt Armstrong, MountainRunner: "On January 28, I spoke with Dawn McCall, Coordinator for the Bureau of International Information Programs (IIP), to discuss the recently announced reorganization of the Bureau. ... The announced changes will realign IIP – and thus the Under Secretary’s office – to a supporting role for the other parts of the organization, the geographic bureaus and the posts, that actively engage the public. This is a shift from the previous role of providing sometimes confusing content of sometimes questionable quality and purpose on America.gov, IIP’s primary hub for online information dissemination." See also (1) (2) also.



BBG successfully tests its FOE circumvention system. Would it have worked during Egypt's internet shutdown? - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting: "Federal Computer Week, 1 Feb 2011, Alice Lipowicz: ... 'The federal broadcasting board that oversees the Voice of America recently concluded a successful test of an e-mail system that potentially could circumvent Internet censorship, according to a report published by GovernmentAttic.org. ... It is not known whether the test shows a capability that might be used to transmit news during an Internet shutdown such as is being experienced in Egypt during the civic turmoil, according to a National Journal article today. The report indicates that the Feed Over Email (FOE)





system tested by the Broadcasting Board of Governors was designed to transmit news and complement other anti-censorship tools. The test showed the system was effective in transporting data in tests carried out for from March to June last year in China.'" Image from



MFA Discourages Idea of Soft Power Programming in Eastern Libya - telegraph.co.uk: "Passed to the Telegraph by WikiLeaks 9:36PM GMT 31 Jan 2011 Ref ID: 08TRIPOLI307 Date: 4/10/2008 13:44 Origin: Embassy Tripoli Classification: CONFIDENTIAL ... 2.(C) In a pair of recent meetings on other issues, P/E Chief engaged with MFA Americas Desk Director Muhammad Matari in a discussion on the possibility of 'soft power' programming in eastern Libya to help blunt the appeal of extremist messages and reduce the number of young men volunteering from the area to travel to Iraq to undertake operations against U.S. and coalition forces. ... 3.(C) Asked whether there was any possibility for U.S.-Libya cooperation on counter-ideological or soft power efforts, Matari counseled that the best course of action regarding eastern Libya was to 'ignore it', claiming it would 'go away'. He strongly advocated against USG counter-ideological public diplomacy or soft power development efforts, arguing they could further legitimize extremism by: 1) showing the extremist message was successful enough that it merited public counter-action; 2) tacitly acknowledging that the GOL is unable to blunt the threat through 'traditional, quiet' channels (i.e., through its security apparatus), and; 3) suggesting the GOL facilitated interference by the U.S. and others in what is widely regarded as an internal Libyan matter. On the latter point, Matari noted Libya's difficult experience under Ottoman and Italian colonial occupation, stressing that soft power programming could easily be equated with latter-day imperialist manipulation by extremists, and could prompt Libyans not otherwise inclined towards more extreme iterations of Islam to embrace extremism as a form of viable resistance to foreign meddling." See also.



Wikileak summary on Venezuela - María Luisa Rivera for Wikileaks, posted at hellonearthblog.com: "Craig Kelly, the U.S. ambassador to Chile, drew up a secret list of strategies to undermine Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan president. His memo - dated June 15, 2007 (click here) - was one of a series drawn up by various U.S. embassies in the Southern Cone region. ... The cable further shows the intention of the U.S. to destabilize Chavez’s authority. Kelly recommended using 'public diplomacy' to fight a 'battle of ideas and visions'.





One suggestion was that the embassy should track 'local elite appetites for corruption' and any examples of the Chavez administration 'fail(ing) to deliver on their promises.'" Chavez image from



desi bouterse & hugo chavez ideological allies – wikileaks - propagandapress.wordpress.com: "FM AMEMBASSY PARAMARIBO ... C O N F I D E N T I A L ... SUBJECT: INCREASED VENEZUELAN ACTIVISM IN SURINAME HAS MIXED SUCCESS ¶1. (C) Summary: Venezuela’s profile in Suriname is on the rise thanks to economic initiatives such as PetroCaribe, a joint Cuban-Venezuelan health care assistance program, and a steady public relations campaign by its Embassy over the past year. Despite this heightened engagement, Venezuela’s activism is not blindly well received, however . ... ¶12. (U) The Venezuelan Embassy’s largest print propaganda effort is a glossy 2-4 page color English language newspaper dubbed The Venezuelan Emblem. It features articles praising Chavez and his policy achievements and criticizing the U.S. and Chavez’s domestic political opponents. It also highlights Venezuelan activities in Suriname, such as optimistic predictions for the closing of the PetroCaribe deal. The Embassy sponsors a 30-minute Spanish language radio and TV program bi-weekly on four local broadcasters named Venezuela Presente, which covers political, economic, and social news with a Venezuelan slant. ¶13. (U) Venezuela’s relatively large cultural center is popular among Surinamers and a significant part of the GOV’s public diplomacy outreach. The center offers inexpensive Spanish language, dance, and art lessons, and often hosts art exhibitions, sport competitions and film festivals. The Venezuelan Embassy in Suriname also has a newly designed website, www.suriname.gob.ve, to promote its efforts. The website houses biographies of the Ambassador and DCM."



Strategic Research Center to be represented at NISA session - www.news.az: "NISA winter session is held under support of Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry and NATO Public Diplomacy Department in Baku from 30 January to 6 February. According to the news service for the Strategic Research Center, the session 'New Strategy Concept of NATO: threats and prospects' discusses the recent Strategic Concept, adopted by the alliance. The discussions are held with participation of young researchers, NATO experts and diplomats."



Hasbara 2.0: Why the Israel-Haters Are Winning Today‎ - David Horowitz's NewsReal Blog: "It is no secret that Israel has a severe problem with getting its message across to the world, what is known in Hebrew as 'hasbara' (literally, 'explanation' but more commonly translated as 'advocacy' or 'public diplomacy'). ... [O]ver the past forty years, the Jewish state





has been slowly but surely transformed in the public eye from a tiny nation proudly defending itself from annihilation into a state that is perceived as an oppressor, a human rights violator, and — to many of its detractors — one of the most evil regimes on the planet. ... Israel is, to put it charitably, inconsistent in getting its message across properly to the world. While the anti-Israel message is consistent, constant and overwhelming, the pro-Israel messages are fragmented, non-centralized and, too often, incompetent. ... Every supporter of Israel can help Israel — today. There are concrete actions that we need to be doing to maximize our impact and help Israel get its message out as effectively as possible. Most of these actions can be done with little investment of time and money. You already know how to do many of them — tweeting, Facebook, blogs, social networking tools — but we will be dissecting why some things work and why some don’t. ... Over the coming weeks, in these pages, I will be examining hasbara — what works, what doesn’t, and why." Image: Anti-Zionist Ultra-Orthodox Jews protest the Israeli elections; Mea Shearim, March 2006.



Battle for narrative: Mideast upheaval highlights marginal significance of Israeli-Palestinian conflict - Manfred Gerstenfeld, Ynetnews: "After what is happening now in Egypt, Israel can even less afford to take risks for a doubtful 'peace,' with the Palestinians. There are two clear key messages Israel has to stress in its public diplomacy. The first is that the major unrest in Egypt shows that peace treaties with Arab countries are not assured, as they are concluded with non-democratic rulers. Security issues thus become even more important for Israel. ... The second clear message to convey is that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is not at all at the heart of the instability in the Arab and Muslim world. Pushing for a rapid 'peace' will not stabilize these countries. Rather than the Palestinian-Israeli conflict influencing the region in a major way, it is greatly influenced by what happens in the region. ... The current instability gives Israeli public diplomacy a major chance to start partly anew. The downside risk of failing to grasp this opportunity is however also much greater now."



Seminar for Russian-Jewish leaders opens in Jerusalem‎ - Jane Charney, Jewish United Fund: "Israel and the Diaspora; social media and advocacy; anti-Israel 'lawfare' and how to combat it; Israel’s high-tech side; religious minorities in Israel – these are the topics a group of 19 young Jewish leaders of Russian origin will explore throughout a special 10-day seminar under the auspices of Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. ... David Saranga, who is heading the 'Brand Israel' project at the Ministry, shared specific ways in which Israel can engage in the long-standing public relations war and divorce its public image from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The strategy includes giving Israel a human face and forming coalitions with various groups even if their agenda does not necessarily address Israel. An example is the publication of a spread with former Miss Israel Gal Gadot in Maxim magazine





and a party for the issue’s release in New York City, where Saranga served for four years as a deputy consul general for media and public affairs. That strategy might work for the average Joe (exactly the audience Saranga’s effort hopes to engage), but savvy news consumers focus on the political agenda. That’s where Yigal Palmor comes in. Palmor is the spokesman for the Foreign Ministry and deals with more than 1,000 foreign correspondents who cover Israel. ... Last on today’s schedule of lectures was DJ Schneeweiss, who is charged with formulating the Ministry’s response to Boycott-Divestment-Sanctions movement. Commonly known as BDS, the movement is an assault on Israel’s legitimacy through economic means. The response is coded in three E’s: education, experience and engagement, Schneeweiss said. It’s about deconstructing the other side’s agenda; focusing on positives; building coalitions; organizing buycotts rather than boycotts; and making sure to tell Israel’s story as the only democracy in the Middle East and a place that is the national homeland of the Jewish people just as Germany is the national homeland of the Germans. Tomorrow: Jewish demography; lawfare; fighting anti-Semitism; public diplomacy; and a visit to the Israel Museum." See also. Image from



Soft power: Learning from China's charms - Randy W. Nandyatama, Jakarta Post: "China has come under the spotlight in the global arena. And it is because it exercises all the powers it has. As Joshua Kurlantzick referred to it, 'China’s charm offensive', which describes how China uses its soft power — culture, investment, academia, foreign aid, public diplomacy — to influence many countries in the developing world, the world firmly agreed. China is no longer a poor developing country; it has become a potential superpower that continues to expand its influence. ... Indonesia should be more serious in promoting its soft power."



LTTE Cells Operating out of Canada – Prof. Rohan Gunaratna, uslankaonline.com: "[T]here has been very little publicity for the government’s efforts to reach out to Tamil community and to develop war affected areas. The challenge of restoring Sri Lankan’s image rests on a very capable division for public diplomacy.





Therefore, a portfolio of an additional secretary for public diplomacy in the foreign ministry and a portfolio for additional secretary for international engagement in the ministry of defence are crucial to reach out to the international community." Image from



Rage (or Reason) Against the Machine - Laura McGinnis, manIC: "I've been reading a lot lately on the theory (or lack thereof) of public diplomacy and the importance of credibility is a recurring theme. But another major theme is the difficulty in identifying PD's actors. There are many different perspectives on whether PD involves governments, militaries, citizens, NGOs or private sector reps--and even more perspectives on whether it should."



Dispelling Cultural Stereotypes – German Public Diplomacy, k2globalcommunicationsllc.wordpress.com: "About K2 Global Communications LLC: "K2 Global Communications LLC creates and implements creative, innovative High Profile – High Impact (H2) Public Diplomacy and Marketing models opening new markets for its clients."



The Corporation in Chief - blog.usw.org: "Erica Payne is a public policy expert, commentator, author and strategist. ... She





serves on the boards of advisors of Health Care for American Now [and on] the Public Diplomacy Collaborative at the Kennedy School at Harvard University." Payne image from blog entry.



Why do Strangers get all the Love? - Marta Haut Bloggin' It: "[W]hen we are out in public; we smile, hold the door and make NICEY NICE with complete strangers 10 minutes after ripping the faces off of our family members at the breakfast table. SO RIDICULOUS -- Don't you agree??





I wish there was a switch that could stop people from doing this. No one enjoys hurting the ones that they love (one would like to think...) It is a CHOICE and one that each of us OWNS. We CAN actually stop ourselves from spitting venom at the pretty familiar faces! Use that polite public diplomacy and stop the cycle." Haut image from her blog



Communication & Public Diplomacy Specialist Coffey - www.lowongankerja.ws: "Coffey international Development in cooperation with the Nossal Institute for Global Health and GTZ International Services is managing the AusAID funded Australia Indonesia Partnership for Maternal and Neonatal Health Program which is an initiative to assist the Indonesian government to implement the National Making Pregnancy Safer Strategies in selected provinces and districts and improving public administration in the health sector. We are currently seeking a Communication & Public Diplomacy Specialist for the Partnership based in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara."



RELATED ITEMS



Egypt restores internet access - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting



It's Egypt's decision: U.S. interests are involved, but Washington should let the Egyptians determine their destiny - Editorial, latimes.com: Egyptians began this historic uprising; they should decide how it ends.





Bye Bye, Mubarak - Maureen Dowd, New York Times: “In many ways, you can argue that the Iraq war set back the cause of democracy in the Middle East,” said Richard Haass, the president of the Council on Foreign Relations who worked at the State Department during Bush’s first term “It’s more legitimate in Arab eyes when it happens from within than when it’s externally driven.” Image from



Egypt and the Realists: So much for stability in lieu of freedom in the Middle East - Review & OUtlook, Wall Street Journal: The U.S. cut support for democracy promotion programs in Egypt by more than half, after Ambassador Scobey advised that such programs annoyed Mr. Mubarak. In Egypt,the Obama Administration has been caught on its back foot, scrambling to keep up with events. Some of the same people who reviled Mr. Bush for pushing democracy—Senator John Kerry—are now even saying the U.S. should demand Mr. Mubarak's ouster.



The Arab revolution grows up - David Ignatius, Washington Post: In truth, wars that Bush either started or couldn't prevent - in Iraq, Lebanon and Gaza - blunted reform hopes. Bush meant well by his "freedom agenda," but he pulled the reformists down with him.



B.E., Before Egypt. A.E., After Egypt - Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times: President Obama should put his own peace plan on the table, bridging the Israeli and Palestinian positions, and demand that the two sides negotiate on it without any preconditions.



IMAGE





--Unusual location to put a straw on a princess sippy cup; from Boing Boing

The ‘malevolent’ Canon Peter Clark

His Grace has still received no response from the Chair of Governors of the St Michael and All Angels Academy, following yesterday's post, so the time has come for a little exposé.

It is certainly something when staff joining a school are warned not of incompetent colleagues, a bullying head of department or a barking headteacher, but of the ‘viper’ who is chair of governors.

But such is the case with Canon Peter Clarke: the word ‘viper’ (and worse) is used to describe him and his modus operandi; his reputation for ‘unpleasantness’ certainly precedes him.

This perhaps comes as no surprise from a former vicar who has no time at all for the great Victorian and mediaeval church buildings which so magnificently radiate the majesty and glory of God: when the Nazis bombed London, Canon Clark is of the view that Hitler ‘did us a favour’, permitting them to build a cowshed of a church in which ‘most importantly ... (the) modern liturgy can be seen by everybody’.

Appearance is foremost.

Which is no surprise when the heart is full of bitterness.

Some of the Rev Peter Clark's parishioners certainly did not sense much of the fragrance of Christ about the man, accusing him of being ‘factually inaccurate’, ‘calculatedly partial’ and ‘wilfully misleading’ in his expressions; even of making ‘malevolent pejorative remarks’.

What kind of minister of the gospel may be misleading and malevolent?

On the run-up to (and since) his retirement as the vicar of Battersea Christ Church and St Stephen (Southwark) in 2008, Canon Clark seems to have made a profession out of being a governor at multiple schools – even boasting of holding three positions simultaneously – at Christ Church Battersea, St Saviour’s and St Olave’s Southwark and St Cecilia’s Wandsworth.

He could hardly be a model of focused intervention and undivided attention. Did no-one in the Southwark Diocesan Board of Education think to ask how on earth he could possibly be dedicated to the welfare of so many staff and students?

What is interesting to note is that he is also Chairman of Governors at St Saviour’s and St Olave’s, which is where the ‘Blairite headteacher’ Irene Bishop presides (we won’t call her ‘Doctor’). Mrs Bishop was moved in by Canon Clark to be the part-time, temporary ‘Executive Headteacher’ of St Michael and All Angels after its damning Ofsted report in April 2010, when it was graded ‘inadequate’ and failing across so many areas.

It beggars belief (more than a little) that the Chair of Governors of St Michael and All Angels should believe that such a litany of deep-seated problems and chronic underperformance might by fixed by a two-day-a-week flying headteacher who is used to calling herself ‘Doctor’ and having archbishops and prime ministers fall to kiss her feet.

But Canon Clark appears to be rather fond of appointing ‘leftist’ headteachers. He even threw a party for Mrs Frances Bussy, who was headteacher of Christ Church School Battersea when Canon Clark was Chair of Governors. Like Irene Bishop, Mrs Bussy wears her political allegiance on her sleeve: ‘Even the school uniform is to have a new colour. It will change from red to blue. “Certainly no political significance”, says Frances Bussy, the Head. “Blue is simply a less aggressive colour!”.’

Certainly no political significance?

God forbid that she or her school might be sullied by colour association with the stench of Conservatism.

But Canon Clark is concerned that all Church of England schools in Southwark should receive ‘every support and encouragement, rather than constant carping criticism’. He adds: ‘The Church’s role in education in Southwark should be an occasion of praise rather than blame.’

Which begs the question of why he is inclined to the persistent ‘carping criticism’ of Katharine Birbalsingh; of why, instead of praising her for exposing the systematic failure of a rotten education system, he chooses to blame her for the closure of a school which he knew full well was destined for closure before Ms Birbalsingh was even employed.

Could it be because she publicly exposed and derided the foundation of discredited ‘leftist ideology’ upon which Canon Clark has built his whole education empire and carefully constructed his continuing power base? With so many ‘leftist’ headteachers under his aegis, is it that he had to act swiftly to eliminate this quite mad Tory harridan and neuter her ‘right-thinking’ malignance before she could throw too much light upon his incompetent governance and murky dealings?

Apparently, Canon Clark prefers ‘hard facts’.

He says they are ‘an essential preliminary for reflection and subsequent action’.

In his comments to the Mail on Sunday, he not only blames Katharine Birbalsingh for the falling school roll, he added that an inspection of the school held shortly before Christmas had shown that ‘nothing that she said was right’.

Nothing that she said was right?

But she spoke in October 2010.

Here is a letter sent to Canon Clark by the secretaries and national officers of the four trade unions involved in the school. It is dated May 2010:

Dear Mr Clarke,

Formal Meeting Request: to discuss issues raised by the members of four unions (NUT, ATL, NASUWT and UNISON) at St Michael and All Angels Academy, Camberwell.

The members of the NUT, UNISON, ATL and NASUWT after an overwhelming majority vote in a joint meeting held on Wednesday 19th May have asked us to write to you and express our serious concerns with regard to the running of the academy. We have grouped the reasons put forward into three groups:

Pupil Behaviour and Safety
Pupil behaviour was identified by OFSTED recently as its main concern. This issue has been raised many times in the past three years with the Principal and the staff and their unions have been keen to be involved in formulating policies and procedures. Instead the academy has introduced three different behaviour policies, with no apparent improvement to behaviour. The staff have had promises of involvement in working parties but these have not been followed up. Behaviour of the students has steadily deteriorated since the academy opened. In April 2006 the school was awarded a Good by OFSTED and since then behaviour has regressed at an alarming rate. The incident book appears to be inaccurate and unobtainable.

The staff have kept their own records of incidents to show to you when necessary.

The wider issue of safety has been a concern since the academy opened and in spite of NUT/Unison informing the Principal that staff no longer felt they were working in a safe environment, there was a refusal to acknowledge this. With the school about to become a building site we have grave concerns about the academy's ability to create a safe environment. The Health and Safety JCC with branch union representation has been disbanded with no reason despite the unions suggesting moving the meetings to Thursdays to ensure that all could attend. The unions have had a difficult relationship with the Principal and organising union meetings are not without difficult especially if the members have invited branch reps from outside.

The principal has been pressurising union reps and members to tell her what happened in our meeting on the 19th May and we would like you to investigate her behaviour around union meetings in general. We feel that this lack of constructive dialogue and less than good industrial relations are not helpful for a National Challenge school. Furthermore the NUT surveyed the staff and found that many staff were suffering from work related stress due to working under the Principal's direction. We would be happy to share the results of the survey with you.

Curriculum and Assessment – Impact on pupils
The results seem to have stagnated and the school is still a National Challenge school. Students are made to do BTEC subjects simply because these will increase the results for the school, rather than because they are the right course for a particular student to take. Students’ future choices are therefore restricted, and teachers are forced to jeopardize their professional integrity through encouraging students to make choices that are not in their best interests. As far as we aware there is no information about what happens to students once they have left the academy. So the Academy is unaware of the outcomes of students doing so many non GCSE exams. Students are also made to do exams far too early, in Year 9 and Year 10. They are not ready, both emotionally and in terms of knowledge and ability, to take these exams. Often the timetable has not allowed enough time to cover the curriculum. Some subject areas have time ‘stolen’ from them in order to give extra time to exam subjects. This sets up divisions between subject areas and teachers. SEN and EAL students are often entered for entirely inappropriate exams, at which they have no chance of succeeding. Obviously this can be extremely upsetting and is concern to us. When we also factor into the equation that many exams can only be taken twice, then it is disappointing that the students are being treated in this way. Seventy five staff this week were assigned as readers for exams - a figure which seems high to us. There is also a lack of clear transition between KS4 and KS5.

The extremely high turnover of staff and pupils in the school has a negative and detrimental effect on the whole school community, and in particular on the students, many of whom are vulnerable, and for whom school used to be a consistent and positive influence. Student progress is also affected by having different teachers. In addition to high staff turnover, there is also a high instance of long-term stress-related sickness, which is also detrimental to student learning as well as being costly to the school and extremely damaging for the individuals concerned. We understand that the numbers for Year 7 are very low for next year and must be a concern to you, since clearly parents and pupils are not choosing the academy or choosing to stay at the academy, since the number of in year leavers is also high.

Leadership and management style
The Principal's management style does not inspire or motivate. It is not an inclusive style. The staff here is keen to be involved but everything is imposed without consultation. Where there are policies and procedures these are changed at a whim without staff involvement.

In some important areas there are no policies e.g. the Pay Policy despite being requested. 106 staff members have left since the academy opened began and of these, 44% were from the old school and 56% were recruited by the Principal herself. Many of the staff from the predecessor school had been there for a good many years and seen many changes, including going through, and coming out of, Special Measures (1999 – 2000). It should also be noted that hardly any staff have left because of reasons of promotion. Recruitment and retention is a massive concern with huge knock-on effects for the whole school community. Sometimes people just leave with no notice and it is rare for someone’s leaving to be celebrated by the school community in an assembly or the like. In several cases, staff members have still not officially been informed that colleagues are no longer a part of the staff, years down the line. We have attached a list of staff that have left over the three years since Mrs Graham has been in charge. It is interesting to consider that many staff who have left are of black and ethnic minority origin – those who have left are disproportionately from ethnic groups. There is currently only one BME member of the SMT. the staff as a whole spend too much of their time worried about their prospects and job security and this does not help move the school on.

Unfortunately many people have left under compromise agreements and so are now unable to come forward and bear witness; however there are others who are happy to come forward and give evidence when necessary.

Meeting Request
We look forward to hearing from you and meeting with you to address our concerns directly and to begin to share with you the evidence that we have and work with you to address these issues and improve the school.

Please could you include all four unions in any response – contact details given below. We are hoping to hear from you, by next Friday, before considering further action. For information we have copied the Diocese, The Local Authority, the HMI and The Academies Unit into this correspondence, since we know that the school is of particular concern to them all.

Regards,

Michael Davern (Joint Secretary, NUT)
John Puckrin (National Officer, ATL)
James Lewis (Secretary, NASUWT)
April Ashley (Secretary, UNISON)

In light of this appalling state of affairs, which has arisen and been perpetuated while Church of England ministers chaired this school’s Governing Body, could Canon Clark please explain how Ms Birbalsingh was responsible for any of this, occurring, as it did, before she even joined the school?

More importantly, since apparently ‘nothing’ of the systematic failures alleged by Ms Birbalsingh in her speech to the Conservative Party Conference are deemed to apply to St Michael and All Angels Academy, could Canon Clark please explain how a further inspection just a few months after a damning Ofsted inspection and this subsequent letter of grave concern, could possibly establish that all of these problems have been eradicated and all of these concerns addressed?

Surely, Canon Clark, you are not engaged in some sort of cover-up and mutual back-slapping with ‘Dr’ Irene Bishop?

If the turnaround and transformation are so seismic, perhaps you might consider throwing a party for her as well?

His Grace is quite sure that Ed Miliband would be delighted to attend.