"We recall the time at school when our treasured anthology of love poetry was seized by the class bully. We tried to snatch it back and failed. Dusting ourselves off, we shouted into the face of our aggressor: 'There is a pleasure in poetic pains that only poets know'. We then resolved to take up boxing."
--T.E.L., The Times Literary Supplement (April 4, 2014), p. 36; image from
ON LINE COLLECTION
Explore World War I propaganda posters online - blogs.utexas.edu: "The
Ransom
Center
recently launched a new platform of digital collections on its website, which includes the World War I poster collection. More than 120 items from that collection, including the posters highlighted in this blog post, can be viewed on the new platform. Some of these posters can also be seen in the current exhibition The World at War 1914–1918." Image from entry
VIDEO
Coke mixed with Milk Experiment - CrazyRussianHacker. [JB Note: evidently kefir is not used in this experiment]. Image from video heading
PUBLIC DIPLOMACY
How The EU And U.S. Can Use Natural Gas To Keep Russia In Check - Chip Register, Forbes: "President Obama recently chided Europe as being ill-prepared to handle an energy shock ... Seriously? This from a country that has revolutionized the exploitation of fossil fuels in the last decade with virtually no support (and even that may be generous) of a national energy policy, scolding Europeans for being ill prepared? To anyone associated with the industry over this period as I have been, running energy businesses in both the U.S. and Europe, this was really a head-slapping moment in American public diplomacy. The EU has done far more than the U.S. over the last decade to modernize its energy infrastructure and diversify its supplies."
China, the Media and MH370: Public Diplomacy Hides Real Capability - Bill Hayton, cogitasia.com: An unprecedented military coalition is operating off the coast of western Australia: Japanese, Korean, Chinese and American crews more used to rehearsing for confrontation are today practicing cooperation. In the global battle for hearts and minds, everyone wants to look like they’re doing their best for the grief-stricken relatives. But in a region as contested as the Asia-Pacific, bigger messages must be communicated too: ones that signal the power of militaries to allies and rivals. For the casual consumer of television or online news, however, the relative contributions to the search for MH370 by the different navies and air forces – and hence the messages about those forces’ relative strengths – are being obscured by the differing emphases that countries place on security and public diplomacy. Media coverage of the operation is constrained by the huge distances involved. Journalists have had to be content with press handouts from public affairs officers or repetitive shots of planes taking off and landing. The desire for fresh pictures to maintain public interest is immense. News demands novelty and Chinese participation in such a high-profile mission is certainly new and appears to symbolize its growing role on the international stage. But by equating the Chinese and American efforts, media coverage has acted as a ‘force multiplier’ for Beijing’s public diplomacy and made Washington’s job in the region more difficult. ... As the search continues, international media interest will wane.
As the news reports become briefer, the insight will become shallower and the more the inputs of the different militaries will be equated. The relative contributions of the American P-8 Poseidon and the Chinese Ilyushin 76 to the search for MH370 are vastly different, but in the eyes of the viewer they will appear equivalent. China’s growing abilities in public diplomacy are compensating for its deficiencies in military capability. The image of China’s strategic reach is growing stronger, that of America’s real capabilities is being obscured." Image from entry, with caption: Naval personnel in a P-8 Poseidon man their stations during the search for MH370. While China’s navy lacks the capability of the United States, its public diplomacy is growing more sophisticated.
Newly Appointed U.S. Ambassador Speaks in Santiago: Yesterday Afternoon a Press Conference Was Held at The U. S. Embassy in Recognition of The Newly Appointed U.S. Ambassador, Michael Hammer, as Well to Discuss His Future Diplomatic Duties in Chile - ilovechile.cl: The conference, which was carried out in Spanish, began with a short briefing from Ambassador Hammer on his recent travel in the nation. From experiencing the “beautiful coastal views” of Valparaíso during the inauguration of President Bachelet last month, to speaking with locals in Torres del Paine, to the recent jazz festival in Santiago—the ambassador described his travel as a 'wonderful opportunity [for him and his family] to experience and learn more of Chile’s culture and customs.' He replaces the former U.S. ambassador under the Obama administration, Alejandro Daniel Wolf.
Ambassador Hammer has worked closely with the U.S. President within the Bureau of Public Affairs, and received the Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence in Public Diplomacy. Along with a posting as director of Andean Affairs in 2000, the ambassador has also lived in Honduras, El Salvador, Colombia, Venezuela and Brazil." Image from entry, with caption: Accompanied by his wife and daughter US Ambassador Michael Hammer presents his accreditation to President Michelle Bachelet. Photo: Presidencia de la República
View Webcast: Michelle Kwan, Coaches Talk about Empowering Women - tntoday.utk.edu:
Michelle Kwan, the most decorated figure skater in
US
history, visited UT [University of Tennessee] on Thursday to speak and participate in a panel discussion with coaches from six countries as part of the Empowering Women and Girls Through Sports initiative. If you missed the event, you can watch the webcast here. You will be asked to input your NetID and password. The initiative is part of the US Department of State’s sports diplomacy efforts to open opportunities for women and girls around the world and promote positive social change. The State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs awarded a grant to UT’s Center for Sport, Peace, and Society to implement many of the initiative’s athlete exchanges and mentoring programs.
As part of this event, twenty-four young women from six countries—
Argentina
,
Kyrgyzstan
,
Lebanon
,
Nigeria
,
South Korea
, and
Turkey
—have been in the
United States
to take part in activities surrounding the NCAA Women’s Final Four Multi-Nation Basketball Program. Kwan, a five-time world figure skating champion and two-time Olympic medalist, now works as a senior advisor and the first public diplomacy envoy at the US Department of State. She travels the world and meets young people to speak about leadership and engage them in dialogue on social and educational issues. Uncaptioned image from entry
WP: Moscow turns off Voice of America radio — once already silenced by U.S. - BBG Watcher, BBG Watch: “Washington Post correspondent in Moscow Kathy Lally reports on the Russian government’s decision to stop Voice of America (VOA) rebroadcasts on a medium wave (AM) 810kHz leased frequency in
Moscow
. Moscow turns off Voice of America radio By Kathy Lally, Washington Post, April 10, 2014. What the Washington Post correspondent did not know is that the
U.S.
government had already once turned off VOA Russian radio rebroadcasts in
Moscow
on its own without any pressure from the Russian side. It happened in 2008 just days before Russian military forces attacked and occupied part of the territory of Georgia and it was an entirely U.S. decision.
Voice of
America
radio broadcasts in Russian were terminated in July 2008 by the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) upon recommendation of its International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) executive staff who had determined that VOA radio to
Russia
was no longer necessary in the era of Internet. This IBB recommendation was accepted by the BBG board with different members and different chairman than now. IBB also ended all direct VOA satellite television news programs to
Russia
in July 2008 and had plans to shut down the VOA Georgian Service despite plenty of evidence of the growing Russian pressure on
Georgia
.” Image from entry
Cold War 2.0? – Yelena Osipova, Global Chaos: “Voice of Russia, the one that was scrapped and will be incorporated into the new ‘Russia Today’ news agency, had a mind-blowing piece today, titled: ‘Orwellian US propaganda tool VOA finished in Russia’. It was basically a reflection-rant regarding the news that Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty will not see their contracts in
Russia
renewed after the current ones expire. ... P.S. - By the way, I got curious about the author, John Robles -- the self-proclaimed truth absolutist, and Russia/Putin devotee. A quick search revealed that "he is currently the only US citizen granted political asylum in Russia". I guess that clarifies things a little...” See also.
Why an American International Media Presence is More Important Than Ever - Michael D. Webber, eurasiareview.com: "After the end of the Cold War, the United States quickly forgot how to use strategic communication and other tools of soft power because we lacked any real enemy to use them against. At the height of the Cold War, Voice of America and RLFRE [sic] reached millions of people across Europe giving them hope and a realistic view of the world that did not exist in the fantasy world of the Soviet Union. As our old adversaries have come back strong, the United States has been caught flat footed and unable to strategically shape the narrative the world is hearing because we have spent so little to counter the increasingly sophisticated narratives of the Russians and Chinese. The US also blew a major opportunity in the Middle East and North Africa as the Arab Spring spread to shape a more positive view of America because we do not have an effective strategic communications plan."
High Stakes and Intensive Public Diplomacy: The Global STOP TB Partnership - Tara Ornstein, uscpublicdiplomacy.org: "In her essay on the different types of public diplomacy, American university professor R.S. Zaharna identified policy networking strategy and coalition building as third-tier relationship-building initiatives (Snow and Taylor, 2008). In Zaharna’s view, third-tier initiatives require ‘the most intensive diplomatic communication skills because the political entity may have the least amount of control over the direction and outcome of the relationship process, yet the political stakes may be the highest.’While the International Campaign to Ban Landmines and the Kimberley Process are the most cited examples in the public diplomacy literature, the STOP TB Partnership also demonstrates the profound impact third-tier relationship-building initiatives can have on global health. ... STOP TB organized a mission to Washington D.C. by Dr. Mphu Ramatlapeng, Benedict Xaba, and Dr. Aaron Motsoaledi, the health ministers of Lesotho, South Africa, and Swaziland respectively, met with American policymakers and participated in a media campaign designed to generate awareness among the American public about the heavy toll the disease has taken on their countries and underline the crucial role US support plays in the efforts to contain the epidemic. The mission contributed to the U.S. government’s December 2011 decision to increase for the US Agency for International Development’s TB budget by 5% and continue to contribute to the Global Fund.”
Virtual radio station to bring US-based Pinoys closer to home - gmanetwork.com: "US-based Filipinos can now keep up with the latest news at home via Radyo Tambuli, a virtual radio station that allows the Philippine Embassy to deliver news, music and other information to mobile phone users. Created to re-connect Filipinos in the US to the country, RadYo Tambuli will allow callers to 'hear the latest news about the Philippines, original Pilipino music and discussions on pressing issues and even participate in opinion surveys,' the embassy said in a statement Friday.
'We hope that with Radyo Tambuli, we would be able to bridge the distance between the Philippines and our kababayans here in the United States who are hungry for news about home,' Consul General Ariel Peñaranda said during station's launch on Tuesday. ... 'Radyo Tambuli introduces a brand new way to conduct public diplomacy in an age where more and more people heavily rely on their mobile phones to stay connected, said Blutinger [Radyo Tambuli provider AudioNow chief executive officer Elan Blutinger]. Image from; see also.
PM: NATO accession anniversary comes at time of maximum security crisis in the region - nineoclock.ro: "The 10th anniversary of Romania’s NATO accession came at a time of instability in the region, Prime Minister Victor Ponta told a symposium on the Alliance enlargement in 2014 held on Monday. ...[T]he High representative of the [Romanian] Government for public diplomacy Mircea Geoana ... said during a symposium that the events in Ukraine and Crimea and the reappearance of Russia as an 'aggressive power' at international level forces the NATO to adapt the way they think the collective defence."
NATO’s 65th anniversary - wiltonpark.org.uk: "For the last two decades
Wilton
Park
has held conferences to mark NATO’s significant milestones and discuss the future of the
Alliance
accordingly. In 1999
Wilton
Park
held a conference titled NATO at 50 and in 2009 NATO at 60. NATO at 60 was supported by the NATO Public Diplomacy Division."
Sri Lanka: New (Tamil) Front Man needed to combat LTTE global strategy - Daya Gamage, Asian Tribune: "The current dismal profile of Sri Lanka's handling of public affairs, public diplomacy and strategic communication needs a drastic change."
Foreign leaders befriend Chinese public online - Xinhua, ecns.cn: "World political leaders have turned to Chinese social media to maintain a friendlier relationship with the country's citizens. Visiting Israeli President Shimon Peres updated his Weibo daily starting on Tuesday when he arrived in Beijing for a visit. Peres posted pictures and chatted on the Twitter-like Sina Weibo, China's most popular social network. ... Peres is one of many world leaders to join Weibo. ... According to Internet firm Sina, some 200 world leaders have joined, including Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-general of the United Nations.
Leaders are interacting with Chinese netizens in hopes of generating closer ties with the common people. Public diplomacy on social networks also presents politicians with an opportunity to build up the images of their own countries among the Chinese public. ... In addition to world politicians, a spate of foreign embassies in China and international organizations have also set up accounts. Sina said that some 300 international organizations have opened accounts, including the United Nations, which has 587,000 followers, and the International Olympic Committee, which has an astonishing 21 million followers." Image from entry, with caption: Screenshot of Weibo account of Israeli President Shimon Peres
Food Co-op is Legal Battleground in a Larger Middle East Conflict - Rick Cohen, nonprofitquarterly.org: "The phrase 'think globally, act locally' goes back decades, maybe a century to the writings of Scottish town planner Patrick Geddes, but it shows up in the nonprofit sector in many unusual ways. Perhaps one of the most unusual is the lawsuit against the 15,000-member Olympia Food Co-op based in Olympia, Washington because of its boycott of Israeli goods. ... In this instance, the five co-op members
who filed the lawsuit weren’t simply on their own, but were connected with well-resourced organizations. ... In this instance, the five co-op members who filed the lawsuit weren’t simply on their own, but were connected with well-resourced organizations. ... [O]ne of them was the group StandWithUs, whose tagline is 'supporting
Israel
around the world.' Among the ‘sponsors and partners’ of StandWithUs are many mainstream national Jewish organizations and, interestingly, at least three units of the Israeli government: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Public Diplomacy, and the Ministry of Tourism.” Image from entry
Over 170,000 views for YouTube video “The truth about the West Bank” - israelforeignaffairs.com: "Last week, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Danny Ayalon released a video describing the history of the Israeli Palestinian conflict in a concise easy to follow video on YouTube. The video explains where the terms '
West Bank'
, 'occupied territories' [,] '67 borders'. Originated and how they're incorrectly used and applied. The video has already been viewed by over 170,000 world-wide. ... 'For too many years, our public diplomacy has been mainly based on a ‘peace narrative’, where Israeli officials
talk about how much we're willing to concede for peace, while the Palestinian public diplomacy is all about supposed rights and international law,'. Ayalon said. 'While we do all we can do promote peace, it's time for Israel to return to a ‘rights-based diplomacy’. Talk about the facts, rights, history and international law which are littleknown but give a dramatically different viewpoint to what's currently accepted.' '
Israel
’s case is harder to make in an era where context, background and history are less important than an image or a headline. Social media in general and YouTube in particular are major battlegrounds in the clash of narratives and public diplomacy. it's vital that a strong rights-based Israeli presence is seen and heard, especially for the YouTube demographics who are more interested in easy to digest explanations.' " Uncaptioned image from entry
An open letter to Foreign Minister Liberman - Justin Hayet, Jerusalem Post: "I asked you, Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, a question this Sunday at the Jerusalem Post’s Annual Conference in New York. My question, I thought, was simple; 'What is the Foreign Ministry of Israel doing to stand with college students, like myself, to fight BDS [Boycott, Divest, Sanction] on campus?'
Your response was nothing but loaded rhetoric downplaying the existential BDS threat and downplaying the attacks against me on my campus for being a Zionist. Perhaps worst of all, you downplayed the anti-Semitic attacks on students across the United States, Europe and soon the world. These attacks exist because we are proud Zionists. ... We ... have a gift for you, Mr. Foreign Minister and Mr. Prime Minister. Its called hasbara (public diplomacy). It’s free, it’s our duty, it’s our calling, it’s our obligation and it’s our gift to you and the Jewish state and the flag we awake to every morning. Justin Hayet is a proud Zionist and voice of Israel activism at Binghamton University." Image from entry, with caption: Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman at the 2014 Jerusalem Post Annual Conference
MPs Don’t Trust the BBC on the World Service - Public Diplomacy, Networks and Influence: “At the beginning of last week the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee put out their latest report on the future of the BBC World Service and consistent with previous reports they remain deeply sceptical about the future of the World Service now that funding responsibility has passed to the BBC (ie from License Fee income rather than a grant via the FCO).”
Lead Time aka Publication Time - To Inform is to Influence: IO, SC, PD, what's in a name? -"If you are reading this blog, I might have already contacted you about a certain term. I believe what I was seeking is known as Lead Time aka Publication Time, professional journalism terms. To summarize a long story, I contacted several hundred Information Operations, Public Diplomacy, Strategic Communication professionals and journalists."
Obama speechwriter outlines challenges of crafting president’s message - journalism.indiana.edu: B"en Rhodes, special assistant to President Obama and deputy national security adviser for strategic communication and speechwriting at the White House, talked to a combined session of journalism professor Steve Raymer’s Reporting War, Terrorism and Humanitarian Intervention class and an international studies course, Identity and Conflict, taught by associate professor Purnima Bose. ... Rhodes ... had advice for the non-writers in the audience, especially those who may seek a public diplomacy career. 'Be curious,' said the writer who each day reads three major newspapers and numerous political blogs, watches BBC and listens to NPR programs.
'If you are curious about other countries’ foreign policies, that will lead you in different directions. You don’t want to be in the ‘Washington tunnel,’ where all you do is respond. Knowing there’s a bigger world out there is a way to avoid that.'” Image from entry, with caption: Rhodes' training is in political science and writing. “Writing is a way to be separated from the pack,” he said. “People in Washington are smart about a lot of things, and you need a unique skill. Writing is one of those.”
Australia’s International Cultural Reputation: How the Arts Convey our Values - artsonline.monash.edu.au: "Professor Emeritus Andrea Hull AO, Deputy Chair of the National Museum of Australia, former Director/CEO of the Victoria College of the Arts, and former Chief Executive of the WA Department for the Arts, and former Director of the Australia Council. Professor Hull has served on a wide variety of Boards covering culture, health, public diplomacy and innovation, and has advised the governments of New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Africa, Shanghai and Korea on cultural policy matters. She has long been an advocate for the elevation of the arts to Australia’s social and economic agenda, which has liberated millions of dollars in support for artists."
Visits and Public Diplomacy Officer Jobs in Abu Dhabi, UAE - careermidway.com: "The Australian Embassy in Abu Dhabi is seeking a motivated and outcome-oriented team player to join us as: Visits and Public Diplomacy Officer."
RELATED ITEMS
NATO Defends Accuracy Of Satellite Images With Additional Proof - naco.nato.int: Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) defends the accuracy of the images (found below) that were released to media on Thursday, 10 April 2014. The dates of the images released by SHAPE were collected by the DigitalGlobe satellite 'Constellation' between late March and early April 2014. The images are unclassified and are commercially available in DigitalGlobe's public archive. SHAPE did not alter or edit the images in any way prior to release.
Russian officials are quoted in various media sources claiming that these images were from August 2013, and that they depict an exercise conducted at that time. SHAPE is releasing additional images alongside those that were released earlier, in order to clearly show that the claims of Russian officials are categorically false. Image from entry, with caption: Mechanized Infantry Brigade/Motorized Rifle Regiment after military buildup near Belogorod - 26 March 2014; via HS on Facebook
NSA Uses Corporate News to Spread Propaganda and Silence Dissent - Donald Kaufman, Investigative reporter Glenn Greenwald published an expose this week detailing how the NSA has been feeding “propaganda” to various news publications, which have happily played along.
The propaganda isn’t limited just to schlock networks like Fox News, but is promulgated also by widely trusted newspapers, including The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times. Read Greenwald’s full story here. Uncaptioned image from entry
5 Best Video Games (Used as Propaganda by Governments) - Jef With One F, blogs.houstonpress.com: “I love propaganda. No, really. I wholeheartedly love it when giant governments use enormous resources to try and fight a war of ideas instead of a war with guns. It's a hopeful sort of thing that led to stuff like the United States using Jackson Pollack paintings to show the folks behind the Iron Curtain that they were like so square man, and it helped in the freakin' Cold War. Unfortunately, video games are not like other art forms, and fighting the war of ideas in this case usually means fighting it with the idea of way more guns.
At least five, not inconsiderable powers have harnessed the might of the joystick in expressing their will. Did you know that America invented not only the concept of a video game console, but the first-person shooter genre as well? It's true, and we did it all the way back in the 1970's. Shed a bald eagle-shaped tear, fellow gamers, because we're awesome like that. That was the private market, though. The government saw that sweet, sweet pull of shooters and asked, ‘Since they're blowing each other away anyway, could we just make a military recruitment video game?’ Indeed they could, and the result is America's Army, one of the most successful recruitment campaigns ever devised by the United States military.” [Article also covers video games from Lebanon, Russia, China and North Korea]. Image from entry
Of Interest – Paul Rockower, Levantine: -Beyond Pupusas in Salvadorean cuisine by my friend and colleague Dr. Johanna Mendelson Forman. -Diplomatic Immunity, or using hip hop diplomacy to foster people-to-people connections and peace with Audiopharmacy in Indonesia. -Scanning vs. Skimming -Something I have long known: everything is more delicious when you use your hands -Some true gastrodiplomacy: an Arab Israeli chef fostering peace through cooking
IDF ‘Combat Cameramen’ Deployed to Counter Propaganda - Joshua Levitt, algemeiner.com: The Israel Defense Forces has trained 24 soldiers to work as “combat cameramen,” a special division of
the IDF Spokesperson’s unit, that was created two years ago, to document IDF operations from the inside, generating the visual evidence to combat false accusations that make their way into reports based on second or third-party propaganda. Image from entry, with caption: Arab youths throwing rocks
Do North Koreans still believe the Pyongyang Propaganda? Defector perspectives Between 20-50% of North Koreans still believe official propaganda, defectors say - nknews.org: As new media technologies have emerged over the past decade or so – simultaneous to increasing numbers of
defectors leaving North Korea – the effectiveness of the Pyongyang propaganda is increasingly coming into question. A combination of foreign DVDs, USB drives and defector-run radio stations are all slowly chipping away at the propaganda that Pyongyang monopolized for so long. Image from entry
The Art and Science of Propaganda - Rick Staggenborg, greanvillepost.com: The importance of propaganda in waging the Cold War cannot be understated, because without it American military intervention would never have been tolerated by a public that since WWI had largely heeded Washington’s advice to “avoid foreign entanglements.”
The CIA role in creating propaganda not only overseas but in the US was well established by the early 1950’s when CIA Director of Office of Special Operations (the covert branch of the CIA) established Operation Mockingbird. Building on relationships established by the BIS and OSS with friendly journalists and publishers, the CIA created an elaborate network of news sources that disseminated propaganda that served to indoctrinate Americans about communist threats everywhere. This provided the rationale for creating a military –industrial complex so vast that Eisenhower was compelled to warn Americans about it as one of his last acts as President. Image from entry
'Star Wars' goes retro in re-imagined propaganda posters - popwatch.ew.com: Retro and propaganda posters, in all their stylistic glory, have long been a part of sci-fi and popular culture.
And now, Star Wars is getting the treatment, with these awesome images from illustrator Russell Walks. Image from entry
Is there a non-derogatory synonym for “propaganda”? - english.stackexchange.com: One of nine answers: The term propaganda in its true meaning is not pejorative but because it has become used most in negative circumstances (communist propaganda, fascist propaganda but rarely if ever Democratic Party propaganda or Republican Party propaganda) people have been conditioned (brainwashed?) by the media to view it only as a derogatory term. Thus if one wishes to avoid the term propaganda, one might refer to the pronouncements of the candidate, or the opinions and positions espoused by the candidate, sometimes referred to by political commentators as "the message" which the candidate is wishing to convey.
AMERICANA (video; via JH on Facebook)
Woman reportedly throws shoe at Hillary Clinton in Las Vegas
(CNN) - A woman reportedly hurled a shoe at Hillary Clinton on Thursday during a speech in Las Vegas by the potential 2016 presidential candidate. Details were not...
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