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John Brown aggregates all the most recent public diplomacy related news, including current issues in U.S. foreign policy, international broadcasting and media, propaganda, cultural diplomacy, educational exchanges, anti-Americanism, and the reception of American popular culture abroad.

PDPR FOR APRIL 15-18
by John Brown

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY PRESS REVIEW, APRIL 15-18 QUOTATION FOR THE DAY “I CAN’T CLIMB INTO OTHER PEOPLE’S MINDS.” —Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld; cited in Bill Brubaker, “Rumsfeld Is Unruffled by Calls for Resignation” (Washington Post, April 18) LINK A) PUBLIC DIPLOMACY 1. KAREN HUGHES SEEKS BETTER U.S. IMAGE IN LATIN AMERICA - PABLO BACHELET (KANSAS CITY STAR, APRIL 18): Karen Hughes, the Bush administration’s chief image strategist, is well aware that many Latin Americans hold a dim view of U.S. policies. So she has launched a campaign to make her government simpático. Better known for her efforts to improve the Muslim world’s view of Washington and as a Bush confidante, Hughes is boosting the region’s student exchange programs, allowing ambassadors to speak out more, deploying new public relations specialists and revising aid programs to make a bigger impact. LINK SEE ALSO LINK 2. AMERICANA IN ARABIC: A CHALLENGE TO PHILADELPHIA – JUAN COLE (INFORMED COMMENT: THOUGHTS ON THE MIDDLE EAST, HISTORY, AND RELIGION, APRIL 17): We have been failed by our government and foundations in getting the message of what America really is out to the rest of the world. We have no ministry of culture, unlike France, and no British Council or Goethe Institute. The United States Information Agency was gutted in the mid-1990s, virtually defunded, and folded into the State Department as a poor sister. Its libraries, with American books, in Amman, Istanbul, and elsewhere, were shut down and the books remaindered. The AMPART program to bring American lecturers to the Middle East has been slashed to the bone, and politicized (when USIA went into State, it gave the ambassadors more say over who gets invited, and many ambassadors are political appointees). Our major foundations avoid the Middle East as a program priority for the most part. There are dedicated people in the US government who try to make a difference, of course, and there are small publishing programs in Cairo and Amman, though they don’t seem to get good distribution. Folks, we mostly are going to have to do this ourselves. [SEE BELOW ITEM 10]. LINK (SCROLL DOWN LINK FOR ITEM) 3. ‘SPEAK SOFTLY, DON’T ARGUE AND SLOW DOWN’ -  PHILIP SHERWELL (TELEGRAPH.CO.UK, APRIL 16): The reputation of the “Ugly American” abroad is not just some cruel stereotype, but—according to the American government itself—worryingly accurate. Now, the State Department in Washington has joined forces with American industry to plan an image make-over by issuing guides for Americans traveling overseas on how to behave. Business for Diplomatic Action (BDA), a non-profit group funded by big American companies, has met Karen Hughes to discuss issuing the guide with every new US passport. The goal is to create an army of civilian ambassadors. LINK SEE ALSO LINK 4. VIEWPOINT: AL ARABIYA AS NEW FAVORITE SATELLITE TV: THE LATEST MONTHLY TELEVISION RATINGS IN SAUDI ARABIA BY THE INDEPENDENT POLLSTER IPSOS-STAT SHOW AL ARABIYA DRAMATICALLY WIDENING ITS LEAD OVER AL JAZEERA AS THE NUMBER ONE SATELLITE TELEVISION NEWS OUTLET FOR THE MIDDLE…... FULL TEXT
 
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