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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.

PDPBR FOR NOVEMBER 2, 2007
by John H. Brown

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY PRESS AND BLOG REVIEW, NOVEMBER 2 “Anybody who claims that they want to leave the White House is lying.” —Former White House Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card; cited in Dan Fromkin, “Card Admits the Obvious” (White House Watch, washingtonpost.com, November 1) LINK (scroll down link for item) “It is rumored that Condi keeps trying to resign but Bush cruelly reminds her that no one is going to buy the ‘I need to spend more time with my family’ line since she doesn’t have one. Then he snickers.” —Jess Wundrun, in a comment in Sparkle Pony Photoblog (November 1) LINK (scroll down link for item) VIDEO Hughes Resignation: Karen Hughes, the Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs—the woman essentially in charge of making sure the rest of the world really likes America—announced on Wednesday that she would be retiring from her post by the end of the year. In today’s episode TPMtv takes a look back at just how wildly successful she has been in promoting America’s image abroad over the past few years ... LINK IMAGE Vice President Dick Cheney’s Labrador retrievers Jackson, left, and Dave, right, prepare for Halloween, Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2007, as they sit for a photograph at the Vice President’s Residence at the Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. Jackson is dressed as Darth Vader, Dave is dressed as Superman. White House photo by David Bohrer. LINK A) PUBLIC DIPLOMACY, 1-27 1. WHAT IS THE U.S. DOING TO IMPROVE ITS IMAGE ABROAD? - COLLEEN GRAFFY, DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR EUROPEAN AND EURASIAN AFFAIRS (REMARKS AT CHATHAM HOUSE, LONDON, ENGLAND, NOVEMBER 1, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE): “Public diplomacy is thus the practice—I try to think of it as an art—of communicating a country’s policies, values and culture to other peoples. It is an attempt to explain why we have decided on certain measures, and beyond that, to explain who we are. It is a based on a belief on our part that we are a good people, that we have not arrived at decisions irrationally and that these decisions can be explained to others. Certainly, we practice public diplomacy because we know that we do not act with malice, but strive to act on principle. We believe not in the subjugation of nations, but in the free choice of people of all nations.” LINK 2. KAREN HUGHES’ UPHILL BATTLE - FOREIGN POLICY, NOT PUBLIC DIPLOMACY, MOSTLY DETERMINES HOW THE WORLD VIEWS AMERICA - RICHARD WIKE (PEW GLOBAL ATTITUDES PROJECT, NOVEMBER 1) LINK VIA LINK 3. WAR STORIES: HECK OF A JOB, HUGHSIE—KAREN HUGHES THROWS IN THE TOWEL - (FRED KAPLAN, SLATE, NOVEMBER 1): The main purpose of public diplomacy is to foster a better understanding of America and to improve its image in the world. Yet since Hughes took the job, our image—already bleak—has deteriorated to new lows. Hughes can hardly be blamed for this dreadful situation, any more than Bill Cosby could be blamed for the failure of New Coke.…... FULL TEXT
 
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