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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.

FEBRUARY 24, 2005
by John Brown

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY PRESS REVIEW, FEBRUARY 24 (SECTION C - SCROLL DOWN) WEEKLY EDUCATIONAL EXCHANGES SUPPLEMENT BY MS. JENNIFER BRIGHAM, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA (SECTION D - SCROLL DOWN) FAT – L’ETOILE SOLITAIRE, LETTER FROM PARIS QUOTATIONS FOR THE DAY “ICH BIN EIN FRANKFURTER.” —Talk show host David Letterman, joking (February 23 on CBS TV) about what President George W. Bush might have “said” when he got off the plane in Frankfurt “I AM NOT THE PROPAGANDA MINISTER.” —Russian President Vladimir Putin; cited in “Russian Press Ask Bush: Who Says We’re Not Free?” (Reuters India, India, February 24) LINK “IT IS DISTURBING THAT AN ARTIST CAN BE IMPRISONED FOR REPLICATING A MASTERPIECE FROM THE SISTINE CHAPEL ON THE SIDE OF HIS ART STUDIO.” —National ACLU Legal Director Michael J. Steinberg, regarding the case of artist Edward Stross, sentenced to prison last week for his mural depicting a bare-breasted figure on a building in Roseville, Michigan, in suburban Detroit, his variation of Michelangelo’s “Creation of Man,” illustrating a half-naked Eve; cited in Joanne Laurier, “Michigan Artist Sentenced to Jail over Mural Nudity” (World Socialist Website, February 24) LINK “SHE CAN CONVERSE ON 35,000 TOPICS, FROM PHILOSOPHY TO MOVIES TO SCULPTURE.” —Journalist Keith Bradsher, regarding Vivienne, the product of computerized voice synthesis, streaming video and text messages, who will be available for a monthly fee of $6, not including the airtime costs paid to cellphone operators or the price of virtual chocolates and flowers; cited in Bradsher’s “Meet Vivienne, a 3G Girlfriend” (International Herald Tribune, February 25) LINK A) PUBLIC DIPLOMACY 1. OBAMA FIELDS QUESTIONS FROM PACKED AUGIE HALL - KURT ALLEMEIER (QUAD-CITIES ONLINE, IL, FEBRUARY 24): Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., took part at a town hall meeting with a standing-room-only audience at Augustana College’s Wallenberg Hall. When asked about cuts to the Peace Corps budget, Sen. Obama said programs like that, as well as international broadcasts and promoting more foreign student programs, can help improve areas of diplomacy. “National security depends on a strong defense and a victory in the battle of ideas,” he said. “We’ve been very poor in the field of public diplomacy.” LINK 2. BEWARE THE PUBLIC DIPLOMACY DISASTER: LOOKING BEYOND ISRAEL’S WITHDRAWAL FROM GAZA…- AMITAI ETZIONI (FORWARD, FEBRUARY 25): The recent flurry of peace moves is indeed cause for hope, but in the rush to put forward a positive face, Israel appears to be setting itself up for a major public diplomacy disaster. Jerusalem has repeatedly implied that it will accord full sovereignty to Gaza and eventually to a Palestinian state, but security considerations make it clear that Israel will have to maintain some control over these territories. Israel has long recognized that when it comes to its national security, it cannot go by what opinion makers consider right and true. So, what is to be done? Speeches, press briefings and other public-relation efforts will do little good, although even that much is not being done. Instead, creative thinking is required that will take into account perceptions and…... FULL TEXT
 
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