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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 JULY 21-23, 2007
by John H. Brown

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY PRESS AND BLOG REVIEW (JULY 21-23) “The word ‘homeland’ ... resonates sinisterly like das Vaterland in German or rodina in Russian ... while Vaterland or rodina have non-ideological colloquial roots and were expropriated by Hitler and Stalin, ‘homeland’ is a purely ideological construct of Bush administration.” —Werther, “Beyond Euphemism: How to Read a National Intelligence Estimate” (CounterPunch, July 21) LINK VIDEO Thinking robots (MountainRunner Blog, July 19) – “My mind is on robots right now (it is actually directly on target of the core mission of this blog)... follow me there and watch this clip. The beginning is ok, but I like the last third when they start the ‘Pacific Islander’ dancing.” LINK BIBLIOGRAPHY Public Diplomacy—Compilation: Ali Molenaar, Library and Documentation Centre Clingendael Institute, April 2007, Library and Documentation Centre, Netherlands Institute of International Relations ‘Clingendael’ LINK A) PUBLIC DIPLOMACY (1-21) 1. U.S. PARES OTHER DIPLOMACY TO FOCUS ON IRAQ, REST OF MIDEAST - PETER BAKER (WASHINGTON POST, JULY 22): While the Bush team has waged war in Iraq, China has expanded its global influence, Russia has been reborn as an increasingly authoritarian and antagonistic power, and anti-Americanism has spread in Latin America. “There have been substantial public diplomacy resources that have been diverted to Iraq and, I would assume as well, personnel,” said Peter DeShazo, former deputy assistant secretary of state under Bush and now at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Maintaining relations, he said, requires constant diplomatic investment. LINK 2. PRESIDENT CHENEY AND IRAN - WILLIAM M. ARKIN (WASHINGTON POST, JULY 23): The loose talk of preemptive war against Iran does have consequences beyond the fertile imagination of bloggers: In Tehran, hard-liners use every stray speculation of imminent war to crack down and justify their nuclear pursuits. Meanwhile, the United States is attempting to enlist Iran’s assistance in crafting some kind of honorable peace and withdrawal from Iraq—a far more consequential objective, and also one undermined by all the rumors and threats. Too bad the administration isn’t competent enough to correct its public diplomacy and put these rumors to rest. LINK 3. BEYOND EUPHEMISM: HOW TO READ A NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE ESTIMATE – WERTHER (COUNTERPUNCH, JULY 21/22): “To spare readers the pain and confusion of reading a document [the National Intelligence Estimate] assembled by a committee, we will reproduce excerpts of the ‘Key Judgments’ section and annotate them by translating them into ordinary English. Please be warned, however, that in order to faithfully reproduce the reasoning that goes on in government bureaucracies, we are forced to depart from our usual decorum. Unlike [the current Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs] Karen Hughes claiming that President Bush never uses profanity, we prefer accuracy to euphemism.” LINK 4. CAN’T FIND OSAMA? ATTACK IRAN INSTEAD - PHILIP GIRALDI (GLOBAL RESEARCH, JULY 19):  The irrepressible Karen Hughes at State Department has summoned her Myrmidons, “countering al-Qaeda’s violent message,” challenging terrorists to cyber duels over the Internet. It’s Star Wars all over again. “We remain vigilant.”…... FULL TEXT
 
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