public diplomacy

Don’t say the wheels of government always spin slowly. When there is an agenda at work, they can move with considerable speed, and in the deconstruction of American overseas broadcasting, things are moving fast.

Mainland universities will be given state funding to help extend the overseas reach of Chinese academic research, the latest initiative in the nation's soft-power push abroad. The funding will come via the "Go Abroad" initiative, which aims to give greater overseas exposure to Chinese research, particularly in the social studies.

Before public diplomacy, there was propaganda, a term coined by Pope Gregory XV in 1622...A key observation to make regarding the Pope’s call for the propagation of the faith is that the advent of the printing press, the rise in literacy...and the religious controversies...had already created a European sphere of public comment and opinion by the turn of the seventeenth century.

November 22, 2011

Clever diplomacy, not more Marines, is the answer. The over-extended American Raj has got to face strategic reality or it risks going the way of the Soviet Empire.US foreign policy has become almost totally militarized; the State Department has been shunted aside. The Pentagon sees Al-Qaida everywhere. The US needs the brilliant diplomacy of a Bismarck, not more unaffordable bases or military hardware.

The real argument Beijing should make is one espoused by Yan Xuetong in his recent New York Times opinion piece: the “battle for people’s hearts and minds” between the United States and China will be “won by the country that displays more humane authority.” Unfortunately...Yan falls short, doing little more than suggesting Beijing should choose more virtuous and wise leaders, as well as open its doors to leaders from abroad.

Alice Waters' celebrated Berkeley restaurant, Chez Panisse, was transported to Beijing last week as part of a four-day U.S.-China Forum on the Arts and Culture. Berkeley and Beijing don't have much in common...But to replicate the Berkeley experience in Beijing? It wasn't just a matter of flying the ingredients from California. Waters' philosophy centers on eating local and buying directly from the farm.

The American Corner...was assembled by the American Embassy here and is an example, writ small, of the sort of cultural programs — “soft power,” in the diplomatic nomenclature — that the State Department will emphasize after the last troops leave. Even in this arena of cultural and educational links, United States diplomats say they hope to gain leverage over Iran.

SA HAS learnt the hard way that playing a prominent role in global affairs does not come cheap...The department’s spokesman, Clayson Monyela, said yesterday that "public diplomacy and protocol have been elevated to full- fledged branches with additional staff, hence the rise in costs during this financial year".

Pages