Inside DC| More...
 

Public Diplomacy

Americans Are Not Oxymorons: Reflections On President Obama's Afghanistan Plans

John Brown | Posted 11.29.2009 | Politics

Read More: Propaganda, Lawyers, Susan Brewer, Oxymorons, Public Diplomacy, Afghanistan, Woodrow Wilson, Politics News
John Brown

Instead of the crude, obscenely packaged fabrications used by his predecessor to mislead us into the war in Iraq, Obama's tortuous deliberations on a military escalation in Afghanistan have been marked by doubts.

Read Post

Even the Taliban Supports Local Radio

Alexia Parks | Posted 11.16.2009 | Impact

Read More: Internews, Afghanistan, Climate Change, Moscow, Diplomacy, Un, Ukraine, Public Diplomacy, Copenhagen, Soviet Union, Impact News
Alexia Parks

Today, most of the world lives in information poverty. But with the rapid rise of cell phone technology and information equity, the world will transform.

Read Post

A Modest Proposal: Make the Pentagon Our Very Own Ministry of Culture!

John Brown | Posted 10.28.2009 | World

Read More: Pentagon, Secretary of Defense Gates, Cultural Diplomacy, Public Diplomacy, State Department, Clowns, World News
John Brown

The Obama-Biden team announced it would "expand cultural and arts exchanges throughout the world." But these words, despite their honorable intentions, have not resulted in much noticeable action.

Read Post

State's Human Rights Guy Needs to Man Up Fast

Jeff Ballinger | Posted 10.21.2009 | Politics

Read More: Usaid, Workers, Unions, Public Diplomacy, State Department, President Obama, Politics News
Jeff Ballinger

Now that Michael Posner has been officially installed as Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, it's about time we get started down the road to righting a whole slew of global wrongs.

Read Post

How Helpful Is Cultural Diplomacy? Very Helpful!

Margaret Ayers | Posted 10.20.2009 | New York

Read More: Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, Islam, Cultural Diplomacy, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Public Library, Middle East, Foreign Affairs, Muslim Voices, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Asia Society, Bam, Public Diplomacy, New York News
Margaret Ayers

Muslim Voices: Arts and Ideas exemplifies how cultural exchange can promote dialogue that elevates discussion and understanding of our shared aspirations.

Read Post

Hillary Clinton and Propaganda

John Brown | Posted 10.20.2009 | Politics

Read More: Russia, Propaganda, Hillary Clinton, Public Diplomacy, Madeleine Albright, Usa, Politics News
John Brown

Hillary Clinton has broken with tradition. She, a high-ranking government official, has admitted that her government engaged in propaganda.

Read Post

Strategic Communications: The Debate Continues

John Brown | Posted 11.28.2009 | World

Read More: Stanley McChrystal, Strategic Communications, Afghanistan, Michael Mullen, Public Diplomacy, Richard Holbrooke, World News
John Brown

General McChrystal's assessment of the war in Afghanistan reflects the continuing debate within the U.S. government on the role of strategic communications in going forward.

Read Post

Joe Wilson, You're No Joe Nye

Nancy Snow | Posted 11.11.2009 | Politics

Read More: Public Diplomacy, Soft Power, Joseph Nye, Public Diplomat, South Carolina, Joe Wilson, Syracuse University, Public Diplomats, Joe Nye, Nancy Cantor, Joseph Wilson, Smart Power, S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Newhouse School, Politics News
Nancy Snow

I promise you this: If I see Joe Wilson this Thanksgiving, I'll make sure not to shout out or finger point as I reach for the pecan pie.

Read Post

More Americans Empathize with Muslims

Parvez Ahmed | Posted 11.10.2009 | Politics

Read More: Muslim World, Islam, Colin Powell, American Muslims, Muslims, Interfaith, Public Diplomacy, Adm. Mike Mullen, Pew, Barack Obama, Politics News
Parvez Ahmed

The latest Pew poll shows the percentage of Americans who view Islam to be a violent religion is at its lowest level in recent years.

Read Post

Strategic Communications and the Graveyard of Empires

John Brown | Posted 09.29.2009 | World

Read More: Psychological Warfare, Aghanistan, Richard Holbrooke, Propaganda, 9/11, Strategic Communications, Public Affairs, Michael Mullen, Karzai, Public Diplomacy, World News
John Brown

A conflict between Richard Holbrooke and Admiral Michael Mullen over public diplomacy in Afghanistan could be no more than the usual Washington tempest in a teapot. Or it might reflect a major problem.

Read Post

A Forgotten Kitchen Debate and American Public Diplomacy

John Brown | Posted 08.23.2009 | Politics

Read More: Face-Off to Facebook, New Media, Public Diplomacy, Global Public Diplomacy, Politics News
John Brown

Though its tools of persuasion have changed, US public diplomacy is above all about human beings connecting rather than a government "pushing a message" on a "target audience."

Read Post

YouTube Diplomacy Meets #iranelection

Andrew Rosen | Posted 08.23.2009 | Media

Read More: Web 2.0, 21st Century Statecraft, Twitter, Iranian Revolution, Demotix, Youtube Diplomacy, Youtube, Citizen Diplomat, Real-Time Web, Facebook, Technology, Public Diplomacy, Media News
Andrew Rosen

To bet heavily on web 2.0, particularly in light of the events in Iran, is too aggressive a step for the Obama Administration with too unpredictable a technology still early in its infancy.

Read Post

Toward a More Imaginative U.S. Public Diplomacy

Philip Seib | Posted 08.22.2009 | World

Read More: Barack Obama Foreign Policy, Obama Public Diplomac, Public Diplomacy, Obama Foreign Policy, Global Public Diplomacy, World News
Philip Seib

Much of American public diplomacy remains rooted in the Cold War-era assumption that the world yearns for information from the United States. This is simply no longer true.

Read Post

Our President in Cairo: Muslims Listened. Did America?

Lorelei Kelly | Posted 07.06.2009 | World

Read More: Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, New Media, International Relations, Public Diplomacy, Counterterrorism, Obama Cairo Speech, Afghanistan, Counterinsurgency, World News
Lorelei Kelly

We need to step back, take a deep breath and realize that we are at a turning point -- where all of our middle east relationships converge.

Read Post

Devil Management: A Case Study

Rob Asghar | Posted 06.29.2009 | World

Read More: Salman Ahmad, War on Terror, Public Diplomacy, Middle East, Obama Middle East, World News
Rob Asghar

It may be high time for progressives to think differently - and more practically - about peace, based on the increasing evidence that human beings are built for war.

Read Post

Random Thoughts on "Public Diplomacy"

John Brown | Posted 06.27.2009 | World

Read More: Propaganda, Arts Diplomacy, Public Diplomacy, Fulbright Program, State Department, Usia, Kenneth Osgood, People-to-People, Dogs, World News
John Brown

What is public diplomacy? The term, coined in the mid-1960s covers programs ranging from the Fulbright educational exchange to information about US foreign policy directed to overseas audiences.

Read Post

Richard Holbrooke: Able and Insufferable

John Brown | Posted 06.12.2009 | World

Read More: Serbia, Holbrooke, Afghanistan, Public Diplomacy, Pakistan, Dayton, World News
John Brown

I should think that someone who knows something about history, like Mr. Holbrooke, should realize the quagmire we are getting ourselves into at a time of economic crisis here at home.

Read Post

A Rock and Roll Jihad for the Soul of Pakistan

Rob Asghar | Posted 06.06.2009 | World

Read More: Rock Music, Van Halen, Celebrities Talk Politics, Pakistan Taliban, Pakistan, Led Zeppelin, Salman Ahmad, Taliban, Public Diplomacy, Junoon, Jimmy Page, World News
Rob Asghar

Sufi music represents spiritual kryptonite to the Taliban -- and it offers a fresh but ancient face of Islam to a West that is wary of invading hordes.

Read Post

America's Next Move on Public Diplomacy

Tara Sonenshine | Posted 06.05.2009 | Politics

Read More: Politics, Foreign Affairs, Judith McHale, Public Diplomacy, Undersecretary of Public Diplomacy, Politics News
Tara Sonenshine

The best advice we can give Ms. McHale is to take advantage of the tools and techniques in global communications and the best lessons learned in managing international conflict.

Read Post

Can America Change Hearts and Minds?

John Brown | Posted 05.23.2009 | Politics

Read More: Business for Diplomacy Action, Propaganda, Karen Hughes, Pentagon, Judith McHale, Public Diplomacy, Politics News
John Brown

The Obama administration has finally selected an under-secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs: Judith McHale, a media and communications executive.

Read Post

Clinton In Mexico Strikes Humbler Tone, And It Plays Well

McClatchy | Warren P. Strobel | Posted 04.27.2009 | World

Read More: Obama Diplomacy, Hillary Clinton Mexico, Mexico Clinton, Mexico, Obama Administration, Foreign Affairs, Hillary Clinton Humble, Public Diplomacy, Hillary Clinton, Foreign Policy, World News

MONTERREY, Mexico -- In her years on the political stage, Hillary Clinton wasn't always seen as the most humble of national figures. ...

Read Whole Story

Public Diplomacy: Stop the Solemnity!

John Brown | Posted 04.21.2009 | World

Read More: Propaganda, Branding, Public Diplomacy, Foreign Affairs, Obama Foreign Policy, Foreign Policy, World News
John Brown

Bush-style public diplomacy -- an unholy mixture of propaganda, PR, branding, tactlessness, and "new initiatives" -- appears to be, thank God, history.

Read Post

The Ideal Un-Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs

John Brown | Posted 04.04.2009 | Politics

Read More: William Rugh, Public Diplomacy, State Department, Politics News
John Brown

A recommendation suggesting the ideal person to fill the post of Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs at the State Department, comi...

Read Post

Ten Reasons Why We Don't Need an Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs

John Brown | Posted 03.23.2009 | World

Read More: Smith Mundt Act, Public Diplomacy, Hearts and Minds, State Department, Propaganda, Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, World News
John Brown

The dozens of reports that have appeared since 9/11 on public diplomacy have come to a similar general conclusion: the State Department's public diplomacy has failed miserably.

Read Post

Why Did Obama Choose Al-Arabiya for His First Major Interview?

Shadi Hamid | Posted 02.28.2009 | Media

Read More: Project on Middle East Democracy, Public Diplomacy, Al-Arabiya, Hisham Melhem, Barack Obama, Media News
Shadi Hamid

Obama's remarks to al-Arabiya showed a willingness to engage, to listen, and to move toward a dialogue where Arabs are spoken to not as victims or villains, but as partners.

Read Post