Public diplomacy

Guy Farmer, Nevada Appeal, December 15, 2018 Farmer image from article As the late President George H.W. Bush (Bush 41) was being laid to rest in recent days, a grateful nation honored him as president and as a prominent member of what Tom Brokaw calls the Greatest Generation, men and women who won World War II and came home to continue serving their country. They lived by four important words — duty, honor, country and family — and we'll miss them when they're gone. I was touched by the moving tributes to Bush 41, one of the youngest U.S. Navy pilots at the outset of World War II. Although he was born with the proverbial silver spoon in his mouth, he enlisted in the Navy at the age of 18 in 1942. His eloquent biographer, Jon Meacham, described Bush as "America's last great soldier-statesman, a 20th century founding father," and lauded the courage Bush showed when, as a 20-year-old Navy pilot, he parachuted from a burning plane over the Pacific Ocean. How many of today&#..

See also, as an indirect reference: Paul Rockower, "Stand-Up Diplomacy: Humor as Public Diplomacy," uscpublicdiplomacy.org image from JB's attempt at humor: In Trumpian times, USA's Americans are telling a joke about a suspicious-looking man named Joe Smith who is distributing pamphlets in front of the White House. In a matter of minutes, the Secret Service finds him and takes him to headquarters. Only there do the agents realize that the sheets of paper are completely blank. “But there’s nothing written here,” one of them says. Smith says: “They know quite well what I mean.” ***Stolen from the following joke [anekdot]: In Soviet times, Russia’s Jews told a joke about a man named Rabinovitch who was distributing pamphlets in Red Square. In a matter of minutes, the KGB had found him and taken him to headquarters. Only there did the agents realize that the sheets of paper were completely blank. “But there’s nothing written here,” one of them said. Rabinovitch said: “They know ..

em-a.eu This year was rich of activities, yet difficult for many reasons. Namely, the community portal has not been working since April, due to the change of EMA’s service provider, which made it mpossible for us to contact our chapter’s members and access to the mailing lists per countries or per chapter. If you are our chapter’s member and haven’t heard from us for a while, this is the reason why. At present, we can only contact members registered in our Facebook groups (EMA Eurasian chapter and various countries’ groups) and those who have personally been in contact with us. Besides, no EMA/ESAA budget was available this year, so we had to rely exclusively on our local partners to fund all the events. Nevertheless, over 40 events were organised across our chapter in 2018. This is a non-exhaustive overview of the main directions of our activities this year. Public diplomacy [JB emphasis] and internationalisation of higher educationIn June, four chapter representatives, including thr..

via VOA email (VOA press release); see also VOA Director Amanda Bennett (center) with VOA Turkish Chief Hulya S. Polat and members of the service.Voice of America’s Turkish language service received the David Burke Distinguished Journalism Award for its breaking news coverage and extensive follow-up on the attacks on peaceful protesters outside the Turkish ambassador’s residence in Washington, D.C., in May 2017. Turkish service reporters risked physical harm and continued harassment by the government of Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan as a result of their coverage of this incident. VOA Turkish captured exclusive video during President Erdogan’s visit to Washington on May 16, 2017. The video showed Erdogan supporters, as well as presidential security forces and several other armed individuals, assaulting peaceful protesters outside the residence in a manner the Washington Metropolitan Police Department characterized as a “brutal attack.” The footage of the brawl went viral as n..

Before World War I, Woodrow Wilson proclaimed America First as a rationale for neutrality. Before World War II, members of the America First Committee included Walt Disney, Frank Lloyd Wright and Gerald Ford BOOKSHELF ‘Behold, America’ Review: Fighting WordsBefore World War I, Woodrow Wilson proclaimed America First as a rationale for neutrality. Before World War II, members of the America First Committee included Walt Disney, Frank Lloyd Wright and Gerald Ford.World War II war propaganda poster by the America First Committee. By Fergus M. Bordewich, Wall Street Journal, Dec. 13 Allusions to what we celebrate as the “American dream” are so ubiquitous that it might seem that everyone knows what the phrase refers to. In “Behold, America,” Sarah Churchwell, an American-born scholar at the University of London, tells us that we barely grasp the many meanings of this heavily freighted term. Thus she sets about unpacking its multi-layered and surprising history. And against the American dr..

jou.ufl.edu; original article contains links Eugenia Blaubach “As a communicator, my dream is to positively affect the narrative surrounding immigrants,” said University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Public Relations senior Eugenia Blaubach. Born in Venezuela, she came to the U.S. with her parents when she was seven years old. After high school, she wanted to study journalism, but deep down knew she wanted to advocate, not just report. Transferring from Santa Fe Community College to UF exposed her to a world of new options. It was during a TEDxUF talk by CJC Frank Karel Endowed Chair in Public Interest Communications Ann Christiano that Blaubach realized public relations was a better fit. Christiano piqued her interest in the use of strategic communication to drive positive social change. Since then, Blaubach has been working toward a future where she can marry her skills in strategic communication with a career in public diplomacy [JB emphasis]. “Now that the wor..

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Rinzin Dorjee, thediplomat.com, October 29, 2018 uncaptioned image from article Religion, particularly Buddhism, is relevant more than ever in today’s China, whose government is expected to invest more than $1 trillion in its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). On one hand, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) under Xi Jinping acknowledges that religion can be used to feed the social vacuum in capitalist China. At the same time, the CCP has not strayed far from the position of Mao Zedong, who whispered to the Dalai Lama during the latter’s visit to Beijing in 1954 that “Religion is poison… both Tibet and Mongolia were poisoned by it.”Under the current leadership in Beijing, China employs Buddhism as a vital asset to resolve both the domestic crisis at home and add soft power to its diplomatic relations. Internationally, the narrative of China’s leadership of the Buddhist world is generated from its heavy investment in building Buddhist institutions in China and its engagements with Buddhist c..

tufts.edu Re-Making Public Diplomacy [JB emphasis]: How the Fight Against Disinformation is Changing the Way We Talk With the World December 11 @ 3:00 pm - 4:30 pm Please join the Fletcher Eurasia Club and the Fletcher Diplomacy Club for an informal conversation with William Stevens, the former spokesperson of U.S. Embassy Moscow and now the chief of the U.S. Department of State’s training division for public diplomacy [JB emphasis]. Stevens will share his insights and experiences from working as the top U.S. public affairs official in Russia and discuss some of the creative ways his team engaged with misinformation and trolling. [...]

Rebecca Spong, arabnews.com, December 14, 2028 Speaking at the third Arab Social Media Influencers Summit in Dubai, Queen Rania said people should use their online platforms to generate positive changeWinners recognized at the event included Queen Rania, who was named personality of the year for using social media to support humanitarian causes Image from article, with caption: Queen Rania argued social media should be harnessed as a tool to remove barriers between people, rather than create more divisions in society. (AFP) LONDON: Jordan’s Queen Rania has urged social media influencers to use their online presence to pursue the truth and promote humanitarian causes. Speaking at the third Arab Social Media Influencers Summit in Dubai on Monday, she said people should use their online platforms to generate positive change. The summit brought together 70 speakers from 25 countries to discuss the power of social media. “(In our virtual world) the truth is losing ground to emotional rhetor..