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The Public Diplomacy Blog is intended to stimulate dialog among scholars, researchers, practitioners and professionals from around the world in the public diplomacy sphere. The opinions represented here are the authors' own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the USC Center on Public Diplomacy at the Annenberg School.

THE STEAMED BUN REVOLUTION
OCT 9, 2006 - 5:01PM PDT
Posted by Peter Winter

Written with Wang Jian.

In December 2005, famed Chinese filmmaker Chen Kaige's latest work "The Promise" opened to tepid reviews from his fellow countrymen. With production costs exceeding $35 million, the film failed to capture the hearts of a traditionally accepting audience. While Chinese have come to expect sub-par films in the past, a more market-driven movie industry seemed to have promise, just not the Promise.

Such a film would expect to be lambasted in the international market, but within China, public criticism of ones personal work, especially that of a nationally celebrated director, is nearly unheard of. The rule... FULL TEXT
 
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PSY-OPS JOURNALISM: WASHINGTON’S BUDDING NEW INDUSTRY
OCT 7, 2006 - 7:20AM PDT
Posted by Alvin Snyder
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The war in Iraq has spawned a new industry in Washington that could be called Psy-ops Journalism. The new breed of journalists are following the money trail to the Pentagon.

Some $400 million in media consulting contracts has been awarded during the past few years by the Pentagon, for the purpose of helping "to effectively communicate Iraqi government and Coalition goals with strategic audiences." Thus far both the Pentagon and its contract psy-op journalists have experienced a painful learning curve, but the most recent contract award will show how much each has learned. The outlook is not promising.

A practical... FULL TEXT
 
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FACING RESOURCE NATIONALISTS WITH A CLEAR, CREDIBLE PUBLIC DIPLOMACY
SEP 28, 2006 - 1:41PM PDT
Posted by Craig Hayden
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Joshua Kurlantzick, in "Can Public Diplomacy Counter Resource Nationalism?," paints a rather alarming geo-strategic picture for the United States. The recent Shanghai Cooperation Organization showcased the warming relations between oil-rich Iran and Russia with the budding super-consumer, China.

Kurlantzick argues that these nations, along with Venezuela and Bolivia, constitute a nascent alliance of authoritarian regimes united not so much by ideology, but in their opposition to the United States. They represent a resurgance of "resource nationalism" not seen since the early 20th century.

Kurlantzick goes to great lengths to show how increased coordination between these nations herald problems for the... FULL TEXT
 
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CAN PUBLIC DIPLOMACY COUNTER RESOURCE NATIONALISM?
SEP 28, 2006 - 1:22PM PDT
Posted by Joshua Kurlantzick

Via http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=20061002&s=kurlantzick100206

Earlier this year, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived in China -- and quickly made himself at home. The occasion was a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a regional group linking China, Russia, and Central Asia. During the summit, Ahmadinejad seemed to be everywhere. He posed, arms linked, with Russian and Chinese officials, who said nothing as he called for "impartial and independent experts" to investigate whether the Holocaust happened. He delivered a major address broadcast on Chinese state television. He touted Moscow, Tehran, and Beijing's "identical" views on world issues. And he proposed making "the SCO into a... FULL TEXT
 
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AMERICA’S PUBLIC DIPLOMACY BROADCASTS BECOME AN ELECTION ISSUE
SEP 27, 2006 - 6:04PM PDT
Posted by Alvin Snyder
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With U.S. elections little more than a month away, America's public diplomacy has been cast into the fray. By an odd coincidence, on the same day President Bush charged that a classified intelligence report on Iraq had been leaked to the New York Times to embarrass the administration leading up to the November elections, another news organization published an exclusive story regarding U.S. public diplomacy.

McClatchy Newspapers reported it got access to a Pentagon study, also available to Congress, that charged the U.S. government's broadcasts to Iran are not "confrontational" enough. The next day, the New York Times, which had... FULL TEXT
 
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