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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.

Posts by John Robert Kelley

ALL THUMBS OR AL-QAEDA’S PUBLIC DIPLOMACY?
NOV 28, 2007 - 11:42AM PDT
Posted by John Robert Kelley
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For all the seething scorn and vitriol Americans have hurled toward Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda in recent years one would never suspect a kindly word of either uttered privately, let alone publicly. But when it comes to public diplomacy such inhibitions seem to disappear even amongst the highest ranking political leadership and in the most public fashion. In a speech on November 26 before an audience at Kansas State University, it was Defense Secretary Robert Gates' turn to wax profoundly on the subject. (Washington Post, 10/27/07) Gates declared al-Qaeda to be “better at communicating its message on the Internet... FULL TEXT
 
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VIEWPOINT: HUGHES’ WORK HAS JUST BEGUN
AUG 8, 2006 - 6:17PM PDT
Posted by John Robert Kelley
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It was just over a year ago that Karen Hughes, then nominee for Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee before her swift appointment as the nation's chief public diplomat. Striking all the right chords along the way, Hughes affirmed that "the mission of public diplomacy is to engage, inform, and help others (read 'foreign populations') understand our policies, actions and values. "But," she continued, "I am mindful that before we seek to be understood, we must first work to understand…I recognize that the job ahead will be difficult. Perceptions do not... FULL TEXT
 
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