John Brown's Public Diplomacy Press and Blog Review

Dan W. Reicher, The New York Times, March 14, 2019; original article contains links Mr. Reicher was a member of the first reported expedition to navigate the 1,800-mile-plus Rio Grande. Image from article: Big Bend National Park, on the border of Texas and Mexico. There has long been interest in creating an international park in the area.Credit David Hensley/Moment, via Getty Images Nearly 75 years ago, an American president was eyeing a grand project along our southern border, not to divide the United States and Mexico but to bring the two nations together. On June 12, 1944, a week after D-Day, President Franklin Roosevelt signed legislation establishing Big Bend National Park, almost a million acres along the Rio Grande in West Texas. He followed up with a grand challenge to President Manuel Ávila Camacho of Mexico: “I do not believe that this undertaking in the Big Bend will be complete until the entire park area in this region on both sides of the Rio Grande forms one great interna..

Julius Bizimungu, newtimes.co.rw, March 12, 2019 Tibor Nagy, United States Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of African Affairs, delivers his keynote address at Carnegie Mellon University yesterday. Emmanuel Kwizera. tterFacebookEmailWhatsapplinkedinGoogle+Tibor Nagy, United States Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of African Affairs, who is on a visit to Africa, on Monday met and interacted with students from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) Africa in Kigali.Prior to this, Tibor had on Sunday met President Paul Kagame, Foreign Minister Richard Sezibera, and Rwanda’s Ambassador to US to discuss building on the US-Rwanda partnership to expand trade and investment partnership and advance regional peace and security.Tibor is in Rwanda as part of his visit to four African countries, which they say is aimed at engaging Africa’s vibrant youth, promote stronger business ties between the United States and Africa, and strengthen partnerships that aim for greater peace and security.The visit ..

uscpublicdiplomacy.org [JB emphasis] uncaptioned image from entry What can diplomacy do to counter cyberattacks, misinformation, data theft and other societal ailments of the digital age? Cyberdiplomacy, Managing Security and Governance Online, a new book by British Senior Visiting Fellow of the Netherlands Institute of International Relations (“Clingendael”) Shaun Riordan, argues that traditional diplomatic approaches can be integrated with new technologies to address these challenges."Cyberspace, he argues, is too important to leave to technicians," writes publisher Polity. "Using the vital tools offered by cyberdiplomacy, we can reduce the escalation and proliferation of cyberconflicts by proactively promoting negotiation and collaboration online."Read more about Cyberdiplomacy here.

Editor: Shi Yinglun, Xinhua image (not from article) from SEOUL, March 12 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's unification ministry in charge of inter-Korean relations said Tuesday that it will seek talks with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to facilitate dialogue between the DPRK and the United States. The ministry said in its 2019 work plan, submitted to the presidential Blue House, that it will push for inter-Korean talks, through which Seoul can help facilitate the dialogue between Pyongyang and Washington. It noted that South Korea will intensify the virtuous cycle of improved inter-Korean relations leading to progress in the Korean Peninsula's denuclearization. The work plan came as the second DPRK-U.S. summit in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi ended without agreement. Following the Hanoi summit, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said the continued talks between the DPRK and the United States would be the most important, indicating his willingness to find a ..

Kadir Jun Ayhan, uscpublicdiplomacy.org; see also (1) What is public diplomacy [JB emphasis] (PD)? Can non-state actors do PD? When I first began teaching PD, I found my students confused and frustrated about these questions after reading articles that lacked an agreed-upon definition and boundaries. To address their frustration, I began summarizing different approaches to PD, including answers to these questions.Then, I developed this teaching material into an article, which was recentlypublished in ISA’s International Studies Perspectives journal, a great platform for international studies pedagogy as well as recent trends in the field. In this blog, I summarize how scholars conceptualize PD, particularly non-state actors’ role in it and finally, I offer a list of criteria to map the boundaries of PD.Most PD articles have state-centric definitions. One of the most common definitions that appears in state-centric conceptualizations of PD is that of Hans Tuch, who defines PD as “a gov..

via email Connecting Iranians in support of Freedom and Democracy Amanda Bennett of VOA, Setareh Derakhshesh of VOA Persian/VOA365 and Mehdi Parpanchi of RFE/RL Radio Farda discuss the evolution of the network (left to right) Last week, the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), the Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) held a launch event on Capitol Hill for VOA365: a 24/7 Persian-language global network targeting Iranian audiences and the Persian-speaking diaspora around the world. Thank you to all who joined us in person. In case you missed the event, you can: Watch the discussionWatch the VOA365 promoRead about the network John F. Lansing of USAGM, gives remarks ahead of a panel on media and politics in Iran with Gregg Sullivan of the U.S. Department of State, Michael Pregent of Hudson Institute, Behnam Ben Taleblu of Foundation for Defense of Democracies and Setareh Derakhshesh of VOA (left to right).

via email bgregory1@aol.com Mon, Mar 11, 2019 at 3:32 PMTo: BGregory1@aol.comMarch 11, 2019 Intended for teachers of public diplomacy and related courses, here is an update on resources that may be of general interest. Suggestions for future updates are welcome. Bruce GregoryInstitute for Public Diplomacy and Global CommunicationGeorge Washington UniversityBGregory@gwu.eduhttps://smpa.gwu.edu/bruce-gregoryhttp://ipdgc.gwu.edu/bruce-gregorys-resources-diplomacys-public-dimension Katherine A. Brown, Your Country, Our War: The Press and Diplomacy in Afghanistan, (Oxford University Press, 2019). In this excellent and engaging book, grounded in years of interviews with journalists and political actors in Afghanistan and the US, Katherine Brown (Global Ties U.S., Georgetown University) achieves several objectives. First, she examines narratives and framing of modern Afghanistan in the journalism of US and Afghan news media. Her empirical findings are shaped by two strands in communications s..

Danielle Kost, hbswk.hbs.edu image (not from article) from Countries such as Israel now realize they need to engage in public diplomacy [JB underlining] as well as foreign diplomacy, and in place branding, not just political advocacy, says Elie Ofek. The 70th anniversary of Israel’s founding last year stirred reflection about the country’s image, values, and position in the world among everyone from former diplomats to Hollywood actors. Despite efforts to portray Israel as modern and safe, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the country’s complicated history still dominate public consciousness. Memories of failed peace talks tend to loom larger than Israel’s image as a startup nation. Thousands of Instagram posts from Tel Aviv’s gay pride festivities or the buzz from winning the recent Eurovision song contest may not be enough to overcome decades of TV footage of soldiers and tanks that linger in the mind. To Harvard Business School marketing professor Elie Ofek, it’s more proof that ..

state.gov ***THE DAILY PUBLIC SCHEDULE IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE*** image (not from entry) fromDEPARTMENT OF STATE PUBLIC SCHEDULE MONDAY, MARCH 11, 2019Excerpt:ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS MICHELLE GUIDAAssistant Secretary Giuda is on travel in London, United Kingdom from March 11-12.ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR EDUCATIONAL AND CULTURAL AFFAIRS MARIE ROYCEAssistant Secretary Royce is on travel to Hungary, Serbia, and Turkey from March 9-21.PRINCIPAL DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR EAST ASIAN AND PACIFIC AFFAIRS W. PATRICK MURPHY ...3:15 p.m. Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Murphy meets with International Women of Courage Awardees Naw K’nayaw Paw and Razia Sultana, at the Department of State. [JB - see also] (CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE) ...

state.gov; see also image (not from entry) from Media Note Office of the SpokespersonWashington, DCMarch 11, 2019 Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs and Senior Official for Public Diplomacy [JB emphasis] and Public Affairs Michelle S. Giuda travels to the United Kingdom March 11-12.In London, Assistant Secretary Giuda will deliver opening remarks at a meeting of the Communications Working Group of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS. The Working Group seeks to contest the information space in which ISIS operates. It also seeks to ensure that the contraction of the group’s territory is followed by its ideological defeat, while coordinating strategic communications among Coalition members to tackle future propaganda threats from other violent extremist organizations.Assistant Secretary Giuda will also discuss government communications strategies with UK government officials. In addition, she will meet with U.S. Embassy staff and the Department’s London Media Hub.