Thanks to Steven Corman for his insightful response to my recent post about Undersecretary Glassman's remarks about the “War of Ideas” (WoI). He made some very good points. But I am disheartened by the argument that there is no way to changes people's attitudes about the US unless we change our policies. Changing our policies is no doubt the way […]
Thanks to my fellow blogger for bringing up the newly-confirmed Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy (PD) James K Glassman's remarks at the Washington Institute for Middle East Policy (view video here). Clearly Glassman will be a more than competent placeholder until the next administration names its own Public Diplomacy czar. But some elements of his remarks […]
After a long pause, there is activity once again on the front lines of America's official public diplomacy. Part of this is a seasonal phenomenon — every summer, the little-known U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy issues a report with recommendations, usually appealing for more resources for the State Department's public diplomacy operations. But this […]
José Maria Peredo Pombo, a professor of International Relations at the European University in Madrid, penned an opinion piece about Senator Obama in the online journal “Forum For A Safe Democracy.” In the piece titled “The Multipolar World of Barack Obama,” Pombo gives a historical take on past American Presidents who have tried to affect change: “To […]
I will be on vacation for the majority of July, so I thought I would leave you with a few timely resources on foreign policy and the US Presidential campaign. 1) Senator Chuck Hagel (R, NE), as part of his recent book tour, spoke at the Brookings Institution last week about “U.S. Foreign Policy and the […]
John McCain's airborne version of the “Straight Talk Express” flew off to Columbia yesterday — and it wasn't Columbia, South Carolina, but the actual country of Columbia. Both candidates, in fact, are taking advantage of a break in the political calendar at home to do some foreign travel. For Obama, who is about to set […]
Amid the many reports of foreign audiences going ga-ga for Obama, one foreign policy expert issues a strong warning against thinking that a President Obama will solve the US’ global image problem, or make public diplomacy any easier. John Brown, a 20-year veteran of the US Foreign Service and currently a senior fellow at the University of Southern […]
It is natural, at a time of low approval ratings for the United States overseas, to ask again whether it made sense in 1999 to dismantle the U.S. Information Agency and move parts of it into the State Department. As Melinda points out in her post (below), John McCain has weighed in on the subject, […]
I have mentioned before on this blog the newly-released Pew Global Attitudes Project's global poll on views of the United States. Now they have produced this handy interactive map that overlays not only views of the US but also nations’ views of the US Presidential Candidates. Above is a picture of the map. To enjoy […]
(Hindu God Hanuman) The BBC reports today that a group of Indians are planning to present a statue of the revered Indian monkey God, Hanuman, to Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. According to the report: “The group decided to order the idol after they read a magazine report saying that Mr Obama carried a good luck […]
Senator John McCain has stated that if he were elected President, he would re-establish the US Information Agency as an independent office. The merging of the US Information Agency into the State Department is a sore subject for many public diplomacy watchers. The efficacy of the merge, which took place under the Clinton administration, to is hotly […]
As I mentioned last week, the Pew Global Attitudes Project released a new global poll on a variety of issues. Most useful for our purposes is the poll's findings on global views of the US and US Presidential candidates. Here's a brief summary of their findings on these two issues: “Favorable views of the United States […]
Below is a chart from the Pew Global Attitudes Project's recently-released global poll. Note that majorities in eleven countries publics feel that Senator Obama, if President, will “do the right thing”when it comes to US foreign policy. Majorities in no country feel that way about Senator McCain. Also note that in eleven countries most people to not think that […]
(Obama in Kenya, courtesy of the New York Times) Barack Obama likes to highlight that his internatinal exposure distinguishes him from his Republican opponent. His birth in Hawaii, travels to his father's native Kenya, four years spent in Indonesia, and even a college trek through Pakistan and India, have given him quite the international worldview. Now that he is […]
German doll maker Marcel Offermann is used to seizing the day. He has made dolls of newsmakers like Pope Benedict, the Dalai Lama and Princess Diana. So it follows that he would make a Barack Obama doll. Offermann was interviewd on NPR's Marketplace about the doll which looks more like a boy than a man. […]