$250 Million to Counter Extremist Voices in Af/Pak Region

This one is extracted from the Office of the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan’s Af/Pak Regional Stabilization Strategy (January 2010) released last week:

The Taliban and al-Qaeda use information as a weapon, dominating the information space. While our previous strategy focused largely on traditional public diplomacy and communications tools, we are now elevating our communications efforts in importance and innovation. New programs will empower Afghans and Pakistanis to challenge the extremist narrative and offer their own vision for Afghanistan and Pakistan’s future. A sustained media and outreach strategy will set the record straight, highlight key civilian efforts, and explain our larger strategic rationale for the fight in Afghanistan, as well as our strategic support for Pakistan, to the Afghan and Pakistani peoples.

Key Initiatives

Expanded Media Outreach: We will respond more quickly to misinformation, serve as a source of credible information for journalists, conduct polls on key issues, and expand training of Afghan and Pakistani journalists in the United States. We will actively build our partnerships with all parts of Afghan and Pakistani society, including youth, civil society and nongovernmental organizations, and political actors and institutions at all levels.

Building Communications Capacity: Our support will help the Afghan and Pakistani governments communicate effectively with their people, and help people better communicate with one another. We will also leverage new technologies to support people with SMS services, mobile banking, telemedicine, and mobile micro-finance. And we will help build media infrastructure (radio, television, and cell towers) to carry communications into underserved areas dominated by extremist voices.  

• In Afghanistan, we are supporting the expansion of the Government Media Information Center in Kabul and an additional 16 provincial satellite offices. We will also enhance communications capabilities in core ministries by providing mentoring, public affairs training, and exchange opportunities for communications personnel. 
  
  

• In Pakistan we have helped launch Humari Awaz, Our Voice, the first mobile based social network empowering Pakistan’s 95 million mobile users with a voice. Our Voice mobile users harness mobile phones to instantly share news and information with a network of friends and followers via SMS messages. In five weeks, 20 million messages were sent and over 150,000 people enrolled, with an average of 3,000 new followers joining daily.

Taking Back the Airwaves: We are empowering indigenous voices to drown out extremist propaganda. We will expand local radio coverage and support creation of public, private and university radio stations. Using local partners, we will support distribution of content on all media, and use cell technology to help people build communities and get critical information.

Strengthening People to People Ties: Strengthening ties between all aspects of American, Afghan, and Pakistani society will deepen our long-term partnership. In Afghanistan and Pakistan, we are enhancing educational opportunities, including teacher training and English language training. Secretary Clinton’s three-day visit to Pakistan in October 2009, much of which was covered live on Pakistani television, underscored our new approach by engaging broad segments of Pakistani society in honest dialogue. This approach will be reinforced with a new public diplomacy and communications effort that will feature: greater engagement with Pakistani media; increased academic and business exchanges; and more robust outreach to the Pakistani-American community through the American Pakistan Foundation and similar organizations. We are also increasing professional, educational, and cultural exchanges.

Milestones

• 24-hour cell coverage is restored in areas of the South and East of Afghanistan. 
  
  

• Afghans and Pakistanis utilize radio and other media platforms to criticize extremists and hold government officials accountable. 
  
  

• Enemy propaganda is significantly decreased – in quantity and effectiveness – by July 2011. 
  
  

• The number of people-to-people exchanges is doubled by 2012. 
  
  

• U.S. disapproval ratings in Pakistan decrease, with Pakistanis’ increasingly convinced that the United States is committed to a long-term partnership on an array of issues, not just counterterrorism.

Resource Requirements

Resources available to meet requirements from FY 2010 and prior year appropriations: approximately $250 million.

David Ensor to US Embassy Kabul?

Via Al Kamen: “Word at the State Department is that David Ensor, longtime national security correspondent for CNN and more recently executive vice president for communications at Mercuria Energy Group in London, is being talked about to run the public affairs office at the embassy in Kabul.” (links added)

Huh? What? Hmmnn. Why?

Just a couple quick thoughts –

First, I think US Embassy Kabul’s PAS office has done a marvelous job over there. The post that needs help is the other half of Af/Pak, and it’s not Afghanistan. Public diplomacy efforts have taken a beating in Pakistan, and hope and help is probably needed there more than anywhere else.

Second, when was the last time you’ve heard of a non-career appointee run a public affairs shop at the embassy level?

Hmmn, let me see – how about Dan Senor, remember him? Probably most noted as chief spokesperson for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq in the old days.

The CPA was not quite the embassy but close enough. The Bush II White House, after all called Senor “Advisor to the U.S. Presidential Envoy in Iraq” (that is, Presidential Envoy L. Paul Bremer III, Administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority).

I've watched Ensor on CNN; I remember him as telegenic; don't know his politics. Before joining CNN, he served as ABC News' diplomatic correspondent from 1995-1998.Still -- I hope no one is trying to replicate the CPA’s “Green Room” in Baghdad at the US Embassy in Kabul …

Quickie: Public Diplomacy 2.0: Where the USG Meets "New Media"

Helle C. Dale has a research article up in the Heritage Foundation website on public diplomacy (Public Diplomacy 2.0: Where the U.S. Government Meets "New Media" | December 8, 2009). The writer is a Senior Fellow for Public Diplomacy in the Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies, a Division of the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies, at The Heritage Foundation. Quick excerpts below:

“U.S. embassies have seen the potential of social Web sites for facilitating public diplomacy. Embassies in Pakistan and Indonesia both have Facebook pages, offering information about the United States and American culture to an audience roughly 13 to 26 years of age. Degrees of success vary wildly, however. The U.S. embassy in Indonesia boasts 19,640 "fans" as of December 1. Its Web site bears an official U.S. government seal, and has a professional look that lives up to its diplomatic purpose. By contrast, the U.S. embassy in Pakistan has 539 Facebook "fans," and is more difficult to identify as an official group -- the site has no official seal, no State Department e-mail address, and a casual homemade look. This highlights the very pertinent question of official policy guidelines regulating U.S. government use of online social networking.”

As a side note -- in October, Secretary Clinton, in response to a question during the Dean Acheson lecture said that “a new team going in to Pakistan” and that “We have adopted a new approach, which is we do not leave any misstatement or inaccuracy unanswered.”

The US Embassy Pakistan’s Facebook page was created in late October, four days before Secretary Clinton’s visit to Pakistan. It has 627 fans and about a couple dozen photos online as of this writing. Odd thing though -- there is no link from the official embassy website to its Facebook page; so you’ve got to know what you’re looking for. Since November 4, US Embassy Islamabad’s press office has also issued seven Corrections for the Record statements ranging from the US Embassy construction to “suspected Blackwater house.” But other than these, it’s hard to tell how much this rapid response team has done so far.

"New media" as "game changer?" More excerpts:

The challenges the U.S. government faces in harnessing social media are numerous. While it is essential that government have a coordinated message, the "grassroots" nature of social media makes it both difficult and somewhat undesirable to control them. The appeal of social media is precisely its feeling of intimacy and informality, and the government runs the risk of diminishing, even destroying, this appeal of social media through regulation. The content on social-networking sites should be both interesting and pertinent to individuals -- people, not formal information, are the essence of social interaction.[…]The U. S. government, traditional media, and the public often view "new media" as a magic tool, portending a revolution in the way the U.S. government conducts public diplomacy and addresses the world. In time, it may indeed be the "game changer" that Undersecretary McHale talked about in her confirmation hearing, and new media does make it possible to connect with previously unreached and under-engaged populations. However, to realize this advantage, the strengths, limitations, and risks of each media tool must be properly understood, and technologies must be wisely used to their respective comparative advantage. This is why the framework of a National Communications Strategy is desperately needed in order for U.S. public diplomacy to rise above mere strategy and tactics.

In her confirmation testimony before Congress, Judith McHale spoke of the need for just such a strategy. While Twitter, for instance, is excellent at providing small, timely bits of essential information, it is fatiguing and ineffective for routine updates. The U.S. government, in the person of the Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy, must provide agencies engaging in outbound communication with guidelines and metrics to establish that their use of new media is on message, recognizable as official, and wisely deployed in order to avoid destroying the intrinsic appeal of a given media to the target audience. Lastly, the government must realize that there are new media that are valuable tools, and others that are a distracting waste of time and taxpayer resources.

Congress and the Administration should:

• Create a National Communications Strategy articulated by the Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy.
• Formulate government-wide guidelines to ensure that the new media is on message, as well as standards for official use of social media, ensuring that government Web pages can be identified and differentiated from impersonators without destroying the appeal of the particular media to its audience.
• Establish a new non-governmental or semi-governmental research organization (a Corporation for Foreign Opinion Analysis)

The must-read article especially for practitioners of “new media” is here.

What Are We Doing in Afghanistan?

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I’ll tell you but it’s off the record …

The Deputy Ambassador of US Embassy Kabul, Frank Ricciardone was apparently over at the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University recently for an evening lecture titled, “What Are We Doing in Afghanistan?” He sat down with The Herald staff writer Monique Vernon to talk about his life as a diplomat and about American relations with Afghanistan but requested that his lecture be “off the record.”

He was asked about his advice for students who are considering a career in foreign policy? His response:

"I had five years of being a schoolteacher in Italy and then Iran, and I’m really glad I did that rather then jumping right into federal service. You can see the world in a different way, and I think I am a better diplomat for having lived among people in Iran and all over Europe on a very low budget."

He was asked about our biggest foreign policy challenge in the AfPak region, and he had this to say:

“Our mission is to disrupt, dismantle and defeat Al Qaeda and its extremist allies in Pakistan and Afghanistan and prevent their return to either country in the future. Within that, we try to boil it down to a three-word motto, and the words that the Afghans like to hear are peace, justice and prosperity.”

He had a couple more paragraphs here.

As to why the lecture was open to the public but off the record, Ambassador Ricciardone gave a nice spin that sounds reasonable enough:

"There is kind of a custom, an interface between government and diplomacy and academia … It’s good to have that freedom where I don’t have to worry about someone extracting something and making a headline out of it at a moment of intense public interest in the foreign policy question of Afghanistan. I am a government official after all, and … I need to take great care that I faithfully represent the programs and the policies of the United States of America.

I thought that by making it off the record we could have a slightly more candid conversation with the question and answer part. Especially being around students as bright as Brown students are, I wanted to be able to give everyone a freer reign … It adds a level of protection, I think, for the decision-makers (in Washington)."

Huh? Read the entire Q&A here.

Did “gotcha journalism” cross his mind when he thought “bright Brown students?”

I am trying hard to be sympathetic to Ambassador’s Ricciardone’s position here. But I am having a mighty hard time. Here is one of our top career diplomats talking about what is currently our top foreign policy engagement. I am wondering on the purpose of giving a lecture titled “What Are We Doing in Afghanistan?” if one can only explain it off the record to a limited number of seats populated by Brown University students?

“Someone extracting something…” well now, how can one not extract a bite given this President’s position on transparency and open government? The question I have is really quite simple. How can one engage the public effectively on Afghanistan given that a simple lecture is treated like an NIE?

As to adding a level of protection “for the decision makers (in Washington)” – whoops! Sorry, I think I fell off my chair when I read that.

Officially In: Eight for the Broadcasting Board of Governors

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On November 18, President Obama announced his intent to nominate the following eight individuals to the Broadcasting Board of Governors.

Walter Isaacson, ChairMichael Lynton, MemberSusan McCue, MemberMichael P. Meehan, MemberVictor H. Ashe, MemberDennis Mulhaupt, MemberDana Perino, MemberS. Enders Wimbush, Member

The WH released the following bio notes on the nominees:

Walter Isaacson, Chair, Broadcasting Board of GovernorsWalter Isaacson is President of the Aspen Institute and serves as chair of the board of Teach for America. He is the former Chairman and CEO of CNN and former editor of Time Magazine. Mr. Isaacson is the author of “Einstein: His Life and Universe” and “Benjamin Franklin: An American Life”, and the co-author of “The Wise Men”. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, he was appointed vice-chairman of the Louisiana Recovery Authority. Mr. Isaacson is a graduate of Harvard College and Pembroke College of Oxford University.

Michael Lynton, Member, Broadcasting Board of GovernorsMichael Lynton is the Chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment. He is the former CEO of AOL Europe and Chairman and CEO of Pearson plc's Penguin Group. Mr. Lynton is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and serves on the boards of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Rand Corporation. He is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Business School and is proficient in French, German and Dutch.

Susan McCue, Member, Broadcasting Board of GovernorsSusan McCue is President of Message Global, a strategic advocacy firm she founded in 2008 for social action campaigns. She was the founding President and CEO of The ONE Campaign to combat extreme global poverty, and before that was Chief of Staff to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid from 1999 to 2006. She also is currently Vice Chair of Humanity United. A New Jersey native, Ms. McCue is a graduate of Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J., with degrees in economics and journalism.

Michael P. Meehan, Member, Broadcasting Board of GovernorsMichael P. Meehan currently serves as President of Blue Line Strategic Communications, Inc. and as Senior Vice President at Virilion, a digital media company. For over two decades, Meehan served in senior roles for U.S. Senators John Kerry, Barbara Boxer, Maria Cantwell and former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, two presidential campaigns, two U.S. House offices and congressional campaigns in 25 states. Mr. Meehan earned a B.A. in political science from Bates College.

Victor H. Ashe, Member, Broadcasting Board of GovernorsVictor H. Ashe recently served as United States Ambassador to Poland from June 2004 to October 2009. He also previously served as a Tennessee State Representative and was the longest serving Mayor of Knoxville, Tennessee. Mr. Ashe has served as President of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, was twice appointed to the Intergovernmental Advisory Committee and is a former member of the Americorps Board of Directors. He currently sits on the Board of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the American Rovers Association. Mr. Ashe is a graduate of Yale University and the University Of Tennessee College Of Law in 1974.

Dennis Mulhaupt, Member, Broadcasting Board of GovernorsDennis Mulhaupt is founder and managing director of Commonwealth Partners, Inc., providing advisory services to philanthropic institutions and families. He previously served as Executive Vice President at KCET in Los Angeles, a west-coast flagship public broadcasting and media company. Earlier in his career, he was Vice President at Claremont McKenna College; Vice President for Medical External Relations at Stanford University; and Senior Associate dean in the College of Letters, Arts & Sciences at the University of Southern California. Mr. Mulhaupt received his B.A. from the University of Southern California and an M.Phil. in international relations and criminology from Cambridge University.

Dana Perino, Member, Broadcasting Board of GovernorsDana Perino is the Chief Issues Counselor for the United States at Burson-Marsteller and is a Fox News Contributor. She is the former White House Press Secretary to President George W. Bush - the first Republican woman to hold that position. Ms. Perino previously served in the United States Justice Department, was Director of Communications for the White House Council on Environmental Quality, and worked on Capitol Hill for Representatives Dan Schaefer (R-CO) and Scott McInnis (R-C). She holds a M.A. in Public Affairs Reporting from the University of Illinois – Springfield and a B.A. in Mass Communications from Colorado State University - Pueblo.

S. Enders Wimbush, Member, Broadcasting Board of GovernorsS. Enders Wimbush is the Senior Vice President for International Programs and Policy at the Hudson Institute. He previously worked in the private sector with Booz Allen Hamilton and Science Applications International Corporation, and served as director of Radio Liberty in Munich. Mr. Wimbush founded and directed the Society for Central Asian Studies in Oxford, England, through which he created the international journal Central Asian Survey. Mr. Wimbush also served as a Senior Analyst for the Rand Corporation. Mr. Wimbush received his A.M. in International Relations from the University of Chicago and B.A. in History from the University of Massachusetts-Boston.

* * *The bipartisan Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) oversees all U.S. government and government-sponsored, non-military, international broadcasting services. These include the Voice of America (VOA), Alhurra, Radio Sawa, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), Radio Free Asia (RFA), and Radio and TV Marti.

The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) was created 1994, and serves as a firewall to protect the professional independence and integrity of the BBG broadcasters. It was previously a department within the United States Information Agency until 1999.

On October 1, 1999, the Broadcasting Board of Governors became the independent agency responsible for all U.S. government and government sponsored, non-military international broadcasting.

The BBG board consists of eight members appointed by the president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. The ninth member is the Secretary of State. By law, no more than four members shall be from the same political party. The president designates one member (other than the Secretary of State) to serve as Chairman.

Related Items:

President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts, 11/18/09

President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts, 11/18/09

Quickie: English Lessons Via Mobile Phones

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Rhys Blakely of Times Online reports that the British Government has joined forces with the six largest mobile operators in Bangladesh to unveil the world’s largest project to teach a language using mobile phones (UK to teach English in Bangladesh via mobile | November 16, 2009). Excerpts:

Starting this week a scheme managed by the BBC World Service and funded by the British Government will offer the 50 million Bangladeshis who own mobile handsets the opportunity to dial up a series of three-minute-long English lessons for 3 takas (2.5p) each — less than the cost of a cup of tea at a roadside stall in Dhaka.[…]With three billion mobile phones now in use globally (compared to 1.5 billion television sets), the use of handsets as educational tools is increasingly being explored.[…]In Thailand, graduate students sit tests via text message, while in Japan — where mobile phones outnumber computers five-to-one — handsets have been used for several years to teach English as a second language. One survey found that 70 per cent of Japanese students preferred receiving lessons on mobile phones than on computers.[…]Mobile learning may be particularly useful in countries where populations are widely dispersed, such as in Mongolia, where special English lessons have been developed for waiters and bank tellers, which are distributed through text messages.

Exciting times for micro-learning! Read the whole thing here.

The State Dept on Matthew Hoh

Image by The U.S. Army via Flickr

…and the Art of the Benevolent Push Back

Here is the official word from Foggy Bottom on the resignation of Matthew Hoh, the U.S. official who resigned over Afghanistan. The short short seems to be that State admire, respect, and took him seriously – but he’s not one of theirs for the long haul ‘cuz he was not a career member of the Foreign Service. And by the way we’re on track on Afghanistan.Yes -- and as I write this, the news screen flashes that Taliban militants have gone boldly into Kabul, attacked the UN Guest House, killing six employees.

Summary:

Resignation of Matthew Hoh /Admire Mr. Hoh and Respect Sacrifices Made for His Country / Take His Opinions Seriously / Senior Officials Have Spoken With Him / Respect His Right to Dissent /Had Limited, Non-Career Appointment / Political Officer in PRT in Zabul/Believe We're on Track to Achieving Goals President Has Set Before Us/No Resignations By Career Foreign Service Officers Over Afghanistan/Allegation of Desecration of Qu'ran Denied by Pentagon

* * *

QUESTION: Can I just – now pick up the question about – the resignation of Matthew Hoh, who was working for the State Department in Afghanistan and has made public a somewhat depressing three-page letter about the reasons for his resignation, and he talks about his loss of understanding and confidence in the strategic purposes of the United States presence there.

Is this – how does the State Department view this? Is this an embarrassment of sorts, the fact that it’s become so public? It’s on the front page of the Post today.MR. KELLY: Well, first of all, we admire Mr. Hoh. We respect the sacrifice that he’s made for his country, both in Iraq and signing up to join our effort in Afghanistan. We take his opinions very seriously. Senior officials on the ground in Afghanistan and here in Washington have talked to him, have heard him out. We respect his right to dissent. This is an old and respected tradition in the Foreign Service, that Foreign Service personnel have the right to express their dissent.

Just to give you a little more background on his affiliation with the State Department, he signed on for a limited appointment. It is a non-career appointment. He signed on March 29^th of this year and his employment lasted up until September 28. He submitted his letter of resignation a few weeks before that. He was signed on as a political officer in a Provincial Reconstruction Team in Afghanistan in Zabul. And his role as a PRT political officer was to monitor and report on political and economic developments in his province.

As I say, we take his point of view very seriously. But we continue to believe that we are on track to achieving the goal that the President has set before us, and that’s – you heard Deputy Secretary Lew lay out some of those objectives: improving Afghan governance; providing security, infrastructure, jobs, basically giving the Afghan people an alternative to the very negative vision of the Taliban and al-Qaida. And this is the strategy, and as I say, we believe we're on track reaching the goals. Kirit.QUESTION: Just a couple of things from the article about his meeting with Eikenberry and with Holbrooke. Could you tell us a little more about this, and what happened in those meetings?MR. KELLY: Well, I think he was upfront with his own chain of command, and had the opportunity to discuss with his immediate boss who is the supervisor of the PRTs. And he also talked to the Deputy Chief of Mission out there, Mr. Frank Ricciardone. And it was very much an open and transparent process. As I say, we value his service, we value his background and his skills. This is why we appointed him to this limited non-career appointment to be a political officer, to be our eyes and ears on the ground in Zabul. In the end, he made his own decision, that he decided to resign, and we respect that.QUESTION: Do you wish he hadn’t gone public with it?MR. KELLY: I'm sorry?QUESTION: Do you wish he had not gone public with that?MR. KELLY: It’s really his decision. I mean, we don’t – it was a – obviously, a very personal decision, and I think he even told the post that it was a very painful decision. I’m sure it was, but we respect his right to act on his views.QUESTION: So his tour – his job would have ended on March 29^th of 2010?MR. KELLY: It was a one-year appointment, yeah.QUESTION: That would have ended on March 29, 2010?MR. KELLY: It was supposed to end next March, yeah.QUESTION: And then what would have happened?MR. KELLY: At that point, he would have – his employment would have been over with the State Department. These appointments can be extended as well. I – there have been some appointments that have been extended up to 18 months, I know.QUESTION: And the – okay, but then that’s it?MR. KELLY: And that’s it. Yeah, that’s it.QUESTION: So there –MR. KELLY: He signs an agreement that he’ll – that he agrees to stay for a year and then his employment ends.QUESTION: So that you can’t re-up it at that point.MR. KELLY: Oh, I said we can extend him, but he has no – it’s a non-career appointment. So he doesn’t have any re-employment rights, per se. Of course, he can compete for other jobs.QUESTION: Then I’m not – I’m unclear as to how he actually fits into the Foreign Service.MR. KELLY: It’s – there is a provision of the Foreign Service Act that gives the Secretary the right to designate certain positions as limited with a time certain end date in order to fill positions that have not been filled through the normal Foreign Service process. And so this was one of them. We have, I think a total in the world, about 16 of these type appointments. It’s not – it’s fairly rare.QUESTION: Is that the same thing as the 3161 or is that different?MR. KELLY: No, that’s different.QUESTION: It’s different, right?MR. KELLY: I don’t know all the ins and outs of 3161. I think that’s more of a Civil – I think that’s for Civil Service appointments.QUESTION: So this is under Foreign Service, but he is not considered --MR. KELLY: This is under Foreign Service.QUESTION: -- a Foreign Service officer, he’s not commissioned as a Foreign Service officer?MR. KELLY: He’s not commissioned as a Foreign Service officer, yeah.

Yeah.Related Post: FSO Matthew Hoh Resigns Over Afghan War

Web 2.0 Roundup: US Embassy Manila

From US Embassy Manila via Facebook

Last week, the US Embassy in Manila had “Twitter Week.” The occasion marked the official launch of the embassy’s twin sites in Twitter and Facebook. In announcing the new online engagement, the US Ambassador to the Philippines, Kristie Kenney writes in her blog:

"At the U.S. Embassy in Manila, we use all sorts of modern technology to stay in touch, and we want more people to have virtual access to us and our activities. We have a new U.S. Embassy Manila Facebook page, along with our Embassy website, to share stories, news and photos with you."

Ambassador Kenney is one of the very few US Ambassadors with an official blog, and the only one with a blog hosted in America.gov. As can be expected the topic she addresses in her blog are normally selective, noncontroversial and usually tied to her official events like US Navy ship visits here and here, USAID projects, the passing of President Aquino and marking 9/11. But in late September when Typhoon Ketsana caused widespread flooding in Metro Manila and nearby areas, and in the relief operation that followed, she was able to use her blog here and here, to give insight into the calamity on the ground and share online what the USG was trying to do to help. And none of it looked like boiler-plate language that you see in cables or in press releases. In one of her blog posts she writes:

“I have to start this blog entry by telling my mother, once again, that I am fine. Yes, Manila was flattened by major floods. Yes, typhoons followed the floods. Yes, many people suffered. Yes, the U.S. Embassy was flooded. But I am fine. And very lucky. Many others were not so fortunate.”

I don’t think we can realistically expect our ambassadors to write about foreign policy issues in their blogs. We certainly can’t expect Ambassador Kenney to write about the RP-US Visiting Agreement in this medium because there are other venues what would lend more effectively to the discussion of such matters. But as she has shown, a blog can be a great tool in public diplomacy; no, not as a public relations-lobbying tool but in personalizing our government’s top representative in a foreign country, and in showing empathetic engagement. Whoever works online officially as part of the public diplomacy outreach must bear in mind what Edward R. Murrow, former director of the USIA, once said: “Truth is the best propaganda and lies are the worst. To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; to be credible we must be truthful. It is as simple as that.”

Internet stats for the Republic of the Philippines below:

Population (est. 2009): 97,976,603

Internet Users (2000): 2,000,000

Internet Users (latest data): 24,000,000

Penetration: 21.1 %

User Growth (2000-2009): 932.5 %

User in Asia (%): 2.9 %

In addition to the ambassador’s blog and the mission website (that has so far evaded the fate of a canned website template), the US Embassy Manila is on Facebook and Twitter. It is also on Flickr although its extensive photo gallery has not been uploaded to it. Ambassador Kenney is on Twitter with over 700 followers (including basketball star, Chris Tiu). That’s how you know she had “dinner with embassy pals and manny pacquiao” or that she watched the Smart Gilas versus Ginebra game. As an aside, the game, that’s the basketball game -- is important. In 1898-1900s, the United States introduced basketball in the Philippines. Today, it is the most popular sport in the country.

Similar to Indonesia, I think there is an opportunity for innovative PD engagement in the Philippines that no one has grabbed unto yet. Filipino mobile phone users currently number more than 70 million out of the total population of 97 million. Its penetration rate hit 75 percent in 2008; double that of Indonesia’s. More than radios, more than the Internet, mobile phones have more reach than anything else in this country of over 7,100 islands. The Philippines is also widely called the text-messaging center of the world for a reason; they send one billion text messages a day. According to WaPo, when President Joseph Estrada was forced from office in 2001, he bitterly complained that the popular uprising against him was a "coup de text." (It was widely reported that the protest was coordinated with SMS chain letters). "This is a development for democracy," was how text messaging was described by one protest leader, five years later, organizing against Estrada’s successor. If a “coup de text” was possible, how can making this work for public diplomacy be impossible? "Once we rid ourselves of traditional thinking we can get on with creating the future.*" There is a way to put this to great use – find it!

See more Web 2.0 Roundup here.*James Bertrand quote

Web 2.0 Roundup: US Embassy Jakarta Wows!

Kick-off Pesta Blogger 2009and Blogshops announcement. One Spirit One NationAmbassador Hume is 3rd from the right

Tomorrow, October 24, the U.S. Embassy Jakarta is sponsoring Pesta Blogger 2009, Indonesia’s only national-level bloggers’ gathering. This is the second consecutive year that US Embassy Jakarta is sponsoring the event. Four U.S. bloggers will participate: Brian Giesen, a Digital Influence Specialist with over five years of experience with Ogilvy PR and is an Interactive Marketing Manager in Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide; Arsalan Iftikhar, international human rights lawyer, founder of TheMuslimGuy.com blog, and a contributing editor for Islamica magazine in Washington DC; Mark Frauenfelder, co-founder of BoingBoing.net and was an editor at Wired Magazine from 1993-1998 and Corvida Raven, author of SheGeeks.net, co-author of EverythingTwitter and TheSocialGeeks Podcast.

The U.S. Embassy has also sponsored a series of blogging workshops in 10 cities across Indonesia over the past three months, in order to encourage more Indonesians to blog and to impart the principles of citizen journalism. Over one thousand people participated in the programs, which were held in Malang, Semarang, Balikpapan, Samarinda, Makassar, Medan, Bandung, Surabaya, Palembang and Yogyakarta.

Sounds like fun!In June this year, I wrote about the State Department’s digital diplomacy footprint. I looked at our most important posts in terms of perceived engagement need and size and included posts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Egypt, China and Mexico. Read my original post here.

I omitted Indonesia because in Asia, there were other high flyers online that shocked my balls. Yes, Indonesia did have a user growth rate of 1,150%, but Afghanistan is the top dog with 49,900.0 % growth rate while China holds the highest number of Internet users at 48.2%. As an aside, the countries with the highest growth rates after Afghanistan (in five digit rates) are in the –stans: Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Tajikistan (US Embassy Dushanbe is on Facebook) and Uzbekistan (IRC Tashkent is on Facebook).

But I did want to write about Indonesia because among the US missions I’ve been keeping tabs on, US Embassy Jakarta’s digital outreach probably offers the most active, creative and fun engagement in the new media. Indonesia is also a sprawling country of 17,000 islands. It is the world's fourth most populous country, with the world's largest population of Muslims. Indonesia’s internet stats below:

Estimated population in 2009: 240,271,522

Internet Users in 2000: 2,000,000

Internet Users (latest data): 25,000,000

Penetration: 10.4 %

User Growth (2000-2009): 1,150.0 %

% Users in Asia: 3.6 %

The US Embassy in Jakarta says that it was the first diplomatic Mission in Indonesia to create a Facebook page. Check it out at www.facebook.com/jakarta.usembassy. The page was launched in January and as of this writing, has 15,106 hard-earned fans. Its Facebook page also features unique content, including photos (see the Embassy’s resident cats and batik collection), videos and contests (FotObama, Ocean in Focus).

Ambassador Hume has posted once in DipNote but Embassy Jakarta has no regular blogger. The US Embassy Jakarta is also on YouTube and Twitter but its Facebook page is obviously its flagship engagement online.In late August, it announced its plan to organize a fans meet-up when the number reaches 10.000. Exactly a month later, it hit that impressive mark. To put that number in context, Co.Nx: See the World which is hosted by the State Department’s International Information Programs (IIP) Bureau and spans the globe has 31,993 fans. The State Department’s main Facebook page has 23,432 fans. Most US mission pages on Facebook barely breaks the thousandth mark. So 15,106 fans is a big wow! I hope that goes into somebody's EER. I also hope that the embassy can keep it up even when the current team running it rotates out to new assignments.

Just a couple more thoughts -

1) I am glad the embassy no longer plasters the embassy’s URL across its shared photos. But I am still hoping that they move their photo gallery over to Flickr not only for easier search but also to have an integrated depository of mission photographs. To date the U.S. Government has spent over US$ 8 million for the West Sumatran earthquake assistance campaign. The photos are available here but have not been posted in its Facebook page.2) I'm wondering who will venture bravely into the undiscovered country of public diplomacy via SMS? Indonesia could be a great place for PD innovators (admittedly State is not known as a great incubator for innovators, but one can hope). The total mobile subscribers in Indonesia crossed the 90 million mark in early 2008, with a 37% penetration rate. According to trendsmith, its mobile market is growing rapidly with almost 50% annual increase in subscribers over the past 7 years. Now there's an opportunity for engagement. Think about it.

PD Rapid Response Team to Pakistan?

HRC delivered the Second Annual Dean Acheson lecture yesterday at Renaissance Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC (Remarks | October 21, 2009 | Video). Last year, DOD Secretary Robert Gates delivered the inaugural lecture for the U.S. Institute of Peace.

During the Q&A, a Pakistani who apparently is a fellow at USIP said that “the overwhelming majority of the people believe that the U.S. presence in the region is all about the Pakistan nukes; that the Administration has made efforts, yet these efforts are countering to – the propaganda. And the widespread impression on the ground is that the Blackwaters are there, the Marines are in the Embassy, and they’re all just to take the Pakistani nukes.” He further states, “I understand that the U.S. Ambassador in Pakistan and special envoy, from time to time, they interact with the Pakistani media. But by the time they interact with the media, the conventional wisdom had solidified.” On that landmark Kerry-Lugar bill, he says “You may call it a historical step towards enhancing relationship with Pakistan, but the bitter reality is that back home, it is considered a big fiasco.”

So then he asked, “How to increase the speed of your counter-propaganda in Pakistan, and second is to coordinate across the whole government to ensure continuity and cohesion of approach?”

The USG in recent months supported a young entrepreneurs' “Incubation Center,” provided bomb disposal equipment, donated ambulances, sent Pakistani students for US exchange visits and more. None of these seemed to have penetrated the very crowded traditional press that is considered among the most outspoken in South Asia. BBC reported that there were 17.5 million internet users in the country as of March 2008. A growing number of bloggers and social networkers write about politics. These users of new media have been vocal and quite active not only about the expansion of the US Embassy in Islamabad but also about the Kerry-Lugar bill. Check this one here, here and here.

The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, in the meantime, lacks a vigorous presence online. Except for that template website that we see in most embassy websites, and the videos piggybacking on materials provided by America.gov, its only other online engagement appears to be its connection to Co.Nx for its webchats, also via America.gov. I have not seen any material specifically geared towards an online dialogue addressing hearts and minds issues in that country.

In response to the questions above, here is what Secretary Clinton said:

Well, I’m actually very glad that you raised your questions and made your comment, because I think we have, as a government, not done a very good job in responding to what you rightly call propaganda, misinformation, even in some instances disinformation, about our motivations and our actions in Pakistan. That became clear to me as we were doing our review, and I saw how often there were stories in the Pakistani media that were totally untrue, but we were not responding as effectively as we need to.

We have, under Judith McHale, our Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy, undertaken a very thorough analysis of what better we could do, and we are moving very rapidly to try to fill that void. We have a new team going in to Pakistan. A Public Affairs officer may be already there. We have adopted a new approach, which is we do not leave any misstatement or inaccuracy unanswered. It may be that people won’t believe it at first, but we intend to counter a lot of this propaganda with the best weapon we have; namely, the truth. And we’re going to be much more aggressive in interacting with the Pakistani media.[…]This is going to take time. This is not something you can fix in a news cycle or by just snapping your fingers and asking people to believe you. You have to go at it day in and day out. And I was, frankly, quite surprised that we had not done much of this in an effective manner. But we’re going to remedy that. And there’s no guarantee that people will pay more attention to what we say, but at least we’re going to be in the mix and we’re going to be in the mix every day in getting out information that can be used by those who understand that the United States is hoping to be a good partner for not just the Government of Pakistan, but more importantly, the people of Pakistan.

We’ll be in the lookout on what changes the new public diplomacy team makes when they get to Islamabad.

US Embassy Jakarta's FotObama Contest Winners

US Embassy Jakarta via Facebook

US Embassy Jakarta has picked the photo above as winner of its recent FotObama Competition. This was one of my top four picks because I like the Indonesian landmark and hat tweaked into 44's photo with the Capitol Building in the background.Contestant - Dewa Made Cakrabuana AristokraSee all the winners here.I understand that the winner and the runner-ups will get the following prizes: iPod Shuffle, vouchers from Blitz Megaplex and Starbucks, Coca-Cola merchandise, and exclusive U.S. Embassy & Obama gear and memorabilia.The US Embassy Jakarta's Facebook page will also use the best fan picture as its Facebook profile picture. Congratulations all!

Public Diplomacy: MIST has more Money than PAO

Here is one more stark reality when it comes to public diplomacy programs funded by DOD and by State:

"AFRICOM also provided military information support teams (MIST) to engage the public. MIST teams have exponentially more money to spend in a country than do embassy public affairs offices. In Somalia, for example, the Embassy had $30,000 to spend on public diplomacy while the MIST team had $600,000. Given the urgency of combating terrorism in Somalia, money was needed and the reported successes of MIST programs elsewhere served as a recommendation. Under MIST, AFRICOM inherited an established military practice of working closely with embassy public affairs officers to develop and fund effective programs."

From Jakarta: Happy 48th Birthday Barry!

Entries to the US Embassy Jakarta’s FotObama Contest on Facebook are now online here. I don't know how many more entries have yet to be posted but there are 8 photos right now. My top four favorites are below:

July 28, 2009 - Citra ChergiaSee the profile picture:http://www.facebook.com/people/Citra-Chergia/695063440Larger photo hereI like the sepia tone, the gorgeous smiles and the fact that he is simply "Barry" here.

August 4, 2009 - Dewa Made Cakrabuana AristokraSee the profile picture:http://www.facebook.com/aristokra?__a=1Larger photo hereI like the Indonesian landmark and hat tweaked into 44's photo with the Capitol Building.

August 4, 2009 - Triyuliandi MuhammadSee the profile picture:http://www.facebook.com/muhammad.triyuliandiLarger photo hereThat's one rough head shot work but it works just right in the scrapbook-like theme here!

August 4, 2009 - Debo Michiko SianturiSee the profile picture:http://www.facebook.com/debonlyLarger photo here'Cuz this one is just so cute.

Updated @ 1:53 pm; one photo and brief comments added.

US Embassy Jakarta Runs FotObama Competition

Source: US Embassy Jakarta Facebook Page

You remember that US Ambassador to Indonesia Cameron Hume dived into a shark tank to celebrate Earth Day a few months back? The Embassy has also sponsored the “Ocean in Focus” competition. To celebrate our country’s 233rd birthday, it offered a special quiz about America, exclusively for its Facebook fans. It has also partnered with Smart FM producing “Smart Up Your Life,” a one-hour English language learning program aimed at young professionals who want to improve their English skills. The show featured music, a sharing session with local public figures (managers, employees, lecturers and others) as well as an interactive (call-in) session with listeners.

Now in time for President Obama’s 48^th birthday, the embassy is running a competition for its Facebook fans creatively greeting the President on his birthday. Below is a quick rundown of the competition.

1. Snap ItSnap a photo showing you creatively wishing President Obama a "happy birthday" in time for his 48th birthday on August 4^th.2. Post ItUpdate your profile picture to that photo and add a caption. Then, link it by commenting on the U.S. Embassy’s Facebook Fan Page note about the "FotObama" Competition.3. Win ItWin great prizes, like an iPod Shuffle, vouchers from Blitz Megaplex and Starbucks, Coca-Cola merchandise, and exclusive U.S. Embassy & Obama gear and memorabilia. We will also choose the best fan pictures as our Facebook profile picture.

This competition is presented by U.S. Embassy Jakarta, supported by Blitz Megaplex, Starbucks, and Coca-Cola.

Rules and Criteria:

• This competition is exclusively for U.S. Embassy Jakarta Facebook Fans.
• Employees if the U.S. Government and their families are not eligible for this competition.
• Each participant may submit no more than 3 photos with the following specifications:

1. Photo should be posted to your Facebook account and set it as your profile picture.

2. Add a caption to the photo.

3. Photo should be the participant’s own work and free of any copyright other that his/her own personal copyright.

4. Photo must show you and your “happy birthday” wish to President Barack Obama in a creative way.

• All decisions of the U.S. Embassy Facebook Team are final.
• Prizes will be sent to the winners.
• Limited to residents in Indonesia.

Deadline:

Submission will be closed on midnight WIB August 4, 2009.

Prizes:

§ iPod Shuffle

§ Blitz Megaplex voucher

§ Starbucks voucher

§ Coca-Cola merchandise

§ U.S. Embassy Jakarta pins & books

§ President Obama memorabilia

The US Embassy Jakarta Facebook page is one of the most active US Embassy Facebook pages around. It probably is not surprising that it also has an active community of 2,983 fans.

In a related note --

A new survey by the Pew Research Center's Global Attitudes Project, conducted May 18 to June 16, finds signs of improvement in views of America in some predominantly Muslim countries that held overwhelmingly negative views of the United States in the Bush years. The most notable increase occurred in Indonesia, where people are well aware of Obama's family ties to the country and where favorable ratings of the U.S. nearly doubled this year from 37% in 2008 to 63% in 2009. Read the full report including interactive graphics at pewglobal.org.

H.R. 2410: Public Diplomacy Takes Center Stage

TITLE II Subtitle B—Authorizes the Secretary of State (Secretary) to establish in the Foreign Service a Public Diplomacy Reserve Corps consisting of mid- and senior-level former Foreign Service officers and other individuals to serve for a period of six months to two years abroad. It provides for the enhancement of U.S. diplomatic outreach, including: (1) establishment of new, and maintenance of existing, libraries and resource centers in connection with U.S. diplomatic and consular missions; and (2) grants for documentary film programs. It also extends the United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy.

SEC. 212. ESTABLISHMENT OF PUBLIC DIPLOMACY RESERVE CORPS.

(a) Finding- Congress finds that currently a shortage of trained public diplomacy Foreign Service officers at the mid-career level threatens the effectiveness of United States outreach to publics abroad.

(b) Sense of Congress- It is the sense of Congress that--

(1) the Foreign Service should recruit individuals with professional experience relevant to public diplomacy, and provide training and mentoring to cultivate their skills in order to build up the corps of professionals in the public diplomacy cone; and
(2) apart from the public diplomacy cone, training of all Foreign Service officers should include more information on techniques of public diplomacy.

(c) Establishment of Public Diplomacy Reserve Corps- Section 301 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 3941) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:‘(e) Establishment of Public Diplomacy Reserve Corps-

(1) IN GENERAL- The Secretary of State is authorized to establish in the Foreign Service a Public Diplomacy Reserve Corps consisting of mid- and senior-level former Foreign Service officers and other individuals with experience in the private or public sector relevant to public diplomacy, to serve for a period of six months to two years in postings abroad.

(2) PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN ACTIVITIES- While actively serving with the Reserve Corps, individuals may not engage in activities directly or indirectly intended to influence public opinion within the United States in the same manner and to the same extent that employees of the Department of State engaged in public diplomacy are so prohibited.’

More public diplomacy provision under this bill below (click here to read the details)

Sec. 211. Concentration of public diplomacy responsibilities.

Sec. 212. Establishment of Public Diplomacy Reserve Corps.

Sec. 213. Enhancing United States public diplomacy outreach.

Sec. 214. Public diplomacy resource centers.

Sec. 215. Grants for international documentary exchange programs.

Sec. 216. United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy.

Sec. 217. Special Olympics.

Sec. 218. Extension of program to provide grants to American-sponsored schools in predominantly Muslim countries to provide scholarships.

Sec. 219. Central Asia scholarship program for public policy internships.

Sec. 220. United States-South Pacific Scholarship Program.

Sec. 221. Scholarships for indigenous peoples of Mexico and Central and South America.

Sec. 222. United States-Caribbean Educational Exchange Program.

Sec. 223. Exchanges between Sri Lanka and the United States to promote dialogue among minority groups in Sri Lanka.

Sec. 224. Exchanges between Liberia and the United States for women legislators.

Sec. 225. Public diplomacy plan for Haiti.

Sec. 226. Transfer of the Vietnam Education Foundation to the Department of State.

The U.S. Information Agency (USIA) was abolished ten years ago (October 1, 1999), when its information (but not broadcasting) and exchange functions were folded into the Department of State under the Under Secretary of State for Public Affairs and Public Diplomacy (“R”). The USIA officers who stayed have been scattered around the bureaus and overseas missions; others have retired. I’m not sure how many old hands from USIA are around and willing to staff the Public Diplomacy Reserve Corps. I’m also wondering if we’ll see an increased in WAE appointments or if we’ll see more contractors coming from the private sector for these 6-24 months appointments for PDRC jobs.

Related Posts:

• H.R. 2410: Little Devils in the Details
• H.R. 2410 Foreign Relations Authorization Act Passes House
• H.R. 2410 Clears HFAC, Sec. 333 Stricken from Bill
• H.R. 2410: Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 2010 and 2011

Quickie: Ambassador Hill Talks to the WSJ

Image via Wikipedia

Embassy website knows nothing about it

U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Christopher Hill gave an interview to Gina Chon of The Wall Street Journal. He says:

“We try to be very active and engaged; we try to be out there. But we're mindful that if it's going to work, it's going to work because it's the Iraqis and not the Americans who are solving things. One has to keep that in mind. And what we're seeing lately is an Iraqi process and that's one to be encouraged and is encouraging. I want to be helpful in the process, not to be involved in the process, and make sure this seedling of democracy is really able to grow. I think this could be of truly historic proportions if Iraq can emerge from these years of transition as a democratic government. It's very much in our interest to be engaged but not interfere.”

The article is here. The edited transcript of the interview is here. Don’t bother looking up the interview transcript in US Embassy Baghdad’s website; it’s not there. It might pleased you to know that Ambassador Hill did visit the Babylonian Ruins, although you won’t find that in the Embassy News either ‘cuz it’s in the ambo archives. The website was UPDATED: 05 Jun 2009 GMT and below is one of the non-update that still lives online:

2009 Press Release

Following are recent press releases from U.S. Embassy Baghdad, including speeches, remarks and statements by U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan C. Crocker and other U.S. Government officials.

Well obviously not recent enough. Would you please help me write a fan mail to the BaghdadPressOffice@state.gov asking them to get their act together and nudge them beyond the brick wall of the 20^th century? This is ridigulous! (Caution: email address taken from embassy website, we make no promises that email address works).