Posting date changed to bump to the top of the page
Heads up: tomorrow there will be a blogger roundtable via conference call with Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs James Glassman. From State:
Under Secretary of State James K. Glassman will address attempts to curb extremist ideology in the Middle East, with particular emphasis on Iran, in a roundtable discussion with bloggers on September 17 at 1 p.m ET. Specifically, he will discuss his department’s overall efforts (and detail some recent programs) to reach out to young people, act as a facilitator of moderate voices, and work with the private sector to curb extremist ideology.
If you are interested in participating in this conference call, contact Glen Roberts at RobertsGF@state.gov.
Other topics to be discussed:
State Dept. seeks democracy videos: Government teams with media orgs on contest (Variety)
The U.S. State Dept. has revealed its latest diplomatic tool: user-generated content. At the U.N. on Monday, representatives revealed the Democracy Video Challenge, a government initiative co-sponsored with half a dozen high-profile media orgs including NBC Universal, the DGA and the MPAA.
The challenge in question will be to create a three-minute video completing the phrase “Democracy is…” in hopes of receiving a prize package that includes set visits, tickets to the Universal Studios L.A. theme park, and meetings with everyone from U.S. government officials to “new-media experts.”
Debating in the New Media: State Department dialogues with Ahmadinejad’s media advisor
America knows that bullets alone will not win this war (op-ed by the U/S in the UK’s The Independent)
Public diplomacy is, very simply, diplomacy aimed at publics, as opposed to officials. While some people associate it with marketing – with building a national brand – the truth is that public diplomacy, like official diplomacy and like military action, has as its mission the achievement of the national interest. Public diplomacy performs this mission by understanding, informing, engaging, and persuading foreign publics.
