Several noteworthy citations appear after the break.
“The words "diplomacy" and "State Department," however, don’t appear on the McCain-Palin campaign Web page, which outlines a national security platform heavy with vows to pump up U.S. military muscle.” – McClatchey reporter Jonathan Landay. The McCain camp was actively looking for a new name for USIA as well as a resurrection of an OSS-style model for global engagement. From his advisors, it’s far from clear that the Information Services will have prominent support required today.
“War’s conduct and outcome depend in large measure on subjective factors such as the will of the people, the wisdom of political objectives, and consistency between those objectives and military strategy.” – H.R. McMaster in Learning from Contemporary Conflicts to Prepare for Future War at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. There’s a certain irony that Hans Morgenthau wrote much the same at the beginning of the Cold War, when it was still a War of Ideas.
“Practical and ideological considerations therefore both impel us to the conclusion that we have no choice but to demonstrate the superiority of the idea of freedom by its constructive application, and to attempt to change the world situation by means short of war in such a way as to frustrate the Kremlin design and hasten the decay of the Soviet system.” – NSC 68, Means of The Underlying Conflict in the Realm of ideas and Values between the U.S. Purpose and the Kremlin Design
“The political, economic, and psychological warfare which the USSR is now waging has dangerous potentialities for weakening the relative world position of the United States and disrupting its traditional institutions by means short of war, unless sufficient resistance is encountered in the policies of this and other non-communist countries.” NSC 68, Conclusions
“From fundraising to media relations, the Internet has fundamentally transformed the way opposition groups do public outreach. Here are five once shadowy rebel movements that today are just a click away.” – Foreign Policy listing “rebel” websites. Modern pamphleteering has a broad, international reach that break traditional geo-political divisions create and foster dynamic socially, emotionally, and culturally-connected diasporas. As the “media” was the oxygen of the terrorist in the 1970s and 1980s, the Internet is the oxygen of modern terrorists, insurgents, subversives, as well as human rights organizations.
“The tour harkens back to a Cold War era when, according to The New York Times, jazz was the country’s ‘secret sonic weapon’ against communism.” – The monthly highlights of Public Diplomacy in Europe talking about American jazz touring Russia.
“It wasn’t like we were having a picnic but it was a special experience.” – Sergeant Major Ruben “Ben” Cavazos talking about his January 20 x 5 mile laps around Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, timed to coincide with the H.U.R.T. 100-mile endurance run, as reported in Trail Runner. SGM Cavazos raised nearly $12,000 for the Wounded Warrior Project and was named the Army Athlete of the Year for 2007.
USDemocrazy: capturing the color and character of each of our 50 states 
