Robert Coonrod. Creating the Digital Future, Keynote address at the Web-Wise 2003 Conference, February 27. 2003. Bob’s thoughts on how digital technologies are changing operating models and institutional relationships for broadcasting, museums, and libraries. Available at the Internet journal FirstMonday.
Steven Livingston. “The New Media and Transparency: What are the Consequences for Diplomacy,” in Evan Potter, ed. Cyber-Diplomacy: Managing Foreign Policy in the Twenty-First Century, Montreal: McGill Queens University Press, 2003. GWU Professor and Public Diplomacy Institute Chair Steve Livingston’s thinking on ways lightweight news gathering technologies, commercial remote sensing satellites, and wireless communications are changing diplomacy. A good summary for those unable to attend his panel discussion at Georgetown University earlier this year.
Other items of interest
Al Jazeera.net. English language Al Jazeera website coming online soon.
Thomas P.M. Barnett and Henry Gaffney, Jr. “Global Transaction Strategy,” Military Officer, May 2002. Barnett and Gaffney analyze a new security paradigm in terms of a “functioning core” of globalization and a disconnected “non-integrating gap.” The authors see maintaining and expanding America’s historical alliances as critical national security.
Paul Berman. Terror and Liberalism, New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2003. Political and cultural critic Paul Berman offers a powerful, well written analysis of the war against terrorism as a war of ideas. Drawing on a rich variety of Western and Islamic sources, Berman argues that current Islamic extremism can be understood as a new phase in the continuing battle between liberalism and totalitarianism. (Courtesy of Donna Oglesby: “I highly recommend it to people serious about public diplomacy.”)
Paul Berman. “The Philosopher of Islamic Terror,” The New York Times Magazine, March 23, 2003. Essay on the ideas of Egyptian philosopher Sayyid Qutb. Adapted from Terror and Liberalism.
Columbia Journalism Review. CJR’s May/June 2003 issue contains a special issue on Iraq. “Special Report: Covering War in Real Time.” Articles include Terrence Smith’s assessment of war coverage (“The New Standard”), Adeel Hassan look at reporters taking risks (“To Die For”), and Paul Friedman’s analysis of (“The War on TV”). Available today in print, most articles should soon be posted on CJR’s web edition.
Milton C. Cummings, Jr. Cultural Diplomacy and the United States Government: A Survey. A history of cultural diplomacy programs from the 1930’s to the present. Available at the Center for Arts and Culture website.
House International Relations Committee, House Rpt.108-105 – Part 1 – Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 2004 and 2005. The HIRC recently posted its Committee report on H.R. 1950. Contains summaries of the bill’s lengthy sections on public diplomacy in the Department of State and U.S. international broadcasting.
Stephen Johnson and Helle Dale, Reclaiming America’s Voice Overseas, WebMemo #273. A summary of recommendations developed in Johnson and Dale’s longer report on public diplomacy published by the Heritage Foundation. (See How to Reinvigorate U.S. Public Diplomacy, April 23, 2003.) Available on the Heritage Foundation’s website.
Thomas Pickering. “Cultural Diplomacy Best Practices,” Introductory speech at the Meeting on Cultural Diplomacy cosponsored by the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, Georgetown University and the Center for Arts and Culture, April 30. 2003.
Evan H. Potter, ed. Cyber-Diplomacy: Managing Foreign Policy in the Twenty-First Century, Montreal: McGill Queens University Press, 2003. Potter, founding editor of the quarterly Canadian Foreign Policy and a former senior strategist at the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, teaches at the University of Ottawa. This collection of essays focuses on how Canada’s diplomats have used communications technology in support of its public diplomacy. Includes essays by Potter, PDI Chair Steve Livingston, and former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Gordon Smith.
Samantha Power. “A Problem From Hell” America and the Age of Genocide, New York: Basic Books, 2002. Power’s widely acclaimed Pulitzer Prize winner is included here for its references to television and the role of journalists throughout and especially the role of Radio Mille Collines and “hate radio” in Rwanda.
Marianne C. Scott. A Citizen’s Guide to Global Economic Policymaking, League of Women Voters, 2002. Scott, an experienced public diplomacy officer and now deputy executive director of the American Committees on Foreign Relations, has written an excellent guide to the stakes, choices, and processes for citizens in multinational institutions. Available through the League’s website and Amazon.com
Philip Taylor. “New Media in Modern War,” Science in War, April 2003. Leeds University’s Phil Taylor looks at distinctions between “media war” and “real war” in the context of television coverage of the Iraq war and the first Gulf War.
Virtual Diplomacy Listserv. This excellent listserv at the U.S. Institute of Peace has upgraded its software and changed its sender address to vdiplomacyowner@list.usip.org. PDC members may wish to sign on for this valuable resource, which is managed with care by Margarita S. Studemeister at USIP.
M. Mitchell Waldrop. Pervasive Computing: An Overview of the Concept and Exploration of the Public Policy Implications. Foresight and Governance Project: Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. 2003. Waldrop’s paper examines the convergence of three waves of innovation: a proliferation of devices, wireless networking, and mobile software. Technical and accessible.
Margaret J. Wyszomirski, Christopher Burgess, and Catherine Peila. International Cultural Relations: A Multi-Country Comparison. A study of nine countries’ cultural diplomacy programs [Australia, Austria, France, Canada, Japan, Netherlands, Singapore, Sweden and the United Kingdom] including data on goals, structure, program tools and financial support. Available at the Center for Arts and Culture website.
The Heritage Foundation (April 23) issued a report on How to Reinvigorate U.S. Public Diplomacy. The full report (with graphics) by Stephen Johnson and Helle Dale is available online in html and pdf formats.