Eccentric Star: A Public Diplomacy Weblog

Indian Clerics Decline to Host U.S. Speaker on Islam

Here's a problem: You want to convince someone that they have the wrong idea about something you're doing, but they won't even give you a chance to make your case. What can you do?

One option is to get a respected third party to make your point for you -- but to be effective, the third party has to be perceived as genuinely independent. That can be a problem for U.S.-sponsored speakers. The very fact that their tour or appearance is being made with the help of the U.S. government is enough for some people to write them off. You can wind up not only failing to get your message of the moment through, but also damaging the third party's standing with the intended audience.

This dynamic has often been a problem in U.S. democracy promotion, too. The very fact of accepting grants or other support from the U.S. government can undermine the local credibility of a pro-democracy activist or group.

"U.S.-Backed Imam Gets Cool Reception in India," by Shaikh Azizur Rahman (in Kolkata/Calcutta) - the Washington Times, 15 March 2007

A speaking tour by the Muslim chaplain at Georgetown University has exposed a conundrum for the State Department's public diplomacy program: The mere fact that the visit was sponsored by the Bush administration left many Indian Muslims unreceptive to the message.

The chaplain, Imam Yahya Hendi, was in India for three days late last week to debunk myths about the status and treatment of Muslims in America, much as he has done in State Department-sponsored trips to the Middle East, Africa and Europe.

The visit, arranged by Karen Hughes' two-year-old public diplomacy office at the State Department, did produce successes. Imam Hendi was welcomed at a few schools and mosques, and led a mass prayer attended by 15,000 worshippers at a Calcutta mosque.

But several Muslim leaders contacted in advance by U.S. diplomats refused to have anything to do with the visit.

"At our mosque the imam wanted to lead a mass prayer and interact with the people," said Hyder Ali, a spokesman for the Baitul Aman Mosque, the largest in West Bengal. "But we turned down the request ... because he was acting on behalf of a government which for long years has been responsible for killings and sufferings of innocent Muslims in many countries including Iraq, Palestine and Afghanistan. We did not want to betray our brothers and sisters in those countries by extending him hospitality in our mosque."...

'Public Fear and Frustration' Rising in Afghanistan, CSIS Report Says

Afghanistan has (tragically) become the perfect example of why public opinion and public relationships need to be recognized and managed in attempts at post-conflict stabilization:

"Afghans See Marked Decline Since 2005," by Griff Witte - the Washington Post, p. A-11, 24 February 2007 (registration required)

Conditions in Afghanistan have deteriorated markedly since 2005, with rising violence, government corruption and misguided U.S. efforts contributing to growing unease among the population, according to a report released yesterday based in part on 1,000 interviews with ordinary Afghans.

Although there were bright spots -- a better overall economy and more rights for women -- the report's authors found diminishing security as the Taliban steps up its attacks, a discredited justice system and a severe lack of basic services such as electricity. The report, produced by the nonpartisan Center for Strategic and International Studies and funded in part by a grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development, also found that Afghans tend to be more negative in their outlook than official statistics or media accounts would suggest.

"Public fear and frustration are on the rise in Afghanistan. As a result, Afghans are beginning to disengage from national governing processes and lose confidence in their leadership," according to the report. "Dramatic changes are required in the coming weeks, or 2007 will become the breaking point."...

Among the report's recommendations are to shift the focus away from eradicating poppy fields and toward interdiction, to give local communities more control over aid money, and to abandon major military sweeps that inflict damage on civilians in favor of rapid-response forces that can protect Afghans in emergencies. "NATO and the United States' 'big army' military operations and emphasis on foot soldier 'kills' are doing more damage than good," the report said.

Lt. Col. Todd Vician, a Pentagon spokesman, said he could not comment on the report's recommendations because he had not seen them, but he said part of the reason the United States is committing more troops to Afghanistan is to improve response times. Britain said yesterday it would also be sending additional troops....

The report is available on the CSIS webpage. The link from their homepage wasn't working this morning; try this one instead: http://www.csis.org/media/csis/pubs/070223_breakingpoint.pdf.

US Amb. Gives Overview of US-Canadian Relations

"Wilkins: Canadians Warming to US," by Anna Simon - The Greenville News (Greenville, NC), 21 February 2007

CLEMSON -- Two democracies, side by side. Different systems, and both good.

That's how Greenvillian David Wilkins, former state House speaker, now U.S. ambassador to Canada, described U.S. and Canadian politics from his new front-row seat.

For a self-described political junkie, the 20 months he's served so far in his new position have been "the privilege of a lifetime," Wilkins told an audience at Clemson University's Strom Thurmond Institute on Tuesday night....

Wilkins said his goal is to leave the relationship "stronger than ever" between the two allies, which exchange $1.5 billion in commerce and trade daily.

Two issues already have been resolved: a longstanding dissatisfaction among Canadians over a U.S. tariff on softwood lumber, and closure of the border because of mad cow disease.

The perception was "that we weren't working with our friends," Wilkins said.

Now polls show "they have a better view of us than a year ago," Wilkins said.

"Building relationships is what it is all about," he said.

The new hot issue is passports, Wilkins said. Canadians fear the new requirement that U.S. citizens now have passports to travel to Canada will hurt tourism, but Wilkins disagrees....

For some background, see:

Businesses Worry New Rules Will Stymie US-Canada Travel, Commerce
Canadians Change Gov't - But Not Concerns
Canadians Want PM Who Can Handle Washington
US Amb: Canadian PM Takes America-Bashing on Campaign Trail
Canadian Fast Food Boycott to Protest US Softwood Duties
US-Canadian Tensions Reflected in Public Attitudes

Also see:

"After Shying Away, Americans Return to Canada," by Tavia Grant - the Globe and Mail (Toronto), 20 February 2007

American same-day travel to Canada plummeted to the lowest level on record in 2006, though visits picked up a little towards the end of last year.

Same day visits from the U.S. — Canada's biggest tourism market — rose 2.5 per cent in December from November, the second month of gains, Statistics Canada said Tuesday. Overnight trips among American travellers rose 2.9 per cent.

For last year as a whole, the picture looks dim. The number of U.S. same-day car trips plunged 12.5 per cent to 13.7 million — the lowest level since record-keeping started in 1972, the report said. Same-day car travel reached a high of 27.3 million trips in 1999.

Canadian hotels, restaurants and tourist attractions have been struggling to cope with waning U.S. visitors, who have stayed away amid a strong Canadian dollar, heightened customs security and a lack of marketing south of the border. New rules requiring passports for travellers flying between Canada and the U.S. are also deterring visitors....

Last summer's high gasoline prices might have had something to do with the decline in day trips from the US to Canada, too.

Blair Expected to Announce Drawdown of UK Troops in Iraq

"Blair 'To Confirm Iraq Timetable'" - BBC News, 20 February 2007

Prime Minister Tony Blair is expected to announce a timetable for the withdrawal of UK troops from Iraq.

Mr Blair is due to make a statement about the 7,000 British troops serving in Iraq at the Commons on Wednesday.

The BBC's James Landale said 1,500 troops were expected to return home in months, rising to 3,000 by Christmas.

Downing Street has not confirmed the reports but Whitehall sources have told the BBC the process could be slowed down if the situation in Iraq worsens....

BBC political correspondent James Landale said: "We have been expecting an announcement for some time on this."

However, he said reports that all troops will have returned home by the end of 2008 was "not a fair representation of what is true at the moment."...

An August 2006 survey by PIPA (the Program on International Policy Attitudes at the University of Maryland) found that most British voters were critical of the Iraq war and of Blair's close relationship with President Bush:

"British and Canadians Criticize Leaders for Following US Lead" - the Program on International Policy Attitudes, the University of Maryland (College Park, MD), 6 August 2006

...A large majority of British voters—including most Labor party supporters—want Prime Minister Tony Blair to pursue policies that are more independent of the Bush Administration. An ICM poll taken for the Guardian newspaper found that 63 percent agreed with the statement that Tony Blair had made Britain “too close to the U.S.A.” Only a third thought that relations between the two countries were “about right.” A mere 3 percent thought Britain should be closer to the United States.

The desire for greater distance between Bush and Blair included most Labor party supporters (54%) and strong majorities of Conservatives (68%) and Liberal Democrats (83%)....

The British polls also indicate weak popular support for participation in joint military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, while Canadians are becoming increasingly disillusioned with their mission in Afghanistan.

Few Britons believe that the presence of British forces is “helping to improve the situation” in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to the Guardian/ICM poll. Less than a fifth (19%) believed British forces were helping Iraq; more than seven in ten said the mission made either “no difference” (35%) or “things worse” (36%). Results were similar on Afghanistan. Less than a quarter (23%) thought British forces were helping the country; nearly two-thirds thought their presence either made no difference (34%) or made things worse (29%).

Seven out of ten Britons believe that by stationing troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, the government is “overstretching our military resources.”...

Is State Dept. Engaging MidEast Publics Through Blogs and YouTube?

I dearly hope this interview turns out to be a hoax:

"Q&A - Karen Hughes" - interview by Tara Coop, the American-Statesman (Austin, TX), 18 February 2007

WASHINGTON — When Karen Hughes traveled to Mexico last week, she took a mini-digital camcorder with her to post videos of the trip.

These days, even the U.S. State Department is blogging.

Hughes' video blogs are one way the State Department seeks to improve America's image overseas. It's an acknowledgement that while terrorism materializes in violent attacks, it's rooted in anti-American ideas and perceptions. The department is trying to challenge those ideas before they take root.

It's why Hughes, the State Department's undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs, hired a half-dozen Arabic speakers to surf international blogs and post messages that counter "propaganda and rumors with facts," she said.

It's also why her office loaned the latest crop of State Department exchange students mini-camcorders. The students recorded their American experiences and will post the videos to YouTube.

"There's an information explosion, and we're competing for attention and credibility in the midst of that explosion," Hughes said....

[begin interview transcript:]

American-Statesman: On Iraq, people really want to know what are we doing to improve the situation. In your mind, what can be accomplished before the administration's term ends?

Karen Hughes: I view my job as outreach.

I've been to many, many Islamic countries — I've been to almost three dozen countries now. What public diplomacy does, it's really people programs. It's exchange programs; it's cultural programs.

We've done some cultural preservation work in Iraq, for example, to show our commitment to their heritage and history and preservation of it.

We're (also) trying to do people-to-people exchanges with Iran, even though we don't have relations with their government.

We just took the U.S. wrestling team to Tehran and we brought our first groups of exchange participants over to America from Iran. We're going to be doing more of that this year.

So I'm particularly focused on . . . trying to put in place things for the long run.

[Q:] Are there any parts of the strategy that deal with the sectarian differences in Iraq?

[A:] We have a very significant exchange program with Iraq.

And we work to bring people of all different sects, Sunni, Shia and Kurd, on that exchange program. I just met this week with two women from Iraq and the ambassador. And they're working to try and build civil society in Iraq.

We have a lot of different programs. These women are working to provide support and counseling for fellow women, many of whom have lost family members and obviously are dealing with the fear of living amidst this violence. We've got a lot of young (Iraqi) leaders coming over here. . . .

I'm absolutely convinced our exchange programs have been the most important public diplomacy tool of the last 50 years.

We can measure it; we can interview people. We know that when they come here and see America for themselves, they all say the same thing — they say their lives are forever changed.

And their views of our country are changed.

We are working to make our exchanges more strategic. We're inviting more people who have wide circles of influence — clerics — we've brought clerics over from Jordan and from Saudi Arabia, and teachers, journalists — because again the media has such an impact.

[Q:] Is TV still the main outreach? Even beyond the Internet?

[A:] We just a few weeks ago, for the first time, engaged in Arabic on blogs. We have what's called here a "digital outreach team" . . . that is actively going on the Arabic blogs and responding to misinformation and disinformation and propaganda and rumors with facts. And we're very above board that it's the digital outreach team of the State Department.

[Q:] How many people are on the team?

[A:] I think it's about four or five, and they're supervised by a foreign service officer. And they are all Arabic speakers that do that. Then we have one young man in the rapid response center who goes on the Web sites and monitors and watches and surfs. . . .

You asked me about measuring success. I saw a proverb . . . that talked about "planting a tree under whose shade you would not sit." In many ways, I feel like that's what I'm doing. Most of my work, public diplomacy work, is really long-term work.

Visa & Entry Procedures Putting Bad Face on US (Newsweek's Zakaria)

"Hassle and Humilation," by Fareed Zakaria - Newsweek, 26 February 2007 print edition (dated 17 February on website)

Feb. 26, 2007 issue - It was a great idea—a program to build bridges between young Arab modernizers and Americans. The Arab and American Action Forum, launched last September at the Clinton Global Initiative meeting in New York, is an exercise in soft power, bringing together 100 young Arab leaders from all walks of life and introducing them to a similar group of Americans. The goal was to begin a dialogue, build trust and create joint projects for both peoples....

As I said, it was a great idea, until these young Arab leaders landed at John F. Kennedy airport. The first group of participants, mostly CEOs of large companies, were pulled out of the regular immigration lines and made to stand for two to five hours while Department of Homeland Security officials grilled them as to why they were coming to America, whether they had any experience using weapons, what they thought of the Iraq war and other such questions. Half a day into their trip, before they had even left the airport, they were angry and humiliated. So much for improving America's image in the Arab world....

The State Department insists that things have improved, but incremental changes have not altered the basic picture. The visa process is now so cumbersome that many foreigners have simply stopped trying. The Saudi chapter of the Young Arab Leaders passed up the meeting because it was being held in America. "They refused to go through what has become an extremely demeaning process for visa applications," one of the conference organizers told me. And remember, these are Saudi liberals and moderates, whom we should be supporting, not insulting. The next meeting of the Young Arab Leaders, to be held outside America, is expected to draw a much larger number of participants....

For earlier items on this topic, see Newsweek: Visa Denials Huring US Image, Hughes Says, Indians Protest US Visa Denial for Top Scientist, and Rice & Chertoff Announce More User-Friendly Visa Procedures.

It's sad to see that visas and border crossing procedures continue to be a public diplomacy problem for the US. It's a manageable issue.One of the things State and Homeland Security did a really good job of in recent years was in working together to make post-9/11 student visa procedures easier. That's certainly contributed to the rebound in the number of foreign students in the US (see IIE's 2006 Open Doors report) -- although, as Zakaria notes in "Hassle and Humiliation," the US is losing ground in international education.

Also see:

"When A Visa Becomes a Headache," by Sara J. Welch - the New York Times, 11 February 2007 (registration required)

Last summer, Dimitry Smirnov, a sales director in Moscow, was planning to attend a conference in New York City being held by his employer, HelmsBriscoe, an American company that helps clients book sites for meetings. To get a visa, Mr. Smirnov made an appointment at the United States Embassy about four weeks before his meeting for an in-person interview, a requirement introduced after Sept. 11, 2001. It was when he showed up, he said, that he became frustrated.

“The embassy wanted to hold my passport while they waited for the visa to come through, but they couldn’t guarantee I’d get the visa,” he recalled. “In the meantime, I wouldn’t have been able to travel and I didn’t know if I’d get the visa or not, so I decided to cancel my trip.”

Mr. Smirnov is hardly the only executive to have been thwarted by stringent requirements for entry into the United States. Travelers from emerging economies like India, China, Latin America, the Middle East and Eastern Europe are required to have visas to come to the United States (citizens of Western Europe, Canada, Australia, Japan and Singapore do not require a visa for visits shorter than 90 days) and many complain that the process deters them from traveling here.

Luis Gómez Hernández, a meeting planner in Ecatepec de Morelos, Mexico, said he used to bring groups of 30 to 40 businesspeople to the United States four times a year, but stopped in 2003 because of the difficulty in obtaining visas. It took up to three months for applicants to get an appointment at the United States Embassy or a consulate and at least two more weeks to obtain the visa, “and in a group of 40, only 3 or 4 would get them,” he said. Mr. Gómez added that he now took groups to Canada, which does not require visas for Mexican citizens....

United States government officials, however, insist that the process has improved greatly in recent years. Changes added after Sept. 11, 2001 “came so quickly that we weren’t as efficient as we wanted to be,” said Maura Harty, assistant secretary for consular affairs in the State Department. “But we now have an expedited service for business travel visas in place in every U.S. consulate and embassy in the world.”

Ms. Harty said that only 29 percent of the respondents in the Discover America Partnership survey had applied for a visa in the last 18 months. “I urge people who haven’t applied for a visa in a few years to come back,” she said. “Try us, you’ll like us.”...

"TIA Chair Rasulo Touts New Long-Range Plan to Reverse Decline in Travel to US" - press release, Travel Industry Association (Washington, DC), 1 February 2007

Washington, DC – February 2007 – Speaking to an audience of more than 500 travel industry leaders Wednesday (January 31), Jay Rasulo, National Chairman of the Travel Industry Association (TIA), touted a new three-step plan to strengthen America’s security and repair the country’s image to potential travelers abroad.

The goal of the plan, called A Blueprint to Discover America, is to welcome more international visitors to the United States – something at which America has been losing competitiveness for many years, Rasulo said. Overseas travel to the U.S. is down 17 percent since 2001, with business travel alone down 10 percent from 2004 to 2005, according to TIA....

Among the blueprint’s recommendations:

• Overhauling the country’s visa system to improve security and process potential visitors more quickly. The plan calls for visa applications to be processed within 30 days and suggests methods to reduce the obstacles and barriers associated with the visa interview process, including videoconferencing and mobile consulate operations. The plan also calls for strengthening the Visa Waiver Program by expanding the security information required and the number of countries that can participate.

• Modernizing and securing our ports of entry where visitors are welcomed. The plan calls for visitors to be processed within 30 minutes by hiring 250 new customs and immigrations officers. It also calls for turning the nation’s 12 busiest inbound airports into world models through enhanced line management, automated forms and traffic management processes, and an expanded use of technology.

• Change perceptions of America that are turning away travelers. Create a comprehensive plan to improve perceptions of America in target countries, and building an effective program structure based on a public-private partnership, with a dependable funding stream....

Venezuelan Fuel Discounts a 'Charade,' FL Senator Says

"Kennedy Oil Program Blasted as 'Propaganda' for Chavez" - AP (Boston), 16 February 2007, as carried on the Boston Herald's website (BostonHerald.com)

BOSTON - In a TV commercial, former Rep. Joseph Kennedy stands aboard an oil tanker moving across the Boston skyline and promises that millions of gallons of discounted heating oil are on their way to poor, shivering families, courtesy of “our good friends in Venezuela.”

What he doesn’t mention is that those “good friends” include Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a socialist and staunch U.S. critic who famously called President Bush “the devil” in a speech last year at the United Nations.

The reference to Venezuela has led to accusations that Kennedy is a shill for Chavez.

Rep. Connie Mack, R-Fla., fired off a letter to Kennedy this week accusing him of working with “a sworn enemy of the United States” and betraying the legacy of President John F. Kennedy, his uncle, who spoke of the perils of communism.

“Hugo Chavez is providing your company ‘low-cost heating oil’ not to help the American people, but rather to exploit his apologists in the name of public relations. Sadly, you have chosen to actively participate in his charade,” Mack wrote.

In an interview this week with The Associated Press, Mack went further, calling the ad “part of a propaganda message from Hugo Chavez.”

Kennedy fired back by saying that if Mack wants to create a moral litmus test for oil-exporting countries and other trade partners, the congressman should hold Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Russia and China to the same standard....

Although he declined to offer an opinion on Chavez, Kennedy did say he had “significant disagreement with the kind of personal politics that have characterized the relationship” between Chavez and Bush, on both sides. He also said “there have been many changes in Venezuela since I started going there 25 years ago, some of them for the better.”

Citizens Energy was founded by Kennedy in 1979 in the wake of the energy crisis of the late 1970s with the goal of reducing the cost of home heating oil for the poor and elderly.

The corporation signed its first crude oil contract with Venezuela that year, and in its first 18 months, Citizens Energy had delivered more than 13 million gallons of home heating oil from Venezuela to families in Massachusetts. Citizens Energy has since expanded to 16 states and this year will deliver low-cost oil to between 300,000 and 400,000 households....

For some background on Venezuela's discounted fuel program in the US, see Venezuela Offers Additional Discounted Fuel to US - and Menaces US-Based HR Activist and Venezuela Offers Cheap Heating Oil to US Publics.

Venezuela uses 'oil diplomacy' in other countries, too:

"Chavez Opens Fuel Depot, Woos Dominica" - AP (Roseau, Dominica), 17 February 2007, as carried on the Miami Herald website (MiamiHerald.com)

ROSEAU, Dominica - (AP) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez made a plea for Caribbean unity as he opened a fuel storage facility on this poor island on Friday, as part of a program offering Caribbean countries fuel on generous terms.

''We are one nation -- the Caribbean nation,'' Chávez told Dominica leaders in the capital, Roseau, where representatives of the two governments signed agreements on cooperation in tourism, education and other fields. ``Let's get together, truly.''

Under its Petrocaribe initiative, Venezuela has sent petroleum products and other aid to needy Caribbean countries to help them counter rising energy prices. Recipients are offered deferred payment and long-term financing for fuel shipments....

Petrocaribe is widely seen as an effort by Chávez -- long at odds with Washington -- to make inroads in a region where the United States is a major trading partner.

But Foreign Minister Charles Savarin said the former British colony's close ties to Caracas do not signal any distancing from Washington....

For other developments, see:

"US Imports from Venezuela at 12-Year Low" - AP (Caracas), 16 February 2007

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- U.S. crude oil imports from Venezuela hit a 12-year low in 2006 amid increasingly strained political ties between the two countries, according to U.S. figures released Friday.

The preliminary data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed that Venezuela was still the fourth-largest supplier of U.S. crude imports behind Canada, Saudi Arabia and Mexico.

The world's leading oil consumer imported 1.139 million barrels a day from Venezuela in 2006, down 8.2 percent from 1.241 million the previous year, according to the EIA. That's the lowest level since 1994, when the United States imported 1.034 million barrels a day....

Chavez has said Venezuela could switch exports to countries such as China and India [if necessary], although his ability to find an immediate substitute is complicated because most refineries capable of processing Venezuela's heavy crude are in the United States.

"Venezuela Beefs Security on Al Qaeda Oil Threat" - Reuters (Caracas), 15 February 2007

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela will reinforce security measures after a branch of al Qaeda called for attacks on suppliers of oil to the United States, the defense minister said on Thursday....

Gen. Raul Baduel told reporters that security and intelligence agencies would "take actions and implement previously established security plans, but reinforce them with the goal of guaranteeing security."...

A Saudi wing of the terrorist group in a statement posted on a Web site on Wednesday called for attacks on suppliers of oil to the United States including Canada and Mexico to cut off crude supplies vital to the world's largest economy....

Luis Cabrera, a military advisor to the president, earlier had questioned the authenticity of the threat in comments published by local media.

He said it was illogical that "al Qaeda, which is against North American imperialism, would go against a state that is fighting, though in a different way, against that hegemony."...

Poll Finds Most People Reject 'Clash of Civilizations'

"Poll Sees Hope in West-Islam Ties" - BBC News, 19 February 2007

Most people believe common ground exists between the West and the Islamic world despite current global tensions, a BBC World Service poll has found.

In a survey of people in 27 countries, an average of 56% said they saw positive links between the cultures.

Yet 28% of respondents told questioners that violent conflict was inevitable....

The BBC poll asked approximately 1,000 people in each of 27 countries three questions about their interpretation of the world they live in.

Most expressed the belief that ongoing clashes could be resolved without violent conflict.

Indonesia, home to the world's largest Muslim population, was the only nation where most people (51%) said violence was inevitable.

But the results showed that a significant minority of those polled appeared pessimistic about the future....

The most positive respondents came from Western nations, with 78% of Italians, 77% of Britons and 73% of Canadians saying it is possible to find common ground.

Many blamed intolerant minorities for fuelling disputes and disagreements.

Some 39% of all respondents said minorities on both sides were to blame.

Just 12% said mainly Muslim minorities were to blame, and only 7% pointed the finger at Western fringe groups.

The poll was conducted for BBC by Globescan (an international polling firm) and the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) at the University of Maryland. Poll data and summaries of findings, by region, are available on PIPA's website:

"Global Poll Finds that Religion and Culture are Not to Blame for Tensions between Islam and the West" - the Program on International Policy Attitudes, the University of Maryland, 18 February 2007

...Asked about the source of tensions between Islam and the West, the most common view in 24 of the 27 countries surveyed is that they arise “from conflicts about political power and interests”— endorsed by 52 percent overall. Another three in ten (29%) say that tensions primarily arise from “differences of religion and culture.” This is the dominant view in one country (Nigeria), while two countries have equal numbers taking both points of view (Kenya and Poland).

Respondents were also asked whether tensions arise from fundamental differences between the cultures as a whole or from intolerant minorities. Only 26 percent say they are due to differences in culture, while 58 percent attribute these tensions to intolerant minorities—with 39 percent saying that these intolerant minorities are on both sides, 12 percent saying they are primarily on the Muslim side, and 7 percent saying they are mostly on the Western side. The view that the problem arises from intolerant minorities is found in 24 of the 27 countries surveyed, with two countries (Brazil and the UAE) equally divided between the two points of view and with one in two Nigerians (50%) saying fundamental differences are the cause."

Asked whether “violent conflict is inevitable” between Muslim and Western cultures or whether “it is possible to find common ground,” an average of 56 percent say that common ground can be found between the two cultures, which is the most common response in 25 countries. On average almost three in ten (28%) think violent conflict is inevitable; Indonesia is the only country where this view predominates, while views are divided in the Philippines.
The belief that it is possible to find common ground between Islam and the West rises with education from 46 percent among those with no formal education to 64 percent among those with post secondary education.

The minority of people who believe that tensions between Islam and the West arise from differences of religion and culture are much more likely to believe that violent conflict is inevitable compared to those who think the problem derives from issues of political power or intolerant minorities....

'Prince Pickles' Puts Friendly Face on Japan's Iraq Deployment

"Cuddly Characters Front Japan's Military Aspirations" - AP (Tokyo), as published by the International Herald Tribune (Paris), 16 February 2007

TOKYO: Prince Pickles, a perky cartoon character with saucer-round eyes, big dimples and tiny, boot-clad feet, poses in front of tanks, rappels from helicopters and shakes hands with smiling Iraqis. [Click through to IHT article for an illustration.]

The cutesy icon hardly calls to mind the Japanese military that conquered and pillaged its way across Asia during World War II, and that is just the way the country's leaders want it.

As Japan sheds its postwar pacifism and gears up to take a higher military profile in the world, it is enlisting cadres of cute characters and adorable mascots to put a gentle, harmless sheen on its deployments.

"Prince Pickles is our image character because he's very endearing, which is what Japan's military stands for," said Shotaro Yanagi, a Defense Agency official. "He's our mascot and appears in our pamphlets and stationery."

Such characters have long been used in Japan to win hearts and minds and to soften the image of authority.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police tries to lighten its stern image with Peopo, which looks like a cross between a rabbit and a space trooper. The cellphone company NTT DoCoMo has a smiley mushroom, while rival KDDI sports a squirrel with headphones.

The Japanese government hopes the same tactic can work overseas.

Foreign Minister Taro Aso has proposed sending animation or cartoon artists abroad as cultural ambassadors, and the government has named a panel of executives to advise ways to market Japanese animation and culture to foreign audiences.

Aso argues that warm feelings for Japanese animation can translate into warm feelings for Japanese foreign policy.

"The more positive images pop into a person's mind, the easier it becomes for Japan to get its views across," Aso said in a speech last year to budding artists at Tokyo's Digital Hollywood University, whom he called the "people involved with bringing Japanese culture to the world."...

For context, see this entertaining April 4, 2006 post to the Mutant Frog Travelogue blog.

N Korea, Cuba, Somalia, Venezuela In at VOA; Uzbekistan, Others Out

"Broadcasting Budget Strengthens Targeted Programming" - press release, Broadcasting Board of Governors (Washington, DC), 5 February 2007

The proposed fiscal year 2008 budget for U.S. international broadcasting calls for an overall increase of 3.8% from the anticipated fiscal year 2007 level that strengthens targeted programming to provide essential access to news and information to critical audiences. The budget proposal is also aimed at increasing overall audience reach around the world by utilizing the latest technology and strengthening transmission capability.

Of the Broadcasting Board of Governors’ (BBG) $668.2 million request, $142.4 million is allocated for programming to the Near East, South, Central Asia and Eurasia, $116 million for Arabic language programming, $67.2 million for East Asia, $45 million for Latin America and $13.6 million for Africa....

In sum, broadcasts to these countries, regions, and publics would be increased:

• North Korea (VOA and RFA)
• Middle East (Alhurra TV)
• Somalia (VOA)
• Cuba (Radio and TV Marti and VOA)
• Iran (VOA)
• Afghanistan and Pakistan (VOA)
• Arabic-speaking audiences in Europe (Alhurra in Europe)
• Venezuela (VOA)
• Russian ('additional transmission capabilities') (RFE/RL)

These broadcast services would be reduced:

• Ukrainian (VOA and RFE/RL)
• Tibetan (VOA and RFA)
• Portuguese to Africa (VOA)
• Romanian (RFE/RL)
• 'South Slavic' (RFE/RL)
• Kazakhstan (RFE/RL)
• English-language programming (VOA) - 'NewsNow' English broadcasts would end but Special English, English to Africa, and VOA English on the Internet would continue

These services would be eliminated:

• Cantonese (VOA and RFA)
• Uzbekistan (VOA)
• Croatian (VOA)
• Greek (VOA)
• Georgian (VOA)
• Thai (VOA)
• Macedonian (RFE/RL)

VOA would eliminate radio service but continue television broadcasting in Serbian, Albanian, Bosnian, Macedonian, Hindi and Russian.

Also see:

"US-Funded Voice of America Broadcaster Revives Somali Service," by Laurent Thornet - AFP (Washington, DC), 1 Febraury 2007

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US-funded broadcaster Voice of America is reviving a Somali radio program for the Horn of Africa as it expands its service in a volatile region that has become a front in the US "war on terror."

The Somali-language service returns to the airwaves on February 12. Its last broadcast was in 1994 after the pullout of US troops whose mission in lawless Somalia was marked by the death of 18 soldiers in Mogadishu....

VOA officials said the daily Somali service aims to bring comprehensive news and analyses to a region straddling the Islamic and Christian worlds whose stability is considered vital to US interests.

"The region is just as important, if not more so, to the strategic interests of this country as it has ever been," VOA director Dan Austin told AFP.

"And the need for honest, straight reporting has never been greater," Austin said. "The opportunities for misinformation and disinformation out there are much greater today than they were in the early 1990s."

VOA already broadcasts in three regional languages -- Amharic, Afan Oromo and Tigrigna -- for Ethiopia and Eritrea in addition to programs in English in Sudan, Swahili in Kenya and English and French in Djibouti....

"US to Step Up Broadcasts Into North Korea, Iran, Cuba" by P. Parameswaran - AFP (Washington, DC), 5 February 2007

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States is to step up its government-backed broadcasting campaigns in North Korea, Iran and Cuba, under President George W. Bush's new budget plans unveiled....

Funds for international broadcasting, including via the Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA), are expected to increase 3.8 percent to 668.2 million dollars from the 2007 level.

The new plans would include expanding to 10 hours the "coordinated stream" of VOA and RFA daily programming to North Korea and to 12 hours the VOA television programming to Iran, said the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which oversees US government-funded international broadcast channels.

At present, VOA broadcasts three and half hours of radio a day to North Korea while RFA broadcasts four hours per day to the Stalinist nation, Board spokesman Larry Hart told AFP....

Although radios are controlled by North Korea and fixed to a single propaganda channel, defectors from that country claim the number of radios smuggled from abroad may have increased substantially, US officials say.

The US government will also step up transmission capability and program production of Radio and TV Marti, the Miami-based government broadcasting outlets directed at another foe, Cuba, the board said....

The budget increase would also cover initiatives to critical Muslim audiences, Hart said.

They include VOA Pashto radio programming to the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region, television programs to Afghanistan and Pakistan and Alhurra Europe, the round-the-clock service to Arabic speakers in Europe.

"Threat to VOA Uzbek Service" - News Briefing Central Asia (NBCentralAsia), Institute for War and Peace Reporting (London), 16 February 2007

If Voice of America’s Uzbek language service is shut down, the Uzbek-speaking population throughout Central Asia will be cut off from alternative media sources, according to media watchers in the region....

TV broadcasts of VOA in the Uzbek language are available throughout Uzbekistan via satellite and are transmitted by local terrestrial channels in southern Kyrgyzstan.

A source in the Uzbek service told NBCentralAsia that VOA is available on shortwave radio in Uzbekistan, despite regular attempts by the authorities to block broadcasts. Kyrgyzstan also broadcasts the service to one part of the Ferghana Valley in Uzbekistan on FM.

NBCentralAsia political analyst Avez Baburov says that closing the Uzbek service will take away one of the few alternative sources of information for 25 million Uzbek speakers across Central Asia....

UK Att'y Gen'l: Guantanamo Still Undermines War Against Terror

"Guantanamo 'Changes Too Little, Too Late,'" by Jane Sutton - Reuters (Miami), 12 February 2007

MIAMI (Reuters) - New U.S. rules for war crimes tribunals at Guantanamo fail to correct fundamental flaws that are undermining Western efforts to defeat global terrorism, the government's top lawyer said on Monday.

"The changes made are too little and too late," Lord Goldsmith, attorney general and a longtime critic of the Guantanamo detention operation, told a meeting of the American Bar Association in Miami.

The U.S. Congress revised the tribunal system to try foreign suspected terrorists at Guantanamo last year after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the original system created by U.S. President George W. Bush.

Goldsmith said he welcomed some of the changes, such as the decision not to use secret evidence that would not be shown to the accused, but that they did not go far enough to ensure fair trials.

Guantanamo remains a powerful symbol of injustice that not only hurts the United States' image but undermines international efforts to win the ideological war against global extremism, Goldsmith said....

The Miami Herald has printed a transcript of Lord Goldsmith's remarks:

"Transcript: Lord Goldsmith to ABA" - the Miami Herald, 12 February 2007

...my view of the original Military Commissions for those detained at Guantánamo Bay are well known. Charged with my Prime Minister with considering whether they provided appropriate and sufficient guarantees of a fair trial I considered the rules and regulations in detail over a period of months in the summer and fall of 2003. My clear conclusion was that the Military Commissions did not provide such guarantees. I advised that we should not allow our citizens to stand trial in such circumstances and insisted that they be returned to the UK -- which ultimately they were.

I am aware of the changes that have now been made, following the Military Commissions Act signed into law late last year. I welcome some of the changes made -- such as the removal of the possibility that detainees would be convicted on the basis of evidence heard in secret and that they had not seen or had a chance to contradict; and the amendments made in Senate to exclude evidence obtained by torture -- though there remain some definitional questions of importance. But I am aware of criticisms that remain: of a law which treats aliens in a different way from American citizens; that still allows coerced evidence to be used in certain cases; that excludes the application of habeas corpus. And others. Some -- perhaps all of these -- will be the subject of further courtchallenges.

But, it would be misleading if I did not tell you my own view. I have previously stated my view that Guantánamo Bay is unacceptable and should close; it is a symbol of injustice that the long tradition of American justice and liberty ought to see removed at the earliest moment. I have not changed my view. The changes made are too little and too late. There remain fundamental problems with this system of detention. And the symbol remains.

In saying this, I am conscious that some will say that this is not for an outsider to say. That this is America's decision. I have increasingly been of the view that this is not so. I should explain why.

The struggle against global extremism and terrorism is one that ultimately we will not win by conventional means alone. We increasingly recognize in the United Kingdom that we will only win in the end if we can win the battle for ideas and values. We need to win this struggle at the level of values as much as force. In a major speech given in Los Angeles at last summer, Prime Minister Tony Blair said that to win the war of values we must show that ''our values are stronger, better and more just, more fair than the alternative'' and that ``we are even handed, fair and just in our application of those values to the world.''

We have to show, against an al Qaeda narrative that all that the West does is designed to oppress Muslims, our values are actually those of justice, tough and fearless but fair, and of equality; of the democratic way of life; of the rule of law and of freedom. The presence of Guantánamo makes it so much more difficult to do this. For all of us....

US Hopes Navy Port Call to Cambodia Will Build Good Will

As news reports note, the last time the US Navy entered Cambodian waters was the May 1975 Mayaguez incident, when US forces attempted to rescue the crew of a US merchant ship that had been seized by Khmer Rouge forces.

"US Warship Makes Cambodian Port Visit," by Sopheng Cheang - AP (Sihanoukville, Cambodia), 9 February 2007

SIHANOUKVILLE, Cambodia - A U.S. navy warship docked at Cambodia's main seaport Friday, the first port call by an American naval vessel to the Southeast Asian nation in more than three decades.

The USS Gary, a guided missile frigate with 200 officers and crew, was greeted by a team of Cambodian naval officers and U.S. Embassy staff at Sihanoukville, 115 miles southwest of the capital, Phnom Penh.

U.S. Ambassador Joseph Mussomeli said the ship's visit was a sign of the "deepening of the relationship" that "has not always been that good" between the two countries....

Sailors from the USS Gary will spend the weekend taking part in community activities in a village near Sihanoukville, including hosting public health education classes for the villagers, repairing a local clinic and donating toys and clothes to an orphanage, an embassy statement said.

The USS Gary departs Sihanoukville on Tuesday.

"US Ship Makes Historic Return to Cambodia," by Vince Little - Stars & Stripes (Pacific edition), 12 February 2007

The USS Gary arrived in Cambodia on Friday for the first port visit by a Navy ship in more than three decades, the 7th Fleet announced in a news release.

Royal Cambodian sailors stood in formation and many local residents waited on the pier as the Gary — with some 230 sailors — pulled into Sihanoukville harbor....

Crewmembers checked impoverished villagers’ health and painted a clinic in western Cambodia on Saturday, the Associated Press reported, while at a nearby Buddhist pagoda, a team of Navy doctors examined those in a queue of about 200 villagers, some holding their crying babies.

A civil affairs coordinator attached to the U.S. Embassy in Cambodia said the ship’s doctors were set to offer primary health and dental care to about 300 villagers Sunday, according to the wire service report....

The Gary is expected to remain in Cambodia until Tuesday, the Navy announced previously. Sailors are to interact with the local community in activities including sporting events and medical aid. The crew also is scheduled to conduct exchanges with the Royal Cambodian navy.

“We’ve been very pleased so far,” 7th Fleet spokesman Lt. Steve Curry said Saturday. “This has been planned for quite some time. It’s just another routine port visit we do to build partnerships and work on relationships with other countries in the Pacific. … The people in Cambodia are very excited to have the Gary there.”

The Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided missile frigate is assigned to Destroyer Squadron 15 out of Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, part of the 7th Fleet and the Navy’s forward-deployed forces.

“USS Gary’s visit to Cambodia shows not only an expansion, but a deepening of relationship,” U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia Joseph A. Mussomeli was quoted in the releaseas stating. “While this is clearly a military ship and has a military purpose … it also has a humanitarian purpose and a diplomatic purpose.”

Also see:

"First US Ship Visit to Cambodia in 30 Years," by Seth Meixner - AFP (Sihanoukville, Cambodia), 9 Febraury 2007

SIHANOUKVILLE, Cambodia (AFP) - The American navy's USS Gary docked in this Cambodian port, becoming the first US military craft to visit the former communist country in more than 30 years.

The visit, which diplomatic sources say is a first step in expanding military ties with Cambodia, comes amid concerns over China's growing influence in the region.

"Symbolically this is very important," said US Ambassador to Cambodia Joseph Mussomeli, who was aboard as the ship came into port.

"It shows how far Cambodia has come and (that it) is taking its rightful place among our community of nations," he said. "Absolutely this shows an expansion, a deepening of relations -- not just military, but humanitarian and diplomatic."...

Mussomeli downplayed the timing of the vessel's visit, which comes as China is expanding its military as well as increasing aid to Cambodia, including military hardware.

Beijing in 2005 gave Cambodia six patrol boats to bolster its ageing navy.

"We do not see this as a competition," the ambassador said....

Cambodian officials said that the Gary's visit did not signify a change in Washington's policy not to supply Cambodia with military materials.

"No equipment," said Navy General Khun Borin, deputy commander of Cambodia's Ream Naval Base.

"Perhaps the United States can receive our officers" for training, he said.

The Gary, a 4,100-tonne guided missile frigate, will remain in port for four days, during which US personnel will provide medical care at a nearby village, as well as provide toys and clothing to a local orphanage.

US sailors will also compete against their Cambodian counterparts in sporting events.

"We are going to engage not only on the military level, but on the community level," said the Gary's captain, Commander Joe Deleon.

For some background on US-Cambodian diplomatic and military relations -- including their public aspect -- see:

"US Opens New Cambodia Mission," by Guy De Launey (in Phnom Penh) - BBC News, 17 January 2006

The United States is opening its first purpose-built embassy in Cambodia on Tuesday.

The new facility is one of the most prominent buildings in Phnom Penh, with a staff of more than 500.

Recently the US resumed military aid to Cambodia for the first time since the Vietnam war, indicating an increasing involvement in the country.

The new embassy is hard to miss. Its black, white and red marble structures occupy an entire block.

It is next to Wat Phnom, the landmark temple which gave Phnom Penh its name.

And while other major embassies in the city are hidden behind towering walls, the US facility makes do with a set of railings. If the plan was to make an impression, it has succeeded....

Some have speculated that the US is trying to counter the increasing influence of other powers in the region. China is now the biggest investor in Cambodia and also provides extensive military aid.

The US has insisted that is not a major concern. But embassy spokesman Jeff Daigle said increased involvement was likely.

"We are ready for expansion and several different agencies have expressed an interest in coming here and opening up offices.

"The bilateral relationship between the US and Cambodia has certainly been growing and deepening and expanding, and so some of these new offices coming in will just be another part of that expansion of the relationship," he said.

My first reaction when I saw that story a year ago was to wonder why on earth we were building such a large embassy in Phnom Penh. I assume the 500-plus staff number includes local employees -- still, I think that's bigger than the US Embassy in Rome was in the mid-80s.

Gates: Prisoner Abuse Scandals Have Hurt US Standing

For the context of the Gates speech described here, see Putin: US Making the World More Dangerous; US Responds.

"Gates: Prisoner Abuse Scandals Hurt US," by Lolita C. Baldor - AP (Munich, Germany), 11 February 2007

MUNICH, Germany - Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Sunday that prisoner abuse scandals in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay and other mistakes have damaged America's reputation, and work must be done to prove the U.S. is still a force for good in the world.

While he did not mention the war in Iraq, he told a conference of top security officials from around the world that the U.S. has to do a better job of explaining its policies and actions.

For the last century most people believed that "while we might from time to time do something stupid, that we were a force for good in the world," Gates said.

And while he said a lot of people still believe that, he added, "I think we also have made some mistakes and have not presented our case as well as we might in many instances. I think we have to work on that."...

"US Does Not Want New Cold War: Defence Chief," by Jim Mannion - AFP (Munich, Germany), 11 February 2007

MUNICH, Germany (AFP) - US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has deflected a stinging broadside against the United States by Russian President Vladimir Putin, declaring: "One Cold War was quite enough."

The new US defence chief used wry humour in his debut speech Sunday to an international security conference to deflate Putin's portrayal of the United States before the same audience as a dangerous, destabilising world power.

Gates also sought to mend fences with Europeans alienated by his predecessor Donald Rumsfeld. He acknowledged past US mistakes and said Washington needed to do a better job of explaining its policies....

He said that scandals at the Guantanamo US "war on terror" prison and at US-run jails in Iraq have damaged the reputation of the United States, but he defended trials of terrorist suspects by special military commissions as legitimate.

"While I don't have any doubt that in certain quarters there may be anti-American propaganda. But I think we also have made some mistakes, and not presented our case as well as we'd like in many instances."

"I think we have more work to do in terms of restrengthening American soft power around the world."...

Added 12 February:

DOD now has the text of Gates' speech to the Munich Conference on Security Policy and a report on the Q-and-A session that followed it posted to its website. Gates made the remarks about Guantanamo and the need for the US to explain itself better in the Q-and-A session.

"Gates Fields Broad-Ranging Questions from International Security Experts," by Linda D. Kozaryn (in Munich, Germany) - American Forces Press Service (US DOD), 11 February 2007

...In answer to a question on detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Gates said some activities there, as well as abuses that have taken place in Iraq, have negatively impacted the reputation of the United States. “There’s no question that most of us would like to close the detainee facility at Guantanamo,” he said.

The secretary admitted he doesn’t know if there are more people there who should be released, but U.S. officials are going through the process of trying to find out.“If we can get people to take those who can and should be released, that would be a good thing,” he said. “(But) we have had some difficulty in that respect.”

“It is also true, though, that there are real terrorists at Guantanamo,” Gates stressed....

Gates agreed with one participant that anti-Americanism is evident in certain quarters. The United States has made some mistakes, he said, “and not presented our case as well as we might in many instances. I think we have to work on that.”

Although the United States’ reputation as a force for law and order, human rights and human advancement has been sullied, it can be restored, he said. “For the last century, one of the great assets the United States has had is that most people around the world felt that (even though) from time to time we might do something stupid, we were a force for good in the world,” Gates said. “I believe a lot of people still believe that.

“What we have to focus on as we look to the future,” he concluded, “is strengthening that reputation we have had for a century, and perhaps doing a better job of explaining what we’re trying to do in the world.”

Putin: US Making the World More Dangerous; US Responds

"Putin Accuses US of Sparking Arms Race," by Slobodan Lekic - AP (Munich, Germany), 11 February 2007

MUNICH, Germany - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday blamed U.S. policy for inciting other countries to seek nuclear weapons to defend themselves from an "almost uncontained use of military force" — a stinging attack that underscored growing tensions between Washington and Moscow.

"Unilateral, illegitimate actions have not solved a single problem, they have become a hotbed of further conflicts," Putin said at a security forum attracting senior officials from around the world.

"One state, the United States, has overstepped its national borders in every way."...

In what the Russian leader's spokesman acknowledged was his harshest criticism of the United States, Putin attacked Bush's administration for stoking a new arms race by planning to deploy a missile defense system in eastern Europe and for backing a U.N. plan that would grant virtual independence to Serbia's breakaway province of Kosovo...

"Putin Accuses US of Making the World Unsafe," by Peter Spiegel (in Munich) - the Los Angeles Times, 11 February 2007

MUNICH, GERMANY — Russian President Vladimir V. Putin berated the United States in a major speech Saturday before senior American and European officials, declaring that Washington's militarism had fostered global instability and forced vulnerable nations to seek nuclear weapons.

In harsh language sometimes reminiscent of the Cold War and at other times pleading or mocking, Putin accused the United States of attempting to create a world in which it was free to ignore international law and impose its economic, political and military will.

"We are witnessing an almost uncontained hyper-use of military force in international relations," Putin said. "One country, the United States, has overstepped its national borders in every way."...

The speech was a first for a Russian president at the increasingly high-profile Munich Security Conference. It was delivered with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates seated stoically in the front row flanked by a stone-faced congressional delegation led by Sen. John McCain of Arizona, considered a leading candidate to be the 2008 Republican presidential nominee.

The symbolism was all the more stark given that it came on the new defense secretary's first formal trip to Europe and that it occurred at a conference once dominated by his predecessor, Donald H. Rumsfeld. Putin spoke in a prime first-day time slot once used as a platform for Rumsfeld; Gates is to address the gathering today.

U.S. analysts said Putin's remarks appeared timed to take advantage of the Bush administration's weakness as it struggled with Iraq policy and dwindling support at home. Putin in the past has lashed out at U.S. criticism of Russia's human rights record, turning the tables last month to focus on the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Putin did touch on some areas of common interest with the U.S. He criticized Iran for not responding positively to United Nations proposals to suspend its nuclear program. His comments were among Russia's most pro-Western remarks on the topic in several months.

But he also defended Moscow's sale of antiaircraft weapons to Tehran, and most of the address focused on perceived American unilateralism and hegemony.

"Unilateral, illegitimate actions have not managed to resolve any problems, but made them worse," Putin said. "The wars, local and regional conflicts, have only grown in number."...

The text of Putin's speech (in English) is available from the Munich Conference on Security Policy website. As the LA Times reporter noted, the speech covers a number of issues -- nuclear proliferation, European-based U.S. missle defense, NATO expansion, etc. -- and actually says (at least obliquely) some positive things about Russia's interest in contributing to joint solutions to common problems. One analytical question that might be asked about this speech is whether it achieved what Putin intended it to, or whether his intended messages are being lost in the flood of response to his criticism of the US and its European partners.

"Speech at 43rd Munich Conference on Security Policy," Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, Munich, Germany, 10 February 2007 (NOTE: Evidently this is the planned text of Putin's speech, posted to the Conference website before he actually spoke. Check the Conference website for any changes made to reflect the speech as delivered.)

Thank you very much dear Madam Federal Chancellor, Mr Teltschik, ladies and gentlemen!

I am truly grateful to be invited to such a representative conference that has assembled politicians, military officials, entrepreneurs and experts from more than 40 nations.

This conference’s structure allows me to avoid excessive politeness and the need to speak in roundabout, pleasant but empty diplomatic terms. This conference’s format will allow me to say what I really think about international security problems. And if my comments seem unduly polemical, pointed or inexact to our colleagues, then I would ask you not to get angry with me. After all, this is only a conference. And I hope that after the first two or three minutes of my speech Mr Teltschik will not turn on the red light over there.

Therefore. It is well known that international security comprises much more than issues relating to military and political stability. It involves the stability of the global economy, overcoming poverty, economic security and developing a dialogue between civilisations.

This universal, indivisible character of security is expressed as the basic principle that “security for one is security for all”. As Franklin D. Roosevelt said during the first few days that the Second World War was breaking out: “When peace has been broken anywhere, the peace of all countries everywhere is in danger.”...

Today we are witnessing an almost uncontained hyper use of force – military force – in international relations, force that is plunging the world into an abyss of permanent conflicts. As a result we do not have sufficient strength to find a comprehensive solution to any one of these conflicts. Finding a political settlement also becomes impossible.

We are seeing a greater and greater disdain for the basic principles of international law. And independent legal norms are, as a matter of fact, coming increasingly closer to one state’s legal system. One state and, of course, first and foremost the United States, has overstepped its national borders in every way. This is visible in the economic, political, cultural and educational policies it imposes on other nations. Well, who likes this? Who is happy about this?....

In conclusion I would like to note the following. We very often – and personally, I very often – hear appeals by our partners, including our European partners, to the effect that Russia should play an increasingly active role in world affairs.

In connection with this I would allow myself to make one small remark. It is hardly necessary to incite us to do so. Russia is a country with a history that spans more than a thousand years and has practically always used the privilege to carry out an independent foreign policy.

We are not going to change this tradition today. At the same time, we are well aware of how the world has changed and we have a realistic sense of our own opportunities and potential. And of course we would like to interact with responsible and independent partners with whom we could work together in constructing a fair and democratic world order that would ensure security and prosperity not only for a select few, but for all.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates used his speech to the Conference to respond to Putin - but also to acknowledge that the US needs to do a better job of explaining its policies and actions. (Assuming this AP report is accurate, the text of the Gates speech posted to the Munich Conference website was OBE. Look for an official transcript of the speech on the DOD website.) [Note, added 12 February: DOD now has the text of Gates' speech and a report on the question-and-answer session that followed posted to its website. The comments about Guantanamo were made in the Q-and-A session, not in the speech itself. Click here to see the American Forces Press Service account of the Q-and-A.)

"Gates: Prisoner Abuse Scandals Hurt US," by Lolita C. Baldor - AP (Munich, Germany), 11 February 2007

MUNICH, Germany - Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Sunday that prisoner abuse scandals in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay and other mistakes have damaged America's reputation, and work must be done to prove the U.S. is still a force for good in the world.

While he did not mention the war in Iraq, he told a conference of top security officials from around the world that the U.S. has to do a better job of explaining its policies and actions....

Delivering his first speech as Pentagon chief, Gates also made an urgent call for NATO allies to live up to their promises to supply military and economic aid for Afghanistan, saying that failing to do so would be shameful.

And in a carefully worded rebuke, he used both humor and some pointed jabs to blunt Russia's sharp attack against U.S. foreign policy a day earlier.

In remarks before a prestigious security forum, Gates dismissed as dated Cold War rhetoric Russian President Vladimir Putin's charge Saturday that the United States is seeding a new arms race....

The bulk of his speech was devoted to the future of the NATO alliance, and the need to work together to defend the trans-Atlantic community against any security threats....

Guantanamo Continues to Damage US Int'l Standing, Poll Suggests

"U.S. Image Around World Sharply Worsens: BBC Poll" - Reuters (London), 22 January 2007

LONDON (Reuters) - The image of the United States has deteriorated around the world in the past year because of issues such as Iraq and prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, according to a poll by the BBC World Service released on Tuesday.

The proportion of people believing the United States has a mainly positive influence in world affairs dropped seven points from a year ago -- to 29 percent from 36, the results from 18 countries that were also polled the previous year showed.

Fifty-two percent thought U.S. influence was mainly negative, up from 47 percent a year ago, the poll found....

In all, 26,381 people were questioned in 25 countries. Almost three in four people disapproved of U.S. policy on Iraq, while two-thirds disapproved of U.S. handling of terrorism suspects held at the Guantanamo Bay camp in Cuba....

Sixty-five percent disapproved of U.S. policy on last year's war between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas, 60 percent of its handling of Iran's nuclear program, 56 percent of its stance on global warming and 54 percent of its policy on North Korea's nuclear program.

More than two-thirds believed the U.S. military presence in the Middle East provoked more conflict than it prevented and only 17 percent thought U.S. troops there were a stabilizing force....

Iranian President to Address US Public Directly, Report Says

"Paper: Iran Leader Writes to Americans," by Nasser Karimi - AP (Tehran), 30 November 2006

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has written a letter to the American people that will be released at U.N. headquarters in New York on Wednesday, a state newspaper reported.

The newspaper gave no details of the letter, an apparent attempt by the firebrand president to reach out to Americans over the head of their government.

The state-run newspaper Iran reported the letter in bold type on its front page, saying "the five-page letter to the American people will be released by Iran's representative at the United Nations today."

Ahmadinejad wrote a rambling, 18-page letter to President Bush in May, which Washington criticized for not addressing Iran's nuclear program. The U.S. is leading the drive to impose U.N. sanctions on Tehran for its refusal to stop enriching uranium.

Average Iranians were disappointed by the cold response to the May letter, the first official communication between the two countries' presidents since the Islamic Revolution of 1979.

Earlier this month, Ahmadinejad said he was planning to write a letter to Americans.

"Many American people asked me to talk to them in order to explain the views of the Iranian people," Ahmadinejad told reporters, referring to his visit to New York to attend the U.N. General Assembly session in September 2005.

Ahmadinejad has alienated many Americans by calling for Israel's destruction and repeatedly dismissing the Holocaust as a myth. He also strongly supports the Palestinian militant group Hamas and the Lebanese faction Hezbollah, which the U.S. State Department lists as terrorist organizations....

The text of Ahmedinejad's May 2006 letter to President Bush is posted to various websites, including GlobalSecurity.org and Tikkun magazine.

Al Ahram Weekly carried this analysis of the May letter:

"From Ahmadinejad to Bush," by Mustafa El-Labbad - Al Ahram Weekly (Cairo), 18-24 May, 2006

With the world holding its breath while permanent representatives of the UN Security Council met in New York to deliberate how to tackle the problem of Iran's nuclear programme, Iran pulled another rabbit out of its hat. This time it came in the form of a letter addressed from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to US President George W Bush, delivered via the Swiss Embassy, which is handling US interests in Tehran.

At the same time, considerations of various regional and international parties have altered in a manner that have weakened the American negotiating position in the Security Council and rendered talk of tough action against Iran incongruent with the current mood of the international community. Nonetheless, the third party initiative that all hoped would halt the vicious cycle of escalation between Washington and Tehran, dispelling the looming spectre of another war in the region, was not forthcoming. Ahmadinejad's media offensive was, in a sense, therefore a substitute well-timed. Although the letter contained nothing new with regard to the Iranian stance, it may have bought Tehran precious time as it waits for other parties to toss it a diplomatic lifeline....

Iranian bodybuilders are renowned for their art. When you see them in the zorkhana -- the traditional gym -- you cannot help but gasp in astonishment at their skill and dexterity. Towards the end of their shows, bodybuilders display their proficiency by using various weights and chains to flex and enhance muscles in rapidly executed routines choreographed to the beat of Iranian tambourines. Yet, as impressive as these performances are, the spectator cannot help but grow weary of the repetition. The same applies to Iranian diplomatic muscle flexing. Ahmadinejad's letter to Bush was a brilliant display of Tehran's dexterity at using the media to win international sympathy. Having come after a period of flexing various other strategic muscles, it represents a new and graceful addition to the routine. However, this strategy's weakness resides precisely in the danger of it becoming routine; of spectators getting weary and saying "Enough already!".

Tehran has another two-week grace period. Either it comes up with a new move or two, or it will have to accept compromise, take its curtain bow to applause and calls of congratulation and come back to the table with substantive and final proposals.

Al-Jazeera International Goes Live

"Al-Jazeera Service in English Starts," by Jim Crane - AP (Dubai), 15 November 2006

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Ten years after it started Arabic-language broadcasts that angered leaders in the region and Washington, Al-Jazeera on Wednesday launched an English-language news channel available in more than 80 million homes but lacking major U.S. distribution.

Al-Jazeera English went on the air at 3 p.m. (8 a.m. EST), broadcasting from the station's headquarters in Doha, capital of the tiny Persian Gulf state of Qatar....

The channel quickly jumped to live feeds from various regions — first Gaza, then Sudan's Darfur region, then Iran and Zimbabwe.

Al-Jazeera, which is bankrolled by Qatar's royal family, said its signal would reach 80 million households with cable and satellite TV, mainly in the Middle East and Europe. It hopes to steal viewers from CNN and the British Broadcasting Corp. by giving the world's 1 billion English speakers news from a non-Western perspective.

Al-Jazeera's feisty Arabic news channel is well known for angering leaders in the West and the Arab world, where it has been banned from operating in 18 countries at various times. Four Arab nations still bar its reporters.

The station has broken new ground covering once-taboo political, religious and social subjects, while airing interviews with opposition figures and Israeli officials who previously were absent from other Arab networks....

At least for now, most Americans will have no chance to see Al-Jazeera to judge for themselves. Al-Jazeera's list of U.S. carriers included none of the major U.S. cable TV providers: Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications, Charter Communications or Cablevision. Neither of the two major satellite TV providers in the U.S. — Dish Network and DirecTV — are carrying the network.

Some U.S. cable carriers are adopting a "show-me" policy, waiting to see what sort of reaction the station generates before agreeing to carry it, said Michael Holtzman, a spokesman for the network.

Al-Jazeera English will be available to American customers of GlobeCast, the subsidiary of a French company that offers satellite TV service.

The other companies Al-Jazeera English said it had agreements with are Fision, a digital service that will be available shortly in Houston; Jump TV, which describes itself as "the world's leading broadcaster of ethnic TV over the Internet; and VDC, a service that offers TV on the Internet to about 10,000 customers in the U.S.

The broadcast will also be streamed live on Al-Jazeera English's Internet site. [See this URL: http://english.aljazeera.net/News. Do not confuse aljazeera.net with aljazeera.com -- the .com website has nothing to do with the broadcaster.]

Across Europe and the Middle East, Al-Jazeera English will be widely available on major cable providers in Britain, Germany, Italy and even Israel.

The launch was originally scheduled for early 2006 but was repeatedly postponed due to technical problems and licensing issues. Al-Jazeera executives said they are negotiating with carriers in the U.S., Asia and elsewhere to broadcast its signal....

Michelle Kwan Named 'American Public Diplomacy Envoy'

Evidently there are more of these appointments to come. I cannot imagine a more superficial approach to public diplomacy.

"Secretary Rice Appoints Michelle Kwan Envoy for US Public Diplomacy" - press release, US Department of State (Washington, DC), 9 November 2006

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced today that she has appointed figure skating champion Michelle Kwan as the first American Public Diplomacy Envoy. Kwan, a five-time World Champion and two-time Olympic medalist joined the Secretary in the Treaty Room of the U.S. Department of State in Washington, DC.

"I want to thank Michelle for taking on this really important mission," Rice said. "It's a time of great consequence in the world and I know that she is going to play an important and valuable role for our nation."

In her new role, Kwan will work with Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Karen P. Hughes and Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs Dina Habib Powell, in their efforts to help promote cross-cultural dialogue with international youth and to increase understanding of America by sharing her story and life experiences. Kwan will reach out to international young people by visiting their schools and clubs to speak about leadership and to engage them in a dialogue on social and educational issues.

"I am honored to accept this appointment and to serve my country," said Kwan. "As an athlete, I have always been proud to represent the United States around the world. Being able to do so in this new position is very special and meaningful to me."

The most decorated figure skater in U.S. history; Kwan has won an unprecedented 43 championships, including five World Championships, nine U.S. Championships, and two Olympic medals. She has taken a year off from figure skating and this fall began attending the University of Denver (DU) in Denver, Colorado, as a full-time student. She plans to major in political science with a minor in international studies. In addition to her studies and duties associated with her official appointment, Kwan continues to perform in skating exhibitions, work on special projects and serve as a corporate spokesperson....

"Michelle Kwan Accepts Job as Diplomat" - CBS/AP (Washington, DC), 10 November 2006

(CBS/AP) Michelle Kwan, who is studying political science and international affairs at the University of Denver, is about to get some terrific on-the-job experience.

The 26-year-old figure skating champion was at the State Department in Washington Thursday, standing side-by-side with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and another of President Bush's longtime advisors, undersecretary of state Karen Hughes.

They were there to formally announce Kwan's appointment as a public diplomatic envoy in a program aimed at improving the nation's image abroad....

The mission at hand, according to Hughes, is an important one: an effort by the United States to reach the world's young people, many of whom "are being exposed to hate and propaganda directed against our country."

Hughes has been active in expanding sports diplomacy programs.

Kwan's volunteer efforts on behalf of the United States are part of the State Department's Education and Cultural Affairs program....

Kwan is expected to travel widely in her new job, which is an unpaid position.

This isn't the first venture off the ice for Kwan, who is one of the world's best-known figure skaters. She's been a spokeswoman for the Children's Miracle Network; her autobiography, published nine years ago, is still selling; she has her own video game; and six years ago, she was among those on People Magazine's list of "The 50 Most Beautiful People In the World."...

Actually, there's nothing new about using sports as a channel for public diplomacy. The US Information Agency included a sports ambassador program among its speakers programs for decades. But that program wasn't about celebrity appearances. It was about coaches and trainers who spent a week or more working directly with local athletes -- it was about people-to-people contact. (The major shortcoming with the sports ambassador program was that many embassies had neither the resources nor the motivation to follow up on the relationships the exchanges created. This is the kind of program that is much more appropriate for a private sector group to carry out.)

"Karen's Rules," Redux

Another State Department memo on public diplomacy guidelines got into the media (overseas as well as in the US) earlier this year. See "Karen's Rules" for Public Diplomacy.

I'm never thrilled to see in-house communications like this one get leaked to reporters. I'd much rather see people act like adults and professionals and work out their disagreements internally. But, as the apparent source of this leak noted, it says something about the atmosphere inside an organization when people feel justified in resorting to leaks.

"Karen's Rules on Diplomacy: Talk to the Media - If You Dare," by Elizabeth Williamson - the Washington Post, 8 November 2006, p. A25 (registration required)

Karen Hughes, the State Department's undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs, sent a long memo to chief diplomats, top deputies and public affairs officers worldwide Friday, spelling out "Karen's Rules" for working with the media.

The rules offer a window into how State's chief communicator communicates with her minions across the world. Hint: The memo was given to The Washington Post by a recipient who points out that if all were well, nobody would have leaked it....

Hughes encourages diplomats to engage with the media, but it is apparent that the message enforcer does not share control easily. As a service to public diplomacy (partly, anyway), we consulted with a couple of organizational psychologists about what Karen's Rules suggest about Hughes.

Tulsa-based psychologist Robert Hogan offered several observations, including:

"I think it is smart for her to give folks permission in advance to make a mistake, to take some risks in order to be proactive. I wonder if anyone will believe it. . . .

"It is a good example of micromanagement, although done in a pretty nice way. Good leadership involves recruiting talented people and letting them do their job. Here she tries to provide rules for every imaginable case. She presents a thicket of rules, and if all the guidelines are followed, a person won't be able to say much of anything....

Marlin S. Potash, a New York-based psychologist who specializes in organizational behavior, focused on "a tone that came across as somewhat condescending or first-grade-teacher-like." She added, "I think it's meant to communicate that this is a terribly important thing that's meant to be attended to, but the impression the recipient gets is 'You question my dedication, my experience and my ability to handle this situation.' "...

[begin text of memo]

SUBJECT: ALDAC [All Diplomatic and Consular Posts] Speaking on the Record

Last year, I sent out a message detailing some guidelines for speaking on the record and engaging with media. With the launch of our regional hub effort, it is especially timely to reissue this message so that my policy on this is crystal clear. I also want to reiterate up front that media outreach, especially television interviews, should be a top priority in mission activities and when developing the schedules for visiting USG [U.S. government] officials.

I want you to know that my office and I are here to support you as you go out and do media. I know that doing any media, especially television, is a challenging endeavor. But it is a challenge we must address in order to effectively advocate our policies to foreign audiences. I also believe it is critical for Chiefs of Mission to get out on the media and to support their staff who do appear on television. When you do media, the stakes are high, but it's important. No one is perfect and there is always the chance that any of us will occasionally make mistakes -- that doesn't mean we should stop appearing on television or participating in press conferences. We need people out there giving our side of the story. The real risk is not that we occasionally misspeak, it's that we miss opportunities to present our views, and leave the field to our critics and detractors.

During my recent trips and meetings with many of you, I have heard concerns about problems with getting clearance to speak on the record to reporters. I promised I would send out a message clarifying my policy on this issue, and providing what I hope is clear guidance for you all in dealing with the press. In this message, I want to share "Karen's Rules" in the hope that you all will have a better idea of what I expect, and how you can react.

Rule #1: Think Advocacy. I want all of you to think of yourselves as advocates for America's story each day. I encourage you to have regular sessions with your senior team to think about the public diplomacy themes of each event or initiative. As a communicator, I know that it is important to get out in front of an issue or at best have a strong response to a negative story. One of my goals during my tenure at the State Department is to change our culture from one in which risk is avoided with respect to the press to one where speaking out and engaging with the media is encouraged and rewarded. I want you out speaking to the press, on television interviews preparing and executing a media strategy, and providing our points on issues. As President Bush and Secretary Rice have stated, public diplomacy is the job of every ambassador and every Foreign Service Officer. We want you out there on television, in the news, and on the radio a couple of times a week and certainly on major news stations in your country and region.

Rule #2: Use What's Out There. You are always on sure ground if you use what the President, Secretary Rice, Sean McCormack or Senior USG spokesmen have already said on a particular subject. I always read recent statements by key officials on important subjects before I do press events. My Echo Chamber messages are meant to provide you clear talking points in a conversational format on the "hot" issues of the day. You never need clearance to background a journalist though you should certainly pay careful attention to how your comments may be used.

Rule #3: Think local. Because your key audience is your local -- or regional -- audience you do not need clearance to speak to any local media, print or television. And, you do not need clearance to speak to media in your country, even if it is US based or from a US publication, if you are quoting a senior official who has spoken on the record on a particular subject. The rule of thumb to keep in mind is "don't make policy or pre-empt the Secretary or a senior Washington policy-maker."

Rule #4: Use Common Sense to respond to natural disasters or tragedies. You do not need to get Department clearance to express condolences in the event of a loss, or express sympathy and support in response to a natural disaster. Obviously in the latter case do not commit USG resources for support or relief without approval from the Department; but do not wait for Department authorization to offer a statement of sympathy unless the individual or incident is controversial. Your regional hubs can help you in these instances as well.

Rule #5: Don't Make Policy. This is a sensitive area about which you need to be careful. Do not get out in front of USG policymakers on an issue, even if you are speaking to local press. When in doubt on a policy shift, seek urgent guidance from your regional hub, PA [public affairs] or your regional public diplomacy office. Use your judgment and err on the side of caution.

Rule #6: No Surprises. You should always give PA a heads-up in the event that you speak to U.S.-based media. This ensures that those who should know are in the loop on what is happening.

Rule #7: Enlist the help of the hubs (for those who have regional media presence) or my office if you don't get a quick response for clearance or help. The hub network is an extension of my staff, and we are here to support you in your efforts to get the USG position on the record and out in the media. Both Sean McCormack and I are committed to making sure you have what you need to advocate a US position on the key issues at your post.

I know this is a departure from how you all have operated over the years. But forceful advocacy of US interests and positions is critical to our effort to marginalize the extremists and share a positive vision of hope for all countries and people. I encourage you to take advantage of opportunities to speak out, and look forward to our aggressive promotion of US policy.

[end text of memo]

Actually, these guidelines aren't much of a departure from the way that embassies have handled media work for years. Most of the 'rules' -- refer to precendents and official statements, think about local audiences and channels, ask for help when you need it -- is just common sense. A good part of what one of the psychologists quoted by the Post calls a condescending tone lies in this assumption that people don't know their jobs. No wonder some recipients are PO'd.

Malaysia: Winning the World's Heart Through Its Stomach?

"Malaysia Dishes Out to Raise Profile," by Jonathan Kent (in Kuala Lumpur) - BBC News, 4 November 2006

Malaysia has announced that it is hoping to find a short cut to the world's heart through its stomach.

Its government is to try to raise the country's international profile by offering businessmen cash incentives to open thousands of Malaysian restaurants around the world....

According to the Malaysian government, which clearly keeps a close eye on such things, there are just 376 Malaysian restaurants to feed the six billion people who live outside the country.

So its government has set a target of raising that number to 8,000 by 2015.

Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak says the government will offer cheap loans, tax breaks and help with promotion so that, in his words, "Malaysia's name will be more renowned globally."

Malaysia is one of the most ethnically diverse countries in Asia with large Malay, Chinese, Indian, Thai and Eurasian communities.

The distinctive cuisines of each have mingled together here to produce an astonishing, yet relatively unknown, array of dishes.

Such is Malaysia's determination to achieve international glory through food that the country's first spaceman will perform zero gravity experiments with the national drink - "teh tarik" on a Russian-led space mission next year.

CSM Profiles US Exchange Program for German Muslim Youth

"German Muslims Laud US Diplomat's Style," by Ranty Islam - the Christian Science Monitor, 3 November 2006

BERLIN – The last time high schoolers in Berlin's Neukölln district made headlines was this spring, when teachers wrote an official letter to politicians essentially declaring a state of emergency over a violent student body - 80 percent of whom come from immigrant backgrounds.

But Jazan, a 16-year-old student at Neukölln's Ernst-Abbe high school, got his moment in the media limelight this week for an entirely different reason: Along with nine other students, he'd just returned from a 10-day trip to America sponsored by the US Embassy.

What most impressed him?

"People in the US can start driving at the age of 16 - why do we have to wait till 18 in Germany?" he says, laughing. But then, more serious, he adds, "Arabs, Jews, and Muslims [in the US] walk on the street next to each other and nobody tells them how to dress or what to do."

Such a change in perspective is exactly what US Ambassador William R. Timken Jr. is looking to accomplish with the embassy's "Windows on America" program.

Funded by corporate donors, the project aims to gives students from migrant backgrounds a clearer picture of the US, the ambassador says. While some see Windows on America as a thinly veiled PR campaign, Muslim leaders have lauded Mr. Timken's pragmatic approach to engaging Muslims as a useful model for their own politicians.

In September, during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, Timken broke the fast with Muslims at a mosque near the western city of Düsseldorf, as well as with a number of Muslim representatives invited to the Frankfurt residence of US Consul General Jo Ellen Powell.

Previously Ms. Powell, together with the ambassador's wife, Sue Timken, had organized a round-table discussion with Muslim women leaders working with immigrants.

The embassy also hosted a symposium with roughly 100 students from schools in Berlin's minority districts to discuss political, cultural, and educational issues of concern to them.

"The ambassador's efforts are warmly welcome," says Aiman Mazyek, secretary-general of Germany's Central Council of Muslims, one of the largest Muslim organizations in the country. "We'd like to see more of those [efforts] from German politicians. But, sadly, a visit by the German president to join Muslims breaking their fast is probably a long way off," he adds.

A sign of change came at an unprecedented government-organized conference of German Islamic organizations and leaders last month. At the meeting, Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble called Muslims an essential part of Germany who "belong to us."

But not all Germans see it that way. According to a poll earlier this year by the German news magazine Stern, 55 percent of Germans consider Islam a valuable part of society - but also a threat.

German Muslims are not insensitive to such sentiments; a more recent Stern poll revealed that almost half of all Muslims in Germany believe that relations with other parts of society have deteriorated over the past few years.

Whether Timken's approach will make a difference to the integration debate in Germany is uncertain, says Torsten Jäger, managing director of Germany's Intercultural Council. Given its limited scope and funding, "the embassy's program seems to be primarily a PR effort."

Is Timken's dialogue a neat PR-campaign to polish America's image or a meaningful effort to get engaged on integration issues in Germany?

A bit of both, says Timken. "We don't tell Germans how to run their country," he declares."My job is to get people to understand the US better."...

For an earlier report on US efforts to reach out to Muslims in Europe, see Amb. Korologos Describes US Outreach to Muslims in Europe.

The comparisons that the German students portrayed in the CSM article draw between their experiences with Americans and with Germans illustrate an inherent problem with public diplomacy that targets 'sub-' communities of the host country.

There's some term drawing on the idea of a triangle that psychologists use to describe what happens when two people who don't get along draw a third person into the relationship to stabilize it. Two roommates who are having problems might turn to a third roommate as a go-between and a peacemaker; couples who fight a lot might lean on children or friends to defuse their conflicts.

Something similar can happen when a government reaches out to a group that is in some kind of conflict with host country leaders. Whatever the intent of the program is, its greatest impact might be to deepen divisions between the host country government and the aggrieved community, and/or to make the bilateral relationship more difficult.

There are a couple of simple ways to work around this problem. One is to conduct your public diplomacy initiative through unofficial, third-party groups. Private sector exchanges can pursue the same goals that official exchanges do without the political baggage.

Another solution is to broaden your program to include host country officials. That approach is the one that makes more sense if the goal of the public diplomacy program involves trying to change both public and private attitudes. If the US concern here were to encourage Europeans to better integrate immigrant communities, it would make sense to have an exchange program that involves other people whose attitudes and actions play a role in that issue. Sometimes the biggest contribution a foreign government can make to resolving a conflict is to act as a moderator for this kind of meeting.

For more on the "Windows on America" program, see:

"Ambassador Timken Launches 'Windows on America' Initiative in Dusseldorf" - press relese, Consulate General of the United States, Dusseldorf, Germany, 26 June 2006

"Immigration in the 21st Century" - text of the W.E.B. DuBois Lecture delivered by US Ambassador William R. Timken, Jr., at Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany, on 21st July 2006.

It is an honor to participate in the W. E. B. DuBois lecture series. Like many of America’s civil rights heroes, DuBois forced America to confront some of the injustices in our society. His determination and eloquence spearheaded a grassroots movement to fight racial discrimination and prejudice in America. As one of his biographers said, DuBois was always one step ahead of himself -- troubled by America’s failings, but still committed to the idea of an American democracy true to itself. He never stopped asking difficult questions....

The challenge of assimilation is a thread that runs through the fabric of American history. America has welcomed more immigrants than any other country in the world. The common culture of the United States has been shaped, reshaped, and often heavily debated by waves of newcomers of different origins....

In America’s early days, Benjamin Franklin, one of America’s first statesmen, complained that Germans arriving in Philadelphia would, and I quote: “shortly be so numerous as to Germanize us instead of our Anglifying them… They will never adopt our Language or Customs.” Unquote. He was wrong. The Germans did not “Germanize” anybody and were not “Anglified.” Immigrant integration means that both newcomers and established residents change. British immigrants became Americans; just as German immigrants also became Americans. Today, in fact, more Americans claim German ancestry – including myself – than any other group....

That is why one of my priorities as Ambassador is to expand the opportunities for dialogue about some of these American models.

We are working with teachers, librarians and social workers to discuss best practices in creating opportunities for assimilation.

We are also working with German schools. For example one project is a high school business plan competition run by Berlin’s American-German Business Club. We want to involve schools that might also be good partners for the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship, a U.S.-based organization which helps low income youth build entrepreneurial skills.

As we speak, our Consul General in Duesseldorf, George Knowles, is hosting a barbecue for a group of 10 minority students from a Duesseldorf Hauptschule that has just returned from a two week visit to the United States. This is a new program called “Windows on America.” It is a public-private initiative -- meaning that the Embassy arranges the program and corporate and private donations pay the expenses. We had a great response to Windows on America, and more groups of kids will be going.

Last week we had a reverse visit. Some American Muslims came to speak with Berlin high schoolers, again mostly from minority backgrounds. The kids were very articulate about their “twoness” – to quote W.E.B. DuBois. They brought up, for example, the World Cup matches and how soccer gave them a way to feel German....

UK, Canadian, Mexican Publics Worry More About US Than About N. Korea

"Britons Wary of Bush More Than Kim Jong-Il: Poll" - Reuters (London), 3 November 2006

LONDON (Reuters) - The United States is seen as a threat to world peace by its closest neighbors and allies, with Britons saying President George W. Bush poses a greater danger than North Korea's Kim Jong-il, a survey found on Friday.

A majority of people quizzed in three out of four countries polled also rejected the March 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq....

Britain's Guardian newspaper said it carried out the survey along with Israel's Haaretz, La Presse and Toronto Star in Canada and Mexico's Reforma.

In Britain, which alongside Israel is traditionally a close Washington ally, 69 percent of those questioned said they felt U.S. policy had made the world less safe since 2001.

A majority of Canadians and Mexicans agreed, with 62 percent of those polled in Canada and 57 percent in Mexico saying their neighbor's policy had made the world more dangerous.

As for Israel, just 25 percent of people asked said Bush had made the world safer, while 36 percent felt he had upped the risk of conflict and a further 30 percent said at best he had made no difference.

Israelis alone were in favor of Bush's decision to invade Iraq, with 59 percent for the war and 34 percent against.

The ratio was starkly different in the three other nations.

Some 89 percent of Mexicans felt the invasion to topple Saddam Hussein was unjustified, as did 73 percent of Canadians and 71 percent of Britons, the survey said.

The perceived failings of U.S. foreign policy placed Bush alongside al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as a cause of global anxiety, it said....

Asked whether they thought the U.S. leader was a great or moderate danger to peace, 75 percent of British people said yes. Some 87 percent felt the same about bin Laden, while Kim scored 69 percent and Ahmadinejad clocked 62 percent.

Just 23 percent of Israelis said Bush he represented a serious danger, with 61 percent disagreeing.

ICM interviewed 1,010 adults from October 27-30 in Britain. Professional local opinion polling was used in the other three countries, the Guardian said. In Israel, 1,078 people were asked, 1,007 were quizzed in Canada and 1,010 in Mexico.

For the Guardian article, see "British Believe Bush Is More Dangerous Than Kim Jong-Il," by Julian Glover - the Guardian (UK), 3 November 2006.

An interesting point mentioned by Glover but left out of the Reuters report is that

...Contrary to the usual expectation, older voters in Britain are slightly more hostile to the Iraq war than younger ones. Voters under 35 are also more trusting of Mr Bush, with hostility strongest among people aged 35-65...

Also see:

"Canadians Believe Bush a Threat to Peace: Poll," by Tim Harper (in Washington) - the Toronto Star (Canada), 3 November 2006

WASHINGTON—Canadians believe the world has become a more dangerous place since George W. Bush was elected U.S. president and a majority believe he will launch military strikes in Iran or North Korea before his term ends in 2008, according to a new Toronto Star poll.

Canadians also consider Bush more dangerous to world peace than Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad or Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah....

Canadians — like Americans — have soured on the U.S. invasion of Iraq with 73 per cent now telling EKOS that Washington had no justification for it. When the same question was asked of Canadians in April 2003, right after the Bush invasion, EKOS [which conducted the poll in Canada] found 53 per cent thought it unjustified.

Also like Americans, Canadians are split on whether the U.S. should stay and finish the job or come home as soon as possible.

Canadians told EKOS they believed Osama bin Laden posed the greatest danger to the world, followed by North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, then Bush, Ahmadinejad and Nasrallah....

Newsweek: Visa Denials Huring US Image, Hughes Says

To head off any confusion about the clash of jurisdictions involved here: the visas that State Department officers issue to foreign nationals overseas allow the traveller to approach a U.S. port of entry and ask to enter the country. A Homeland Security officer actually makes the call on whether the person can enter or not.

"Terror Watch: Row Over Barred Muslim Scholars" - Newsweek (a Web exclusive), 1 November 2006

Nov. 1, 2006 - President Bush’s top emissary for public diplomacy has privately complained that recent moves by the Department of Homeland Security to block prominent Muslim clerics and scholars from entering the United States has damaged her efforts to bolster America’s image in the Islamic world.

In recent weeks, Karen Hughes, under secretary of State for public diplomacy and the president’s former communications adviser, has protested directly to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that an increase in the number of high-profile “exclusions” of Muslim figures is creating major public-relations problems for the United States overseas.

“There’s no question that some of these incidents have created serious problems for us,” Dan Smith, Hughes’s chief of staff told NEWSWEEK. “She wants to find a way to fix this consistent with national security.”

Hughes’s behind-the-scenes complaints reflect growing tensions between State and Homeland Security officials over an increasingly aggressive no-entry policy that critics say has caused a wave of criticism in the Muslim world even if it has been barely noticed inside the United States....

One recent case that prompted Hughes’s concern—first reported by NEWSWEEK—involved the well-known British Muslim leader, Kamal Helbawy, who was ordered off his American Airlines flight at London's Heathrow Airport on Oct. 18. Helbawy was forced to leave the flight just minutes before he was due to take off for New York, where he was slated to speak at a New York University Law School conference on the Muslim Brotherhood.

The move outraged sponsors of the NYU event, who insisted that Helbawy, although a longtime member of the radical Muslim Brotherhood, was a relatively moderate figure in British Islamic circles who has renounced violence and served as an adviser to Prime Minister Tony Blair’s government. Helbawy was not on a no-fly list maintained by U.S. intelligence agencies of persons deemed to be possible terror threats, according to a senior U.S. counterterrorism official. 

That incident was followed within days by two other cases in which well-known South Africans were detained by Homeland Security officials and then removed from the country. One of them, a Muslim academic named Adam Habib, who serves as the director of a South African government-funded research program, had landed in New York last week for a series of scheduled meetings with officials of the World Bank, the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institute of Health.

Although Habib had traveled to the United States on numerous occasions in recent years and had a multiple-entry visa, the scientist was questioned for more than seven hours and then escorted by armed guards back onto an airplane and flown back to South Africa. Habib, who acknowledged he had once been arrested as a political dissident under South Africa’s former apartheid government but denied any links to terrorism, expressed indignation over his treatment by U.S. authorities. “You can’t just deny someone access to a country and not give any reasons why,” he told The Dispatch newspaper in South Africa. “It’s like you accuse someone, but you don’t tell them what for.”...

A Homeland Security spokesman defended the agency’s actions, telling NEWSWEEK that "we're always going to err on the side of caution and security to secure our borders and protect the homeland.” The spokesman added that Homeland Security and State are working on new procedures to vet those entering the country and offer a streamlined appeals process for those denied entry to the United States.

But regardless of the merits, other senior State Department officials say the high-profile exclusions have created a public-relations nightmare for U.S. diplomats overseas. In the past few days, for example, Habib’s exclusion—barely reported inside the United States—produced a rash of headlines in South Africa. TOP MUSLIM KICKED OUT OF THE US, read the headline in The Dispatch, over the subheadline SEVEN-HOUR ORDEAL IN NEW YORK CASES ANGRY BACKLASH....

Also see:

"Row Brews as HSRC Demand Answers from US," by Dianne Hawker and Sapa - the Independent Online (iol.co.za) (Cape Town, South Africa), 25 October 2006

The Human Sciences Research Council is demanding an explanation after one of its top officials, Professor Adam Habib, was grilled by US customs officials for seven hours and then kicked out of the country with no explanation.

Habib, a Muslim, is executive director of the Democracy and Governance Research Programme at the HSRC.

Last night he was still mystified as to why his visa was revoked."The first time something like this happened to me was during apartheid, in the struggle days," he said. "I felt it was highly inappropriate and I feel affronted."

His deportation follows a similar incident last Friday, when a senior Gauteng Muslim cleric, Fazlur Rahman Azmi, was also denied entry to the US at San Francisco International Airport....

US customs officials say they are under no obligation to disclose the reason for Habib's deportation.

Speaking from his home in Johannesburg on Tuesday evening, Habib said he was still in the dark as to why his visa had been revoked.

He refused to speculate at this stage and would await an explanation from the US embassy.

He is hoping that the issue is resolved before a conference he is due to attend in the US in July next year....

The Cape Argus [another publication of The Independent Newspaper Company] contacted the US embassy in Johannesburg on Tuesday and was referred to the customs and border patrol division of the department of homeland security in Washington.

According to departmental spokesperson Kelly Klundt her file showed that Habib had been "deemed inadmissible", but she was unable to say why.

The HSRC has requested that Homeland Security supply the information under the Freedom of Information Act.

Habib may apply for a US visa again, but may once again be refused entry.

The Embassy in Johannesburg should have handled the Cape Argus query itself rather than referring the caller to Homeland Security in Washington. An embassy official based in South Africa would (should) have been able to appreciate and handle the sensitivities surrounding the visa denial far better than someone in Washington could.

Sen. Biden Criticizes State Dept. for Skewing Speakers Program

"Project Screened Speakers for Dissenting Views," by Jonathan S. Landay - McClatchy Newspapers (Washington, DC), 2 November 2006, as carried in the Philadelphia Inquirer

WASHINGTON - U.S. officials screened the public statements and writings of private citizens for criticism of the Bush administration before deciding whether to select them for foreign speaking projects, an internal State Department review has found.

The screenings amounted to "virtual censorship" in the State Department's selection of speakers, a report by the department's Inspector General's Office said. McClatchy Newspapers obtained a copy of the 22-page report, which was completed in September....

The vetting appears to be contrary to the guidelines of the U.S. Speaker and Specialist Program, which taps U.S. experts to deliver lectures, serve as consultants and conduct seminars overseas or from the United States via teleconferences. The guidelines call for the State Department to provide speakers "who represent a broad range of responsible and informed opinion in the United States" and are "not limited to the expression of U.S. government policies."

Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, requested a review of the program after a news story in December quoted State Department officials as saying that political litmus tests were being used to weed out speakers who were critical of the Bush administration.

Biden said it was wrong for senior State Department officials to have practiced virtual censorship. He said he would urge Undersecretary of State Karen Hughes, who oversees the speakers' program, "to ensure that this is not repeated on her watch."

The Inspector General's Office recommended that the Bureau of International Information Programs, which runs the speakers' program, adopt new rules to ensure that speakers were chosen "based on the quality of their credentials" and "their ability to communicate... regardless of their personal opinions on policy issues."

There was no response from bureau officials to several requests for a comment on the report.

For excerpts from an earlier report on this, see KR: State Dept. Screening Private Speakers on Political Views.

French Company Sets December Launch for 24-Hour News Channel (Added 11/4: Chirac's Support)

"French News Channel to Challenge 'Anglo-Saxon' CNN, BBC: Boss," by Marc Burleigh - AFP (Paris), 31 October 2006

PARIS (AFP) - A round-the-clock international news channel France is to launch in December will challenge the "Anglo-Saxon" views spread by market leaders BBC and CNN by relying on "French values", the network's chief said.

France 24, as the network is called, will start broadcasting in English and French on the Internet on December 6 and then via satellite two days later, its chairman and chief executive, Alain de Pouzilhac, told Le Figaro newspaper.

Like its British and US rivals, it is homing in on "opinion leaders" around the world by dishing up a diet of news, features and discussion.

But those viewers, Pouzilhac claimed, have become increasingly "sceptical of the world vision offered by the Anglo-Saxons like BBC World and CNN International."

Instead, he asserted, they "are looking for contradictory opinions -- which is what France 24 is proposing by relying on French values."

He did not define what those values were in the interview, beyond saying that the channel would highlight "diversity (and)...confrontation, without forgetting the culture and French art of living."

Financed to the tune of 80 million euros (100 million dollars) a year by the state and run as a joint operation between France's top commercial and top public national TV networks, France 24 will start out as a minnow to the BBC or CNN, both of which have built up global networks and enjoy established reputations.

For excerpts from an earlier report on a proposed international French-language news channel, see Paris Re-Thinks Plans for 'CNN in French.'

Added 4 November:

"French Cable News Prepares to Take on BBC, CNN," by James Mackenzie - Reuters (Paris), 2 November 2006

PARIS (Reuters) - French President Jacques Chirac's vision of a Gallic rival to CNN is approaching reality, pledging a pluralist and distinctively French world view to offset the "unified, Anglo-Saxon" outlook of the U.S. giant.

Chirac promised a "CNN a la francaise" in 2002 and the idea gained impetus amid the controversy over his opposition to the U.S.-led war in        Iraq, and his determination to defend a "multipolar" world from U.S. cultural dominance.

The success of Arabic news stations such as Al Jazeera has encouraged others to enter a field once dominated by CNN, at the same time as new technology made television cheaper to produce.

Now, in a high-tech office building south of Paris still swarming with builders, the project dubbed France 24 -- in which state-owned broadcaster France Television and commercial television company TF1 have equal stakes -- is nearing launch in early December.

"Diversity, debate, culture, the art of living are going to be the hallmarks of France 24 and that's going to provide a different point of view from the Anglo-Saxon world," said Alain de Pouzilhac, the station's chief executive.

"We're going to emphasize all the differences of the world, in contrast to the Anglo-Saxons who only show a unified vision of the world," he said, adding he hopes France 24 will be an opinion-former to rank with CNN or BBC World within three years....

Some commentators suspect the station will be little more than a mouthpiece of the French government -- a view it unsurprisingly rejects, saying all its journalists must sign a pledge of independence.

"This fear that it's going to be a Chirac channel is rubbish," said Marc Owen, a veteran of Britain's Granada TV, and now one of the senior English-speaking presenters at the station. "Am I going to just do what Chirac says? I'm not."

He also says the station is aware of the danger of imposing a parochial French slant on news at all costs.

"It's not that. It's being alive to the influence France has in the world and illuminating stories by weaving some of that in to your coverage. We're not doing local radio," he said.

A young, 170-strong editorial team from 27 countries with a backbone of senior producers and presenters faces the tricky job of finding a consistent approach that appeals to an international audience while keeping the French "difference."

Ironically, given the station's aims, much of its output will be in English as it seeks to appeal to viewers in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and the east coast of the United States....