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The Public Diplomacy Blog is intended to stimulate dialog among scholars, researchers, practitioners and professionals from around the world in the public diplomacy sphere. The opinions represented here are the authors' own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the USC Center on Public Diplomacy at the Annenberg School.

LISTENING TO PAKISTAN: THE WEST’S PREMIER PD CHALLENGE
OCT 1, 2008 - 1:51PM PDT
Posted by Rob Asghar
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My brother and I, accompanied by his brother-in-law, were driving to the posh and overpriced Dynasty Chinese restaurant in Islamabad’s Marriott hotel recently. Yet the tightwad in me convinced them that we could enjoy ourselves just as much by going to one of the many cheaper Chinese local restaurants. Soon after we heard the Marriott explosion a few miles away, it became clear we had saved more than money.

According to some reports, the 1,500 lbs. or more in explosives may have been retrieved from mines left behind by the Soviets when American-funded jihadists drove them from Afghanistan.

If they... FULL TEXT
 
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TAKING TURNER TO CHINA
OCT 1, 2008 - 1:38PM PDT
Posted by John Worne
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It's been great to get such thoughtful comments on our International Relations Spectrum. One way for me to understand other perspectives would be to take a piece of our work at the British Council and look at how we could frame it. Here's a case study to take views on what it could be for – in terms of intentions - and how we could/should describe it and deliver it to maximize its impact.

I'll deliberately exaggerate for effect, but let's imagine you can take a J.M.W. Turner exhibition to China in three different guises:

A cultural diplomacy (CD) guise;... FULL TEXT
 
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THE SPECTRUM OF SPECTRUMS: A REVIEW OF THE INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS POSITIONING SPECTRUM
SEP 26, 2008 - 10:34AM PDT
Posted by Ali Fisher
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John Worne’s International Relations Positioning Spectrum (IRPS), and Nick Cull’s response provide interesting perspectives on the Cultural Relations / Public Diplomacy ‘divide’ and how work in the field is to be articulated. The IRPS appears a useful tool at the national level to help mediate in interdepartmental turf wars. However, the IRPS contains national peculiarities, specifically the difficulty the British Council faces in articulating its position, making it unlikely to become transferable internationally. This is best divided into two sections, first discussing the spectrum itself and second how this reflects the difficulty of articulating the position of the British Council.... FULL TEXT
 
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SCHOOLS, HOSPITALS OR CULTURAL RELATIONS?
SEP 23, 2008 - 11:59PM PDT
Posted by John Worne
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At the British Council – the UK’s international cultural and educational body – we’ve been thinking about what we call the International Relations Positioning Spectrum. It draws on work by Nick Cull and work done by Ali Fisher and Counterpoint, our cultural relations think tank on ‘'Options for Influence’. The spectrum sets out in broad terms what we think a nation can do in the world and how what we do – cultural relations - fits into it.


People who have seen it so far have said - although there is a lot of information in this diagram - they... FULL TEXT
 
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HOLLYWOOD’S INVESTMENT BET ON INDIA OVER CHINA: DEMOCRACY MATTERS
SEP 17, 2008 - 11:03AM PDT
Posted by Neal Rosendorf
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In the aftermath of the Beijing Olympics, there's been much discussion about an increase in China's soft power, not least by Joseph Nye, the originator of the concept. [Link] Nye and others (this writer included) have evaluated China's film industry and U.S.-Chinese co-productions as a strategic asset for the Middle Kingdom. I was discussing the subject recently with a U.S. motion picture industry executive, who agreed that Hollywood production in China is an important soft power issue. Still, she told me, at least as important is that Hollywood is betting with its Asian production investments not primarily on China, but... FULL TEXT
 
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