Thursday, April 21, 2005

Monday, April 11, 2005

Brookings report on World Public Opinion

Brookings Briefing
Who Will Lead the World? Shifting Alignments in World Public Opinion

(summary from Brookings website:)
"Since the end of the Cold War, the United States has emerged as the world's sole superpower, both in military and economic terms. A new poll however, suggests that not everyone around the world is happy with the United States' global influence, and would prefer a change in the balance of power. Publics around the world appear to be looking more to Europe and even China to play a more prominent role, while the influence of the United States and Russia are largely seen in a negative light. Such a potential realignment has significant implications for U.S. foreign policy. The poll, conducted by GlobeScan, together with the University of Maryland's Program on International Policy Attitudes, surveyed over 23,000 respondents in 23 countries around the world."

Friday, April 8, 2005

Two PD reports

GAO recently released: U.S. Public Diplomacy: Interagency Coordination Efforts Hampered by the Lack of a National Communication Strategy GAO-05-323, April 4, 2005
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d05323.pdf

(from the abstract:)
"The war on terrorism has focused attention on the important role U.S. public diplomacy plays in improving the nation's image. The United States has undertaken efforts to "win hearts and minds" by better engaging, informing, and influencing foreign audiences; however, recent polling data show that anti-Americanism is spreading and deepening around the world. GAO was asked to examine (1) to what extent U.S. public diplomacy efforts have been coordinated and (2) whether the private sector has been significantly engaged in such efforts."

Another interesting report is the UK's Foreign Policy Centre's "British Public Diplomacy in the Age of Schisms"(February 2005). The report addresses many of the same issues and challenges that the U.S. faces in its public diplomacy efforts.

(from the introduction:)
"...Why is a new direction needed?
Authors Mark Leonard, Andrew Small and Counterpoint director, Martin Rose examine how Britain can forge a new public diplomacy role to suit an unstable, shifting, post-Iraq world, where divisions - or schisms - push nations into very different alliances. The lack of a significant debate about the role of public diplomacy post-Iraq, and the reliance on a Cold War-style public diplomacy suggests that a major rethink is needed. The authors argue that a new public diplomacy should be about mapping these schisms and bridging them, with a focus on trust and mutuality in the long-term, rather than about just delivering the message."

Sunday, April 3, 2005

Presidents on Tape

An interesting site for anyone interested in the presidency (following excerpted from Scout Report, April 1, 2005)

WhiteHouseTapes.org [Macromedia Flash Player, pdf, Windows Media Player, QuickTime]
http://www.whitehousetapes.org/

"Since 1940, six American presidents have secretly recorded close to 5,000 hours of conversations, many of which have been of great interest to presidential historians, the press, and the general public. This remarkable site provides access to a wide range of those conversations, and is hosted and maintained by the Presidential Recordings Program at the University of Virginia's Miller Center of Public Affairs. From the site's homepage, visitors can browse a list of highlighted audio clips (complete with full transcripts) and also access educational resource materials for use in the classroom. The site also has some additional virtual exhibits on a number of topics, including Vietnam and the civil rights movement. Finally, the site also contains a search engine so that visitors can quickly locate the audio clip or conversation they are looking for