Transnational Advocacy Networks and Public Diplomacy

I am sitting in the Association of Public Diplomacy Scholars annual conference which, this year, deals with transnational advocacy networks and public diplomacy. Anyone in the LA area, please feel free to come join us at USC. I will be Tweeting the conference from here: http://twitter.com/KatharineKeith and will be blogging as well for those who are unable to join. You can find the conference program here. A great line-up. The keynote speaker, Colin Robertson, a fellow at the Canadian Defense and Foreign Affairs Institute, discussed the "Canadian Experience." Here are some of my favorite highlights:

"It costs $1 million to keep a solider in country; It costs 1/3rd that to keep a diplomat."

Roberts outlined 5 points of public diplomacy, his sixth.. "have a good woman on your team." It takes a real man to admit this. ;)

And from an audience member, a good reminder for those practicing PD, the principals of good public diplomacy, ""1st Listen, 2nd Learn, then lead."

The travelling Israeli Wall of "Genocide"

Letter to the Editor; USC Daily Trojan:

I was startled to see a familiar wall on the USC campus this week. In 2008, I graduated from UC Irvine, the original location of this particular wall. UC Irvine has experienced a lot of controversy because of this traveling wall.  Almost as much as the wall it is meant to replicate, which was built by Israel to protect its citizens from terrorist attacks. Many argue that the wall violates international law but Israel insists it has saved lives. At UCI, this wall and the controversial speakers and protests that have accompanied it has caused a lot of negative feelings and bad press. So much so that the Muslim Student Union, the organization that constructs this wall on the UCI campus every semester, is rumored to be investigated by the FBI. Also, Anteaters for Israel, the UCI Jewish student group that takes the upmost offense to the wall, launched a law suit against the school for Antisemitism. Though I am very supportive of the Palestinian cause, and feel that it is important for USC students to be aware of it, I am extremely disappointed to see this wall as the way of sparking this conversation. I feel that this wall is not productive, it is a hostile, in-your-face, accusation that offends many people. Maybe this is the point, but I offer this food for thought: In 2007 a group of UCI students, Muslim, Jewish, Christian, Jew and others decided a more productive way to educate UCI students about the conflict -- what is really going on -- was travel there and talk to those who live the conflict. We formed the Olive Tree Initiative and traveled to Israel and Palestine for two weeks talking to people from both territories. I learned so much for the people there, but what was most important was that Palestinians- and Jews -- do not want, nor need, us to be fighting their conflict on our campus. They want to get jobs, go to school, travel the world and raise family’s – in peace and without violence. Last week I traveled to Lebanon and visited a Palestinian refugee camp. Those refugees didn’t hate Israel, they didn’t hate the Jews. I asked them what they wanted, what I could do for them. All they wanted was dignity, to be treated equally, to get an education, to be able to get jobs and to see the world. That is the cause we should be helping them with, not vilifying Israel. There is enough of that. I agree that Israel, the US and the world has wronged the Palestinian people, but fueling hate towards Israel doesn’t right these wrongs. I hope those who look at the wall, and those who brought it to USC, will ask how it helps the Palestinian people achieve these goals. There are real things people can do for the cause. And I hope those who care about Palestinians, and Israeli’s, and ending the conflict in the region will look into the Olive Tree Initiative on their campus or find some other way to bring peace to the conflict. 

You can read my blog posts from my trip throughout Palestine and Israel here.

Katharine Keith
MA in Public Diplomacy Candidate, USC
Co-Founder, Olive Tree Initiative, UCI


Click here to read my friend and colleague, Paul Rockower's letter to the editor on the same subject. Well said, my friend.

Also, watch our very short documentary on the Olive Tree Initiative:

Black-Span

Wow...  loss of words... I think John Stewart said it best:

"You don't have to appreciate ALL input. If someone pisses in your iced tea, that is input that, really, could very well go unappreciated."

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Fear of a Black C-SPANet
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

The US Mission to NATO

Over the last 8 months, I have been working as a Virtual Student Foreign Service Intern for the US Mission to NATO. I have been working with USNATO staff in Brussels to develop a public diplomacy outreach program for students in the US and Europe.  Although NATO has important operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Kosovo and the African Union, it is not discussed nearly enough in the media or in the classrooms.  My impression is that most students are unclear of what NATO actually does beyond their history lessons. 

For those who don’t know, NATO is a political-military alliance of 28 nations around the world who come together to deal with issues of global security and defense. Founded in 1949, the NATO Ministers of Defense and Foreign Affairs meet regularly at the North Atlantic Council (NAC) to discuss security issues of mutual interest. Any decisions made are decided by consensus of the members. The next meeting is this month in Tallinn, Estonia. NATO Heads of Government meet at such forums-- another meeting will be held in Lisbon in November of this year. I am hoping to blog more about this month’s upcoming meeting in Tallinn. I’ll keep you posted.

Thanks, Burger King for this amazing public diplomacy campaign (again, desperately in need of a sarcasm font)

Burger King's new ad campaign for Saudi Arabia. As if American's needed any more help with their image as ignorant cowboys.










Thanks to Paul Rockower for bringing these to my attention!

Art Dubai

This week, the city welcomes Art Dubai, the largest contemporary art festival in the region.


Art Dubai 2009 from Art Dubai on Vimeo.

To learn more about how this art festival will help spur culture in Dubai, a city of immigrants, we visited an art gallery.  We had a very interesting talk with the owner of the gallery, as well as the government official in charge of culture. The art scene in Dubai is small, largely because funding isn't available for full time artists. We had a very interesting talk about art in Dubai and how it could act as a public diplomacy tool for Dubai itself. The representative from the Ministry of Culture explained that until Dubai knows its own culture, it will be difficult for it to export it.

Lessons from Emirate Royalty

Wednesday brought us to one of our most exciting interviews. We were in the presence of royalty. We had the great fortune to meet with her Excellency, Reem Al Hashemy in Emirates Towers. A surprisingly young woman, Al-Hashemy was sworn in as a Minister of State in the Cabinet of the UAE. It is common for young people to have important positions in the UAE if they are smart and talented.  Al Hashemy was clearly both. In fact, the population of the UAE is fairly young in general. 

Educated at Harvard, her Excellency spoke eloquently, and with only a slight accent, from underneath her black hijab (traditional dress for Emirate women). Many Emirates are US educated, and many have a good opinion of the US. Unfortunately, more so than the American public's opinion of the UAE. The UAE's regional neighbors criticize the country for being too westernized and close to the US.

According to Ms. Al Hashemy, the UAE was created by Sheik Zeyad in 1971. She explained that Emirates are a tribal culture and that each of the seven Emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates. Some of the Emirates are more modern, like Dubai, which is very western and business minded.  The capital, Abu Dhabi, has the biggest population of Emirates, and Sharjah is much more religious. (To find out more about the UAE see here)

Financial Crisis
Like most of the world, the financial crisis hit Dubai. Particularly, its banking and real estate sectors. International media speculated disaster for Dubai, claiming it was done. The Government failed to respond to what Ms. Al Hashemy called exaggerated accusations. 

Combating Terrorism
As the US Consul General had told us a few days earlier, the UAE works closely with the US to combat terrorism. Dubai has the largest US Navel monitoring fleet and 100% of shipments that leave Dubai are checked by US Costumes agents. Mrs. Al Hashemy spoke of how little the global public, particularly Americans, new of this. Surprisingly, in 2006, the UAE was the only Middle Eastern country to deploy Special Forces in Iraq. Her Excellency spoke of the difficulties of trying to get Americans to realize the UAE matters. She has spent much of her career lobbying in the US for better opinions toward their country. Many public diplomacy efforts have been implemented to this aim. At one point, a group of Rabbi's from the Simon Wiesenthal Center in LA visited the UAE.

Green Initiatives
Although it is not an important issue to the Emirate public, the Sheik of Dubai has introduced an effort towards green technology for his city. This includes the construction of the world's first completely green city. The UAE also won the bid for the headquarters of IRENA. This will be the first multinational organization in the global south. (I highly suggest this 60 minutes piece on Dubai for more information.) 


Watch CBS News Videos Online

In conclusion, her Excellency explained that, like it or not, the Middle East will continue to be very important. She explained that the Sheiks have tried to build a very different Middle Eastern country. One with an open society, both culturally and religiously; One that empowers women in work and education. The Sheiks foundation, Dubai Cares, works on education issues throughout the world. But she added the caveat that it isn't just important to make the UAE exceptional.

"You can never have a great house if it is a bad neighborhood. The UAE is a good house."

Therefore, she says, the UAE has a direct interest in developing the region as a whole. I asked her if she felt that the UAE could act as a moderator between Middle Eastern countries and the ME and the US. She agreed they most definitely are already. But she said most efforts in this regard are behind the scenes and that she couldn't elaborate. She added that the UAE had to be strategic about their methods of improving the region. 

"Arab culture is super sensitive about others telling us what to do." (A point the US will learn the hard way.) "Instead, the UAE says, 'Here is what we've done, look at how successful it has been. Maybe you'd be interested in trying it."

In no way does the UAE think it is perfect. Mrs. Al Hashemy admits:

"Are we democratic? Hell no! And there is a long way to go to be more democratic. But we are aware of this and working to address it."

 But she insists that they are a model for the region. 

"Dubai is seen as very welcoming and successful on the 'Arab street.'"

From my visit here, I can see why. Myself and many of my colleagues on the trip mentioned we could see ourselves moving here. We felt very comfortable in this country. Maybe I'll start editing my resume. ;)

Desert Safari

The day started with lectures from some AUD professors and local media. The topic focused on understanding and influencing Arab publics. A television personality, Majid Mohsen and his colleague, Hafidh Aman. The two set up a workshop for us about managing a public diplomacy speech to the Arab world -- much like Obama's Cairo speech. It was an interesting exercise, particularly having two influential Arabs who were very frank with us about what the Arab public needs and wants to hear.

Later that day we met up with a group of AUD students. About 12 of these students will be coming to visit us in California the first week in April, as the second phase of this exchange program. The students had planned a desert safari for us. We piled into a caravan of jeeps and headed towards the desert. I have been to the desert before, in Egypt, but it was still surreal that just outside this booming city -- what I compare to the Las Vegas, or even LA, of the Middle East -- was a vast and desolate desert. The red sand dunes were absolutely gorgeous as camels trekked across them. It was like a film of an exotic, far- away place. THIS is what you expect to see in the Middle East. Not a Coco’s and Chilies, and yes, Dubai is full of American chain restaurants and shops. I seriously don’t feel like I’ve left LA.
 
Once we arrived at an even more desolate patch of sprawling desert, it was time for the real fun to begin. The jeeps let some of the air out of the tires so that they wouldn't pop a tire. We strapped ourselves into the jeep and our driver hit the gas, heading straight for the steepest sand dunes he could see. Sand dune riding is very popular here and can be done in dune buggies, jeeps, dirt bikes, etc. Each time we hit the top of a 20ft dune I was thrown up off my seat. I was very grateful for seatbelts at this point. It was an intense and exhilarating ride. The AUD students in my jeep turned up Egyptian dance music and were clapping their hands and singing between screams of excitement as we hit dune after dune. It was probably the most fun I'd ever had.

After about 20 minutes we reached an outpost desert camp that had been set up for us. We met other jeeps of mostly tourists and headed to the camp which had tea and dates, henna tattooing, a bar, a sheesha "lounge," camel riding, and sand boarding. It was a very cool set-up, everything a tourist would think of the Middle East. Sand boarding was really fun. Basically you get on a snow board and "ski" down a 20 foot sand dune. Dinner was served after sunset. It was a Middle Easter feast.. and then Chinese and Italian food? Then we took to the rugs and pillows in the sand and watched a very talented, but rather old, belly dancer. I don't hate though, I hope I can move like that when I'm 50! ;)

Overall, it was a lot of fun. And the AUD students we met were interesting as well. A much needed break after an intense few days of meetings.

Day 3: Al Arabiya

After our visit to the National newspaper headquarters in Abu Dhabi, we stopped at the Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Mosque, which is, I was told, the second largest mosque in the world. The first is in Pakistan.

The Grand Mosque "is probably the most imposing religious and national landmark in Abu Dhabi to date. It is also arguably one of the most important architectural treasures of contemporary UAE society."

The mosque was awe-inspiring to say the least and easily the most beautiful I have ever seen.

Afterward, we skipped back to Dubai for a visit to the Middle East Broadcasting Center (MBC). This huge broadcasting group consists of many television stations, one of its most well known being Al Arabiya. We got a very thorough tour of the station and spoke with the Executive Editor, Dr. Nabil Khatib about Middle East media. One of the highlights, Dr. Khatib pointed out how public relations and public policy does very well in the US and yet we fail miserably in Foreign Policy. The US public is very watchful and critical of US domestic policies but it doesn't devote the same scrutiny to their country's foreign polices. Which I completely agree is true. I would say we fail miserably in public diplomacy as well, though maybe this falls under the rubric of foreign policy. Although, considering the health care drama, many would argue public policy isn't at its best at the moment either.

Day 3: The National

Today’s meetings focused on media in the UAE. All media is government owned, funded and censored. Although, it seems that censorship isn’t at the same level as, say, Iran or China. We visited the National newspaper office in Abu Dhabi, which is the UAE capital city. Only two years old, The National is an English language newspaper that reports international news. It is delivered in many ME countries including Jordan, Cairo and Lebanon and read widely in the US. We spoke with Hassan Fattah, the paper’s former Editor in Chief. Hassan admitted that the paper receives government push back on stories but insisted that the government does not expect a paper that wholly praises the Sheik with their pictures gracing every page. This is what most of the local papers look like, and the government is well aware that the public does not see these publications as credible. Instead, the Sheiks welcomed the National and funded its launch. The paper hopes to wean itself from this funding as soon as possible, although Hassan says that it doesn’t come with strings. He explains that the paper has to be strategic about telling a story that may be seen as critical by the government. He describes how they build a story piece by piece rather than printing one wholly critical piece. One of the most interesting things Hassan spoke about was the fact that although the paper covers local news, its audience is almost more interested in international news. A phenomenon that is opposite that of the US public, which tends to prefer national news. Another difference between the US newspaper market and the UAE:

“Newspapers are not dead here,” says Hassan. He says the media is quite behind the US in development and therefore printed newspaper is alive and well in the region, including ad revenue. “Business is thriving,” with subscriptions doubling every year.

One of the papers largest focuses, as you might imagine, is business. We spoke with one of the paper’s business writers who further explained how the paper balances accurate reporting without being outright critical with the government policies.

US - UAE - AUD

DAY 2:

Today, we started with a trip to the American University in Dubai- our hosts on this trip. We met with the AUD President, Dr. Lance de Masi, who talked about what makes the university American. According to Dr. de Masi, the school has an American approach to education, which is apparently unique. Public universities in Dubai are government run and free. AUD is one of several private universities. With 3,000 students, it is a tiny school in comparison to USC. The students come from all different countries and backgrounds, which is obvious by the various dress- burqas to sundresses. I guess I really could've packed anything. Many of the international students are sent to school in Dubai, while their parents work elsewhere. AUD only offers undergraduate programs for now, with the exception of their MBA program. The school is pretty westernized, as is the rest of Dubai, as I later discovered. I find myself almost disappointed that it doesn't feel more Middle Eastern- whatever that means. Though I have been told that the other Emirates are less Western.

Next, we visited the American Consul General of Dubai. As it happened, the Public Affairs officer that escorted us was a good friend of my mentor at the State Department this summer- small world indeed. The Consul General spoke of the close relationship the United Arab Emirates has with the U.S. -- a relationship that is only getting stronger under the Obama administration. Large numbers of Emirates study in the US, which is great for public diplomacy. The two countries cooperate in both oil interests and national security. After all, US companies, primarily those in Texas, built Dubai’s oil infrastructure. There are 750-900 US companies in Dubai, many being the top fortune five companies. In terms of corporate diplomacy -- basically the role of corporations in foreign policy -- these companies seem aware of their brand image as a US brand in a Middle Eastern country.

The UAE, with its main political hub in Abu Dhabi, is becoming increasingly important in international relations. However, because it is so small – it only has 6 million people in all 7 Emirates, (much less than the city of LA and Saudi Arabia, which has 24 million) – the UAE has to be careful about its alliances. Iran, in particular, is its greatest threat. In some instances it is good for the country to be seen as close to the US. From what I have learned so far, it seems the UAE is a very unique Middle Eastern country. It is both Islamic and not democratic – being run by a network of royal families – but is very modern, open and friendly with the US. I can’t wait to see more…

Welcome to Dubai

So after a long and disorienting 15 hour flight through several times zones, we arrived in beautiful Dubai. Dubai looks strangely similar to LA so far. I really don't feel I am in a Middle Eastern country at all. Maybe tomorrow as we venture out. The flight was an adventure in itself, as we flew the famed Emirates Airlines, arguably the most luxurious of airlines. I have to say, flying coach was only slightly better than, say, Jet Blue.. next time I hope to splurge an extra couple thousand for the business class pods. (see right) Juggling the time change is going to prove difficult -- we ate breakfast on the plane and then landed shortly after in Dubai, where it was 7pm -- nothing a little exhaustion and a glass of wine can't cure. I'm off to test the method now, as it is nearly 2 am already. Also, Google and Facebook have somehow noticed I am in Dubai and switched the default language to Arabic on me and I am having trouble figuring out how to change it back.. a very neat feature unless Google is mistaken and you do not speak Arabic despite your location. THIS is where those two years of Persian language at UCI come in handy!

What not to wear.. The Middle East edition

So I leave in 3 days for a very exciting trip to Dubai and Beirut. This has proved more than challenging. First of all, I always over pack for trips and forget something important like pants. To add to my dilemma, my travels take me to largely Islamic countries in the very warm desert. Luckily, my summer in DC prepared me with a business wardrobe that will make due in hot climates. But I am receiving mixed messages about how conservative my dress should be. One article offered this advice:

Golden Rule: Ladies, if you show too much skin, everyone will think you're a prostitute.

Certainly not wanting to be arrested for solicitation, I promptly took my tank tops and skirts out of my suitcase. I am told by many that Dubai is a very modern city and that the dress code is very relaxed. But then I read this article on tourists who were cited for public indecency in the mall. The best part of the article is the Russian business women who said she doesn't own anything but mini-skirts and tank tops.. must be a long Russian winter for her and her mini.

Needless to say I am rather perplexed.. maybe I should just pack my burqa and my toothbrush.

Microloans for American Students

As I look towards what seems to be the end of my academic life- I graduate in three months- I can't help but panic about the mass of school loans that I have acquired. Its hard to get a handle on the idea that getting an education is so costly. I have always believed that education is valuable, but I can't help but wonder if my choice to get a MA degree will be worth the debt that I will probable face the majority of my adult life? I am not the only student who struggles with this dilemma, feelings that materialized March 4th in the form of nation-wide protests. I heard about an interesting, and definitely creative, idea about micro-lending for education. It's similar to the microcredit- extension of very small loans to those in poverty to spur entrepreneurship. This originated with the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. Here is an example of this. This new idea proposes that American donors can provide school loans to American students. I know that I don't count as being in poverty, but I, like many other US students, could really use help paying for college.

Photo by Shadee Malaklou