The Foreign Service Journal, February 2009

10 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / F E B R U A R Y 2 0 0 9 leadership and management of the Historian’s Office and to put a hold on all major actions of the Office pending the outcome. According to a report on the fracas in the Jan. 12 New Yorker magazine, a concerned Sec. Rice herself met with the committee and subsequently ap- pointed a review panel to look into the matter ( www.newyorker.com ) . Readers can pursue this unfolding story online at www.fas.org/blog/se crecy/2008/12/crisis_in_frus.html , where you will find links to most of the relevant documents. Foggy Bottom Twitters, Networks, and Taps Online Youth Groups “One clear lesson from the Cold War was that winning hearts and minds required communicating in a way that ‘connected’ with people on their terms, whether through film or jazz or jeans,” wrote Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy Colleen P. Graffy in the Dec. 24 Washington Post ( www.washingtonpost.com ) . To keep our public diplomacy relevant today, she continued, we have to reach out and connect with people on their terms, whether we use blogs, texts — or tweets. Graffy’s report on her use of tweets during a December PD trip through Eastern Europe, along with several re- lated news items, indicates that the State Department’s effort to adapt to the digital age continues to gather mo- mentum. Tweets, as Graffy explains, are the lingua franca of Twitter, a social net- working tool in which you send a text message of 140 characters or fewer in response to the question: What are you doing? Graffy linked her messages to video and photos, combining the personal (a reference to plunging into Iceland’s Blue Lagoon) and the professional (in- terviews with Pro TV in Moldova and A1+ in Armenia to show U.S. support for free and independent media). “Communicating in this peppy, in- formal medium helped personalize my visit and enhance my impact as a U.S. official,” she said. Students at the Uni- versity of Bucharest and, later, Moldo- van bloggers knew her before she ar- rived. Said one Romanian student: “We feel like we already know you — you are not some intimidating govern- ment official. We feel comfortable talking with you.” Graffy points to State’s introduction of “Public Diplomacy 2.0,” social net- working for State alumni and en- hancedWeb sites, blogs and Facebook pages for embassies. The depart- ment’s blog, Dipnote, features mus- ings from top officials on policies and programs. OnDec. 1, the department officially unveiled a social networking site to promote international exchanges and enhance the U.S. image abroad, par- ticularly among young people. Ex- changesConnect is administered by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs ( www.govexec.com ) . The new- ly designed Web site, www.exhanges. state.gov , is a portal to the social network and the agency’s Facebook page. The site’s launch was accompanied by the announcement of a video con- test aimed at boosting public diplo- macy and sponsored by the Adobe Foundation. The theme for the three- minute video is “My Culture + Your Culture = Share Your Story.” The bu- reau also plans to develop a program to offer free online English training and is seeking a private-sector partner to create the necessary technology. In a potentially even more far- reaching initiative, the State Depart- ment has teamed with Facebook, Google, MTV, Howcast and others to organize an “Alliance of Youth Move- ments,” with an online presence to in- spire and assist youth groups around the world to combat political oppres- sion and extremism. The initiative, led by Under Secre- tary of State for Public Diplomacy James Glassman and Policy Planning staff member Jared Cohen, was in- spired by an online campaign against terrorist guerrilla groups in Colombia: Million Voices Against the FARC , cre- ated by Oscar Morales, a 33-year- old unemployed computer technician ( www.facebook.com/pages/One- million-voices-against-FARC/10780 185890 ). “The idea is to put all these people together, share best practices and pro- duce a manual that will be accessible online and in print to any group that wants to build a youth empowerment organization to push back against vio- lence and oppression around the world,” Glassman said. Some 17 groups from South Africa, Britain and the Middle East that al- ready have an online presence, as well C Y B E R N O T E S I f the prime minister of the Russian Federation is on televi- sion speaking about gas, it means gas is not an economic issue to them but a political issue. — Bodhan Sokolovsky, aide to Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, Jan. 5, www.washingtonpost.com