The Foreign Service Journal, June 2008
as one of history’s great intellectual lapses, a time, like 1914, when an age cried out for direction and new ideas, and all it got was more blood, more treasure,” he adds. Mines and his collaborators identi- fied 21 contemporary “X” candidates last fall and sent their views, with a series of questions on how to manage the post-9/11 strategic environment, to CENSA members and friends. Asked to select the contemporary thinker who most closely approxi- mates George Kennan, participants chose Francis Fukuyama, with Parag Khanna as runner up — but they received only 16 and 9 percent of the vote, respectively. When the candidates were group- ed thematically, however, those advo- cating a new global architecture and a focus on nationbuilding garnered 65 percent. Interestingly, the “Bush Doc- trines I & II” received a mere 1.5 per- cent, and “American Primacy/Focus” 12 percent. The survey surfaced a number of issues that merit further analysis, and Mines has listed them as a series of questions along with the summary results. His presentation of the detailed results offers much food for thought, and the appendix listing the 21 candidates and their main works is a valuable resource for anyone inter- ested in joining the search. Japan’s Animated Diplomacy: A Sign of the Future? While American diplomacy goes expeditionary, Japanese diplomacy is going pop. In March, Foreign Mini- ster Masahiko Komura appointed Doraemon, the animated cat, “anime ambassador” to the world ( www. ap.com ) . And last November, the Japanese Foreign Ministry named another cartoon icon, Astro Boy, as envoy for overseas safety. The pop diplomacy initiative was launched last year by former Foreign Minister Taro Aso, a comic enthusiast, who was responsible for the establish- ment of an International Manga Award, which he likened to a “Nobel Prize” for an artist working abroad. Manga is the word for Japanese-style comic books, which combine complex stories and drawing styles featuring cute characters. At the inauguration ceremony for Doraemon, Foreign Minister Kom- ura handed a human-sized blue-and- white cat an official certificate and a plate full of dorayaki, or red bean pan- cakes, his favorite dessert. Komura asked the cat to promote Japanese animated cartoons, or anime, widely. “Doreamon, I hope you will travel around the world as an anime ambas- sador to deepen people’s understand- ing of Japan so they will become friends with Japan,” Komura told the cat. Showings of a Doraemon film have been set in Singapore, China, Spain, France and other diplomatic mis- sions. “Through my cartoons, I hope to convey to people abroad what ordi- nary Japanese people think, our lifestyles and what kind of future we want to build,” says Doreamon, voiced by actress Wasabi Mizuta. Created by cartoonist Fujiko F. Fujio, the robotic cat travels back in time from the 22nd century and uses gadgets such as a time machine and an “anywhere door” that come out of a fourth-dimensional pocket on his stomach. Doraemon is already popu- lar in much of Asia. Perhaps these developments have been noted by State Depart- ment management. Cartoon charac- ters are very dynamic, and don’t need pensions or health insurance. Could this be an answer to America’s dire shortage of diplomats — or a new rival? This edition of Cybernotes was compiled by Susan Brady Maitra, Senior Editor. J U N E 2 0 0 8 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 11 C Y B E R N O T E S
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