Center for Strategic Communication

Don’t Shoot the Messenger!

In a week of tragic accidents, the WikiLeaks story may be the toughest one to bear, horrifying both for what it showed about the current state of war and what it says about the current state of our media environment.  As most know, thanks to the whistle blowers at...

Brokering Power, “Soft” and “Hard”

Along the gradient of power, there’s a possible mix of “soft” and “hard” varieties.  The public diplomacy originating at the U.S. State Department is commonly associated with the “soft” power of peaceful persuasion and...

U.S. Public Diplomacy, Back to the Future

Readers of this space know there’s been a recent flurry of public activity by those who set the course of U.S. communications efforts with foreign publics.  This week’s unusual Congressional hearing on the State Department’s public diplomacy programs...

New Media, Old Truths

Many journalists and commentators have examined and illuminated the role of new media and technology in the on-going protests in Iran.  Exposing the electoral fraud perpetrated by Ahmedinejad last year and the violent repression of resultant protests certainly called...

Just Google “China”

The other day The Wall Street Journal ran a good summary of China’s conflict with Google.  It looks like we’re in for another international war of words but, this time, it won’t be a classic Cold War confrontation over political-military issues, but...