Lessons from the Past - USC Center on Public Diplomacy

<strong>Lessons</strong> <strong>from</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Past</strong> 51
<strong>the</strong> Information Society in Geneva in 2003. The blog provided a
mechanism by which <strong>the</strong> Iranian public could challenge <strong>the</strong>ir own
government and speak for freedom of <strong>the</strong> media; journalists working
for <strong>the</strong> blog presented questions <strong>from</strong> <strong>the</strong> Iranian blogosphere at <strong>the</strong>
press conference given by <strong>the</strong> former president and current chair
of <strong>the</strong> ‘expediency council,’ Mohammad Hashemi Rafsanjani. A
River Path blog on Nor<strong>the</strong>rn Ireland, http://www.sluggerotoole.com,
provided a valuable space for cross-community political dialog. 23
Finally, <strong>the</strong> consultancy showed that a blog could advance <strong>the</strong> PD
goals of a humble NGO by working with <strong>the</strong> European Network on
Debt and Development to track <strong>the</strong> politicking around <strong>the</strong> appointment
of a new president at <strong>the</strong> World Bank in 2005 (and <strong>the</strong> fate of <strong>the</strong>
present incumbent) on a blog: http://www.worldbankpresident.org.
The site has been a one-stop-shop for inside scoops and leaks, and
brought o<strong>the</strong>rwise hidden machinations into <strong>the</strong> light of day.
6.3 Cultural Diplomacy: Diasporas and <strong>the</strong> potential of <strong>the</strong>
blog
If cultural diplomacy is conceived in its most basic terms as an
international actor’s attempt to manage <strong>the</strong> international environment
by facilitating cultural transmission across an international
boundary, <strong>the</strong>re are many ways to do this besides teaching one’s
language, organizing an exhibition or sending a play on tour. The
obvious missing dimension is attention to <strong>the</strong> interpersonal level of
communication and <strong>the</strong> people whose lives cross <strong>the</strong> international
boundaries who carry messages whe<strong>the</strong>r international actors like it
or not.
Two major groups which have been used historically for
interpersonal work in public diplomacy are refugees and diasporas.
During World War Two <strong>the</strong> British Council operated a home division
to help refugees learn more about <strong>the</strong>ir haven. A generation of
Poles and Czechs learned both <strong>the</strong> English language and English
political values through British Council classes before returning to
<strong>the</strong>ir homelands. They were fated not to be <strong>the</strong> vanguard of intra-