Karen Hughes

Karen Hughes
-Counselor to the President, 2001-2002
-Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, 2005-2007
-Communications Director, Bush for President 2000 and Communications Consultant for -President Bush re-election campaign 2004
Karen Hughes has been described as “the most powerful woman ever to serve in the White House” (Dallas Morning News), President George W. Bush's "most essential advisor" (ABC News) and “the most powerful public diplomacy czar in decades” (The Boston Globe). As Under Secretary of State Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, she traveled to more than 40 countries, meeting world leaders and reaching out to international audiences, work that she described as “waging peace.”
A longtime advisor to President Bush, Ambassador Hughes traveled at his side during both his presidential campaigns and served as Counselor to the President for his first 18 months in the White House. As Counselor, she worked on major domestic and foreign policy issues, led the international communications effort in the first year of the war against terror, and managed the White House offices of Communications, Media Affairs, Speechwriting and Press Secretary.

Source: http://www.harrywalker.com/speakers_template.cfm?Spea_ID=606

Assignement 3:

Karen Hughes, this diplomatic women that has made public diplomacy in the United State "strong and central". She actually defines her job as that she tries to make an American Dialogue with the world. She did big efforts to improve the U.S. image abroad. She added that she believes that public diplomacy every body jobs; for instance, ambassadors… Besides, Karen Hughes talks about the war of the Irak. “She said that “Negative events never help," to promote the right image of USA. Finally, she believes that public diplomacy plays a role in struggling against terrorism, and to convince us about this notion.
As Karen Huglers mentions the three strategic goals of the US-Public Diplomacy according to the interview conducted:
First of all, make sure that America continues to be the big opportunity in the world by the values, freedom, opportunities of work, anything you want to be.
Second, isolate and marginalize terrorists’ experiments by encouraging Muslims to speak out, and speaking in order to struggle against terrorists especially after the event of the eleventh of September.
Third, strategy is to foster a sense of common interest, common American values around the world.

Propaganda

Propaganda is a word derived from the Vatican's establishment of the Sacre Congregatio de Propaganda Fide in 1622. It is a process of persuasion designed to induce ideas, opinions, or actions beneficial to the source. As a process, it is value-neutral although the word has acquired pejorative meaning. Analysis of propaganda would more profitably benefit by examination of intentions. In, for example, the case of combat propaganda, more usually termed psychological warfare, the intention is to persuade enemy soldiers to defect, desert, surrender, or otherwise influence their behaviour on the battlefield with a view to defeating them. As such, these ‘munitions of the mind’ have become increasingly more sophisticated with advances in psychology and communications, especially during the course of the 20th century.Before 1914, propaganda was usually associated with religion and the implanting of ideas to be cultivated in support of existing beliefs and ‘faith’. Its wartime applications, in the Napoleonic or the American independence wars, were confined largely to calls to arms, lampooning the enemy, glorifying victory, and sustaining morale. The intention by the few to impress the many can be traced back to the ancient world in art, architecture, and symbolism. The advent of printing in the 14th century shifted the emphasis from script to print. In wars of religion, propaganda from the pulpit remained a potent method of swaying emotions, hence the Vatican's Sacre Congregatio. Massive advances in communications technologies in the 19th century, the development of a global cable network, and the arrival of the mass media by the end of the century extended propaganda to a global audience.
source: www.answers.com

defintion of soft power

Soft power is a term used in international relations theory to describe the ability of a political body, such as a state, to indirectly influence the behavior or interests of other political bodies through cultural or ideological means. The term was first coined by Harvard University professor Joseph Nye, who remains its most prominent proponent, in a 1990 book, Bound to Lead: The Changing Nature of American Power. He further developed the concept in his 2004 book, Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics. While its usefulness as a descriptive theory has not gone unchallenged, soft power has since entered popular political discourse as a way of distinguishing the subtle effects of culture, values and ideas on others' behavior from more direct coercive measures, such as military action (hard power) or economic incentives.
Soft power, then, represents the third way of getting the outcomes you want. Soft power is contrasted with hard power, which has historically been the predominant realist measure of national power, through quantitative metrics such as population size, concrete military assets, or a nation's Gross Domestic Product. But having such resources does not always produce the desired outcomes as the United States discovered in the Vietnam War. The resources from which soft power behavior is derived are culture (when it is attractive to others), values (when there is no hypocrisy in their application) and foreign policies (when they are seen as legitimate in the eyes of others). Unless these conditions are present, culture and ideas do not necessarily produce the attraction that is essential for soft power behavior. The extent of attraction can be measured by public opinion polls, by elite interviews, and case studies. Nye argues that soft power is more than influence, since influence can also rest on the hard power of threats or payments. And soft power is more than just persuasion or the ability to move people by argument, though that is an important part of it. It is also the ability to attract, and attraction often leads to acquiescence.
If I am persuaded to go along with your purposes without any explicit threat or exchange taking place — in short, if my behavior is determined by an observable but intangible attraction — soft power is at work. Soft power uses a different type of currency — not force, not money — to engender cooperation. It uses an attraction to shared values, and the justness and duty of contributing to the achievement of those values. [2]
The success of soft power heavily depends on the actor’s reputation within the international community, as well as the flow of information between actors. Thus, soft power is often associated with the rise of globalization and neoliberal international relations theory. Popular culture and media is regularly identified as a source of soft power, as is the spread of a national language, or a particular set of normative structures; a nation with a large amount of soft power and the good will that engenders it inspire others to acculturate, avoiding the need for expensive hard power. expenditures.
Sources : www. Answers.com

my research paper

Cartoons of prophet Mohamed
In Denmark





Benchekroun Karmi Loubna.



International Communication
DR. Mohamed Ibahrine
July 07th, 2008





September 30, 2005, this date will stay for ever in the memory of every single Muslims in the world. In this date, the daily newspaper Jyllands-Posten ("The Jutland Post") published an article entitled "Muhammeds ansigt” ("The face of Muhammad") made by the creator Kurt Westergaard .In fact, according to the official website of CNN “www.cnn.net “ this newspaper previously cited posted an article that consist of twelve cartoons (caricatures) which contain some that portrayed ridiculously the prophet Mohamed. Indeed, according to the official website of BBC “ www.bbc.net” “these cartoons were reported in the Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten (in english: The Morning Newspaper "The Jutland Post"), commonly shortened to Jyllands-Posten or JP which is a Danish daily broadsheet newspaper based in Viby, a suburb of Århus with a weekday circulation of approximately 150,000 copies; It is also the largest-selling newspaper in Denmark. Jyllands-Posten newspaper stated that this publication was an attempt to contribute to the debate regarding criticism of Islam and self-censorship”. The cartoons of prophet Mohamed published in Danish newspaper took great media space in diverse medium of media that have reached millions of people around the world. Each channel has broadcast that event differently according to diverse measures. BBC, CNN, and Al Jazeera are three major media power who’s transmission and interpretation concerning the event allowed to change many notions. There are some major factors that one should consider in order to understand any media comment made by a journalist about such events. In fact, one should always be aware of these three main points in order to evaluate comments made on television. First of all, you should be aware of the country or even the continent where the journalist comments were made about a given event. Second, the kind of relationship that the journalist has with this specific event. Finally, the weight of the media in the country where the comment about the event are made.
The first factor that one should consider is the location of the media that made the comment about the event. In fact, if the location of BBC and CNN are quiet similar while the one of Al Jazeera is quiet different. Indeed, the two channels cited first are located in developed countries while the second one is not. Moreover, the same conclusion emerges from the relationship of Al Jazeera with the religion of Islam set on some specific location such as the Middle East which is a close and significant relationship which means that the religion also could have an effect on the media. Furthermore, the media weight in different location is different. In fact, Media is considered to be the forth power in the West which is not the case in underdeveloped countries where it is measured to be in the development road and they are mainly controlled under the government.
For example, according to the official website of BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation, which is usually known as the BBC was founded by John Reith in the United Kingdom and “it is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world in terms of audience numbers and of revenue. Moreover, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is the dominant broadcaster in the UK, operating several public terrestrial TV stations, cable and digital channels and a terrestrial radio network; it is availability sounds nationally and internationally.” (www.bbc.net )
Furthermore, according to the official website of CNN Cable News Network, commonly referred to by its acronym CNN is a major cable television network founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. “The network is now owned by Time Warner and it is a division of the Turner Broadcasting System. As one of the main headquarter in the United State, the CNN operates one of the top 24-hour news channels, reaching more than 92 million US homes. CNN also has an international division that keeps viewers informed in more than 200 countries and has 36 news bureaus around the world, including 10 in the US.” Away from the television, CNN operates a top ranked news Web site and offers syndicated news services and it is the one that introduced the idea of 24-hour television news coverage that perceived the notion of the term “The CNN effect”. (www.cnn.net)
Furthermore, Al Jazeera is a satellite Channel and the Arab world most professional news and information television channel. According to the official website of Al Jazeera “www.aljazeera.net” Located in Doha Qatar and financed by the state of Qatar, Al Jazeera (which means "the Arab peninsula") has been broadcasting since 1996 and is uniquely positioned to broadcast in the Arab world's point of view to the Western public. The Zogby international (US polling company) survey of May 2005 declared that “Al Jazeera seizing 51.7 percents of viewship in the Arab world of majority of respondents considering it is a primary source of information.” Moreover, Al Jazeera was mainly founded by Sheikh Hamad bin Thamer al-Thani. Actually, “Western media often pick up interviews and reports from Al Jazeera and rebroadcast the same news translated for their own viewers.” Moreover, Al Jazeera is a channel available worldwide especially to the Arab Muslims community since it’s a fully Arabic-speaking channels. Furthermore, “western leaders claim that Al Jazeera has an anti-US, anti-Israel bias, and a distinct affinity for Osama bin Laden and his Al Qaeda network.” ( www.aljazeera.net) Finally, Al Jazeera, based in Qatar, traditionally publishes information in Arabic for a predominately middle east viewers. But in order to provide to universal viewship, the agency created an English version of its content.
We can consider CNN and BBC are quiet similar in terms of same bases of point of view, but it differs in forms. BBC and CNN both of them are clearly defending the freedom of speech in Denmark. BBC has already broadcast the cartoons; however, CNN has chosen to not show the cartoons out of respect for Islam. The position of BBC seems stronger than CNN since BBC belongs to the British control that is located in Europe and thus Denmark is measured to be in the European circle.
The British Broadcasting Corporation, which is usually known as the BBC has covered the cartoons network of prophet Mohamed in different prospective. On one hand, BBC used international politics personalities in the world to portray the positive aspect of journalists. In other words, it justifies the cartoons made by the journalists. For instance, according to Flemming Rose, culture editor of Jyllands-Posten said that “in Demark we have a tradition of satire and humor and some cartoonists made satirical cartoons. We have done the same thing with Jesus Christ and other religions. That’s what we do with the royal family, politicians and other public figures. We were not treating Islam or the Prophet any differently from how we treat everybody else in Denmark.” Also, according to Karen Armstrong religious affairs commentator cited that “”we are seeing a clash of two different notions of what is sacred.” Through these two testimonials, it is enough clear to show that BBC tries to support the side of freedom of speech.
On the other hand, BBC claims also through one of its website what does the holly book of Islam “the Quran” says about that issue and what the position these cartoons according to the Islamic tradition are. Moreover, BBC responds to the first question by mentioning that there is not specific banning claim that states the prohibition of cartooning the prophet Mohamed “there is no specific, or explicit ban in the Koran on images of Allah or the prophet Mohamed – be they carved, painted or drawn.” Besides, BBC has interpreted one of the verse in the Koran “Allah is the originator of the heavens and the earth … there is nothing a likeness of Him. » which is an interpretation only given by Muslims since nothing explicitly is mentioned about the prohibition of cartooning prophet Mohamed.” Concerning the second question about the Muslim tradition, BBC reveals that “the reproduction of images of the Prophet, mainly produced in the 7th Century in Persia can be found and comments by mentioning that Islam is not really strict regarding this ban since it has been already done.”
Regarding Cable News Network or CNN, it has also clearly defended the freedom of press. In fact, CNN claims in one of its official website the cause that these cartoons have been reprinted as a cause of free speech. On one hand, CNN talks about another aspect of this event which is about the creator Kurt Westergaard and the difficulties that he faced from the Muslims communities. On the other hand, CNN publishes the statement of Paula Newton that stated the following: “the arrests reinforced growing fears in Europe that radical Islam was trying to suppress free speech” This statement shows that this event has contributed to the degradation of the Muslims picture worldwide. Besides, CNN publishes the commentary of Jihad Momeni, a former member of the Jordanian senate that stated the following: “who offend more Islam? A foreigner who endeavors to draw the prophet as described by his followers in the world, or a Muslims with an explosive belt who commits suicide in a wedding party in Amman or elsewhere?” this is a clear illustration of how CNN try to show that even in the Muslim Arab world it is considered that the action of cartoons seems normal.
Above and beyond, Al Jazeera broadcasting media has covered the cartoons of prophet Mohamed in Denmark differently from BBC and CNN. Furthermore, Al Jazeera stressed more of clarification of the event rather than seeking for reconciliation and its main aim was to provide the Arab world the maximum of information with a deep interpretation where it can reach everybody and can allow a better understanding of the event. Moreover, the great manifestation was a significant way that illustrates the violence response of the Muslims world to these cartoons. According to the official website of Al Jazeera cited that “the drawings sparked protests across the Muslims world, and in some places, including Iran, Syria, and Lebanon, the protests turned into attacks against Danish and other western diplomatic missions. In Afghanistan, nearly a dozen people were killed in protests”. On one hand, the media coverage of Al Jazeera raised the point of boycotting the Danish products and its financial losses. However, CNN and BBC discuss this point in surface during the coverage of the event as Al Jazeera mentioned in one of page of its official website that “consumer boycotts of Danish goods in Muslims countries in protest at publication of caricatures of the prophet Muhammad are costing Denmark’s companies millions, and has raised fears of irreparable damage to trade ties. From Havarti cheese to Lego, Danish products have been yanked off the shelves of stores in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and other countries around the Middle East…”
On the other hand, al Jazeera has posted that the Danish newspaper presented the regret to the Muslims community about what have been written about the prophet Mohamed cartoons. However, BBC and CNN mentions that the Danish newspaper refuses to either express their regret or apologize toward the Islamic world “Denmark’s prime ministry has expressed regret over the offence caused, but has refused to apologize on behalf of the Danish daily Jylland –Posten, which first published the cartoons. The paper’s editor has apologized for offending Muslims…” Besides, al Jazeera has promoted the big initiative made by the international community by Muslims where fifty people were sent to the Denmark to promote the right explanation of Islam as a religion. This idea was a good way to clarify religious matter and to endorse the right approach of explanation of the holly book ‘Koran”. This is clearly showing the position of Al Jazeera as being in broadcasting in Muslim country.
Also, the Arab channel reports what Kofi Annan , the United Nation secretary-general think about this issue, whereas the two others channels BBC and CNN did not mention since it affects negatively Danish actions “the freedom of the press should not be an excuse for insulting religions and expressed concern about the controversy over a Danish newspaper’s publication of cartoons of the prophet Muhammad”. Also, Al Jazeera posted the testimonial run by France’s Carrefour in Europe said that “in solidarity with Muslims, we will not offer Danish products.”
As observed, these three kinds of media CNN, BCC, and Al Jazeera treated the media coverage of this event in a different way. Both CNN and BBC tried to justify the cartoons made by Denmark by the freedom of press that country have. However, Al Jazeera argues that it believes that freedom of press should exist but although it should have some limits such us the criticizing of any religions. As I mentioned before, these difference of reporting events is due to many factors: CNN and BBC are quiet different from al Jazeera since their location and the religion relationship. Al Jazeera is located in Arab country Qatar that adopts Islam as a religion which explains the positive side that this channel holds.
Finally, CNN and BBC are so related channels, but they differ in forms. They are dominating the western world since BBC is located in Great Britain and CNN is the united state. They are grouping both the US part and also the European circle. Both of them they are defending the right of freedom of press. On the other hand, in the years since its launch, al Jazeera has not only changed the Arab perception of the small screen but it has known a noticeable way of how Arab and Muslims can receive the information.
When I have chosen the cartoons theme I thought that it was a subject that seems like others. However, it is measured to be among the most difficult writing subject since religion is a very sensitive topic and it is hard to talk about in an objective way. In order to understand neutrally the point of view of each broadcasting channels:
-You should be able to read between lines.
- You should be located where the event happened,
-Understanding the culture of others.
-And finally understanding conflict of interest.
In the case of our topic, we are in front of a comparison of an event between two opposed civilizations: the Western civilization and the Arab one. All these three channels CNN, BBC, and al Jazeera are considered to be a credible source.
References:
www.bbc.net
www.cnn.net
www.aljazeera.net

Second assignment:

One laptop per child(OLPC) is a nonprofit organization that use competing as a means to bring education to the poorest region in the world. The main aim of this program is to reduce digital divide gap among people (the physical access and use of technologies). This introducing step in technology world will help developing countries to seek the frequent use of techonlogy such computers, internet...

The use of technology will help to promote develpment of education in developing countries. For instance, morocco is a concrete illustration of developing country that needs this kind of initiative in terms of use of technology.

Nickolas Negroponte!

Nicholas is founder and chairman of the One Laptop per Child non-profit association. He is currently on leave from MIT, where he was co-founder and director of the MIT Media Laboratory, and the Jerome B. Wiesner Professor of Media Technology. A graduate of MIT, Nicholas was a pioneer in the field of computer-aided design, and has been a member of the MIT faculty since 1966. Conceived in 1980, the Media Laboratory opened its doors in 1985. He is also author of the 1995 best seller, Being Digital, which has been translated into more than 40 languages. In the private sector, Nicholas serves on the board of directors for Motorola, Inc. and as general partner in a venture capital firm specializing in digital technologies for information and entertainment. He has provided start-up funds for more than 40 companies, including Wired magazine.

ITU

Overview about ITU:
ITU (stands for International Telecommunication Union) is a specialized agency of the United Nations, with headquarters at Geneva. It was created in 1934 as a result of the merging of the International Telegraph Union (est. 1865; the first international governmental organization) and the International Radiotelegraph Union (est. 1906); there are now 191 member nations. The union functions under the International Telecommunication Convention, which was adopted in 1947 and revised in 1967. The goal of the organization is to extend and improve all forms of international telecommunication by allotting radio frequencies, by encouraging the establishment of low rates, and by perfecting communications in rescue operations. The ITU is governed by the plenipotentiary conference at which all members are represented; it normally meets once every four or five years. The conference elects an administrative council of 29 members. Conferences for the regulation of telecommunication in space have been among ITU's more recent activities.

The ITU is made up of three sectors:
The Telecommunication Standardization Sector, whose secretariat is the Telecommunication Standardization Bureau or TSB, known prior to 1992 as the International Telephone and Telegraph Consultative Committee or CCITT (from its French name "Comité consultatif international téléphonique et télégraphique");
The Radiocommunication Sector, whose secretariat is the Radiocommunication Bureau or BR, known prior to 1992 as the International Radio Consultative Committee or CCIR (from its French name "Comité consultatif international des radio communications");
The Telecommunication Development Sector, whose secretariat is the Telecommunication Development Bureau or BDT, created in 1992.
It is estimated that ICTs contribute around 2-2.5 per cent of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. These percentages are likely to grow as ICTs become more widely available. At the same time, ICTs can be a major linchpin in efforts to combat climate change and serve as a potent, cross-cutting tool to limit and ultimately reduce GHG emissions across economic and social sectors, in particular by the introduction and development of more energy efficient devices, applications and networks, as well as their environmentally sound disposal. ITU will work closely with its membership to lead efforts to achieve a climate neutral ICT industry.