Diplomacy vs Propaganda (John H Brown)

By Xah Lee. Date: . Last updated: .

My blog entry What is Al Jazeera? and What's Al Hurra? at http://xahlee.blogspot.com/2011/02/what-is-al-jazeera-and-whats-al-hurra.html , is quoted by ex US diplomat John H. Brown at his blog at http://publicdiplomacypressandblogreview.blogspot.com/2011/02/february-27.html

Here's a quote from Wikipedia about John H Brown:

Brown, who received a Ph.D. in Russian History from Princeton University in 1977, was a member of the U.S. Foreign Service from 1981 until March 10, 2003 where he resigned over the war in Iraq;

Here's a video linked from his blog site, about the issue of diplomacy vs propaganda:

John H. Brown FINDING OUR VOICES Bonus Feature
May 6, 2008
John H. Brown resigned from the diplomatic corp in March 2003 in oppostion to the war in Iraq.
LaurelJensen
john h brown finding our voices mp6fv-s250
john h brown finding our voices mp6fv-s250

In the video, he lists 4 things about propaganda:

  1. Simplification of the issues.
  2. Constant repetition of slogans that's often unconnected. (e.g. weapons of mass destruction, regime change)
  3. Demonization of the “other”. (e.g. the “evil”, the “other”)
  4. Stretching the truth, to unacceptable limits.