“Propaganda of the deed,” a phrase attributed to the Italian revolutionary Carlo Pisacane

[rodeodance]

Published on Monday, April 9, 2007 by CommonDreams.org
Karen Hughes and Her “Diplomacy of Deeds”
by John Brown

“Propaganda of the deed,” a phrase attributed to the Italian revolutionary Carlo Pisacane (1818-1857), has long been associated with the tactics of terrorism. The Bush administration’s image czarina and no. 1 overseas spin-stress, Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Karen Hughes, has now provided humankind with an updated version of Pisacane’s term: “diplomacy of deeds.”

To be sure, Ms. Hughes, whose job includes (according to the State Department homepage) providing “the moral basis for U.S. leadership in the world” is not advocating that public diplomacy employ the methods of terrorism. But her focus on deeds suggests that she is not, at heart, interested in the U.S. establishing a dialogue with the world, perhaps the most important function of America’s public diplomacy, which is meant to complement and enrich its traditional diplomacy. Rather, she wants to impress audiences abroad (and flatter US voters) by showing how kind and generous we Americans are in our conservatively compassionate actions to help those not as blessed as ourselves. Meanwhile, she conveniently forgets that public acts of charity are not always appreciated and that the major foreign-policy deeds of the administration she serves has appalled the world for years.

Hughes is not the first person to use the term diplomacy of deeds. A Google search reveals, for example, that Time magazine (March 2, 1959) reported on President Eisenhower’s ”diplomacy by deeds.” But Hughes’s close association of the diplomacy of deeds with public diplomacy can be considered a historical first. Indeed, if history remembers her at all, it may be for her emphasis on, if not infatuation with, these words, which became part of her official vocabulary late last year. In public statements, she stresses that the diplomacy of deeds is one of her most important functions. On December 20, 2006, in a The Washington Times article, she wrote that

At this time of year, when people are called on to care for the hungry, sick and abandoned, Americans should know we are giving the gift of hope to thousands of people whose names we will never know. And I will continue to advocate we do even more, because the diplomacy of deeds serves our own national interests and the people of every nation.

She notes in the same article that

[Viva_La_Revolution]

1. The shrub administration confuses 'diplomacy' with 'control'

"If you can't agree to my rules, I'm taking my ball and going home."

playground politics :(