Japanese " Sport for Tomorrow" Program for 2020 Tokyo Olympics

     In addition to what I argued about Japanese public diplomacy with 2020 Tokyo Olympics and possible anxiety with Olympics because of Fukushima disaster in 2011 in previous post, I would like to introduce one of the strategies that Japan used for winning competition to be the host country. Also, that strategy can be great soft power that significantly affects public diplomacy.

     At the final presentation for IOC to determine the hosting country in Buenos Aires, Japanese Prime Minister Abe stated that Japan would conduct special program for developing sports in the world called “Sport for Tomorrow” program, which is conducted as international strategic bilateral enterprise. Japanese international volunteering organization, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology will cooperate in this program.

     This “Sport for Tomorrow” program aims to help developing countries maintain environments to play sports. One of the examples is supporting developing countries to draw up school physical education curriculum. This program also corresponds to each country’s needs by constructing International Cooperating Consortium. Moreover, it contains program to provide instruments and to construct schools in developing countries. “Sport for Tomorrow” program also promotes “the Olympic Movement around the globe, the creation of an international sports academy based in Japan, and additional support for WADA’s global anti-doping efforts.”

     This effort to declare that Japan is the country that promote playing sports and supporting Olympics and athletes can be effective for Japanese public diplomacy because reputation of Japan will be growing up if this program can actually help developing countries to improve school physical education as the program progress in the future. “Sport for Tomorrow” program can be influential as Japanese soft power because Japan can positively affect other countries in bilateral relationship and also can get attraction to Japan from them. Actually, after the Prime Minister Abe’s final presentation that mentioned this program in Buenos Aires, Japan could win the competition, which proved this program is attractive.

     Of course there are many other factors that can be Japanese soft power. As “Cool Tokyo” Ambassador Christel Takigawa mentioned in her presentation in Buenos Aires, tourism attraction will be attracting people who visit Japan because of great hospitality, safety and significant punctuality of public transportation. These factors can be Japanese soft power that influences those who will come to Tokyo in 2020 when Olympic is held. Moreover, this “Sport for Tomorrow” program will be direct influence on other countries over the world as soft power that can straightly attract them by supporting to promote sports and physical education in bilateral relationship.

Original article:

https://www.sportsfeatures.com/olympicsnews/story/50456/tokyo-2020-launches-new-sport-for-tomorrow-program

Other articles:

http://www.mext.go.jp/component/b_menu/other/__icsFiles/afieldfile/2013/08/30/1339149_01.pdf (written in Japanese)

http://www.huffingtonpost.jp/2013/09/07/olympic_candidate_tokyo_presentation_n_3886260.html#slide=2869649 (written in Japanese)

http://research.php.co.jp/blog/kaneko/2013/09/10.php (written in Japanese)

Gay Rights: A global social norm, or an individual state responsibility?

Ugandan President, Yoweri Museveni, recently signed the harsh Anti-Gay bill that punishes homosexual acts for up to life in prison. People who may not be homosexual, but promote, advocate, counsel, or defend homosexuals will also be punished. This bill was introduced in 2009 when President Museveni was not always clear on his stance. At first he thought that homosexuality was a sickness that needed to be treated, not put into prison. "He backtracked this month and said he'd sign it [the bill] because scientists had determined that there is no gene for homosexuality and that it is merely a choice to embrace abnormal behavior.

The original bill contained the death penalty for homosexual acts. However, the U.K and other European nations threatened to breech foreign aid. Museveni believes that homosexuality can be "unlearned" and tough bills like this will the way to go about it.

With the U.S.  being Uganda's largest donors, President Obama warned that U.S.-Ugandan ties will be affected by the signing of this bill. However, Museveni was not backing down stating that he does not care what the West has to say about this bill. He adamantly says, "We have been disappointed for a long time by the conduct of the West, the way you conduct yourselves there...now you say 'you must also live like us' -- that's where we say no."Museveni assures journalist that if the West no longer wants to support Uganda, that Uganda will thrive on its on with other partners. 

President Museveni does make a good point. Museveni states that what the West is doing is "social imperialism...'to impose social values of one group on our society.'" Why is it that the West is able to impose values on developing countries? This is because when a country is a provider and a host for another country, there is a sense of dependance from developing country to developed. With that said, providing foreign developmental aid should not be based on a countries social policies. It is not ethical to leave a country impoverished because they have a different set of laws, or do not promote democracy through Western or American eyes. 

With the gay rights movement spreading, there is a thin line between natural righst and social norms. The problem with providing LGBT rights for all countries is the possibility that you are imposing an evolving social norm on another group of people. Can we really be mad at Museveni for displaying the autonomy of his country? He is taking a firm stance against the west, which will further improve his credibility for the future.

The lesson that can be learned from this is that countries can gain more credibilty by not doing what everyone else in the international system is doing.

China's Public Diplomacy Through Education

I have previously written about China's use of culture as public diplomacy, such as the Chinese New Year celebrations in New York City. I have also discussed China's public diplomacy through foreign aid in Africa. However, there is yet another facet to China's public diplomacy strategy and that is through education.

Beginning in the 1990s, China made improving an increasing access to higher education a priority by launching the 211 Project that sought to improve 100 Chinese universities, marking it as the largest investment ever to improve Chinese higher education. The program proved successful when new student enrollment jumped from 1.3 million in 1999 to four times that in 2006 with 5.4 million students. Not only did China seek to increase enrollment among Chinese citizens, but China also prioritized increasing the attendance of foreign students to Chinese universities.

The amount of foreign students has skyrocketed since China made the initiative to improve foreign exchange programs and grants. In 1992 a mere 13,000 foreign students traveled to China for studies. This number increased to 52,200 foreign students in 2000 and an astounding 292,611 foreign students in 2011. That makes for an increase of almost 280,000 foreign students attending Chinese universities over the course of a decade. While these foreign students hail from 194 countries around the globe, 75 percent of the foreign students that travel to China to study are from Asian countries, with the majority coming from South Korea and Japan.

Attracting students from Asian countries is particularly important to China. China's rapidly growing economy and increase in military power is troubling to its smaller Asian neighbors. Having students from these neighboring countries come to study and live in China provides the opportunity to increase dialogue on the individual level. Hopefully after their time in China, these foreign students will leave with a better understanding of the Chinese people and culture. This is especially pertinent to countries that have had longstanding feuds with China, such as Japan.

In addition to increasing foreign student flow into the country, China has also made an effort in schools of other countries. For example, China has arranged for classes in Chinese language and culture to be taught in many primary schools overseas. Furthermore, the Chinese government trains and distributes hundreds of instructors to countries, such as Cambodia, Argentina, and Kenya, to teach in schools. In some of these countries, the Chinese school provides better education at a lower cost with less corruption, making it the most popular option.

Lastly, China has aggressively promoted the study of Chinese language and culture through its Confucius Institutes. Since 2004, China has set up 400 Confucius Institute schools in 108 countries. By educating the world on Chinese culture, China aims to put forth a kinder, gentler image than it has garnered in the past to support its claim of a "peaceful rise" as China's might continues to grow. Additionally, the Chinese language taught in these schools is the Beijing dialect of Mandarin. This was a strategic choice to exclude the dialects spoken throughout the rest of the country and the traditional character system that is still used in Taiwan, Macao, and Hong Kong. By teaching the Beijing dialect of Mandarin, China is able to reaffirm its policy of one, unified China overseas.

Sources: http://rt.com/op-edge/growing-chinese-soft-power-638/

Korean Soft Power and Public Diplomacy: comparing with China

     Whereas it has been said that China has emerged as the great power in Asia that might overwhelm the United States, Korea is also one of the country that has great presence with its soft power.

     Korea has been prominent in its culture, electronic products and Korean food as cultural diplomacy that is called “culinary diplomacy.” Those factors significantly attract people around the world. It is also argued that individual freedom, developed economy and democracy has made Korea as one of the countries that has great soft power.

     I would like to specifically add Korean pop music to those factors that has strengthened Korean soft power. For example, Gangnam Style, one of the greatest hit songs that had made waves across the world in 2012, can be raised as one of examples of Korean soft power. Beats and dance of Gangnam Style had attracted a number of people around the world since this music video was played 800 million times, which was more than Justin Bieber accomplished. This Gangnam Style was surely the door for people around the world to know about Korean culture and let Korean soft power grow up.

     Culture in soft power in Korea is similar to that in China since Chinese cultural aspect has also greatly accounted for its soft power. In China, this soft power has significantly affected Chinese public Diplomacy. However, China’s public diplomacy has been attenuated because of the mistrust generated by Chinese government’s repressing the public’s freedom even though China generated the concept of “Asian century.” On the other hand, Korea has ensured individual freedom of the people and democracy whereas China has not. Therefore, the big difference between Korea and China is basic freedom the citizens of the state should possess. This is the stronger point of Korea in order to acquire attraction and good reputation from the world for effective and successful public diplomacy, compared to China.

     For achieving this goal, social media is one of the key components. As I discussed above, on YouTube, Gangnam Style made a big success as a Korean pop music. Through social media, Korean culture, lifestyles and heritages can be spreading influences to the world, and Korea can get reaction from the world since social media promotes 2-way communication.

     Korea has the great soft power with its culture and lifestyle, which can be effective in doing public diplomacy. Korean music, as shown by Gangnam Style, is one of the great example that proves Korean soft power is significant. To conduct successful and effective public diplomacy, individual freedom and social media are going to be key factors.


The article that I mentioned:
http://uscpublicdiplomacy.org/index.php/newswire/cpdblog_detail/korea_is_redefining_its_role_in_public_diplomacy/ (main article)
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/11/28/psychological-impact-gangnam-style/ (reference to Gangnam Style)

President Obama Meets With King Abdullah II of Jordan

On 14 February, President Obama met with Jordan's King Abdullah II at the Sunnylands Estate in Rancho Mirage, California. The purpose of the visit was in part to congratulate Jordan on obtaining a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, and to discuss Jordan's domestic issues as they pertain to neighboring Syria and an influx of Syrian refugees. President Obama also commended Jordan on its ability to adhere to IMF requirements by passing reforms. To help cement the relationship between Jordan and the United States, President Obama announced that the U.S. would be giving a $1 billion loan guarantee to Jordan to enable the country to tap into international capital markets and to extend the memorandum of understanding between the two states for an additional five years. This memorandum of understanding will aid Jordan in its development efforts, which will hopefully spread throughout the Middle East.

Both President Obama and King Abdullah II take the same stance on the crisis in Syria, agreeing that what is needed in Syria is the imposition on the current regime to improve humanitarian access. One of the King's main concerns "is the rise of extremism in Syria, the sectarian violence and…the spillover in the region and the effect that will have." It was suggested that a possible U.N. resolution pressuring the Syrian regime would "create a legal precedent for cross-border operations." This would go along with the shared idea of a "moderate opposition movement" that would avoid physical violence.

Both leaders have also been unimpressed by the way Russia has been conducting its efforts in the Syrian civil war. American officials argue that Russia "can't have it both ways. They can't say they're in favor of negotiations in Geneva and a transitional government guided by full executive authority and humanitarian access and have a happy Olympics, and then be part and parcel of supporting this regime as it kills people in the most brutal way." Both sides are doubtful that Russia will contribute to the humanitarian effort based on its UN veto record on sanctions. There is already tension between the United States and Russia, as Russia has been blocking sanction efforts against Syria while the U.S. has been pushing Bashar al-Assad to step down.   

From a Public Diplomacy standpoint, Jordan's alliance with the U.S. will definitely influence how its neighbors will view its diplomatic and foreign policy plans. A strengthened relationship will either hurt Jordan, as other Middle Eastern countries may not trust that Jordan is a loyal Muslim country, or it will help Jordan by increasing its influence in the global arena. As Jordan now has a seat on the Security Council, it can be more influential in foreign politics and spread its foreign policies and influence by directly interacting with the other countries sitting on the Council, as well as having increased pull with other UN members. It will take some time before the effects of this relationship will be seen.

Full Article: http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/15/politics/obama-abdullah-meeting/index.html?iref=allsearch

Video of the Meeting: http://royalcorrespondent.com/2014/02/15/his-majesty-king-abdullah-ii-of-jordan-meets-with-president-barack-obama-video-2/

Jalita Moore The U.S and France are now BFFs

Last week, French President Hollande made a high profile visit to the U.S. to publicly display his new alliance with President Obama. During this conference, Hollande and Obama let bye-gones be bye-gones, and lay U.S.-French tensions over the Iraq war to rest. There is a new issue at play; the war in Syria and Iran's nuclear presence are two issues for these Presidents. After this conference, Obama will follow up in June to visit Hollande in his country.

Both the U.S. and France will work together to cooperate with Iran on their nuclear weapons program. Hollande says "There is an Iranian problem, for we need to make sure that Iran renounces the nuclear weapon in a definite and comprehensive manner," he said. Obama is standing firm on his position saying "If they meet what technically gives us those assurances, then there is a deal to be made. If they don't, there isn't". They are also working to bring a conclusion to the war in Syria.

From a PD perspective, this new allegiance between the U.S. and France signals credibility and legitimacy to Iran and the International Atomic Energy arena. By hosting state dinners, inviting the press, and supporting each other with re-assuring and congruent statements, they are displaying an alliance that can not be annulled. They are putting their cards on the table by displaying that they have each others back.However, this can backfire. 

While they are successful in appearing credible, their approach may not be as diplomatic. Two against one is never really fair. Iran, a smaller country in comparison to the two western powers, the U.S. and France, may not cooperate, but retaliate instead to show that they won't back down to perceived bullying from the west.

I believe that Hollande and Obama should be sure to display diplomacy, not authority. The U.S is offering a cut back in sanctions to incentivize Iran's cooperation. However, I doubt that is compelling enough to convince Iran to reduce their nuclear weapons program. Can negotiations really be peaceful? On February 18th, Iran talks will proceed in Vienna. "Iranian and International Atomic Energy Agency officials jointly said Sunday that Iran has agreed to take additional steps by May to ease international concern over Tehran's nuclear program."

http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/11/politics/obama-france/index.html?iref=allsearch

Jalita Moore: New Pope, Same abuse

The inauguration of Pope Francis was an event that shocked the world. However, the UN committee on Sexual Abuse and the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priest (SNAP) still have their arms crossed. 

The Catholic church has an infamous history of child abuse scandals. The Vatican willingly admitted that 400 priests left after being exposed of child abuse. CNN reports that the UN has acknowledged over 10,000 child abuse victims from the Catholic church. While clergy officials and Pope Francis has created programs and new laws, organizations such as the UN and SNAP do not think enough is being done.

Despite numerous allegations, the Vatican has maintained its Michael Jackson-like popularity. Their greatest public diplomacy concern is to calm down the concerns of the public surrounding these allegations. Over the years, they have made vague and obvious announcements such as "I want to express my compassion and to ensure my prayers to all victims of sexual abuse and their families" (Pope Francis) and "There is no excuse for any form of sexual violence or exploitation of children. Such crimes can never be justified, whether committed in the home, in schools, in community and sports programs." (CNN)

Recently, the Vatican has made some steps forward to show the public they care. They created a commission against sexual child abuse to prevent and support more victims. This commission is a bilateral mandate between clergy officials and civilian authorities.

SNAP says that this is meaningless, stating "Only decisive action helps, not more studies and committees and promises ... Clergy sex crimes should be dealt with by secular authorities." (CNN)

The pope also created a law the banned Child abuse on Vatican grounds (CNN), but child abuse has always been illegal; these laws never prevented allegations from arising.

While the Vatican is under a lot of pressure for not publicly naming and shaming guilty priests, they do not seem pressed to do so. Although this method would benefit children, victims, and punish criminals, exposing every criminal is not the best public diplomacy for the Vatican. With every criminal exposed, they can risk a massive backlash. But by remaining silent, holy, and reticent they can subdue allegations while maintaining their world wide following.

While thousands of children suffer in silence, the Vatican maintains its grand following.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/16/world/europe/un-vatican-sexual-abuse/

http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/05/world/europe/vatican-abuse-commission/index.html

http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/05/world/europe/un-vatican-report/index.html?hpt=wo_c2

Chinese New Year Diplomacy

      This past weekend, Chinese people around the world celebrated the Lunar New Year. The People’s Republic of China has wisely capitalized on this event to improve its image in the United States. The relationship between China and the United States has become increasingly complicated with the recent rise of China’s economy and the United States’ questionable financial stability. Today a general sentiment held by some Americans in regard to China is that of apprehension and mistrust. Many Americans see China’s ever-expanding economy and increased military budget during peacetime to be cause for concern. In fact, the Pew Research Center released a poll last week that declared only 33% of American people think favorably of China. This is a significant decrease from the 2011 poll that stated 51% of Americans held a positive view of the People’s Republic. In response to this rapid decline in likeability among Americans, the Chinese government has sought to use the New Year celebrations as a means to alleviate the building tensions between the United States.

      China decided to focus its efforts in New York, which has a significant Chinese population, to promote not only the Lunar New Year, but also the 35th anniversary of Sino-American relations. While in previous years the celebrations were limited to the Chinatown area, this year’s events were advertised all over the city. On January 6th, Chinese Ambassador Cui Tiankai, among other diplomats, was asked to ring the opening bell for the New York Stock Exchange. In addition, the lights for the Chinese New Year celebrations on the Empire State Building were turned on by China’s Consul General Sun Guoxiang. However, the main attraction was held on February 1st at the Lincoln Center. The event consisted of Long Yu, conductor of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, leading the New York Philharmonic in a program of classical Chinese music. To further the cultural experience, the Lincoln Center also hosted a group of seventy-five children hailing from New York’s own National Dance Institute, which has been cultivating an exchange program with China.

      I believe this type of cultural exchange is likely to help soften the harsh image of a rising nation that is sometimes perceived as aggressive and power hungry. Inviting Americans to join in the celebration of a Chinese holiday provides a forum for Americans to deepen their understanding of Chinese culture and history. The more a person understands the other, the less likely he or she is to fear the other. Humans are often apprehensive of the unknown, and a cultural exchange is a neutral, engaging way to educate the American public.

This is the article I referenced:  http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/01/world/asia/on-35th-anniversary-of-diplomatic-ties-with-us-china-tries-to-soften-image.html?_r=0

Sweden Launches Stockholm Initiative for Digital Diplomacy

On January 16th and 17th, Sweden's Ministry for Foreign Affairs sponsored the Stockholm Initiative for Digital Diplomacy (SIDD). The 24-hour conference invited participants from Sweden, Finland, the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy, France, Brazil, Turkey, the UAE, Kosovo and the European External Action Service (EEAS) to discuss the "current state of play" and the role of social media in public diplomacy. The participants ranged in occupation from diplomats to digital diplomacy practitioners, academics, researchers, and business and media executives to generate ideas and to identify public diplomacy challenges in the 21st century.

The brainchild of Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, SIDD was created as a way for delegations from multiple countries to collaborate on new digital diplomacy ideas and ways to perform public diplomacy using new technology and social media. Although social media was not the main purpose of the conference, the ideas generated were meant to be used in conjunction with social media. SIDD is considered a "diplohack", a meeting of diplomats and public diplomacy leaders, which was conducted in two sessions. The first, Diplomacy and the Culture of Digital Participation, explored the implications of using digital technology in public diplomacy and how "being your own diplomat" will change how public diplomacy is conducted. The second, Creative Diplomacy: Co-creation Between States to Enhance Diplomacy in a Networked World, addressed the expectations of future diplomats given new technology, and how creating networks of diplomats from around the world will be beneficial to international communication. The conference also utilized TedTalks to generate discussion and ideas.   

As technology keeps developing, it will be imperative that every nation will have to change its public diplomacy strategy. Digital diplomacy is becoming one of the best ways for a state to extend its ideas and influence, especially through social media use. New actors are entering the scene to include non-state actors and the public. Sweden has been one of the first states to embrace the new age of technology. Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt maintains a very active Twitter account, and even tweeted at a Bahraini colleague who would not contact him. He was even voted "best connected [world] leader" on Twitter. However, Bildt insists that Twitter is a good opportunity for listening and paying attention to what others are posting, which is one of the main components of Cull's five core components of public diplomacy. Cultural diplomacy and exchange diplomacy were also major components of SIDD. While Sweden led the discussions, exposing other nations to Sweden's culture and ideas, the other delegations were also able to offer their ideas and opinions, furthering cultural exchange. The conference served as a massive international collaboration that can propel each state's public and digital diplomacy forward in the 21st century.           

Bildt, who personally took part in SIDD, said, "We are continuously modernizing and improving our Foreign Service, and a modern Foreign Service must be ready to meet people in the arenas where they are present." After the conference, it was agreed upon that the group will continue as an ongoing working group to develop digital diplomacy, and that it will expand to include more members.

The full article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andreas-sandre/digital-diplomacy-stockholm_b_4592691.html

For more information on SIDD: http://www.government.se/sb/d/18138 

More on Carl Bildt: http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2014-01/17/carl-bildt-digital-diplomat