In my previous presentation, I argued that Maziar Bahari‘s release was the result of the efforts of the international public.  I felt that, if it weren’t for the pleas of people across the globe, U.S. and Canadian officials would have never addressed his imprisonment to the Iranian government, and it, in turn, would have never released Bahari.

In the November 30th, 2009 edition of NEWSWEEK, Bahari told his story of “118 Days in Hell”.  He vividly recounted the feelings of abandonment and isolation that political prisoners are made to feel by their captors.  He told us of the physical abuse he was subjected to by the IRGC.    He remembered the morning of September 17th when one of the prison guards addressed him jokingly as “Mr. Hillary Clinton”. Here is what he wrote:

         I was mystified. “Why’ Hillary Clinton’?” I asked him. “She talked about you last night,” he said, referring to   comments the U.S. Secretary of State had made to her Canadian counterpart.  I was ecstatic.  This meant there was international pressure to free me.”

This was one of the first signs of hope for Bahari.  Slowly, the IRGC allowed Bahari more freedoms and privileges.  He mentions how they allowed him to phone his wife, Paola “to warn her to stop giving interviews. (Bless her, she knew that the message meant she should do more.)” 

Bahari explained how the Iranian government might have also been embarking on a public diplomacy campaign of their own, wanting to impress the public by freeing him before his baby was born.  He mentions how his interrogator, whom he dubbed “Mr. Rosewater” was defiant as to the “multilayered pressure campaign that NEWSWEEK and others had put together on [his] behalf – the editorials, the petitions, the diplomatic demarchés, the quiet personal efforts of world leaders.”  Mr. Rosewater was a hardline Guard, wanting to make an example of Bahari.  Bahari acknowledged that even within Iran there were entities pushing for his freedom.  He was told that “[he] had become a distraction” for the Iranian government, which was set to hold nuclear talks with the US, China, Russia at the beginning of October.

Bahari writes, “ I still don’t know what finally broke the deadlock.”  And, I think it is safe to say, that it will be unlikely that the world will ever know what truly caused Bahari’s release.  I maintain that, without the efforts of the international community, his imprisonment might have gone on indefinitely.  It was public diplomacy that created enough buzz to make him an important figure.

This is why I urge the international community to continue its efforts to secure the freedom of those being held wrongly by the Iranian government.  Already, there have been executions.  We must not forget those left behind bars, being forced to suffer for crimes they did not commit, being beaten to solicit a confession.   We need to keep the names and images of these political prisoners in the media.  We must make it imperative that our leaders continue to speak out against these unjust acts.  Together, I truly believe we can help.  If we make enough noise, they will listen. 

Link to Bahari’s story in NEWSWEEK: http://www.newsweek.com/id/223862

N. Elizondo:  NEliz001@FIU.edu

WASHINGTON (CNN) – President Obama signed legislation providing an additional $7.5 billion in assistance to the Pakistani government.

The aid guarantee comes as the Pakistani government combats a wave of attacks believed to have been orchestrated by Taliban militants and as the Obama administration works on a comprehensive review of U.S. strategy in both Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan.

“This law is the tangible manifestation of broad support for Pakistan in the U.S.,” the White House said in a statement on Thursday.

The act bolsters a partnership “based on a shared commitment to improving the living conditions of the people of Pakistan through sustainable economic development, strengthening democracy and the rule of law, and combating the extremism that threatens Pakistan and the United States,” it said.

On Wednesday, the heads of foreign relations panels in the House of Representatives and Senate provided a written explanation of the aid bill, a response to Pakistani complaints that the United States was meddling in its affairs.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi joined Sen. John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Rep. Howard Berman, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, as the U.S. lawmakers spoke to reporters.

Qureshi rushed back to Washington this week to report on opposition inside the Pakistani Parliament to the five-year package of nonmilitary aid. Some Pakistani politicians said the aid bill was a U.S. attempt to micromanage Pakistan‘s civilian and military affairs.

“Everyone is on the same page,” Kerry said. “We are all clear about the intentions of the legislation.”

Kerry argued the bill “demonstrates the American people have a long-term commitment to the people of Pakistan.”

Qureshi replied, “This document, which I think is an historic document, is a step forward in our relationship.”

Kerry said the explanatory statement attached to the bill emphasizes that no interference is intended with Pakistan’s civilian or military operations. The statement said the bill establishes a variety of requirements meant to ensure U.S. efficiency and compliance but places no new conditions on the Pakistani government.

“The many requirements of this report are intended as a way for Congress to assess how effectively U.S. funds are being spent, shortfalls in U.S. resources that hinder the use of such funds and steps the government of Pakistan has taken to advance our mutual interests in countering extremism and nuclear proliferation and strengthening democratic institutions,” the statement said.

“There is no intent to [establish], and nothing in this act in any way suggests that there should be, any U.S. role in micromanaging internal Pakistani affairs, including the promotion of Pakistani military officers or the internal operations of the Pakistani military.”

Berman said the statement is “a reflection of our desire to be long-term partners with the Pakistan people.”

Relations between the two governments, however, are being tested by new violence in Pakistan. On Thursday, militants launched a string of attacks that killed at least 30 Pakistani police officers and civilians, Pakistani authorities said. At least 10 attackers also died, while others were missing.  Watch a rundown of the day’s violence »

Interior Minister Rehman Malik said the Pakistani Taliban accepted blame for three attacks Thursday against two police training centers and the country’s Federal Investigation Agency in Lahore.

About a half hour after the trio of attacks, a suicide car bomber hit a police station in the Kohat district of northwestern Pakistan, killing at least 11 people — eight civilians and three police, said Kohat Police Chief Dilawar Bangish. A dozen people were wounded.

In a fifth attack, in Peshawar, a remote control bomb exploded inside a car parked in front of an apartment building. A hospital official said an 8-year-old boy was killed, and eight people — four women, two men and two children — were wounded.

At least 41 people were killed and 45 were wounded in a blast Monday at a security forces checkpoint in northwest Pakistan. The explosion occurred in the Shangla district in the volatile Swat Valley.

The attacks show “once again that the militants in Pakistan threaten both Pakistan and the United States,” White House deputy press secretary Bill Burton said Thursday.

Obama “has been impressed by some of the courageous actions that the Pakistani military has taken to root out some of these extremist elements,” he added. E-mail to a friend

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CNN’s Charley Keyes and Reza Sayah and journalist Nazar Ul Islam contributed to this report.

http://uscpublicdiplomacy.org/index.php/newswire/world_pd/south_asia

Mey Marani

I am delighted to see your daily public diplomacy analyses! Keep up with the interesting cases you bring to our classroom. These cases provide all of us with an invaluable opportunity to enrich our public diplomacy knowledge and sharpen our synthesis skills…

During the last three classes, we looked into the role of culture and high arts in public diplomacy and concluded that while culture diplomacy is indeed important, it can not play solo in the target country. We tried to look into the specific case of the U.S. and answered the question why, the U.S. has traditionally neglected culture diplomacy…We have already covered the role of NGOs in promoting understanding and especially their advantage in terms of being perceived as credible sources. This credibility allows them to communicate with various audiences more effectively than governments who often perceived as biased.

We had the pleasure to host Fatima Al-Salem our graduate student from Kuwait who provided us with first-hand insights about academic exchanges and the importance of academia in nurturing relationship and understanding beyond political conflicts or narrow interest. As I said, this lecture worth a thousand Power Point slides…

In the next two classes, we are going to have more guest speakers: Prof. Fernando Figueredo that will talk about crisis management and issues management and Prof. Alan Richards that will present his Journalistic project on HIV in South Africa.

I look forward to having these distinguished guest speakers and am confident you will find them interesting and relevant to our course.

Enjoy–

Dr. Segev

We, the students of Florida International University’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication, created a blog for our public diplomacy course.

The blog will serve as a platform to discuss public diplomacy cases, to share our ideas and analyses of world events and hopefully, to receive insights, comments and ideas from the world outside our classroom.

We hope we will be able to generate and energize open discussions and collaboration between those who are interested in public diplomacy to enrich our knowledge and experience with this facinating topic…and of course, create an open dialogue beyond geographic boundaries.

Enjoy & Share–

The Diplomatic Panther Team