MountainRunner Institute at InfoWarCon 2010

May 9, 2010 ~ Matt Armstrong

By Chris Dufour

This week kicks off the second year of AOC’s InfoWarCon in Washington, DC. Subtitled “Future Warfare Today: The Battle for Information & Ideas”, the three-day gathering sports luminaries from different information disciplines beyond information operations, or IO. Joel Harding, the director of AOC’s IO Institute, has put together an agenda with panelists from across the spectrum of informational engagement: strategic communication, public diplomacy, public affairs, technology, and emerging media. The stated purpose of InfoWarCon is to advance the discourse about the evolving role of information in warfare of today and tomorrow, especially the kind where explosions, in the case they actually occur, are shaping events in support of information activities.

InfoWarCon provides the necessary forum to discuss the real and perceived differences and similarities between information warfare and communication in a modern competitive landscape where information, not platforms, matter most. This environment is one where dissemination and reception are increasingly disassociated from geography as audiences are less likely to be contained within the borders of traditional nation-states.

The opportunities and threats of this modern environment can reduce autonomy, empower, or both. Typically, the empowerment to the non-state actor, whether a group or individual and the restriction on acting unilaterally is on the state. The easy answer for this situation is agility to operate in today’s dynamic, fluid, and hyperactive information environment. No longer do major powers solely rely on direct force-on-force combat to achieve strategic objectives. Similarly, non-violent communications campaigns conducted by private organizations or individuals can no longer succeed without considering the competitive information landscape.

InfoWarCon will provide the opportunity to discuss the issues related to this evolutionary, perhaps even revolutionary, environment and the resulting splintering of doctrine and perceptions of influence.

Chris Dufour is a Senior Vice President at the MountainRunner Institute and will cover InfoWarCon starting with Tuesday evening’s kickoff reception. (See this page for the week’s full agenda.) He will live-tweet the event from @MRinstitute, MRi’s Twitter handle, using the hashtag #IWC2010. If you plan on making it out to InfoWarCon this year, ping Chris on Twitter and contribute your thoughts and observations using the hashtag #IWC2010 (“eye”-w-c-2010).

InfoWarCon 2010

April 15, 2010 ~ Matt Armstrong

If you’ll be in DC May 12-14, consider attending InfoWarCon, the “edgy, provocative, and evocative” conference on strategic communication and public diplomacy (even though State will be minimally represented… last year there were objections from the Truman building that “war” was in the event’s title) and cybersecurity / cyberwarfare. Checkout the agenda .

Unfortunately, due to a schedule conflict on my side, I am no longer chairing the initial plenary discussion on cyber and social media as I noted earlier. I’ll still be in DC that week, but I won’t be at InfoWarCon until the last day.

Event: 9th Annual Information Operations – Europe

April 5, 2010 ~ Matt Armstrong ~ 2 Comments

The UK-based Defence IQ has announced the date and venue for the 9th annual Information Operations Europe conference. The event will take place June 29-30, 2010, at the Bloomsbury Hotel in London. The agenda is available.

Topics include:

Media in Modern Warfare, by Major General Gordon Messenger, Director of Strategic Communications, UK MoD
UK’s Influence Capability, by Air Commodore Robert Judson, Head of Targeting and Information Operations, UK MoD
Where Counterinsurgency meets Culture, by Eric Sutphin, Chief Target Audience Analyst, Combined Joint Psychological Operations Task Force, ISAF HQ, NATO
Audience Engagement in Afghanistan, by Maryann Maguire, Director of Communications (DCSU), Afghan Specialist Joint Implementation Team, UK MoD
Countering Violent Extremism, by James Barber, Information Operations Division, HQ US Africa Command
Influence and Intelligence Opportunities of Virtual Worlds, by Professor George Stein, Cyberspace & Info Ops Study Centre, Air War College, US Air Force
Future of Cultural Information Engagement, by Matt Bigge, CEO, Strategic Social

I will be there and will present on Now Media (tentatively 4p of Day 1) and participating on a panel (11.40a Day 1) with:

Air Commodore Robert Judson, Head of Targeting and Information Operations, UK MoD
Brigadier Mark Van der Lande, Head of Defence Public Relations, Directorate General and Media Communications, UK MoD
Sarah Nagelmann, Strategic Communications Advisor to US European Command and Supreme Allied Commander Europe, NATO

InfoWarCon – Washington, D.C.

April 5, 2010 ~ Matt Armstrong

The 2010 installment of InfoWarCon will be May 12-14 in Washington, D.C., at the Washington Convention Center. According to the organizers,

This is not your typical conference. This is edgy, provocative and evocative.

The agenda is here. Noteworthy is that Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Judith McHale is expected to speak on day 2, May 13, at 8:00a-8:30a. Her predecessor, Jim Glassman, spoke at the 2009 event.

Also listed on the current agenda are Price Floyd, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, and Dana Priest, The Washington Post.

I am moderating the panel “The Power of Cyber and Social Networking” and, rumor has it, appearing on another panel at InfoWarCon. See you there.

Event: Engaging Iran: Challenges and Opportunities for Civil Society

March 30, 2010 ~ Matt Armstrong ~ 1 Comment

This forum will assess past and current efforts for improved dialogue and exchange and examine the possible roles for civil society. In this time of intensified diplomatic action, what are the opportunities and obstacles for strengthening a citizens’ dialogue and building exchanges and institutional linkages between Iran and America? What do Americans need to understand better about Iran, and vice-versa? What communication pathways and innovations in the digital era could better convey ideas and values and support long term relations? Can civil society here and abroad contribute to the protection of human rights in Iran without endangering Iranian citizens? Are there multi-lateral, as well as bilateral, avenues for contact that might prove more effective in the long run, or possibilities to explore long-term collaboration and institution building?

Wednesday, April 7, 2010
4:00 – 8:00 pm

Meridian International Center
Meridian House
1630 Crescent Place, NW
Washington, DC 20009

RSVP by April 5 to
PDC@publicdiplomacycouncil.org
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Event: Global Internet Freedom as a foreign policy imperative in a Digital Age

March 23, 2010 ~ Matt Armstrong ~ 1 Comment

On March 24, 2010, the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) will hold an event to mark the public launch of the U.S. Senate Caucus on Global Internet Freedom. Caucus co-chairs Senators Ted Kaufman (D-DE) and Sam Brownback (R-KS), and other Senate caucus members including Senators Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) and Robert Casey (D-PA) and make remarks. Following the Senators’ remarks will be a panel discussion:

Michael Posner, Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor;
Ambassador Mark Palmer, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs;
Alan Davidson, Director of Public Policy and Government Affairs at Google;
Richard Fontaine, Senior Fellow at CNAS;
Daniel Calingaert, Deputy Director of Programs at Freedom House; and
Rebecca MacKinnon, Visiting Fellow, Center for Information Technology Policy at Princeton University and Co-Founder, Global Voices Online.

Visibly absent from this discussion is the Office of the Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, which has a strong vested interest in the subject. Posner leads “DRL”, which is in the Office of the Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs.

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Conflict Prevention and Resolution: the Role for Cultural Relations

February 17, 2010 ~ Matt Armstrong

On 2 March 2010, I’ll be in Brussels at Conflict Prevention and Resolution: the Role for Cultural Relations, a discussion hosted by NATO, Security & Defense Agenda, and the British Council . The discussion will be in three parts: Why Culture Matters, Case Studies in Cultural Relations in Conflict, and Designing a Cultural Approach to Civil-Military Relations.

Event information, including registration and agenda, is available here. More on the event will appear at www.MountainRunner.us.

Event: Public Diplomacy and the United States Information Agency

December 2, 2009 ~ Matt Armstrong

At the USC Washington, DC, office Thursday, December 10, 2009:

A reception and discussion to celebrate the publication of The Cold War and the United States Information Agency: American Propaganda and Public Diplomacy, 1945-1989, new in paperback.

Discussion to include Dr. Nicholas J. Cull, Professor and Director, USC Master of Public Diplomacy program, and Dr. Michael Schneider, USIA veteran and Professor of Practice, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University

Time and place:

Thursday, December 10, 2009
6:00 pm

USC Washington DC Office
701 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Suite 540
Washington, DC 20004
(Navy Memorial metro station)

RSVP here.

Event: The Abolition of USIA and Its Effects on U.S. Public Diplomacy

December 2, 2009 ~ Matt Armstrong ~ 2 Comments

At The Heritage Foundation December 9, 2009, 10a – 11:30a: The Abolition of USIA and Its Effects on U.S. Public Diplomacy. Speakers include Joe Duffey, Bill Kiehl, Stephen Johnson, Robert Schadler and hosted by Helle Dale.

Founded in 1953, the mission of the United States Information Agency (USIA) was to “understand, inform and influence foreign publics in promotion of the national interest, and to broaden the dialogue between Americans and U.S. institutions and their counterparts abroad.” For years, USIA was the U.S. government’s public diplomacy arm, charged with telling America’s story abroad. Ten years ago, USIA was disbanded and its functions were folded into the State Department under the management of Undersecretary of State for Public Affairs and Public Diplomacy. Since then, U.S. public diplomacy has fallen upon hard times. The new administration has repeatedly proclaimed that U.S. engagement in the world would be revitalized and yet there has been little change at U.S. foreign policy’s lead agency. Our panelists will analyze the changes that U.S. public diplomacy has gone through in the past 10 years and what should be done to improve America’s ability to “understand, inform and influence foreign publics in promotion of the national interest.”

I won’t be there but RSVP here if you want to be there. I’m interested in your feedback on the discussion.

Risk Communication in a Constrained Information Environment

November 19, 2009 ~ Matt Armstrong ~ 1 Comment

Last week at the Heritage Foundation, I sat on a panel with CBS News correspondent Kim Dozier, former Director of External Affairs for FEMA Jonathon Thompson. The panel was moderated by my friend Dennis Murphy, professor at the US Army War College. The two-day event, Homeland Security’s Wicked Problems: Developing a Research Agenda for Homeland Security, was webcast live. Our panel was on day 2 of “Wicked Problems” and is now available here or below.

I am third to present, after Jonathon and Kim, and come in around the 43rd minute.

The proceedings for Day 1 are not yet online.

Where’s the value added here?

November 16, 2009 ~ Matt Armstrong ~ 3 Comments

There’s an interesting event tonight at Johns Hopkins, Communication Roundtable- Winning Hearts and Minds: American Public Diplomacy in the 21st Century:

What are the biggest challenges for American public diplomacy in the coming years? How will we engage with an increasingly younger and technologically savvy, global population as we move into this increasingly challenging century. Are we winning the battle for hearts and minds? And if so, whose hearts and minds are we winning?

Why is this interesting? Excluding the conversation that will take place during the two-hour event, this is interesting because of the framing by the organizers of the discourse. I’d say the biggest challenge for American public diplomacy today and the coming years is getting away from “battle for hearts and minds”, a quaint concept the event’s organizers are breathing life into. This is neither a battle to be “won” or “lost” nor do we care about their hearts and the implication of likability. The enduring struggle of the modern world is centered afar and is less about us than enemy propagandists would have us or their target audiences believe. We do not have the luxury of “winning” or “losing” and walking away to celebrate or mope.

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Event: iDiplomacy: empowering the private sector and citizen diplomats in the digital age

November 6, 2009 ~ Matt Armstrong

An invitation-only event of interest:

“iDiplomacy: empowering the private sector and citizen diplomats in the digital age” is a two-day symposium that will take place at The Gallup Organization in Washington DC on November 9^th & 10^th, 2009. Participants come from gaming, filmed media, social media, music, tech, the Military, State Department, the Hill and the private sector. This small, invitation-only symposium will help determine the agenda, host(s), plenary speakers, sponsors and invitees to a much larger conference to take place in 2010 that will be open to the public.

Agenda and presenter bios (which I am one) are here. Symposium attendee bios are here.

Events: Culture’s Purpose and the Work of Cultural Diplomacy

November 4, 2009January 31, 2019 ~ Matt Armstrong

Tomorrow, 5 November 2009, from noon to 4p at the SIS Lounge at American University is “Culture’s Purpose and the Work of Cultural Diplomacy”:

During a moment of the apparent recommitment in the United States to soft power, smart power, and the relevance of cultural diplomacy, this conference brings together key stakeholders in the future of cultural diplomacy, including members of the policy community, practitioners in public diplomacy, and academic researchers, to examine the relationship between our understanding of how culture works, the expression of democratic ideals, and how cultural diplomacy functions as part of U.S. public diplomacy.

Former Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Jim Glassman will give the keynote. Discussants include Nancy Snow (Syracuse University), Helle Dale (Heritage Foundation), and David Firestein (EastWest Institute, formerly Senior Advisor to the US Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy), Frank Hodsoll (Resource Center for Cultural Engagement), John Brown (Georgetown University), Kathleen Brion (Public Diplomacy Alumni Association), and Lawrence Wohlers (Smithsonian Institution). Moderators include Craig Hayden, Amb. Anthony Quainton, and Robert Albro.

The full schedule is below. The event is organized by the International Communication Program at American University’s School of International Service and co-sponsored by the Public Diplomacy Council and www.MountainRunner.us (yes, I/this blog are co-sponsoring the event).

More information can be found at the website.

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Reminder: Understanding and Engaging Now Media

November 3, 2009 ~ Matt Armstrong

A reminder that I’m teaching an evening course next week, Understanding and Engaging Now Media. Held over 3 consecutive evenings, each class is three hours long (6p – 9p) and is intended to make the student more aware and versed in a global information environment shaped by the convergence of “old” and “new” media.

The three sessions are divided into two modules each and include two guest lecturers.

Day 1 (10 November) covers the “Convergence of Old and New into Now Media” and barriers and constraints to operating in this environment that range from speed, trust & authenticity, legislation, and the blurred roles of consumer and producer.

Day 2 (11 November) begins with a recently retired State Department official briefing on State’s use of new media and the lessons learned. The second half of this session expands on this by examining the tools, methods, and reasons to track and engage people, sentiments, and information.

Day 3 (12 November) begins with a presentation, Adversarial Exploitation of Online Video, by an information operator. The session and the course concludes examples from the world outside national security and discussion.

If you are interested, email me or visit the website of the organization hosting the training.

Public Relations firm hosts Q&A with Price Floyd

November 2, 2009 ~ Matt Armstrong

Of possible interest:

Oglivy Exchange’s National Security Strategy Lecture Series presents:

Price Floyd
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary
of Defense for Public Affairs
Speaking on enhancing communications within the Department of Defense and between the U.S. military and Americans via social media, the new Defense.gov website and other channels.
(Q & A session will follow)

Thursday, Nov. 5, 2009 11:30 AM – 1 PM.
Lunch will be served

Mr. Floyd will discuss using social media to expand communication within the 18 year old to 25 year old demographic, an important audience for recruiting purposes; building a platform to increase feedback from troops and their families; developing a forum for enhanced communication with American citizens; and ensuring operational security of military actions in the age of Twitter and Facebook.

RSVP: Contact Ellen Birek at Ellen.Birek@ogilvypr.com or at (202) 729-4231
DATE: Thursday, Nov.5, 2009
TIME: 11:30 AM – 1 PM, Lunch will be served
WHERE:
Ogilvy’s Washington Headquarters
1111 19th St. NW, 10th Floor
Washington, D.C., 20036

Understanding and Engaging Now Media

October 23, 2009 ~ Matt Armstrong

The course I’m teaching titled "Understanding and Engaging Now Media" is next month. There are a few spots remaining if you’re interested. Information and registration is at the AOC website. Updates to the syllabus not online at AOC:

Module 1 – "Convergence of Old and New into Now" – understanding application of the terms new, old, social media; purpose, utility, and use of various platforms

Module 2 – "Understanding" – barriers and constraints as "myths"; transformation of "trust"; errors in reporting; speed of transmission and replication; blurred distinction between news consumers and producers

Module 3 – Guest Speaker G.C.: State Department’s use of new media, lessons learned

Module 4 – "Engaging" – operating in the (virtual) first three feet and the last three feet; tools, methods, and reasons to track and engage people, information, sentiments, the "canary in the coal mine"

Module 5 – Guest Speaker A.P.: Adversarial Exploitation of Online Video

Module 6 – Lessons from the Private Sector: two examples; and conclusion

There will be PDFs and recommended material, including recommendations on books, sent before the course to registered participants.

Understanding and Engaging ‘Now Media’ professional development course

September 3, 2009 ~ Matt Armstrong

The professional development course “Understanding and Engaging Now Media” examines the convergence of “new media” and “old media” into “now media” with the purpose of educating and empowering the student to be a more effective information actor. Today, news and information is simultaneously instant and persistent, global and local, as it seamlessly moves between print, broadcast, cellular, and social media. Increased access to information changes the relationship between producer and consumer of news and information which in turn creates, engages, and empowers new communities and communications pathways that empower journalists, bloggers, analysts, activists, diplomacy, terrorists, insurgents and nearly everyone else. Understanding this environment, the tools, techniques, and purposes is essential in the modern information environment.

Yours truly, Matt Armstrong, will teach this course over three consecutive evenings, 6p-9p on November 10, 11, and 12 in Alexandria, VA (2 blocks from a Metro stop).

More information and registration can be found at the AOC website.

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Event: GWU’s Face-off to Facebook: From the Nixon-Khrushchev Kitchen Debate to Public Diplomacy in the 21st Century

July 23, 2009 ~ Matt Armstrong

Right now:

Face-off to Facebook: From the Nixon-Khrushchev Kitchen Debate to Public Diplomacy in the 21st Century

Thursday, July 23, 2009
Jack Morton Auditorium, 805 21st Street NW
Washington, DC 20006

GW’s Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication at the School of Media and Public Affairs, in partnership with the Carnegie Corporation, the Walter Roberts Endowment, and the Kennan Institute, is pleased to announce a conference devoted to the 50th anniversary of the American National Exhibition in Moscow, with its famous Khrushchev-Nixon “Kitchen Debate,” as well as to the new opportunities for U.S. public diplomacy in a Web 2.0 world.

Conference details are here and watch the live stream right now here.

See also:

Remembering Sokolniki Park by Hans Tuch over at Whirled View.