2007年VOA标准英语-Mid-Career Officials Learn to Listen, Advocate

By Mike O'Sullivan
Los Angeles
05 July 2007

In this information age, governments are reaching out to people in other parts of the world in an emerging field called public diplomacy¹.  Mike O'Sullivan reports, mid-career officials from government and international institutions recently came to Los Angeles to sharpen their skills in the field.

(From left) Jose Manuel Bassat, Soung-ah Choi, Joe Wang, Leonardo Mazzei 05 July 2007

 Public diplomacy involves some very different methods of outreach.  Joe Wang, senior consul² at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Los Angeles, is one of 15 mid-career professionals who took part in a two-week program at the University of Southern California Center on Public Diplomacy.  He says that winning hearts and minds is part of public diplomacy, and he quotes a saying by the Chinese philosopher Sun Tzu, author of the classic "Art of War."

"It means 'It is better to win people's hearts than to conquer their cities.'  So from there, we can understand the major concept of promoting public diplomacy in a host country is to engage in direct dialogue," Wang said.

Wang says his work as a diplomat³ involves showing photo exhibits of Taiwan's scenic⁴ attractions, giving speeches to civic⁵ groups, and organizing academic and cultural exchanges.

University of Southern California professor Nicholas Cull⁶ says public diplomacy can entail⁷ advocating policies, but often it does not.

"It doesn't have to be about advocacy.  It doesn't have to be about telling people things," he said. "An important part of public diplomacy is listening to other nations, and, in fact, I would say that is where your public diplomacy should begin, with proper listening."

Communications analyst⁸ Eytan Gilboa teaches at Israel's Bar-Ilan University and at USC.  He says public diplomacy may involve promoting a national image, or creating open forums⁹ for the sharing of ideas, a process facilitated by new technologies.

"For example, the Internet provides ample opportunities for creating dialogues with peoples around the world.  We call it cyber-public diplomacy," Gilboa said.

Leonardo Mazzei, a communications officer for the World Bank, says the new cyber-technologies have helped the outreach of institutions like his, but he says the new technology has its limits.

"I think it's very good to keep in mind that new technologies are still in the world a privilege to a few, and not to many," Mazzei said. "And I think it's good to keep that in mind when we put in perspective the IT [information technology] boom, if you will, and make sure that it's not only about the technology.  It is also about the humans that are interacting with the technology."

International broadcasting is an established means of outreach by national governments, and many have added television and Internet components¹⁰ to their older radio services.   Soung-ah Choi, associate spokesperson for the United Nations secretary-general, says radio remains¹¹ an important medium, even in this multimedia¹² age.  She says that long-distance shortwave broadcasts are especially important in the developing world.

"At the United Nations we deal with every country in the world," Choi said. "And in this, shortwave is very important because we know that a quarter of the world does not get anything else but shortwave radio.  And it is essential for those people in these regions to have that source of information.  And that is one of the reasons that the U.N. itself has a radio."

The United Nations broadcasts in regional languages in Africa, Latin America and South Asia.

(From left) Geoffrey Cowan, Nicholas Cull, Public Diplomacy program participant Aileen Adams 05 July 2007

Geoffrey Cowan is the outgoing dean of USC's Annenberg School for Communication and a former director of Voice of America.  He says governments may choose to take unpopular positions, but should be aware of the likely repercussions¹³.

He says public diplomacy explains a government's positions, but does not always make them popular.

"What we're learning about, I hope, in this public diplomacy program, is not to spin a country so that it's popular, but to understand all the elements of it," Cowan said. "And where the accurate representation is not a good one, to then go back to the people in those countries and say, maybe our country has some problems that we ought to deal with."

Jose Manuel Bassat of the World Bank says public diplomacy strives to bring people together in a world that is getting smaller.

"Now that it's much easier in many count

1 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

2 consul   

n.领事；执政官

参考例句：

• A consul's duty is to help his own nationals.领事的职责是帮助自己的同胞。
• He'll hold the post of consul general for the United States at Shanghai.他将就任美国驻上海总领事(的职务)。

3 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

4 scenic   

adj.自然景色的，景色优美的

参考例句：

• The scenic beauty of the place entranced the visitors.这里的美丽风光把游客们迷住了。
• The scenic spot is on northwestern outskirts of Beijing.这个风景区位于北京的西北远郊。

5 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。

6 cull   

v.拣选；剔除；n.拣出的东西；剔除

参考例句：

• It is usually good practice to cull the poorest prior to field planting.通常在实践上的好方法是在出圃栽植前挑出最弱的苗木。
• Laura was passing around photographs she'd culled from the albums at home.劳拉正在分发她从家里相册中挑选出的相片。

7 entail   

vt.使承担，使成为必要，需要

参考例句：

• Such a decision would entail a huge political risk.这样的决定势必带来巨大的政治风险。
• This job would entail your learning how to use a computer.这工作将需要你学会怎样用计算机。

8 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

9 forums   

讨论会； 座谈会； 广播专题讲话节目； 集会的公共场所( forum的名词复数 )； 论坛，讨论会，专题讨论节目； 法庭

参考例句：

• A few of the forums were being closely monitored by the administrators. 有些论坛被管理员严密监控。
• It can cast a dark cloud over these forums. 它将是的论坛上空布满乌云。

10 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

11 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

12 multimedia   

adj.多种手段的，多媒体的；n.多媒体

参考例句：

• Multimedia is the combination of computer and video technology.多媒体是计算机和视频技术的结合。
• Adam raised the issue of multimedia applications and much useful discussion ensued.亚当提出了多媒体应用的问题，从而引发了许多有益的讨论。

13 repercussions   

n.后果，反响( repercussion的名词复数 )；余波

参考例句：

• The collapse of the company will have repercussions for the whole industry. 这家公司的垮台将会给整个行业造成间接的负面影响。
• Human acts have repercussions far beyond the frontiers of the human world. 人类行为所产生的影响远远超出人类世界的范围。 来自《简明英汉词典》