Comments on: Citizen Diplomacy in Iran

By: New York Philharmonic to Perform in Cuba?

New York Philharmonic to Perform in Cuba? — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 01:11:06 +0000

[...] occur just among diplomats. Read more about a citizen diplomacy movement between the US and Iran in this article by Ryan Van Lenning. var ids = new Array; ids.push(853); Tagged under: Cuba, diplomacy, foreign [...]

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By: claudia

claudia — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 19:12:47 +0000

“Mobilize citizens to pressure politicians to back away from confrontation and engage in diplomacy… ” At times we forget we are the government and we have a very active role to play in these issues. I hope the wide network of citizens the Obama campaign built to elect him will remain activated to support him when he pushes for diplomacy but also to watch-dog him when he doesn’t …

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By: Bill

Bill — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 15:54:05 +0000

The article would have been more interesting if the average citizen were asked what they thought of the Jews.

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By: Troy

Troy — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 10:24:55 +0000

Carlo is completely right, the media has so much to do with the perception Westerner’s have of Iran. I traveled through the country 4 years ago, during the last election and found it one of the most intriguing, interesting places on earth.

One always hears travelers gush about the hospitality of those they encounter beyond their borders, but Iran is one of the few places where this is really true.

The extent of the manipulation was driven home by an interesting event while I was there. During the run up to the last election, CNN ran a story about mass anti-American protests taking place in Teheran’s central square. There are also loads of cheap hotels in that area and I happened to be staying in one of them. I had explored that area extensively and didn’t see any American flags burning. Stock footage?

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By: Carlo

Carlo — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 03:12:30 +0000

Mainstream media has a massive, maybe the biggest, part to play in this. The government uses the media to push their agenda, which usually means making “them” (Iran, Iraq, Afghanisatn, etc) look like the enemy. There needs to be more responsible reporting, more truth. The average person needs to be educated about the media, and until they clean their act up, any news should be regarded with a cynical eye and not taken at face value.

I think that’s great what Rebecca Griffin is doing, and what the Iranians who cycled in Europe did. This is it, this is what matters, the people. The government is supposed to represent the people, but this just doesn’t seem to happen. It’s important to see and celebrate the similarities between different peoples, and to understand and respect the differences. Great post, Ryan.

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By: Hal

Hal — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 21:02:42 +0000

Great piece. It’s particularly valuable to think about the history of Iran–one of the oldest surviving civilizations on the planet. The media (and much of the U.S. public) treats it so one-dimensionally, when it’s anything but.

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