N. A. TSVETKOVA

Candidate of Historical Sciences

Saint Petersburg State University

USA Keywords:, Iran, public diplomacy, "soft power", "digital diplomacy"

Public diplomacy is one of the ways to influence the opinion and behavior of the population of most foreign countries. Among the tasks that American public diplomacy sets itself is to spread liberal ideas and support opposition sentiments in "undemocratic states." Before the advent of the Internet, US public diplomacy used such methods of influencing the politics of other countries as information propaganda, carried out through radio, film, television, through exhibition activities, etc., as well as providing educational opportunities for representatives of certain socio-professional groups of the population in order to form a loyal elite. The spread of the Internet has made it possible to influence foreign audiences by posting radio and television programs on this network, distributing literature about the United States in digital format, monitoring discussions in the blog space of foreign countries, creating personalized pages for members of the US government, and posting information via mobile phones.¹

In the past five or six years, the United States has been particularly active in mobilizing protest moods in foreign countries through information technology. In a number of countries, the United States Government exercises special public diplomacy aimed at spreading pro-liberal and oppositional views, which in the future may lead to destabilization of the internal political situation.

Iran is in the first place as an object of American public diplomacy. Washington's attention to this country is due not only to the fact, however, not definitively proven, of the implementation of the program for creating nuclear weapons in Iran, but also to its active activities to prevent the spread of American influence in the Persian Gulf, Central and Central Asian regions, as well as to the fact that the United States is actively involved in the

The Middle East. In fact, the spread of American political and cultural values in these areas and the response of Tehran led to an ideological war between the two countries.

AMERICAN PUBLIC DIPLOMACY STRATEGY IN IRAN

After the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the United States minimized all U.S. government-funded cultural, educational, and information programs in Iran. In the 1990s, the Bill Clinton administration tried to establish a partnership with this country by implementing a sports project: in 1998, a wrestling match was held in Iran between the teams of the two countries. Later, however, bilateral contacts were sharply reduced due to the introduction of an international sanctions regime against Iran.

In 2006, Washington formulated the main provisions of the public diplomacy strategy in Iran. These include changing the theocratic regime in Iran, democratizing the country, and supporting the local opposition.² As part of this strategy, the State Department has invested $10 million in training projects for Iranian activists, political dissidents and human rights activists, resulting in a significant increase in the number of supporters of political reform in Iran. In 2007, the program of bilateral educational exchanges was expanded, allowing Iranians to be invited to study in the United States. In turn, the Iranian government has agreed to teach the Persian language to Iranians-at the invitation of the American side - in American universities.³

At the beginning of his presidential term, Barack Obama tried to soften the goals of public diplomacy of the previous administration by refusing to support dissidents, and to establish US-Iranian contacts in the cultural, educational and sports spheres. In a video message to Iran in March 2009. Obama expressed his desire to improve relations between the ⁴ countries. At the same time, however, the US administration has been trying to develop a more effective strategy for dealing with the Iranian regime through soft power.

Washington was concerned about the spread of Iranian cultural and information programs in Central Asia and the Persian Gulf-

liwa. Thus, in 2009, the US government stated that Iran's foreign policy in the field of culture poses a potential threat to US interests.⁵ In 2009-2010, the White House and the US Congress discussed the possibility of a larger public diplomacy program in Iran. Some American experts suggested supporting the opposition "Green Movement", created in 2007 on the model of opposition organizations that existed in Eastern Europe at the end of the Cold War. The issue of distributing video information in Iran about the effective political activities of the Greens in Eastern European countries, as well as about the fate of such leaders of totalitarian regimes as Ceausescu, Milosevic and Pinochet, was considered.

It was also proposed to increase the volume of broadcasting in Iran by two American radio stations-Radio Farda and Voice of America. In addition, to counteract the blocking of various Internet sites by the Iranian government, it was planned to spread the latest computer technologies in Iran and involve Iranians in the international social networks Facebook and Twitter⁶

Funding for these projects became possible starting in the spring of 2010, when the US Congress passed a law called the Voice Act (full name-the "Victims of Iranian Censorship Act"), under which the US government was granted the right to "spread the ideas of freedom and democracy" among the Iranian population by supporting dissidents, developing radio and television broadcasting on the Internet The Internet, as well as an increase in the number of Iranians using the "World Wide Web". A special role in the implementation of this program and in the dissemination of technologies that would allow the Iranian population to watch American TV channels via the Internet, overcoming network protection (Firewall), was assigned to the Broadcasting Board of Governors (Broadcasting Board of Governors) - the state agency responsible for all international radio and TV channels in the United States. This Council and American channels broadcasting their programs to Iran have received significant financial resources to develop the latest digital technologies that overcome both the low speed of the Internet and the obstacles to its use created by the Iranian government.⁷

As a result, the Obama administration not only continued to implement the previous administration's program to support Iranian "dissidents", but also proposed new mechanisms for mobilizing the opposition.

INTERNET - TO THE MASSES!

The American radio station Farda and the Persian News Network (PNN) radio and TV channel are the main means of American broadcasting to Iran. They use both satellites and the Internet. Until a few years ago, they broadcast 30 to 60 minutes a day. ⁸ Today, these channels broadcast their programs - in Farsi-24 hours a day. In addition, Iranians can watch programs of the American TV channel Alhurra, which operates in all countries of the Middle East and the Persian Gulf, as well as visit American Persian-language sites on the Internet. ⁹

Despite attempts by the Iranian side to block American radio and television broadcasting, the United States manages to reach the ears of Iranians by increasing the number of satellites, moving radio sources, and creating special applications for mobile phones and Apple smartphones that allow downloading TV programs from their websites.

As a result, as of 2010, about 20% of Iranians regularly listen to and watch American radio and television programs. Iranians were also among the most active users of international American broadcasting channels on the Internet. The Persian website of Radio Farda has already been visited by about 46 million people, and the website of the Persian News Service - more than 19 million, while the population of Iran is about 75 million people.¹⁰

The target audience of American radio and television broadcasting in Iran is young people under the age of 30, so most of the airtime is spent broadcasting popular Western music, interrupted by short news releases and lengthy discussion programs. Analysis of the content of the broadcasts shows that Washington is trying to influence the Iranian youth using three main themes. First, it is criticism of the Iranian authorities and stories about the fate of Iranian dissidents. It is believed that the most popular program among Iranians is a satirical program about the government called "Parazit". Her popularity is partly due to the personality of a leading American of Iranian descent, who is adept at using Farsi to ridicule Iran's political elite. ¹¹

Secondly, it is a problem of women's emancipation, i.e. they get political (participation in political struggle) and economic (creation of their own business) rights. In 2007, a series of programs "Woman Today" appeared, telling about the life and work of influential representatives of the fair sex in various countries.-

and affecting a wide range of "women's" issues.

And finally, the third topic is American society. The program "View from Washington" tells about the politics and economy of the United States, about the life of Americans, including immigrants from Muslim countries. The main broadcasts are repeated during the day and week ¹².

However, both Farda and the Persian News Service are criticized by professional Americans and Iranians themselves. The main reason is the massive broadcast of American pop music, which, according to some experts, offends Iranians.¹³ Meanwhile, the leaders of the Farda radio station claim that it is the broadcasting of modern Western music that can contribute to changing the political situation in Iran.¹⁴

Another reason for criticism is the use of information contained in the Iranian state-run media to produce news programs. One audit conducted by the U.S. Congressional Accounting Chamber found that "radio stations broadcast news provided by the Islamic Republic News Agency without attempting to criticize it." ¹⁵ In addition, it turned out that the practice of discussion programs and inviting "independent" guests was designed to convince Iranian listeners of the correctness of the US position on a particular issue, did not justify itself. Experts who support the United States, as a rule, either do not have a clear position and agree with the opponent, or, on the contrary, unexpectedly speak sharply about the United States. For example, Abbas Milani, known in the United States as a supporter of the Islamic Republic's democratic development and director of the Iranian Studies Department, was once invited to a program on human rights in Iran

Stanford University ¹⁶. According to the producers, he was supposed to represent the pro-American side. However, instead of criticizing the Ahmadinejad government, Milani said that the United States also has serious problems with human rights, pointing out the peculiarities of the detention of prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay base.¹⁷

DIGITAL DIPLOMACY

In addition to the traditional ways of influencing the Iranian audience through information programs, the United States also uses the so-called digital diplomacy, which is also often called "Twitter diplomacy" or "Web 2.0 public diplomacy". This is a mechanism for influencing foreign audiences through the Internet, which allows the United States not only to make its radio and television programs more accessible, but also to monitor the blogosphere of other countries, as well as to disseminate information through mobile phones.¹⁸

I must say that the number of Internet users and, most importantly, the number of bloggers who want to share their opinions on political issues with others is growing rapidly in Iran. Currently, Iranian websites mainly discuss the problems of reforming and secularizing Iranian society.¹⁹

The government of Iran imposes restrictions on the speed and volume of downloaded information, allowing private users to accept only 128 kilobytes per second. Therefore, it is impossible to watch American television programs or use an Internet portal such as Youtube without using special computer programs.

The Americans are trying to overcome the restrictive actions of the Iranian authorities. So, in the spring of 2011, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that the United States would fight to expand Iranians ' access to the Internet. Almost immediately, special computer programs were created to overcome the Firewall in Iran. Their creation was funded by the Broadcasting Board of Governors and the Voice of America radio Station.²⁰

A major American project in the field of electronic technology distribution was the creation of special software Tor²¹, which allows Iranian dissident Internet users to keep their location secret and send coded messages. The Washington-backed American organization Global Internet Freedom is the main source of obtaining free software to overcome censorship in Iran and other countries22.

Two other programs-FreeGate and UltraSurf - are also distributed to Iranian dissidents23.

Currently, work is underway to create a so - called shadow Internet that allows users to connect - albeit with special equipment-to the network in places where there is no communication, as well as send and receive messages without fear that their location will be revealed by the authorities.²⁴

In connection with the events in North Africa, the US State Department created its official Farsi-language website on Twitter (@USAdarFarsi) and began posting materials on it calling for reforms in Iran and the Middle East, as well as for bilateral dialogue, for example: "We thank our Iranian subscribers for their comments. We hope that more Iranians will join us.

our conversation on Twitter " ²⁵. After the creation of the site in February 2011, the number of subscribers reached 2 thousand, in the spring of 2011 - 5 thousand, and in the fall it already exceeded 7 thousand, and most of them were Iranians.²⁶ Although the number of readers is still relatively small, there are some who seek to establish a dialogue with the US government.

With the help of social Internet networks, in particular, such sites as the Union of Youth Movements, Arab Bloggers, etc., the US administration implements a policy of mobilizing protest moods and identifying leaders of opposition movements in individual countries. In 2010, the State Department selected the most active bloggers and invited them to the United States for the first conference held at the George W. Bush Institute in Texas. The forum was attended by representatives of Syria, Venezuela, Cuba, Iran, China, Colombia and Russia. Thanks to this conference, the most popular blogger in Iran was identified - Arash Kamangir, whose articles are regularly read by about 6 thousand Iranians.

A detailed study of the blogosphere allows the US government to influence its Iranian participants. Back in 2007, a special project was created at Harvard University to study the political orientation of social media users in Iran, Russia, and China. In particular, it was possible to identify various groups of bloggers who discussed political issues and expressed certain views, which allows Washington to influence Internet discussions.²⁷

EDUCATION IN THE SERVICE OF POLITICS

In addition to information propaganda, the US government is trying to deploy special educational programs in Iran to introduce the principles of a liberal political culture here. While only 80 Iranians were covered by these programs in 1998, the number reached 435 in 2008.28

Currently, two short-term training programs are central to the United States ' education policy in Iran. As part of the International Visitor Leadership Program, Iranians are invited to the United States, where, in particular, they are given the opportunity to visit the White House, the State Department, and attend congressional meetings.

In 2006-2007. The State Department has developed another educational project, the Iran Democracy Program, ²⁹ aimed at supporting the opposition in the country. ³⁰ The main participants in the project were the relevant Department of the State Department and the National Endowment for Democracy, established in 1982 by Ronald Reagan31. Through the implementation of this program, the US administration intended to turn Iranians against the ruling regime in the country.³² However, as a result of the opposition of the Iranian government, only 3 to 5 Iranians participate in the program each year, who receive short-term political training and then spread stories about their American experience on the Internet.³³

The Obama Administration has also initiated several scholarship programs, and in 2011 simplified ^the visa application process34.

IRAN'S RESPONSE

Iran's Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has repeatedly stated that Iran is in a state of ideological war with the West. In 2011, in a speech on Iran's foreign policy, he stated that "the scope of the cultural attack of the imperialist front extends to all countries of the world, but in this offensive, the Islamic Republic of Iran is the most important target, because the Islamic regime resists the onslaught of the dominant world forces and has the strength to resist." ³⁵

As already mentioned, the Iranian policy of confrontation is primarily manifested in the blocking of such radio and TV channels as the Persian News Service and Farda, ³⁶ as well as in the ability to "hack" American computer programs Tor, etc. As a result, the authorities managed to locate several dozen dissidents and arrest many of them.³⁷

However, the constant growth in the number of Internet users and the rapid development of the blogosphere in Iran forces the country's government to respond more flexibly to challenges from the United States and the West in general. Expanding our own "digital diplomacy" is becoming a more effective response to US actions.

Spreading Islamic culture is an instrument of Iran's traditional public diplomacy. Since 2007, Iranian cultural centers have been established in many countries of ^the world38. The largest number of them is located in Europe and Central Asia - there are 15 of them each, in the Asia-Pacific region-5, in Africa - 11, in the Middle East - 9.

Iran's large-scale regional cultural policy, which promotes a positive image of the Islamic Republic in the countries of Central Asia and the Persian Gulf, is causing concern in US political circles. The core of this policy is the thesis of the cultural unity of Iran and other countries in the region, as well as the rejection of

politicization of Islam. This thesis looks very attractive against the background of American slogans about freedom and democracy.

Through regional public diplomacy, Iran has opened eight cultural centers in Kazakhstan alone, where it hosts Islamic literature, provides Persian language training, and, according to the US government, conducts anti-American propaganda and intelligence activities.³⁹

In Afghanistan, in 2010, a library was opened that contains not only various scientific and artistic literature intended for educated Kabulans, but also has a scholarship program for studying in Iran.⁴⁰ In an effort to shape Iran's image as a regional leader, Tehran has embarked on a policy aimed at improving relations between Iran and the Gulf states. To this end, the network of Iranian regional television channels has been significantly expanded over the past three years. Among them are A1-A1at and Al-Kawthar, broadcasting in Arabic to the countries of North Africa and the Middle East.

In contrast to Washington, by 2011 Iran has developed a large-scale information strategy, creating several international radio and television channels, collectively known as "Broadcasting of the Islamic Republic of Iran". There are six channels, the most popular of which are "Press TV", "Voice of Iran", "Voice of Justice"and " Islam". These and other channels broadcast in 26 languages to countries in the Middle East, Asia, Europe and America. On the official website shared by all Iranian radio and TV channels, the leadership of the Islamic Republic openly announced the goal of broadcasting in English as "conducting a campaign against American interference." ⁴¹

The Iranian government is aware that American radio and television channels are becoming increasingly popular in the country. Radio Farda and the Persian News Service are now listened to and watched by far more Iranians than Soviet citizens who listened to VOA in the 1980s. As an ideological counterweight, Tehran has launched several information projects, the most important of which is the creation of the religious radio station "Voice of the Mullah". It broadcasts to Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

In Afghanistan and other countries, the Iranian religious channel Tamaddon is becoming increasingly popular, presenting a positive picture of political Islam.⁴² In addition, in the summer of 2011 Iran has launched its own music TV channel - Iranians (analogous to the English-language MTV channel), which broadcasts exclusively Iranian music.

In response to US digital diplomacy, several Iranian government pages were created on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. The English-language political portal of the international television channel of Iran, @TVPress ⁴³, is very influential. The information disseminated through it is purely anti-American in nature. As of September 2011, the portal has about 4 thousand subscribers. This is less than that of its American competitor, but the frequency of publications is several times higher than that observed on the American portal @USAdar Farsi).

As soon as Washington started using Twitter to spread information in the Farsi language, the Iranian authorities mobilized local information technology specialists and created so-called virtual police squads. Iranian hackers repeatedly "brought down" the websites of American radio and TV channels broadcasting to the Islamic Republic. The main target was the show program Parazit, in which the host skillfully criticizes the social foundations adopted in Iranian society in both language and visual images.⁴⁴

Finally, Iran has created its own Internet (Iranet) in Farsi, it means "Legal Internet". When President Ahmadinejad announced its creation in April 2011, he said that the content of the network's websites would be consistent with the principles of Islam and that Iran would eventually completely replace the Western Internet in the Muslim world.⁴⁵

The United States has defined the goal of public diplomacy in Iran as changing the Iranian regime by supporting the opposition and dissidents. To achieve this goal, certain financial resources and American technological power have been mobilized. Such directions are deya-

Such US activities as the dissemination of information through Radio Farda and the Persian News Service radio and TV channel, as well as through the Iranian blogosphere, are the most significant for the implementation of this political goal. The effectiveness of these projects is due to the positive response of a certain part of Iranian society that is critical of the Ahmadinejad government. Such US activity could potentially lead to the achievement of this goal and the implementation of some kind of "orange revolution" or "Arab Spring" in Iran in a few years.

* * *

In the face of the Islamic Republic, Washington faced a serious opponent in the field of distribution of television, radio and electronic information. Iran not only uses its technological capabilities to eliminate the US information presence in the region by blocking signals or destroying American websites, but also conducts effective global and regional information and cultural policies, along with undisguised anti-Americanism, that promote Islamic values. In effect, Iran has exposed its cultural heritage and Islamic values against the political goals of US public diplomacy.

^{Tsvetkova N. A.} 1 WEB 2.0 programs in the US public diplomacy / / USA and Canada: politics, Economy and Culture. 2011, N 3.

² Written Budget Testimony of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Submitted for the Record to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Tuesday, February 14, 2006 // US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations - http://foreign.senate.gov/hearings

³ Public Diplomacy in the Middle East and South Asia: Is the Message Getting Through? Hearing Before the Subcommittee on The Middle East and South Asia of the Committee on Foreign Affairs House of Representatives, 1 10^th Congress, 1^st Session, Mayl6, 2007. Wash., D.C.: GPO, 2007, p. 8.

⁴ Videotaped Remarks by the President in Celebration of Nowraz. March 20, 2009 // The White House. Office of the Press Secretary -http://www.whitehouse.gov/

⁵ Public Diplomacy: Strengthening U.S. Engagement with the World. A Strategic Approach for the 21^st Century. February 26, 2010. Wash, D.C.: State Department, Office of the Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, p. 25.

⁶ Strategic Public Diplomacy. Testimony Before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations at a Hearing on "The Future of U.S. Public Diplomacy", James K.Glassman. March 10, 2010 // US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations - http://foreign.senate.gov/hearings/

⁷ Public Law 111 - 84. VOICE Act - Victims of Iranian Censorship Act, 2010 // The Library of Congress - http://thomas.loc.gov/

⁸ US Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy, 2005. Wash., D.C.: GPO, 2005, p. 23, 35.

⁹ U.S. International Broadcasting: Is Anybody Listening? Keeping the U.S. Connected, US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, 111th Congress, 2^nd Session. June 9, 2010. Wash., D.C.: GPO, 2010, p. 62.

¹⁰ Broadcasting Board of Governors. Budget Request, FY 2012. Wash., D.C.: GPO, 2011, p. 34.

¹¹ Program on the website of the " Persian News Service "of the Voice of America radio station - http://www.voanews.com/persian/news/video-collection/

¹² Annual Report 2007. Broadcasting Board of Governors // Broadcasting Board of Governors http://www.bbg.gov/reports/07anrprt.pdf; U.S. International Broadcasting: Is Anybody Listening?.., p. 73.

¹³ Public Diplomacy in the Middle East and South Asia: Is the Message Getting Through? Hearing.., p. 25.

¹⁴ Ibidem.

¹⁵ A Study of USG Broadcasting into Iran Prepared for Iran Steering Group. Addressing Iran's Nuclear Ambitions. Hearing Before Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, US Senate, 110^th Congress, 2^nd Session, April 14, 2008. Wash., D.C.: GPO. 2008, p. 164.

¹⁶ Abbas Milani - http://www.stanford.edu/-amilani/

¹⁷ Ibid., p. 164 - 180.

^{Tsvetkova N. A.} 18 Edict. soch., pp. 109-110.

^{Kelly J., Etling B.} 19 Mapping Irans Online Public: Politics and Culture in the Persian Blogosphere. Berkman Center Research Publication No. 2008 - 01. Harvard University: Harvard University Press, 2008, p. 7.

²⁰ BBG Budget Request, FY 2012. Wash., D.C.: GPO, 2011, p. 87.

²¹ Creation of the computer program " Tor " originally finan-

In December 2006, a non-governmental organization with the same name appeared, which continues to improve this equipment. See the product website: http://www.torproject.org/index.html.en; Public Diplomacy in the Age of the Internet. A Minority Staff Report, Committee on Foreign Relations, US Senate, 112th Congress, 1st Session. February 15, 2011. Wash., D.C.: GPO, 2011, p. 47.

²² http://www.internetfreedom.org/

²³ http://www.internetfreedom.org/Products-and-Services

²⁴ U.S. Underwrites Detour Around Censors // New York Times, 21.07.2011.

²⁵ http://twitter.eom/#!/USAdarFarsi/

²⁶ Ibidem.

^{Kelly J., Etling B.} 27 Op. cit., p. 1 - 2.

²⁸ International Exchanges and Training. Near East. Report of the Interagency Working Group on the U. S. Government-Sponsored International Exchanges and Training (IAWG), 1998 - 2009 // IAWG -www.iawg.gov

²⁹ Public Law 109 - 102. Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2006 // Government Printing Office - www.gpo.gov/

³⁰ Near East Region Overview // US Agency of International Development - www.usaid.gov/policy/budget/cbj2009/101442.pdf

³¹ Iran Democracy Funding // Department of State -www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2006/75535.htm

³² Inventory of Programs, 2007. Report of the Interagency Working Group on the U. S. Government-Sponsored International Exchanges and Training // IAWG - www.iawg.gov

³³ Annual Report, 2009. Report of the Interagency Working Group on the U.S. Government-Sponsored International Exchanges and Training // IAWG - www.iawg.gov

³⁴ Education-USA-Iran - http://www.educationusairan.com/visas

³⁵ Official website of Iran's Supreme Leader Khamenei -http://www.leader.ir/

³⁶ U.S. International Broadcasting: - Is Anybody Listening?, p. 21.

³⁷ U.S. Initiatives to Promote Global Internet Freedom: Issues, Policy, and Technology, 2010. Congressional Research Service. Wash., D.C.: GPO, 2010, p. 14 - 15.

³⁸ Website of Iranian Cultural Centers - http://culturebase.icro.ir/

³⁹ U.S. Public Diplomacy: Time to Get Back in the Game. A report to Members of the Committee on Foreign Relations United States Senate. Wash., D.C.: GPO. 2009, p. 20 - 21.

⁴⁰ Afghan Media Report, 2010. USAID. Wash., D.C.: GPO, 2010, p. 74.

⁴¹ Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcastig - http://www.irib.ir/English/

⁴² Afghan Media Report, 2010.., p. 55.

⁴³ See the page of this TV channel on the Twitter portal. @PressTVchannel

⁴⁴ Hacking and Signal Interference of U.S. International Broadcasting - www.bbg.gov/pressroom

⁴⁵ Iran Announces 'Halal Internet', New Cyberdefence Study Program - http://internetofelswhere.com

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