A curated selection of public diplomacy-relevant news from a global cross-section of English-language media outlets, including independent, corporate-owned, and state-sponsored sources. The stories featured don't necessarily represent CPD's views nor have they been verified by CPD.
Johnson, Gorbachev, Obama
So why wasn’t the Afghan population more directly consulted? “To me, what was most concerning is that there was never any consultation with the Afghan shura, the tribal elders,” said Greg Mortenson, whose extraordinary work building schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan was chronicled in “Three Cups of Tea” and his new book, “From Stones to Schools.” “It was all decided on the basis of congressmen and generals speaking up, with nobody consulting Afghan elders. One of the elders’ messages is we don’t need firepower, we need brainpower.
Obama’s Afghanistan speech: How it sounded to Afghans
Some Afghan leaders, however, heard within the speech – particularly in the timeline and clear denial of intent to occupy – the promises needed for them to go out and change people's perceptions. "[Mr. Obama] may not be convincing the normal people or the Taliban, but by saying these things in the speech, this gives to the politicians, scholars, and spiritual leaders a free hand now. We are the ones … to win over our people," says Khalid Pashtun, a member of Parliament from the southern province of Kandahar.
Argentine Cultural Week opens in Beijing
The first Argentine Cultural Week opened in Beijing's Chaoyang District over the weekend. The week of cultural exchange aims to present a taste of true South American flavor literally! Tango, wine, and steaks offer you easy access in getting to know authentic Argentine culture and you don't have to travel far to get it. The cultural week has it all. The steaks, for example are all flown in directly from Argentina. Also, Argentine Cultural Week is being held in conjunction with Chinese Cultural Week in Argentina.
‘Yalanci Dolma’ Diplomacy
The event was designed to build cultural bridges between the Armenian Diaspora on one side and the Turkish people on the other, to traverse a colossal gorge, not divide, created by centuries of slavery, abuse, colonization of Western Armenia, and pogroms, which peaked with the infamous genocide of 1915-23. The meeting took place in, of all places, the Armenian Cultural and Educational Center (ACEC) in Watertown, Mass., a hub of the Armenian cultural activities.
Sobering statistics for social media
Just so, but we humans are still tuned into the big message coming from the central hub. The way we source our information, and thereby create our ‘worldviews’ and form our opinions, is changing rapidly. The online communities still tend to form their conversations around what has been despatched via a traditional system, excepting the occasional on-line viral successes.
Hindi and Azeri
If you hear an Azeri humming “Hum tum ek kamre mein band ho” from the 1973 movie Bobby, don't be surprised. They might know a lot more about Indian music and films than most of us. On a night of many such revelations, the supposedly thin cultural thread that ties India and Azerbaijan is actually not so thin! In India to facilitate bilateral talks between the two countries, Dr. Tamerlan Karayev, Ambassador of Azerbaijan, poignantly said, “We have literally grown up watching Hindi movies.
Minarets and Europe’s crisis
With most European governments continuously flaunting democracy, civil liberties and minority rights as the cornerstones of a national identity, it remains a mystery how the issue of minarets was presented as a challenge and a problem facing multi-cultural, liberal and secular Europe.
Europe’s China Angst
At the top, however, the annual E.U.-China summit meetings have failed to provide political backing for the E.U.’s new type of network diplomacy that engages with different actors at different levels of the Chinese government. It is time for the E.U. to make the summits count. The E.U. needs to bring to the table a clear agenda on which the E.U. can build broad consensus. This could include a concrete framework for assisting Beijing’s ambitious new climate-change goals, or urging China to participate in international efforts to halt Iran’s nuclear-weapons program.
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