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.
Sweet are the ways of mango diplomacy
The story here is not of Indian influence on Obama or in America, but how, long before that, Indian soft power swept across South-east Asia, where China is now the dominant force. Obama's Hanuman, it turns out, is a four-limbed monkey god uncommon in India but popular in Thailand where it finds mention in the Thai version of Ramayana (known as Ramakien).
Number of Saudi students rises
Dubai Cultural relations between Saudi Arabia and the UAE in the field of education have seen a quantum leap in recent years with more than 1,000 Saudi students studying in UAE universities, said Dr Abdullah Al Tayer, the new Saudi Cultural Attaché in Dubai, at a press conference at the Dubai Press Club.
How to be a cultural superpower
Call it Disney diplomacy from the East. But Mickey Mouse has some competition now. So does MTV. Chinese rock bands are entrancing American teenagers with their music; sufi singers are emerging from their shells in the Muslim world; and yoga gurus are telling Westerners how to sit in the lotus position. All of them have one thing in common. They are the software of their country’s soft power.
Developmental PsyDip: Do Nations Have Lifecycles?
Can we better understand and work with other nations and their leaders and citizenry by looking into how developed they are? Importantly, to what extent are we kidding ourselves, to wit, by viewing some peoples as “more” developed than others if we are doing so based on any one particular dimension such as industrialization or societal structure?
GETTING THE HISTORY RIGHT - The US views the world through the prism of its sense of virtue
All nations think that they are virtuous. But the United States of America has a particularly high opinion of itself. Its national myth is that its ideals and policies are flawless, relevant not just for its citizens but for the entire world. A consequence of this belief is that if other nations choose to disagree with any aspect of American policy, they are seen as malign or stupid.
Re-brand Nigeria: Super Eagles Platform AS Veritable Tool
Africa national teams also have appellations, such as: the Super Eagles of Nigeria, the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon and the Bafana Bafana of South Africa. Those behind the branding of national teams often play up local colour and culture to achieve their goals, which is to create top-of-the-mind awareness (TOMA) of the brands and by extension, the countries behind them.
NATO online video clips win two top awards
NATO’s Public Diplomacy Division picked up the Econ Awards' top prize for “2009 Communications” for its online video clips Run, Basement and Staircase, in Berlin on 19 November 2009. The video clips also won a Platinum Award in the category “Best Film/Interactive Media”.
Everything after that is gravy - citizen diplomacy and ambassadorial moments during Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving and foreign relations - I’ve been thinking that certainly, there must be stories going back years about the holiday’s impact on handshakes between ambassadors and meetings between heads of state during a time of year that Americans stop and give thanks.
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