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.
Cuba Holds Allure As U.S. Tourist Destination
For many American tourists, Cuba is the Caribbean's forbidden fruit. Legislation is pending in Congress that would lift the ban on U.S. citizens traveling to Cuba. Travel industry officials estimate that as many as 1 million Americans might visit the island each year. The question is whether Cuba is ready for a huge jump in foreign visitors. The island nation has much to offer.
Inconvenient ignorance: America’s Curious Concern over Influence in Foreign Affairs
For Americans, "influence" or "persuasion" in the context of foreign affairs is unseemly and even distasteful. While it is the responsibility - the requirement even - of a democratic leader to marshal and manage public opinion behind an issue or a platform, we have an uneasy relationship with this concept in the area of foreign affairs.
Fort Dodge Welcomes the World
In a packed dining room, a diplomat from Saudi Arabia chatted with a Fort Dodge pharmacist Tuesday evening. Not far away, Kenya's ambassador to the United States was greeted by Mayor Terry Lutz and his wife, Sherri....The exercise in diplomacy that brought local residents together with representatives spanning the globe from Angola to Vietnam was orchestrated by U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, who led the international contingent to Fort Dodge during his 12th annual ambassadors tour.
New Global Public Opinion Survey Finds Water Issues Are the Top Environmental Concern Worldwide
A comprehensive global public opinion survey on attitudes about fresh water sustainability, management and conservation finds that people around the world view water issues as the planet’s top environmental problem, greater than air pollution, depletion of natural resources, loss of habitat and climate change.
United States Wants Lightweight Role for India
U.S. President Barack Obama greeted the people of India on the occasion of the country's 63rd Independence Day on Aug. 15 by saying that a vibrant and promising India has a natural friend in the United States. But the U.S.-India friendship rhetoric lacks weight and doesn’t suggest that the United States supports a larger role for India in South Asian affairs.
Fundamentally Freund: Thinking Outside the ‘Hasbara Bubble’
Always on the lookout for a chance to talk up Israel while traveling abroad, I decided to utilize a recent appointment with a physical therapist in Manhattan for more than just a stretch of my stubborn hamstring. As this licensed professional politely twisted me into seemingly impossible contortions, perhaps mistaking me for some out-of-costume comic book hero, I ignored the desire to scream and instead asked what his impression was of the Jewish state. "Israel?
Unsung Heroes of the Battlefields
Six years ago today, my father, Sergio Vieira de Mello, was killed in a tragic attack in Baghdad that changed the face of the humanitarian world. A truck filled with bombs exploded in the United Nations compound, killing 22 humanitarian workers and wounding many more. Some who were not physically hurt were psychologically wounded. Even years later, many remain vulnerable.
Hungary Marks 1989 Freedom Event
The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, is in Hungary to mark the 20th anniversary of the country opening its borders to the non-communist West. The decision paved the way for the fall of the Berlin Wall three months later. The open Hungarian border with Austria allowed hundreds of East Germans to leave communist Eastern Europe. The event on 19 August, 1989, was called the "Pan-European Picnic". Mrs Merkel, who grew up in East Germany, said she wanted to thank Hungary.
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