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.
Visitors in Russia
This time last year, a rather unorthodox idea emerged in my head to create a British-Russian cultural diplomacy festival in Russia's culture capital - the hometown of Vladimir Putin...Russia's cultural heritage, and its literary contribution to the world in particular, is mammoth. So it felt apt bringing cultural figures from Britain and connecting them with their counterparts in Russia in hope of a positive outcome and yes, fruitful dialogue.
BBC Launches Photo Competition To Celebrate UK-Vietnam Relations
The BBC's Vietnamese service and the British Embassy in Hanoi have launched a photo essay competition to celebrate diplomatic relations between the UK and Vietnam.
The Soft Power Surge
In the final months of the Bush administration, a top State Department official is calling for a new emphasis on public diplomacy, promoting what he calls "powerful and lasting diversion"—such as sports, culture, even video games—as alternatives to violent extremism. James K. Glassman, undersecretary of state for public diplomacy, says the strategy is not so much to promote the American "brand," but to provide " a full range of productive alternatives to violent extremism" to Muslim countries and the developing world.
Snubbed by Obama
Although Obama portrays himself as the best candidate to engage the rest of the world and restore America's image abroad, and many Americans support him for that reason, so far he has almost completely refused to answer questions from foreign journalists.
China Takes Dog Off Menus, Grounds Model Planes for Olympics
Beijing's investment in security may be 50 percent more than Athens spent in 2004. In addition to the traditional safety risks any Olympic host faces, China is also preparing for potential domestic dissent and political protests.
China Table Tennis Medal Winner Gao Now Playing for USA
Gao Jun, who won a 1992 Olympic silver medal for China in women's doubles table tennis, returns to the land of her birth for the Beijing Olympics at age 39 as a player for the United States.
Guess Who’s not Invited to the Olympics?
You won't find Tibet's exiled spiritual leader on the Beijing Olympics guest list. The Dalai Lama's appearance could have helped repair China's international image. "It's supposed to be Hu Jintao's Olympics, but it'll become the Dalai Lama's Olympics if he attends," a source familiar with government policy said requesting anonymity.
Losing the Cold Peace
While it may surprise Americans brought up to assume everyone wants to be one of us, the idea of multiparty elections and a free enterprise system bound by a strictly enforced legal code isn’t selling so well.
James Glassman, the Bush administration’s public diplomacy czar, recently told me the United States is concerned that “the Russian and Chinese ideological models, which suppress individual freedom while allowing market economics a good deal of breathing space, are growing disturbingly popular in some circles.”
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