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.
An offensive lesson
Never before have so many governments apparently been so offended by perceived slights to their images — and they are taking their cues from our presidential candidates.
How deep is Austria’s image problem?
On Wednesday, the country's Chancellor, Alfred Gusenbauer, said the government planned to hire consultants to launch an image campaign. It said it would use "all technical and professional means available to rectify" Austria's image...But experts warned against a "quick fix" campaign with simple messages reminding people that "Austria really is a nice place" and that "Austrians are nice people". Such a campaign would only continue to draw attention to the horrors of Amstetten, they argue.
A step forward? Chinese media report a single Tibetan death
This was the very first such report of a Tibetan death since the outbreak in early March of demonstrations by Tibetans in their "autonomous region" and in the surrounding provinces where Tibetans live in large numbers...Given little context for understanding why foreigners should be moved to demonstrate in the first place, Chinese counterprotesters and countless voices in the media and on the Internet have reduced the entire matter to the realms of prejudice and anti-Chinese sentiment.
The Ugly Chinese
What does this all mean for China? To me, it means the end of an era of China's "soft power." For the past decade, China's "soft power" has helped fuel Beijing's rise by attempting to assuage fears of an expansionist China...But now across the globe China is dropping in the polls. And it's not due to lack of contact with the Chinese, people who are polled say, it's because we're getting to know them better.
Grassroots democracy in the world wide web? E-Participation in Europe
There is no doubt that improving the infrastructure in the field of e-participation can only be one part of the task to involve and mobilize a larger number of participants, especially from deprived environments and minorities, to get a more representative image of society. However, e-participation does provide an important contribution to enabling a democratic dialogue that transcends traditional barriers of race, background or culture.
India samples slice of Persian culture
Cultural diplomacy between India and Iran, with shared past spanning more than 1,000 years, took a giant leap with the inauguration of “Days of Iranian Culture in India” at the National Museum here Wednesday. The three-day Iranian cultural showcase, inaugurated a day after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was here for a six-hour stopover visit, is the first of its kind in the country to promote the “historic land” as a vibrant tourist destination.
India to begin cultural exchange programme with Iran
In a bid to boost people to people contacts between Iran and India, the two countries will soon sign a new MOU on tourism and start a cultural exchange programme.
Sports diplomacy on show for China’s Hu in Japan
Japanese fans were delighted by Wen's pitching to a university baseball team and his impromptu sprint around the field during a visit last year. Wen and Fukuda reprised the moment months later when they played a game of catch in Beijing. This time around, Fukuda is set to continue the tradition with Hu over a game of ping-pong, Japanese media has reported. The choice of baseball, huge in Japan, and ping-pong, a Chinese national obsession, was no accident, analysts say.
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