A delegation of Japanese officials and businessmen arrived at Russia’s Kunashir Island on Wednesday to inspect facilities that may be used for joint Russian-Japanese business projects at the Kuril Islands, which Japan calls its Northern Territories.

Twenty-five U.S. companies and representatives of Kazakh state bodies, national companies and local business representatives gathered in Astana June 14 for the U.S. – Kazakhstan business forum. The event aimed to attract U.S. companies to priority sectors, including car assembly industry, health, construction, agriculture and light industry. About 500 companies in various sectors of the economy with the U.S. participation operate in Kazakhstan, Minister for Investments and Development of Kazakhstan Zhenis Kassymbek told the gathering.

The first 100+ days of the Trump Administration have engendered some new approaches to international relations, making this season of populist politics in the United States a confusing new chapter for diplomacy around the world. For public diplomats, it can be difficult to know where we should currently focus our energy and skills, especially amidst looming budget cuts and disruptions in international travel. So where does a young public diplomat even begin? Where will our efforts be most effective as we build our careers?

Google.org President Jacquelline Fuller emphasized that organization always aims to contribute more than just cash, also offering the expertise of Google employees, or “Googlers” as they are known. As part of its contributions to the refugee crisis, for example, employees were deployed to set up WiFi in refugee camps and along the migration route. As part of the education portfolio, Googlers will also be offered the opportunity to travel to Guatemala to support Learning Equality in its digital work.

While designing an effective corporate diplomacy strategy, companies must develop in the most ethical way their own approach or stance to foreign governments, rather than manipulate or be manipulated by the policies of their home country. [...] Geopolitical volatility is no different from other forms of volatility. As long as a company's geopolitical assessment processes are comprehensive and its corporate foreign policy perceptive, business leaders will be able to navigate all challenging times. 

I have previously made the case that the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have the potential to provide, for the first time, a framework for mobilizing companies to invest in sustainable development in an ongoing and scalable way, while also pursuing their own business interests. And some companies have taken the lead.