“A ‘citizen diplomat mindset’ means being intentional when interacting with individuals from a different country by believing that one of your roles is to positively represent the United States,” explained Jennifer Clinton, president of citizen diplomacy non-profit Global Ties. “Our reality today is that citizens around the world are having much greater influence on local, national, and international relations.”

Tags: citizen diplomacy, international exchange, tourism, travel, volunteering, mutual understanding, global ties, cultural vistas

To fight terrorist propaganda on the Internet, social media companies, such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube have all instituted take down policies and teamed up with Microsoft to create a database of unique ‘fingerprints’ to automatically detect terrorist propaganda in the form of images and videos. [...] Despite these efforts, however, ISIS still continues to successfully disseminate its propaganda on the internet.

Tags: Digital Diplomacy & New Technology, social media diplomacy, counter narratives, counter-propaganda, counter-extremism, counter-terrorism, disruption, propaganda, isis

Pence, his wife Karen, and their two adult daughters, Charlotte and Audrey, saw some of the sights of Sydney, investing time in soft diplomacy on the last leg of a 10-day Asia tour that has been rich with symbolism about shoring up American economic ties and security cooperation. Karen Pence - who earlier charmed a meet-and-greet with embassy families with her pronunciation of "G'day" - held out a handful of chicory to Widji, an emu who boldly pecked at the bunch.

Tags: koala diplomacy, mike pence, karen pence, soft diplomacy, bilateral cooperation, bilateral ties, bilateral relations, australia, u.s.

Scientists on Saturday took the unprecedented step of staging marches in more than 600 cities worldwide in the face of what they see as a growing political assault on evidence-based knowledge. Thousands of scientists and their supporters attended March for Science events in such cities as Cape Town, London, Madrid and Seoul, as well as in Australia, Brazil, Canada and Nigeria. [...] The March for Science thrusted scientists, who generally avoid advocacy and whose work is based on impartial experimentation, into a more visible spotlight.

Tags: international advocacy, march for science, science & technology, climate change, environmental protection agency, washington d.c., berlin, geneva, london

On a quiet midweek evening on the streets of the Cambodian capital, the Pyongyang Restaurant is at near capacity. Inside the square room, adorned with dramatic landscape murals, music starts to blast. Waitresses in bright traditional Korean garb drop their trays and pick up their instruments. With great skill they twirl in formation and belt out odes to the homeland. It is patriotic, unapologetic North Korea thousands of miles from the secretive state.

Tags: bilateral relations, bilateral ties, soft power, Angkor Panorama Museum, angkor wat, kim jong-nam, phnom penh, cambodia, pyongyang, north korea, dprk

Earth Day has become a worldwide call to action to address the many critical consequences of climate change and global warming: deforestation, species extinction, ocean acidification, rising seas, extreme weather. The impacts of climate change are also acutely felt in the arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs) of Africa – over 40% of the continent. While residents of these regions are accustomed to extended dry seasons, the cycles of drought are now more severe. ​

Tags: earth day, global aid & development, climate change, poverty, africa, non state pd, united nations

Morocco and Cuba have ushered a new era by restoring their diplomatic ties and turning the page of 37 years of severance on the backdrop of Havana’s alignment on the Polisario separatist thesis. [...] “Both governments proceeded to re-establish these relations guided by the mutual will to develop friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries in the political, economic, cultural and other fields,” 

Tags: government pd, international exchange, cultural cooperation, economic development, cuba, latin america, morocco

After completing an intense campaign and claiming victory in the historic referendum, President Erdoğan is scheduled to pay a visit to global powers and meet key state leaders in May, including a first-time meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in mid-May.[...] President Erdoğan went through a busy schedule ahead of the referendum on April 16, where he held rallies in support of the "yes" campaign almost every day, at times participating in a few rallies a day.

Tags: government pd, diplomatic relations, erdogan, turkey, india, russia, china, united states, nato