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.
South Asian Nations Bond Over Music at Festival in Capital
The peoples of the region renewed cultural ties at the three-day South Asian Bands Festival at the 16th century Purana Qila in the capital Feb 20-22 when the newly-restored royal quarters amid sprawling manicured lawns reverberated with the sound of powerful music. The refrain was 'We were never more united before' - as musicians from India, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Nepal sang of peace, love, friendship, angst and human relationships to a frenzied crowd of 5,000. The music was popular rock - but the compositions were original.
Clinton Takes Diplomacy to the People
Apart from singing on a television show in Indonesia, she also chatted with Japanese students during a visit to Tokyo University last Tuesday, with topics ranging from her conversation with the Japanese empress to baseball and robots. "This is what diplomacy is about," Clinton said. "It doesn't just operate government to government. It operates people to people." Furthering public diplomacy and meeting ordinary people was a "key part" of Clinton's tour, explained Professor Pang Zhongying, of Renmin University of China.
How much is America liked, and how much does it matter?
However, in her recent NPR interview, UN Ambassador Rice put her finger on a very important point about public diplomacy that is all-too-often ignored by the Pew poll watchers: public diplomacy is not an end in itself; it is a means to an end. Being the world's BFF is all well and good, but if it does not yield greater global cooperation on the global challenges that matter, then it is not worth much
Thumann: Turkey is not moving away from the West
For Turkish public diplomacy, it is important to clarify and tell about reforms in the Turkish justice system in recent years. It is also good that there are a considerable number of German correspondents in Turkey who clarify things rather than throwing out emotional headlines. There is another thing that shapes the German public’s opinion, and that is the Turks in Germany; not only the Turks who have come to Germany over the last 40 years, but also the elites among the German Turks.
Xinhua Gets $10b to Promote China’s Image to the World
The Chinese Government will spend $10 billion to promote the country's image internationally by boosting the resources of the state news agency Xinhua, the communist party newspaper People's Daily, and state-owned China Central TV. The drive comes as Western media are reeling from the economic downturn, with many downsizing their operations because of commercial constraints that have less relevance for China's media, which are all state-owned.
Dutch News Show Slammed for anti-Israel Bias
The Dutch state-funded news show The Nos Journal intentionally demonized Israel during the last Gaza war, according to an Israel Facts report. Yochanan Visser, a monitor of Dutch media for the Israel Facts organization, spent the entirety of the Gaza war watching The Nos Journal's methods of reporting on Operation Cast Lead.
US’ Keating Argues for Exchanges with China
The commander of U.S. forces in Asia, Admiral Timothy Keating said he had reason to believe that Beijing was ready to revive discussions of military exchanges with the US...Sino-US military exchanges were abruptly broken off by the Chinese in October after the U.S. announced that it would sell US$6.5 billion in arms to Taiwan.
Clinton, Chinese Add Environmental and Security Issues to Economic Talks
Clinton has been eager to expand discussions between the two countries, believing U.S. cooperation with the Asian giant is key to easing many world problems, including security challenges from North Korea and Iran.
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