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.
Diplos To Take on Heavy Lifting Under Obama?
The New York Times reports that Hillary Clinton, President-elect Barack Obama's pick to head the Department of State, wants to expand the role of U.S. diplomacy. And after years of limited money for new hires, the Foreign Service and the U.S. Agency for International Development are hanging out the "help wanted" sign. So are the diplomats ready to take on the heavy lifting under the new administration?
Analysis: Hearts & Minds Part I
This is one version of "soft power," a foreign policy concept that is increasingly en vogue in the Pentagon -- "These countries are inviting us in; where we see Pax Americana, they're seeing an opportunity not only to help their own people but to form a stronger alliance with the United States," said someone familiar with the USS Kearsarge mission. "We're trying to make good relations throughout society and the political structures instead of a top-down approach; we're hitting all areas of influence, which is indicative of soft power."
US Africa Command Will Not Handle Piracy Area
The Pentagon said the new U.S. military command for Africa will not have responsibility for security in the Gulf of Aden, where pirates have been menacing merchant ships. Three months after fully establishing Africa Command, the U.S. Defense Department published its first map outlining the borders of the command's responsibilities. As expected, the official map shows Africa Command has responsibility for U.S. military activity throughout the continent except for Egypt, which remains part of Central Command's area.
Ghana’s Image, Glowing Abroad, Is Beginning to Show a Few Blemishes at Home
Just a few years ago, democracy’s march across Africa seemed unstoppable. These days, it seems stalled: vote rigging in Nigeria, a convulsion of ethnic violence after disputed elections in Kenya and outright theft at the polls in Zimbabwe are among the most recent signs. That may be why those looking for reasons to be hopeful about democracy in Africa have their sights set on Ghana, the first sub-Saharan country to wrest independence from colonial power, and now a nation that appears to be bucking the antidemocratic trend.
Banking on Brookings
The latest report on how to improve America’s public diplomacy has its merits, but overall it inspires deja vu. We’ve been in this place before, trying to figure out how the world’s most influential culture and most powerful government might finally achieve a public diplomacy organization that operates at the same level.
U.S., China Engage in ‘Soft Power’
The Chinese in October suspended military exchanges for the rest of the year because of outrage over U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, but Woo said he expects them to resume next year. Still, regional experts and PacAF officials disagree about the value of such military-to-military relations. Woo and Chandler maintain they are essential to U.S. strategy in the Pacific, but some analysts argue they yield little of value to the U.S.
John Brown: Thoughts on the So-Called ‘War of Ideas’
Glassman's emphasis on the "war of ideas," for which he advocates the use of Internet social networking to discredit "violent extemism," has received, on the whole, a positive reception in the United States, with some exceptions; but should a "war of ideas," on or off cyberspace, be part of how we Americans determine our country's role in the world during the new millenium?...In the long term, a crude propaganda campaign thinly disguised under the term "war of ideas" may in fact discredit the U.S.
Book Review—Nicholas J. Cull: The Cold War and the US Information Agency
It is the first, and so far only, work that relies heavily on documentary sources rather than the personal recollections of a former USIA officer. It is unique, and scholars as well as practitioners of public diplomacy will want to read this insightful and well-written book...By writing a history of USIA and connecting it with the Cold War, the author correctly reminds the reader that USIA was created in 1953 because of the Cold War.
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