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.
Hiring Window Is Open at the Foreign Service
For the last several years, hiring in the United States Foreign Service was minimal because of a lack of Congressional funding. In addition, war has created an urgent need for diplomatic personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan, and as officers have moved to these countries their previous jobs have remained unfilled. So, in the last several months — with a new president on the horizon and new funding from Congress — both the State Department and the United States Agency for International Development, or Usaid, are ramping back up.
Civilian Control Of ISI and Army Proposed in U.S. Report
The report came up with some important recommendations including: exhibit patience with Pakistan’s new democratically elected leaders, while working to stabilize the government through economic aid and diplomacy...Develop, invest in, and implement a far reaching public diplomacy programme that emphasizes common US and Pakistani interests in combating extremism, creating prosperity, and improving regional relationships instead of highlighting the struggle against extremism in Pakistan as part of the “Global War on Terrorism.”
The Pentagon Is Muscling In Everywhere: It’s Time To Stop The Mission Creep
One can also see the Pentagon's growing muscle in the recent creation of the U.S. military command for Africa, known as Africom. This new command supposedly has a joint civilian-military purpose: to coordinate soft power and traditional hard power to stop al-Qaeda and its allies from gaining a foothold on the continent. But Africom has gotten a chilly reception in post-colonial Africa.
Two-State Solution for a Four-State Problem?
Forget the two-state solution: start thinking about the four-state problem. The phrase comes from Palestinian negotiator and analyst Ahmad Khalidi, who has toiled for decades to see two states side by side, one for Palestinians, the other for Israelis...There are problems with the Arab plan. For one thing, there has been no public diplomacy for it, no public face for it — no equivalent of Anwar Sadat’s breakthrough visit to Israel, proving the sincerity of his desire for peace. And how would it work in practice?
America’s Most Able General Forging New Approach to Muslim World
Soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan are doing jobs—from political mediation to organizing reconstruction projects—that should be tasks for State and the Agency for International Development. But those instruments of American "soft power" have been blunted by years of neglect and misuse. Petraeus may indeed be the only man who can salvage Afghanistan—but that's largely because he recognizes, perhaps better than anyone else, that he'll need a lot of help.
China Blocks Access to Foreign News Web Sites
Chinese authorities have begun blocking access from mainland China to the Web site of The New York Times even while lifting some of the restrictions they had recently imposed on the Web sites of other media outlets...But the Chinese-language Web sites of BBC, Voice of America and Asiaweek, all of which had been blocked earlier this week, were accessible by Friday. The Web site of Ming Pao, a Hong Kong newspaper, was blocked earlier this week and still restricted on Friday.
Orchestrating Peace: Cultural Diplomacy in Iraq
If the key to successful diplomacy is listening to your adversary, then the hallmark of musical diplomacy is a shared listening experience. Rather than negotiating with the limited tools of language, two opposing sides undergo a simultaneous, transformative experience through the transcendent power of music. Until last year, I had never heard of musical or cultural diplomacy. I didn’t know what they were, how they worked, or even that they existed at all. But it seems I had been practicing cultural diplomacy, in one form or another, for much of my life.
British Monitor Complicates Georgian Blame Game
Since Russia invaded Georgia in August, Moscow has turned the tide of international opinion that initially put Russia squarely at fault in the conflict. For that, the Kremlin largely has to thank Ryan Grist, a 47-year-old former British army captain in charge of international monitors when war broke out. But his objectivity is now being questioned by Georgia and some Western diplomats in Tbilisi.
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