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.
Despite Fury, US Advanced on Climate Change: US Delegate
Paula Dobriansky, under secretary for democracy and global affairs, told AFP she had no regrets for Bush's strategy on climate change but argued a better job could have been done in articulating it to the public. "I think this issue (climate change) is important, we care about it greatly. Looking back, if there was anything that maybe I would have hoped, it's that we could have done a more effective job in getting our message out, in other words, (in) public diplomacy," she said.
S: 1661 Travel Promotion Act of 2007
A bill to communicate United States travel policies and improve marketing and other activities designed to increase travel in the United States from abroad.
Live From Iceland, or Possibly Greenland, It’s the DipNote Tweet Show!
Graffy is overseas as we speak, working to spread the word of America's fine foreign policy. And the State Department, aware of your short attention span, has a simple way to make sure you know how she's earning her keep. Here's the note on the official blog, DipNote. "Do you twitter? You can follow a diplomat in real-time and learn more about America's public diplomacy by catching the 'tweets' of Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy Colleen Graffy."
Talking About Soft Power
In this blog post Craig Hayden discusses the value of the term "soft power." He suggests "Rhetorically, it’s a convenient way to frame international politics as something other than a calculus of military and material resources. It enables arguments about international politics that are non-reductive to bombs and rockets; that acknowledges the pivotal role of influence and (self) persuasion in foreign publics."
Institute for Multi-Track Diplomacy Expands Horizon of Traditional Diplomacy
Ambassador McDonald says it was while working with Western and Third World countries at the United Nations that he recognized the essential nature of consensus-building between nations. It involved the realization that government-to-government interactions were not always the most effective means of resolving differences. He called it his shift from a “win-lose” to a “win-win” philosophy. In the 1990s, Ambassador McDonald says that he and American writer and peace educator Louise Diamond developed the concept of multi-track diplomacy.
Bush Talks with International Bloggers
The president-elect has been showing off his Web savvy on Change.gov, but George Bush demonstrated Wednesday he also advocates using the Internet to facilitate democracy. President Bush, in recognition of Human Rights Day, met with bloggers from Belarus, Burma, China, Cuba, Egypt, Iran, and Venezuela at the White House and via video teleconference to discuss blogging in favor of democratic change.
Obama Says He Hopes to Help ‘Reboot America’s Image Around the World’
Reporting from Chicago -- Barack Obama says his presidency is an opportunity for the United States to spread a message of tolerance, starting the day of his inauguration and continuing with a speech he plans to deliver somewhere in the Muslim world. And when he takes the oath of office Jan. 20, he plans to be sworn in like other presidents, using his full name: Barack Hussein Obama.
Strengthening the Visa Waiver Program
The VWP is not only a major public diplomacy asset; it also adds to our security and enhances law enforcement and crime-fighting efforts through data-sharing agreements between member countries. Ensuring the continuation of the Visa Waiver Program will require a serious commitment from the new Administration. This commentary provides suggestions of specific changes that would strengthen the program.
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