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.
A “Smart Power” Cabinet
Even with the Bush Administration's second-term renaissance, the Department of State is fairly demoralized, understaffed and underfunded. It will have to learn to compete with the DoD when it comes to the arenas of public diplomacy and peacebuilding. Its foreign service officers need to figure out how to use 21st century technology to communicate with the public.
World Falls for American Media, Even as It Sours on America
In the last eight years, American pop culture, already popular, has boomed around the globe while opinions of America itself have soured...American culture is blossoming even in the Middle East, where polls consistently show starkly negative views of the United States. Viacom started MTV Arabia last fall and introduced Nickelodeon Arabia in July on satellite services — endeavors that entail lessons in cultural sensitivity.
Information Warfare Matters
Last week's terrorist assault in Mumbai brings into focus one of the biggest challenges facing President-elect Barack Obama and U.S. allies: How to defeat the ideology that underpins the global jihadist insurgency and unifies its diverse adherents? The U.S. government needs to resurrect the nonviolent practice of "political warfare" and create an agency to manage it.
U.S.-Funded Youth Center Aims To Lure Palestinian Teens From Extremism
A U.S.-funded youth center that has opened in the West Bank village of Beita is meant to show America at its can-do best: It will teach English and computer courses, hoping to provide an antidote to political extremism along the way. But if organizers hope the locals will also learn to love America a little - that's a much harder sell.
Spreading Inclusion through Students
The British Council, as a cultural relations organisation, set up the Indie project to help education authorities meet these challenges. Indie, which stands for 'Inclusion and Diversity in Education', is a Europe-wide project aimed at promoting social unity and raising educational standards in culturally-inclusive schools.
Persuasion, Not Popularity, Should be Obama’s Goal
The Ethics and Public Policy Center (a conservative think tank) held a forum last week on the subject of “public diplomacy.” Jeffrey Gedmin, president of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, explained to the EPPC audience, "It is not for the United States to be popular, [the goal should be] to advance American interests consummate with American values." Gedmin also said that Obama has a unique ability to do public diplomacy well — because, "[Obama] is a weapon of mass attraction.”
Historical Issues Overshadow Japan’s Nation Branding
Historical issues hurt Japan's diplomatic interests in neighboring countries, prompting Tokyo to look nation branding in an effort to make up for the possible losses, a scholar observed. Prof. Robert Dujarric, director of the Institute of Contemporary Japanese Studies (ICJS) at Temple University's Tokyo Campus, said that unresolved historical matters, such as Japan's colonial rule of Korea and its invasion of China, have caused Japan to have a real image problem. "The problem has not only a diplomatic cost as it hurts relations with Seoul and Beijing.
Iran Blocks Five Million ‘Immoral’ Websites
Internet service providers have been told over the years to block access to political, human rights and women's sites, as well as anything deemed pornographic or anti-Islamic. The country's 21 million internet users will now also be prevented from viewing weblogs expressing dissent, along with popular sites as Facebook and YouTube.
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