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.
New Zealand to Hold Cultural Presentation in Seoul Next Year
Preparation is under way for New Zealand to share its cuisine, music, art and movies next April in Seoul. As part of the New Zealand Cultural Diplomacy International Program, the three-day cultural presentation will be the first and largest New Zealand event in Korea. The presentation will take place at the COEX, in southern Seoul.
Israel, Palestinians Seek Support Through Media Campaign
Israeli Foreign Ministry and the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) are both using the media to gain access to each other's population in what analysts believe is positioning for negotiations. Israeli Foreign Ministry has launched a YouTube channel in Arabic to bypass Arab media and offer Israeli version of current events directly to Arab viewers across the Middle East..."Israel is taking public diplomacy seriously for the first time.
‘To do’ List for the First Global President
The state department should be the lead agency in providing backing for US support for African development because the defense requirements of African countries needs to be clearly distinguished from those of the US, and those can only be reconciled through bilateral diplomacy...I hope President Obama will rethink Africom, the new US military command focused on Africa. There is a new and proper emphasis these days on human security which certainly includes physical security as well as economic and social well-being, political freedom and democratization.
Public Diplomacy in the Age of Obama: Getting the War of Ideas Right
RFE/RL President Jeffrey Gedmin and Brookings Institution scholar Kenneth Pollack assessed the impact of Barack Obama's election as President of the United States on America's image abroad as well as the challenges his administration will likely face as it confronts the 21st Century's 'War of Ideas.' This discussion focuses primarily on international broadcasting.
This is an event summary. There is a link to a complete transcript of the event.
Revitalising America’s Image
US President-elect Barack Obama will inherit a heavy legacy of domestic and foreign policy crises. Foremost among his challenges will be to address the attrition that two Bush terms wrought on America's image, especially in the Arab world...Obama will ultimately have to introduce radical changes in Washington. After all, it is impossible to separate national policy from public diplomacy. The latter cannot succeed where the former fails.
America’s Image in the Age of Obama
RFE/RL President Jeffrey Gedmin and Brookings Institution scholar Kenneth Pollack today assessed the impact of Barack Obama's election as President of the United States on America's image abroad as well as the challenges his administration will likely face as it confronts the 21st Century's 'War of Ideas.' "In public diplomacy, the messenger matters," Gedmin said to a packed house at the DC-based Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC). "President-elect Obama's global appeal marks a real opportunity for the U.S. to improve its image overseas.
European History, Culture and Art Goes Digital
Attention all culture-craving couch potatoes: Cultural riches from over 2,000 years of European civilization are going digital. It's part of a new European Union online library project that is set to rival Google and aims to create a one-stop-shop to access history, art, literature, cinema and music from across the continent...The project, which started two years ago, seems to be Europe's answer to Google's efforts to build a private digital library and is to be launched amid much fanfare by the EU's ministers on Thursday.
President-elect Obama, We Need a New Kind of Public Diplomacy
America is not well prepared to wage and win this conflict of ideas. We lack the focus and means to convince people around the world of the rightness of our cause of freedom...The biggest problem is a failure of overall leadership. The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), which oversees U.S.-funded civilian international broadcasting, is conflicted by different agendas...At the end of the day, strategic communications - the sum total of the government's efforts to influence foreign opinion - is bigger than public diplomacy.
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