While there is no easy fix, the President and Con­gress need to reform the strategy, doctrine, and structure of strategic communications to engage in the war of ideas seriously and effectively. This requires establishment of a new institutional frame­work focused on a new agency--a U.S. Agency for Strategic Communications--as well as substantial reforms of the Department of State and greater uti­lization of the Pentagon's combatant commands.

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Obama represents a "clean break" from the past, and his election is the first big step toward change, said Dick Martin, author of "Rebuilding Brand America."... Closing Guantanamo, adhering to the Geneva Conventions and eliminating torture are key issues for people around the world because they are the symbols of American unilateralism, Martin said. Martin also suggested that Obama take a page out of President Eisenhower's playbook and give the rest of the world an opportunity to experience American culture through an agency like the now-defunct United States Information Agency.

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A world torn apart by bigotry can turn to the UAE for a solution that works, the head of the Diplomatic Wives’ Circle in Dubai said. Larissa Krasnogor, Chairperson of the Peaceful Co-Existence Is Our Common Aim campaign and wife of the Russian Consul General, said: "The UAE has made it possible and has set an example for others to follow...Krasnogor – who has a doctoral degree in Arabic literature – and six other diplomats’ wives lent their support to the campaign held on Monday at the Dubai Public Library. "To achieve peaceful co-existence, we should promote cultural engagement.

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The rise to power of leftist governments in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay and Venezuela has strengthened bilateral diplomatic relations. China established a series of "strategic partnerships" and "strategic dialogues" with a number of Latin states, and also shares a common "South-South" perspective on many global issues, particularly with Brazil...Educational exchanges are needed. Only two bona fide university programs in Chinese studies exist in the region - Mexico City and Buenos Aires.

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Matthews, the Opera House's former head of government relations, is one of the best-connected arts strategists in the business. She has worked for a number of cultural organisations in Sydney, including the Powerhouse Museum and the Australia Council. In a sense she has come full circle. She was the British Council's manager of arts and cultural relations when she arrived in Australia in 1998 after graduating from Cambridge and completing a masters at the Courtauld Institute of Art.

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According to the Obama campaign Web site, Mr. Obama's public diplomacy outreach will be mainly focused at the grass-roots level, doubling the size of the Peace Corps and Americorps, creating a body of citizen volunteers with special language skills, etc...What is specifically needed is a new U.S. Agency for Strategic Communication under the guidance of a director of strategic communications.

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Twenty-five Liberians have departed the country for Cairo, Egypt, to undergo a two-week training program in diplomacy...covering a wide range of topics including development diplomacy, conflict resolution and multi-track diplomacy, and media and public diplomacy.

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Barack Obama has the capacity to overcome the recent image of a global bully by restoring America's reputation as a peace-loving, progressive nation. But he faces far greater priorities during his first weeks and months in office as president than say the future of the Voice of America. But the international buzz caused by President-elect Obama earlier in the month offers him an opportunity to revive what had been a valuable American resource for so many years.

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