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.
Egypt - Gabon - Cooperation
Egypt and Gabon signed an executive programme for cultural, scientific and technical cooperation between the two countries for the 2008-2010 period. The Egyptian Assistant Foreign Minister for Cultural Relations Ambassador Nihat Zekri and the Gabonese Ambassador to Egypt Joseph Mamboonju signed the agreement in Cairo on Tuesday.
A Cultural Diplomacy Fund: Cultural Preservation of Tibet and the Promotion of Chinese Culture
On the closing day of the 2008 Global Creative Leadership Summit [23/09/08], the Louise Blouin Foundation announced a new cultural diplomacy fund: The Fund for the Cultural Preservation of Tibet and the Promotion of Chinese Culture. The mission of the fund is to complement the already existing cultural preservation efforts in the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) by the Chinese Government, as well as to promote both Chinese culture and dialogue between the West and China.
Mideast anti-Americanism doesn’t apply to Harley-Davidsons
Even as clerics and politicians in the Arab world ring out denunciations of U.S. foreign policy and the encroachment of Western-style decadence, these gleaming emblems of American freedom are growing in popularity here, says Marwan Tarraf, who sells Harleys in Lebanon..."It's part of American culture," says Tarraf, a burly 40-year-old with a head shaved shiny and a goatee speckled with white. "It's a lifestyle adopted mostly by people who have some kind of connection to America. They either lived there or studied there or are connected to Americans." But anyone can ride a Harley.
Drawing the Wrong Lessons
The recent convulsions in the international financial markets have provoked an unseemly amount of gloating on the part of many in the developing world...A worrying number of people in India are saying similar things. They are wrong, but there's a real danger that India's political classes could find themselves persuaded by this lapse into historical amnesia.
Personnel Shortfall Slows State Department
Staffing shortages at the State Department are so serious that much of its work is not getting done. The situation is so bad that State needs to increase its hiring by 46 percent -- adding more than 4,700 jobs -- between 2010 and 2014. That's the conclusion of retired ambassadors and other foreign policy experts, who produced a report on the shortfall for the American Academy of Diplomacy.
Rwanda to switch from French to English in schools
The Rwandan government is to switch the country's entire education system from French to English in one of the most dramatic steps to date in its move away from Francophone influence...However, the shift to education solely in English is part of a wholesale realignment away from French influence that includes applying to join the Commonwealth - if accepted Rwanda would be only the second member, after Mozambique, that has not been a British colony - and establishing a cricket board.
Improving America’s Reputation—McCain Would Lecture, Obama Would Listen
Yet a close look reveals a basic difference in how each candidate envisions communication. McCain advocates making sure the American message, and our "positive image" gets to foreign publics; Obama advocates forging a dialogue with foreign publics to create a joint narrative about a shared future. McCain believes the United States leads by moral fiat based on its intrinsic leadership role; Obama believes the United States should lead by the example of its own behavior.
Citizen diplomats help restore the American brand
Graham is one of several expert speakers who will address a conference titled "Global Competence in the 21st Century" on Oct. 23 at the Rochester Institute of Technology Inn and Conference Center. The conference will explore the role of "citizen diplomacy," especially the role of business. The premise is that in a changing and smaller world, ordinary citizens and businesses play an increasingly important role in diplomacy — in building and sustaining productive and friendly relationships with other countries.
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