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.
‘The Great British Baking Show’ Is the Key to Understanding Today’s Britain
“The Baking Show” doesn’t just present a static, zombie image of an ideal Britain that can never exist. It defines the nation in a dynamic, living way. [...] For instance, it can provide the nation with its first genuine hijab-wearing celebrity — no small thing in a year where the dominant narrative throughout the West has been the increasing marginalization of Muslims from public life.
Turkish Forests Seek to Restore Ottoman Glory
Forestry Minister Veysel Eroglu told Hurriyet newspaper that "the plane tree was the symbol of the Ottomans, and we are launching a planting campaign on the orders of our president in the town of Sogut, where the Ottoman state was founded." He says President Erdogan will plant the first sapling there next year, with another 100,000 to follow in Istanbul - which as Constantinople was the last Ottoman capital.
Cuban Baseball Crisis
For half a century after Cuba’s revolution in 1959, the island’s sports fans knew little of professional leagues beyond their shores. But today, thanks to the internet’s belated arrival and a wave of Cuban players defecting and starring in MLB, in-depth knowledge of American baseball is a badge of honor for baseball-loving Cubans—that is, nearly all the men and plenty of the women, too.
Palestinian Refugee Pianist Wins Beethoven Prize
A Palestinian pianist whose image playing the piano among the ruins of the Yarmouk refugee camp in Syria captivated the world was awarded the 2016 International Beethoven Prize for Human Rights, Peace, Inclusion and the Fight Against Poverty last week. Ayham Ahmad [...] became famous when a video of him singing and playing the piano surrounded by the rubble of the city went viral earlier in the year.
How to Sell a Hijab in Malaysia
For many Muslim women, the decision to don the hijab […] is born of private self-reflection [...] But [Yusof's] choice soon became something else, as well: a lucrative source of attention for herself and her multimillion-dollar online-retail startup, FashionValet […] In Malaysia women are free—even encouraged—to inject glamor and prestige into the hijab, and to make money from it.
United Nations Refugee Chief Condemns Trump-Style Rhetoric As Best Propaganda For ISIS
The Guardian highlighted UN High Commissioner for refugees Antonio Guterres, who recently responded to anti-Muslim and anti-refugee rhetoric pushed by Donald Trump and other conservatives, stating that "[t]hose that reject Syrian refugees, and especially if they are Muslim, are the best allies of the propaganda and the recruitment of extremist groups."
China Power Audit: The Hard and the Soft
US Secretary of State John Kerry said a global deal to limit climate change could not have been won without China's help "to build a working partnership". But that soft power win was of short duration. With the thugs outside Pu Zhiqiang's trial, Beijing was back to form, squandering soft power as if it had no use for it.
Exchange Program Exports Twin Cities’ Brand of Grassroots Organizing
Mike Griffin and Anthony Shields of Minneapolis-based Neighborhoods Organizing for Change (NOC) are two of 20 national candidates selected by the relatively new exchange program to teach grassroots organizing to marginalized communities in east Europe.
Pages
Visit CPD's Online Library
Explore CPD's vast online database featuring the latest books, articles, speeches and information on international organizations dedicated to public diplomacy.