The U.S. and Cuba -- two superpowers in contemporary music -- have been trading (and blending) all along, even during the embargo, each one an equal partner.  Perhaps our governments can use this model to build bridges and renew relationships between our two countries. Let’s call it “jazz diplomacy."

Tags: cuba, united states, jazz diplomacy, international exchange, musical diplomacy, us-cuba relations

The UAE ranked as the world’s largest donor of foreign aid in 2014, proportionately to its national income according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Tags: uae, oecd, international aid, government pd, public diplomacy, global development

Endurance swimmer Lewis Pugh believes he can break the political deadlock that has stymied the protection of the Southern Ocean after completing a series of epic swims off the coast of Antarctica. But Pugh says by stripping down to his swimming trunks and confronting the extremes of human endurance he has captured the imagination of Russia’s people and its politicians, opening up a dialogue that could pave the way for the largest ocean sanctuary on Earth. It’s what he calls ‘Speedo diplomacy’.

Tags: speedo diplomacy, southern ocean, russia, antarctica, marine conservation, activism

European powers struggling to hold together a stalled Ukrainian peace accord will resume talks with Russia and Ukraine in Germany next week as efforts shift from the battlefield to solving political disputes.  European Union leaders say easing economic sanctions on Russia requires full compliance with the agreement negotiated in Belarus in February.

Tags: ukraine, russia, european union, public diplomacy, economic sanctions, germany, government pd

There’s a vintage example of American exceptionalism in the Financial Times this week, by the paper’s US editor Gary Silverman. The article is about the appointment of Trevor Noah to the vacant Jon Stewart berth on The Daily Show. But Noah’s controversial Twitter history isn’t what concerns Silverman. Instead, he sees Noah’s career arc – growing up bi-racial in Soweto, where “my existence itself was a crime”, emigrating to America, working his way up in short order to the most prestigious satire gig in the country – as a classic tale of “American soft power”. 

Tags: trevor noah, united states, soft power, comedy, the daily show, cultural influence, brics

Just a week after agreeing on a framework for a nuclear deal, Iran’s supreme leader and the Obama administration clashed over its core elements, rekindling doubts about whether Washington and Tehran can finalize an accord by a June 30 deadline. The supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in his first public comments on the diplomacy, said on Thursday the U.S. and its negotiating partners must lift all sanctions on his country immediately upon a final deal being signed. 

Tags: iran, nuclear talks, united states, sanctions, framework deal, ayatollah ali khamenei

The examples of Iraq and Syria, not to mention NATO’s 2011 campaign in Libya, should be enough to make us stop and think. Bombardment alone cannot replace a political strategy, even if in Libya - a country with Sunni majority - ISIS cannot feed off the same sectarian claims that helped it in Iraq and Syria.

Tags: libya, diplomacy, syria, iraq, isis, bombing, egypt, christians, nato, united nations

The presidents of the United States and Cuba have spoken by phone for only the second time in more than 50 years, setting the stage for a historic encounter between the two leaders at a regional summit starting Friday in Panama. The extraordinary, late-night call between President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro came shortly after both leaders arrived in Panama City for the Summit of the Americas, which begins on Friday.

Tags: obama, raul castro, cuba, united states, government pd, summit of the americas, panama, summitry