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.
U.S. Sent Latin American Youth Undercover in Anti-Cuba Plot
An Obama administration program secretly dispatched young Latin Americans to Cuba using the cover of health and civic programs to provoke political change, a clandestine operation that put those foreigners in danger even after a U.S. contractor was hauled away to a Cuban jail. Beginning as early as October 2009, a project overseen by the U.S. Agency for International Development sent Venezuelan, Costa Rican and Peruvian young people to Cuba in hopes of ginning up rebellion.
U.S. Diplomacy on Gaza Has Little Sway on Israel
The blunt, unsparing language — among the toughest diplomats recall ever being aimed at Israel — lays bare a frustrating reality for the Obama administration: the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has largely dismissed diplomatic efforts by the United States to end the violence in Gaza, leaving American officials to seethe on the sidelines about what they regard as disrespectful treatment.
Lights Set to Go Out in Kandahar after U.S. Aid Winds Down
Bringing a stable source of electricity to Kandahar, the cradle of the hardline Islamist movement and once a base for its leader Mullah Omar, was a top U.S. "counter-insurgency priority" as Washington pursued its policy of winning "hearts and minds". But regular power in the city is still years away, and when the United States finally ends subsidies - currently running at just over $1 million a month - in September 2015, Kandahar could lose around half its severely limited electricity supplies, Afghan power officials and U.S. inspectors say.
Why Jon Voight is Speaking Out on Gaza and Hollywood Activism
Hollywood celebrities on both sides of the political aisle are alternately supporting – and condemning – Israel's month-long military operation in theGaza Strip as the death toll climbs to more than 1,700 Palestinian and 67 Israeli casualties.
Is the US Serious About Africa?
From August 4-6, 2014, United States President Barack Obama will host the first ever US-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington, DC. The summit will be attended by more than forty African Heads of State, along with other business and social leaders, at a time when Africa is often described as one of the fastest growing regions of the world.
Nerves Rattled on News of First Ebola Patient on US Soil
When it was announced last week that American doctor Kent Brantly who was stricken with the deadly Ebola virus while in Liberia was to be brought back to the United States for treatment, social media in the US was abuzz with fearful reactions.
Iran: Is the Short Honeymoon of Media Freedom Over?
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani promised greater media freedom. So, why are so many journalists in prison and the overall rights situation deteriorating? One year after President Hassan Rouhani took office, on August 4, 2013, with a popular mandate to bring change, journalism and media freedoms are in a state of disarray.
Obama's Faulty Logic on Gaza is Going to Hurt U.S. Standing all Across the Middle East
As Israel seeks to end Hamas's latest war against it, the Obama administration flounders. In fact, the response of the president and his secretary of state has made the situation positively worse with regard to every relationship we have in the region. Opponents of terrorism and supporters of Israel struggle to understand the administration's approach.
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