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.
A Monument’s Mysteries Include Whether It Can Draw Tourists
For more than 30 years, the hulking granite slabs inscribed with teachings in eight languages have raised profound and vexing issues: Why are they here? What do they mean? What do they say about life after Doomsday? But confronted with a deep and sustained economic slowdown, residents here in the professed Granite Capital of the World are now pondering something a bit more mundane: Is there a way to turn a mysterious 237,746-pound monument known as the Georgia Guidestones into a moneymaker?
Vietnam Agrees to Boost Ocean Cooperation
Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera and his Vietnamese counterpart, Phung Quang Thanh, have agreed to boost cooperation in maritime security amid concern over China’s growing naval activities, Japanese officials said. During talks Monday in Hanoi, Onodera was quoted by the officials as telling Thanh that the rule of law and dialogue are vital in settling security disputes.
The New Terrorist Training Ground
Gao, the largest city in northern Mali, is a place of extremes. It’s a sprawl of one- and two-story mud-brick houses that lack power lines and running water, but it’s also home to the garish, McMansion-style estates of Cocainebougou, or “Cocaine Town,” a deserted neighborhood that once belonged to Arab drug lords who controlled the region’s smuggling routes for hashish and cocaine but fled, fearing reprisals from local citizens who blamed them for the Islamist invasion.
Obama Administration Helped Kill Transparency Push on Military Aid
The U.S. spent roughly $25 billion last year on what’s loosely known as security assistance—a term that can cover everything from training Afghan security forces to sending Egypt F-16 fighter jets to equipping Mexican port police with radiation scanners. The spending, which has soared in the past decade, can be hard to trace, funneled through dozens of sometimes overlapping programs across multiple agencies.
UN Retains Strong Global Image
As the United Nations opens its 68th General Assembly session, publics around the world continue to have a positive impression of the international organization. Clear majorities in 22 of the 39 countries surveyed say they have a favorable view of the UN, including thumbs-up from Security Council permanent members Britain, France and the U.S. Ratings for the UN are on balance favorable in Russia. But the Chinese are divided in their opinion. However, views trend negatively in key Middle Eastern publics, including Israel, the Palestinian territories, Jordan and Turkey.
Jesse Jackson Urges Colombia to Reconcile
US religious and social leader Jesse Jackson urged Colombia on Tuesday to end its almost half a century armed conflict through reconciliation. Jackson was in the South American country to take part in a summit of Afro-descendant leaders held in the Caribbean port city of Cartagena. “I promote reconciliation. I some cases, when you can’t pick one side or the other, one should be siding with reconciliation,” the reverend said during a speech.
Does Syria Represent Obama’s Final Pivot Away From the Middle East?
It started as “a new beginning” and ended as “America is not the world’s policeman.” Between President Barack Obama’s historic 2009 address to the Islamic world in Cairo to his address to the American people on Syria last week, Obama has zigged and zagged on Mideast policy, angering supporters and detractors alike. But he has stuck to a clear pattern: reduce American engagement, defer to regional players and rely on covert operations to counter terrorism.
It’s Time for a New United Nations
In March of 2011 and just hours before the United Nations Security Council vote, Libyan dictator Muammar Ghaddafi promised citizens of Benghazi--his own countrymen--that he was “coming tonight” and that would show them “no mercy and no pity.” Gaddafi’s brazen statement telegraphed an impending attack with a high possibility massive civilian casualties.
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