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.
An American Diplomat in Moscow Takes Flak on Twitter
Diplomacy is usually a nuanced game that can turn on a word and a handshake preferably delivered in private. But no one, it seems, ever told this to Michael A. McFaul. Since his arrival in Moscow as the United States ambassador, he has engaged in frequent back-and-forth sniping with the Russian Foreign Ministry on matters of extraordinary international import like missile defense and the uprising in Syria all within the highly undiplomatic and public arena of the Internet, mostly on Twitter.
‘Foreign trash’ and China’s soft power
The extreme nationalist vitriol comes from Yang Rui, an anchor on China's flagship English-language news and interview program, Dialogue. Cultural products like the English-language Dialogue have been developed in recent years as part of a major Chinese Communist Party attempt to bolster China's cultural soft power internationally.
Letter from Thailand: Accomplished and spicy
Most of the YES Academy took place at Chulalongkorn University in central Bangkok including strings and orchestra, piano, dance, hip hop and the Broadway program. Thankfully, the U.S. Department of State is still budgeting for this kind of cultural diplomacy to demonstrate what we all have in common and how we can all learn to work together.
300 youth ambassadors to depart on diplomatic mission
Three hundred Taiwanese students will travel to 30-plus countries this summer to promote cultural exchanges and enhance bilateral ties in what the Ministry of Foreign Affairs described Tuesday as the largest scale youth ambassador program in years.
China buys Hollywood influence with takeover of top U.S. cinema chain
The AMC purchase marks the start of what Wanda executives and Chinese officials hope will be an aggressive expansion into Western markets. An article in the state-run propaganda outlet “People’s Daily,” meanwhile, touted aspirations of "exporting the culture" and the regime’s “Going Global” strategy.
Chinese student impresses US college interviewers with soft power
He impressed the interviewers from the Georgia Institute of Technology, which ranked 35th among all U.S. universities, with his 'soft power,' and was admitted to its undergraduate biomedical engineering program, which ranked second in the country. In addition, he won a quarter scholarship.
Congress, the State Department, and “communistic, fascistic, and other alien influences”
The current debate on the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act is filled with misinformation about the history of Smith-Mundt, some of it verging on blatant propaganda, making the overall discussion rich in irony...Today, it is the Smith-Mundt Act that is victim to “false propaganda” and “misinformation” that are shaping the perceptions of the the Modernization Act as a whole and its parts.
Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs travels to Pakistan
During her visit, Under Secretary Sonenshine will engage with civil society and emphasize people-to-people ties shared between the United States and Pakistan. She will meet with young Pakistani entrepreneurs and female students to discuss the shared goal of empowerment and to discuss ways to unlock their full potential.
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