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.

Is One Global Internet Possible?

Secretary Clinton’s remarks will always strike a chord for 21st Century Statecraft and open Internet initiatives... Let’s not forget the digital uprisings that came as a result of the SOPA/PIPA protests in the United States earlier this year, topped off with the shut down of Wikipedia and Reddit among others.

Tags: united states, hillary clinton, digital diplomacy, 21st century statecraft, internet freedom

Olympic Opportunity to Revive Brand UK

And the winner is... London? You would hope that for a country in recession – which slid deeper into it in the second quarter than many expected – and facing a crisis over the fixing of wholesale interest rates by its banks, the Olympic games that wind up on August 12 will give the UK a much-needed boost. ‘Brand UK’ desperately needs some polishing.

Tags: china, nation branding, united kingdom, london olympics 2012

The Geopolitical Spotlight on Poland 1980-81: Pragmatic Efficiency of Public Diplomacy

It is an axiomatic fact of realpolitik that public diplomacy carries neither a presumption of truth and accuracy nor of completeness and objectivity. It behooves us never to forget that it is first and foremost an instrument of advocacy, a means to an end.

Tags: public diplomacy, europe, human rights, propaganda, poland, ronald reagan, warsaw pact

London Olympic Opening Ceremonies: A Celebration of Soft Power

...the ceremony was an entertaining celebration of British culture.  London had a tough act to follow after Beijing’s stunning ceremony in 2008. Yet, not only did London surpass expectations, but its display of self-confidence and soft power made a more powerful statement than Beijing’s mighty effort.

Tags: soft power, public diplomacy, united kingdom, culture, london olympics 2012, beijing olympics

How science and the Olympics can learn from each other

Science has played an increasingly important — if at times ambiguous — role in sport. Some contributions, such as the development of performance-enhancing drugs, fall squarely into the negative category. Conversely, where adequate funds are made available for local capacity building both science and sport can make important contributions to international development.

Tags: public diplomacy, new technology, london olympics 2012, innovation

Australia finally embraces ediplomacy

In embassies and chancelleries the world over, ediplomacy seems to be the new rock & roll. Perhaps we have even reached the point, to bastardise Aneurin Bevan's classic quote about unilateral nuclear disarmament, where to deprive a foreign secretary or ambassador of a Twitter account is to send him naked into the conference chamber. Last week, DFAT finally lifted its ambassadorial tweeting embargo, signaling an end to a culture of online reticence that was starting to cop some flak.

Tags: media, government pd, public diplomacy, social media, australia

Lord Coe: The greatest show about to start

LONDON -- It has been a long road for former middle distance runner, Lord Sebastian Coe, who won gold medals in the Moscow and Los Angeles Olympics and has gone on to become the driving force behind the London Olympic Games. Those Games officially began with the opening ceremony in the Olympic Stadium on Friday night. "We are about to embark on the greatest sport we have ever seen and most of us will ever see in our lifetimes," said Lord Coe, who was the head of the bid which brought the Games to London.

Tags: Cultural Diplomacy, public diplomacy, non-state pd, london olympics 2012

True believers in the Olympic spirit

What do the Olympics mean to you? Is it about men and women who have trained and persevered for long years - indeed most of their lives - to reach the peak and a brief moment of glory? When an athlete achieves a superhuman result, do you wonder whether he or she took a shortcut, courtesy of the anabolic steroid industry, as Ben Johnson did in that infamous 100-meters final at the 1988 Seoul Games?

Tags: middle east, public diplomacy, israel, non-state pd, london olympics 2012, olympics 1972

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