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.
Bashing Human Rights Watch
As a founder of Human Rights Watch, Robert L. Bernstein is a distinguished moral voice. So he stunned the human rights community last week when he leveled a devastating attack on the work of the organization he also chaired for two decades. He accused Human Rights Watch's Middle East division of giving Israel the "brunt" of its criticism while it "ignored" other countries in the region. Bernstein is mistaken. His attack displayed a disregard for the facts as well as a flawed perspective.
Five ways Britain can get the most from Russia
David Miliband is to visit Russia next week. This will be the first bilateral visit by a British foreign secretary since UK-Russian relations went through a deep low with the Alexander Litvinenko murder and the attacks on the British Council. As Mr Miliband knows well, dealing with today’s prickly, self-assertive Russia is going to be a long game. With due humility, I offer him five guidelines by which we should play it.
Honduras deal: Ousted President Zelaya can return to office
The deal would include the creation of a powersharing government and the promise on both sides that presidential elections slated for Nov. 29 will be respected. It also would establish a truth commission and signal an end to international sanctions – slapped on Honduras by countries, including the US –in protest of Zelaya's removal from office.
German Foreign Policy Is Peace Policy
In his inaugural address, the new Federal Foreign Minister promised the continuity in Germany’s successful foreign policy. He said it was “among the most valuable fixtures of German politics”. German foreign policy is most successful when it is carried out “side by side with our partners”, he continued.
Clinton Debates Pakistan Tribes, Women Over Taliban
[Sec o' State] Clinton debated with tribal representatives and women journalists, urging Pakistanis to support their government’s U.S.-backed war against Taliban militants and al-Qaeda allies in the country. Clinton told ethnic Pashtun elders the U.S. wants to “leave the past behind” and work with peace builders, part of a pitch to counter rising anti-American sentiment amid escalating insurgencies in Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan.
Indonesia: A new ‘middle power’
Meanwhile, others may say that to aspire to become a "middle power" is akin to aspiring for mediocrity. However, all things considered, Indonesia's rise to international stardom should indeed be pursued through playing the role of a "middle power". In doing so, Indonesia would not only enhance its image as a responsible member of the international community, but also further strengthen its national resolve in conducting a "free and active foreign policy".
China expands language institutes at US colleges
Although the students are doing their work at a state school on Florida's Gulf Coast, the center they are studying in is part of a global outreach by the government of China called the Confucius Institute. The cultural and language centers have sprung up around the world, hosted at universities eager to boost their Mandarin offerings as China's economic influence grows. The Confucius Institute at South Florida is one of nearly 60 such centers in the United States, and 396 globally in 87 countries.
Is Indian ‘soft power’ in Afghanistan working?
In the second such strike in as many years, a suicide car-bombing outside the Indian Embassy in the Afghan capital Kabul recently left at least 17 dead (none of them embassy staff) and scores of others wounded. India has long been developing its "soft power" strategy in Afghanistan, sticking to civilian rather than military matters, but attacks on its embassy and the loss of Indian lives may force a change in strategy.
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