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.
Colombia, FARC Rebels Reach Deal on Land Reform
Both sides are motivated to seek peace. The FARC is a much-weakened military force kept alive with profits from drug trafficking and extortion, analysts say. For its part, the government sees resolving the half-century conflict as the key to opening up the country to more investment, infrastructure projects and social programs.
The Obama Doctrine and Public Diplomacy
Successful public diplomacy directed toward the Muslim world must be firmly grounded in the recognition that Islam is a dominant factor in the daily life of hundreds of millions of people and in the public sphere of many countries.
Meet Egypt’s Unusual Tahrir Icon: SpongeBob SquarePants
“The casual visitor to the square in early 2013 might even wonder if SpongeBob has become, like the ubiquitous Che Guevara shirts or the spooky Guy Fawkes masks made popular by the film V for Vendetta, a bizarre transnational pop culture symbol of resistance,” Malsin added. SpongeBob’s images have even become as ever-present as images of revolutionaries who were killed during the uprising, particularly in Cairo, the newspaper reported.
China: Is Education Leading Beijing’s Soft Power Push?
Much debate has followed since Joseph Nye defined soft power in the 1990s as “the ability to get what you want through attraction rather than through coercion.” Realists usually consider soft power a consequence of the hard one – the kind that comes from missiles and economic strength – while others see it as a smarter, complementary way to ensure that national goals are achieved.
From Hong Kong to Vancouver and Back: The Migrants Who Came Home From Home
They represent a large component of Hong Kong's middle and moneyed classes…Many returned with educations and English skills acquired in Canada's best schools and universities. But the Hong Kong government has failed to acknowledge this vast community because it does not officially recognise their Canadian identity out of deference to China's nationality laws, which preclude dual citizenship.
Chinese Ink Makes a Big Splash
At the end of this year, New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art will present a major survey—“Ink Art: Past as Present in Contemporary China” (10 December-6 April 2014). Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, the planned M+ museum is seeking a specialist contemporary ink curator. Hong Kong, in fact, has been the cradle of the new ink movement since the mid-20th century.
Dealing with a Serious Image Problem
Russia is more or less liked in China, Chile and Ghana, of all places. The Chinese seem to be getting used to their newly acquired status as a (nearly) global power. Their view of their northern neighbor is mellowing as the scale of comparison of the two countries’ economic and military might increasingly tilts toward Beijing. In Chile (as in many other Latin American countries) Russia is still seen as an inheritor of the Soviet Union’s anti-US mantle.
UAE Thanks French Support for Proposed Exemption for UAE Citizens from Schengen Visa
Abu Dhabi: Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Foreign Minister, expressed his gratitude to France for supporting the UAE’s efforts to get exemption for UAE citizens from entry visas to Schengen nations.
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