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.

Video Game is Latest US Diplomacy Tool

The U.S. State Department is using a new kind of public diplomacy to counter extremism. And it's not what you'd expect. Trace Effects is an online game geared toward children and young teens far from U.S. shores. It takes the main character on a virtual adventure across the United States, from the Grand Canyon to New York City and beyond. But what is the State Department doing with a video game?

Tags: united states, Cultural Diplomacy, government pd, public diplomacy, us department of state

The Role of Public Diplomacy in Countering Violent Extremism

I want to take you inside the space that public diplomacy is uniquely positioned to address – not only in the short term, but in the mid and long term. And today, I want to talk about the ways public diplomacy augments and complements our efforts to counter violent extremism, how we measure its effectiveness, and why that’s so important to our national interests.

Tags: united states, government pd, public diplomacy, new technology, us department of state, foreign policy, tara sonenshine

Italy to host forum on Azerbaijan

The head of the work group on interparliamentary ties with Italy of Milli Majlis Azer Kerimli and MPs Rasim Musabayov and Jeyhun Osmanly will attend the forum ‘Azerbaijan 2020-Youth vision’. According to the news service for Milli Majlis, Azerbaijani parliamentarians left for Rome on 26 March.

Tags: Cultural Diplomacy, government pd, public diplomacy, cultural exchange, azerbaijan, italy

Build Brics bank with citizens in mind

The fifth summit of heads of state from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (Brics), which concluded in Durban on Wednesday, announced that formal talks would be held to launch a development bank.

Tags: government pd, public diplomacy, non-state pd, brics, bank

Israel to pay Turkey tens of millions over Gaza flotilla deaths, sources say

In the wake of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's apology Friday to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan over the deaths of nine Turkish activists aboard the 2010 Gaza flotilla, the two countries have set the wheels in motion to pay compensation over the deaths, with Israel set to pay out as much as tens of millions of dollars, according to sources in Turkey.

Tags: public diplomacy, public opinion, israel, turkey, foreign policy

Bar Refaeli Israel ad controversy: Supermodel responds on Twitter

Refaeli is the new face of an ad by the Israeli Foreign Ministry that kicks off a public relations campaign trumpeting Israel's cutting-edge technologies. But the Israel Defense Forces is not happy about it. A spokesperson for the Defense Forces says in a statement, "The choice of a representative who did not serve in the military as an official presenter on behalf of Israel, conveys the message that we ignore and forgive evasion of enlistment, and encourages identification, among youths of both sexes, with the success of those who did not enlist."

Tags: public diplomacy, social media, israel, new technology, celebrity diplomacy

Russia reveals its strategy for BRICS cooperation

The Kremlin and Russian Foreign Ministry have released an official strategy for Russia’s participation in the BRICS association. Deputy Prime Minister Sergey Ryabkov has stated that the strategy was approved by President Vladimir Putin back on Feb. 9. “The BRICS association will continue to strengthen its international reputation and influence by using soft power — i.e., through economic and social achievements of its members, as opposed to creating some kind of military alliance,”

Tags: soft power, government pd, public diplomacy, russia, brics

Obama’s unambitious foreign policy agenda

When he first came into office in 2009, President Obama had a clear foreign policy agenda. He wanted to restore the United States’ good reputation. After eight years of unilateralism under Bush, US soft power was at its weakest and the financial costs of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were doing serious damage to the longterm stability of the US economy. By not being Bush, Obama was able to mend relations with several historical US allies.

Tags: united states, soft power, public diplomacy

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