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.

Africa’s farmland in demand: ‘Is there a better place than this?’

India’s trade with Africa was $45 billion in 2010. And while that’s up sharply from $11 billion in 2006, it still trails China’s $119 billion worth of trade with Africa, the country with a 20-year headstart in Africa. It has built highways and railways, bridges and airports and has been savvy at winning African friends through so-called soft power.

Tags: soft power, india, africa, development, tanzania, investment, farming

Turks in America

Washington realizes that Turkey has greater influence in the transformation efforts of the people in the region due to its soft power.... The outcome of this is now becoming visible with Turkey’s growing influence and its changing perception and image in the US.

Tags: united states, soft power, public opinion, turkey, diaspora, aviation diplomacy

Chakras Aligned?

That India has woken up to the geopolitical and soft-power benefits of boosting its profile in the Buddhist world—in particular, the Buddhist countries in the India-China neighbourhood—is evident from the energies it expended on the conference [of Buddhist leaders].

Tags: china, soft power, public diplomacy, india, faith diplomacy, religion, buddhism

Chinese Allow Play on Pentagon Papers, but Not a Talk About It

As far as dramatic timing goes, the text message from the powers that be announcing the sudden cancellation of a post-performance discussion of “Top Secret: Battle for the Pentagon Papers” was, well, perfectly timed.

Tags: china, united states, public diplomacy, theatre, freedom of speech

‘India set to become a soft power in world politics’

India, with its unique cultural and civilisation strengths has tremendous assets in the soft power arena that are yet to be fully harnessed effectively. Its multi-ethnic culture, peace-generating civilisation values that includes religious and philosophical ideals, and the unique art forms and literatures are perhaps the core of this soft power asset mix.

Tags: soft power, india, art diplomacy, culture, diaspora, peace

Witness: What not to wear in Myanmar: Clinton’s Burma road

Clinton - with security and journalists in tow - went barefoot at the famous Shwedagon Pagoda and rang a bell with a giant wooden mallet as onlookers cheered. It was the type of public diplomacy that is Clinton's forte as a former politician, although many of those snapping her photo were tourists and she had little direct contact with local Burmese.

Tags: united states, public diplomacy, hillary clinton, myanmar, burma, aung san suu kyi

Russia, 20 Years Along

Some U.S. democracy activists and government officials claim that the advent of new information technology and social networks can bring democracy to places like Russia, Central Asia or the Middle East. They talk in terms of the “TV Party”...

Tags: united states, public diplomacy, russia, new technology, democracy, television diplomacy

Why Pakistan still needs U.S. assistance

Others rightly resent Pakistan’s unwillingness to undertake tough economic reforms as a step toward helping itself. Still others wonder why we should assist a country where virulent anti-Americanism is pervasive.

Tags: united states, soft power, public diplomacy, pakistan, foreign aid

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