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.

K-pop: Soft Power for the Global Cool

The progressive utilization of this kind of soft power...will be a fast track pass to engage with masses of young people all over the world based upon what they are truly interested in.Governmental cultural diplomacy can sometimes come off as forced or out-of-touch, but K-pop is an authentic reflection and spectacle of youth culture that is impressively close to the pulse of the "global cool."

Tags: soft power, Cultural Diplomacy, government pd, public diplomacy, south korea, tourism, music diplomacy, popular culture

Lebanon Finally Sees It’s Twitter Dawn

Just when it seemed there was little hope for Twitter in Lebanon, the site finally got its "moment" earlier this week...when Mikati and British Ambassador to Lebanon Tom Fletcher had a live 'Tweebate'...Following the event, Mikati tweeted that "social media is helping build digital diplomacy as a form of parallel public diplomacy".

Tags: government pd, public diplomacy, social media, new technology, twitter, digital diplomacy, lebanon

Looking Forward in Sri Lanka

Cultural exchanges take place periodically at the regional level...Sri Lanka has a rich heritage of cultural resources. We will increasingly focus on public diplomacy and cultural exchanges. It also relates to smart power and soft power.

Tags: Cultural Diplomacy, government pd, public diplomacy, sports diplomacy, sri lanka

Hasbara: Why does the world fail to understand us?

Hasbara is a form of propaganda aimed at an international audience, primarily, but not exclusively, in western countries. It is meant to influence the conversation in a way that positively portrays Israeli political moves and policies, including actions undertaken by Israel in the past.

Tags: middle east, public diplomacy, israel, palestine, propaganda, arab, hasbara, advocacy, foreign audience

Changes abroad will now reinvent diplomacy here

EU embassies all over the world, reflecting the soft power of the EU, which, despite the ongoing euro crisis, is still very much building up the EU brand as a global superpower. The idea of a separate foreign policy for any of the 27 member states has now been made almost completely irrelevant in the context of a common, tightly coordinated EU position.

Tags: soft power, foreign policy, european union, ireland, budget, embassies, foreign service, regional integration

Obama’s Iran Failure

However, the fact that Israel’s president Shimon Peres now calls military action “more and more likely” suggests that, regardless of the eventual decision, Israel has embarked on a public diplomacy campaign intended to seize international attention.

Tags: united states, public diplomacy, iran, israel, obama administration, nuclear weapons, nuclear energy, nuclear development

Chinese president meets Japanese PM on advancing bilateral ties

Hu said the two sides should expand cultural and people-to-people exchanges and use the occasion of celebrating the 40th anniversary of normalizing ties to develop a long-term plan for exchanges in the areas of youth, young cadres, culture, tourism, media and local governments so as to improve mutual understanding and friendly feelings between the two peoples.

Tags: china, japan, cultural exchange, youth, people-to-people, mutual understanding, bilateral relations

Artists of ‘Water Is Rising’ sing and dance against climate change

Plenty of performers go abroad on missions of cultural diplomacy aimed subtly at shoring up relations between their own nation and others. And then there are the three dozen dancers and singers of “Water Is Rising,’’ a show that is not coy about its purpose.

Tags: united states, Cultural Diplomacy, water diplomacy, dance, climate change, pacific islands

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