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.

Europe’s Debt Woes Pose Opportunities for China

While Beijing’s mission to the E.U. in Brussels rarely used to engage with the diplomatic community and issue statements on China’s core interests, she said, its soft-power strategy in the region is winning over some of Europe's political elites.

Tags: china, soft power, european union, economic power, debt, politicians

U.S. hikers released in Iran; Washington bishop cites importance of religious dialogue

The Sept. 21 release of U.S. hikers... "affirms the importance of the role of religious dialogue and its end product in this case, public diplomacy, as we seek ways to define common ground between our two countries," said Diocese of Washington Bishop John Chane, who returned from a weeklong visit to Iran on Sept. 19.

Tags: united states, public diplomacy, iran, faith diplomacy, religious understanding

Obama’s U.N. Speech: Infomercial at Its Best

The United States has the wherewithal to promote similar national resolves in the Middle East and North Africa through public diplomacy and education. Instead of giving a hand, however, the Obama Administration is celebrating violent protests and civil wars as a “spring” while promising handouts that will unfailingly find their way into the usual corrupt pockets.

Tags: united states, arab spring, public diplomacy, united nations, barack obama, libya, democracy, osama bin laden, peace

K-pop’s slick productions win fans across Asia

How did Seoul become Asia's capital of cool? Even here in the Philippines, once an undisputed bastion of American pop and Hollywood movies, South Korean pop music, soap operas and fashion are now all the rage.

Tags: south korea, music diplomacy, k-pop, cultural exports, soaps, entertainment industry

South Korean Religious Leaders Travel to North Korea

The 24-member delegation belongs to the Korean Conference of Religion for Peace. They are heading to Pyongyang on a four-day visit that will include talks and joint prayer meetings with their North Korean counterparts.

Tags: faith diplomacy, south korea, cultural exchange, north korea, peace, faith exchange

The Case for Sanctions in Syria – Lessons from Africa

Sanctions are a hard form of economic power that Joseph Nye discusses in chapter three of his new book, The Future of Power, and a topic that is discussed widely today in relation to Syria. Many policy makers are pondering whether sanctions will be useful in convincing President al-Assad to stop killing his people.

Tags: africa, syria, south africa, joseph nye, sanctions, power, cote d'ivoire

Chaplains Build Bridges of a Different Kind during Natural Fire 2011

Building bridges is not only work done by engineers. During the bilateral, multinational Natural Fire 11 exercise in Zanzibar, Tanzania, September 11-22, 2011, U.S. Ambassador to Tanzania Alfonso Lenhart expressed the importance of religious leaders in Africa

Tags: faith diplomacy, islam, religion, people-to-people, africom, tanzania, christianity, communications, zanzibar

AFRICOM Gets Seriously . . . Nasty

What's sad here: AFRICOM was supposed to be different - the whole "3D" approach of diplomacy, development and defense, and in first few years it was. Now, word from everyone familiar with the command is this: AFRICOM's focus is all kinetics and kills, with the soft stuff going by the wayside....All hard and no soft makes AFRICOM a nasty boy.

Tags: soft power, public diplomacy, hard power, development, africom, counter-terrorism, defense

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