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.

Gaffes, Goofs, and What Was Missing from the Republican Presidential Debate

Senator Rick Santorum had what started off as a fantastic answer on the matter, stressing his laudable work on developing PEPFAR and the Global Fund. The need to use our ability to ease suffering abroad as a way to be a “shining beacon” (in Reagan’s parlance) is tantamount to conservative code for soft power.

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Apple Daily: Berlin Philharmonic’s Taiwan sensation

Public screenings are a way to satisfy these fans' hunger for classical music, and it is this Taiwanese innovation that touched Rattle. The audiences outside the concert hall were quiet and happily absorbed in the music. This demonstrates the civility of our citizens, which is Taiwan's most precious asset and where the country's soft power lies.

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Feasibility Study Rubber-Stamps U.S. Broadcasting Merger

Don’t say the wheels of government always spin slowly. When there is an agenda at work, they can move with considerable speed, and in the deconstruction of American overseas broadcasting, things are moving fast.

Tags: united states, international broadcasting, public diplomacy, bbg, budget, radio free europe, radio liberty, radio free asia, funding

Colleges recruited in ‘go abroad’ push

Mainland universities will be given state funding to help extend the overseas reach of Chinese academic research, the latest initiative in the nation's soft-power push abroad. The funding will come via the "Go Abroad" initiative, which aims to give greater overseas exposure to Chinese research, particularly in the social studies.

Tags: china, soft power, government pd, public diplomacy, education diplomacy, universities

Reflections on the Thirty Years War and the Origins of Propaganda

Before public diplomacy, there was propaganda, a term coined by Pope Gregory XV in 1622...A key observation to make regarding the Pope’s call for the propagation of the faith is that the advent of the printing press, the rise in literacy...and the religious controversies...had already created a European sphere of public comment and opinion by the turn of the seventeenth century.

Tags: media, public diplomacy, faith diplomacy, europe, religion, propaganda

The Road to War in Asia

Clever diplomacy, not more Marines, is the answer. The over-extended American Raj has got to face strategic reality or it risks going the way of the Soviet Empire.US foreign policy has become almost totally militarized; the State Department has been shunted aside. The Pentagon sees Al-Qaida everywhere. The US needs the brilliant diplomacy of a Bismarck, not more unaffordable bases or military hardware.

Tags: china, united states, government pd, public diplomacy, asia pacific, us department of state, foreign policy, hard power, military

Making Some Noise to Protect the Future of the 99%

Earlier this week, the global climate campaign 350.org launched "Radiowave." It's designed to take a single powerful song, and use it as the focus of a campaign that will sweep down Africa, one country at time, for the next few weeks, finally landing in South Africa just as the UN's climate conference begins.

Tags: Cultural Diplomacy, africa, music diplomacy, climate change, environmentalism

Beijing’s Message to Asia: If You Can’t Join ’Em, Beat ‘Em

The real argument Beijing should make is one espoused by Yan Xuetong in his recent New York Times opinion piece: the “battle for people’s hearts and minds” between the United States and China will be “won by the country that displays more humane authority.” Unfortunately...Yan falls short, doing little more than suggesting Beijing should choose more virtuous and wise leaders, as well as open its doors to leaders from abroad.

Tags: china, united states, soft power, government pd, public diplomacy

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