“There were no YouTube videos, online sites, or DVDs. The culture wasn’t there yet. I could hardly find any video cassettes to learn the dances from,” explains Sargis Andreasyan, better known as Godfather Flash among fellow break-dancers in Yerevan, Armenia.

Tags: Cultural Diplomacy, europe, music diplomacy, armenia, hip hop

A conversation between a State Department official and the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine posted on YouTube revealed a frank exchange on U.S. strategy for a political transition in that country, including a crude swipe at the European Union.

Tags: united states, european union, ukraine, vitali klitschko, ambassadors

Abdullah Elshamy, a correspondent for Al Jazeera, has now been in prison for 175 days and on hunger strike for a little over two weeks. "I've lost a number of pounds. I only rely on liquids. The littlest effort makes me feel dizzy," he wrote in a letter smuggled out of his prison cell, where he isn't allowed access to pens or paper. "But it's what I feel compelled to do in order to raise awareness about the importance of freedom of speech."

Tags: middle east, media, egypt, al jazeera, journalism, muslim brotherhood, al jazeera arabic, cairo institute for human rights studies

Feldman, a specialist on German foreign policy and international reconciliation, remarked that there are two kinds of public diplomacy. The first is carried out by the government and aims at improving the national image. The second concerns activities in which NGOs and other nongovernmental actors play the leading role. These activities might be described as “paradiplomacy,” or “transnationalism” in the case of projects that transcend national borders. She said that for public diplomacy to be successful, a partnership between government and non-government actors was essential.

Tags: japan, germany, paradiplomacy, german foreign policy, abe, konrad adenauer, post-war public diplomacy, northeast asia, transnationalism

Europe is set to upgrade its ties with Cuba in a bid to broaden economic cooperation and demand more progress on respecting human rights and fundamental freedoms, a senior European Union official said Thursday. The 28-nation bloc's foreign ministers will endorse a mandate to negotiate a new, broad political agreement with Cuba at their upcoming meeting Monday, the official said.

Tags: european union, human rights, cuba, economy, reforms, freedoms

In Sochi, Russia, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today praised the power of sport to promote human rights and unite people regardless of their age, race, class, religious, ability, sex, sexual orientation or gender identity in a first of its kind address to the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Tags: russia, united nations, sports diplomacy, human rights, ban ki-moon, international olympic committee, 2014 sochi winter olympics

Each year the second year students in the USC Master of Public Diplomacy program select a location abroad to conduct new research that can further the study and practice of public diplomacy. This year, the Class of 2014 selected Sao Paulo, Brazil for its unique position in world politics. Brazil is currently transitioning from a regional and hemispheric power to a global one.

Tags: nation branding, public diplomacy, brazil, digital diplomacy, city diplomacy, south america, usc, 2016 Rio Olympics, 2014 fifa world cup, sao paulo

When, fifteen years ago, Vladimir Putin was appointed Prime Minister under the ailing Boris Yeltsin, few would have thought that he was to become one of Russia’s longest-serving political leaders in living memory. Fifteen years into his “era,” Putin has reached unassailable heights of prestige, masterly defeating his would-be challengers among street protesters and oligarchs and getting more than a bang for his ruble on the international stage.

Tags: soft power, public diplomacy, russia, ukraine, history, public relations, vladimir putin, brics