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.

More Japanese Teachers Needed in ASEAN, Abe is Told

An expert panel to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has proposed bolstering support for Japanese-language education in ASEAN countries by increasing the number of teachers, as more people in the region are learning Japanese. The proposal, submitted to Abe on Monday, calls for boosting the dispatch of Japanese-language teachers by utilizing university and graduate students, as well as seniors, to work for up to one year in member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Tags: japan, education diplomacy, asean, academic exchange

Venezuela Leader Rejects Cordial Relations With US

President Nicolas Maduro said Tuesday that Venezuela will not have cordial relations with the United States as long as U.S. diplomats continue what he alleges are attempts to destabilize his country. He said "new points of contact" can be established, but only if Washington ends such activity. Maduro's tough talk came a day after he announced the expulsion of the top U.S. diplomat in Venezuela, Charge d'Affaires Kelly Keiderling, and two other embassy officials, alleging they conspired with "the extreme right" to sabotage the economy and power grid.

Tags: united states, latin america, venezuela, south america, nicolas maduro

Israeli Leader Excoriates New President of Iran

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel sought to shred the credibility of Iran’s new president on Tuesday, using his annual speech at the United Nations to cast the Iranian as a man who could not be trusted and to press the international community to keep up sanctions to prevent Iran from building a nuclear bomb.

Tags: iran, israel, united nations, benjamin netanyahu, hassan rouhani

The Free Syrian Army Press Office Would Rather Be Fighting

Within two minutes of crossing from Turkey into Syria, I’m on the back of a motorbike being given a lift to a Free Syrian Army press office. It turns out to be a forty second ride but I might have missed it otherwise. It’s just a little prefab house across the road from a refugee camp, but it’s here that I’ve been told I can get some basic information and hire a translator.

Tags: turkey, syria, journalism, conflict, free syrian army, press,

14 Years of Undermining Public Diplomacy

There have been plenty of bad days in U.S. history. But Oct. 1st should be higher on the list than most people think. On that date in 1999, President Bill Clinton formally abolished the U.S. Information Agency, spinning off its broadcasting element into an independent agency and merging most of the rest into the Department of State. The effort was the product of a curious bipartisan alliance between conservative Sen. Jesse Helms and liberal Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, and its effects were far reaching – shooting U.S. public diplomacy in the back with some six bullets.

Tags: media, international broadcasting, public diplomacy, us department of state, united states information agency, usia, bill clinton

Diplomatic Efforts Essential To Finding Global Solutions

Relentless diplomatic pursuit is needed in seeking solutions to global challenges, from achieving peace and security to advancing social progress and economic prosperity, says Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa. Addressing the 68th UN General Assembly in New York on Friday, Marty underlined that Indonesia had an enduring belief in the efficacy and effectiveness of diplomacy, maintaining peace and security, advancing social progress and economic prosperity, and in promoting democracy, human rights and tolerance.

Tags: united nations, aid diplomacy, indonesia

America’s One-way Asia Pivot

On Sept 24, when US President Barack Obama gave his speech in front of the United Nations, he caused a buzz not by what he said, but by what he failed to mention. During his speech, Obama mentioned China once, and the Koreas, Japan, and India zero times, noted most prominently by Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group.

Tags: china, united states, public diplomacy, india, japan, south korea, barack obama, asia, asia pivot

Public Diplomacy is Flourishing–Spread the Word

This funereal op-ed is so fundamentally flawed that it is more like a drive-by shooting. Shooting USIA in the back is an unfortunate metaphor for the context of public diplomacy since many of us who engage in public diplomacy think of it in terms of ballots over bullets and swords into ploughshares. Even those who don’t like this tender-hearted approach view it in the tougher-minded context of political campaign strategies.

Tags: united states, public diplomacy, history, usia, bill clinton

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