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.

How Goya Brought Ethnic Food to White America

About a year ago, in Washington’s Mount Pleasant neighborhood, an independent grocer called Bestway changed hands. The new owner is In Suk Pak, a South Korean by way of Pennsylvania. He renamed the store Bestworld, replacing the second word of the big-block letters out front. Then he rejiggered the store’s product mix to fit the neighborhood’s changing demographics, adding gourmet chips and high-end beers, and Asian items like wasabi peas and dried seaweed.

Tags: united states, Cultural Diplomacy, gastrodiplomacy, ethnic food, goya

North and South Korea to Resume Family Reunions Next Month

North and South Korea have agreed reunions of families separated by the Korean War in 1950-53 will resume next month, officials in Seoul have said. They said 100 people from each side would meet on 25-30 September at the North's Mount Kumgang resort. It would be the first time such meetings have taken place for three years. The two sides remain technically at war because the conflict ended in an armistice and not a peace deal.

Tags: government pd, south korea, north korea

Nawaz Sharif: If Pakistan is to Prosper, We Must Stop Bashing India

From an armchair in Pakistan’s version of the Oval Office, Nawaz Sharif points towards the forested slopes of the Margalla Hills. “They are the foothills of the Himalayas,” says the man who reacquired the rights to this office — and to this view — when he returned for a third stint as prime minister in June. This comeback has given Mr Sharif arguably the toughest job in the world: governing a nuclear-armed nation of 180 million people, beset by terrorism, economic crisis and a perilous confrontation with India.

Tags: soft power, government pd, india, pakistan, taliban, nawaz sharif

Indian in Saudi Arabia Talks About Poetry, Expatriates

Kazi Hasan Arabi, a longtime Indian expatriate in Saudi Arabia, talks about his experience of the country, its development and what led him to find a home in the kingdom. “My education started late, because in our family, in those times, we were not allowed to go to school, rather, teachers used to come home and teach us.

Tags: Cultural Diplomacy, india, saudi arabia, diaspora, expatriates, poetry

The Future of American Diplomacy

Globalization has been changing U.S. foreign policy since the beginning of the American Republic. From our first diplomatic post in Tangier, Morocco founded in 1777, to the more than 285 diplomatic facilities around the world today operated by the U.S. Department of State, the business of diplomacy has evolved over time. While it is obvious that thriving markets and global security go hand in hand, along with America’s central role in both arenas, often our diplomacy and institutions do not reflect this reality.

Tags: united states, government pd, globalization

Al Jazeera America’s Two Big Challenges

New York Times media reporter Brian Stelter uploaded this video showing the final minute of Current TV and the first five minutes of Al Jazeera America, which began broadcasting at 3 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday. It’s mostly a promotional video, which hits repeatedly on two main themes: a heavy subtext of Americanness (it refers to the United States as “home”) and the not-so-subtle implication that other American TV news networks lack seriousness.

Tags: united states, media, international broadcasting, qatar, news, al jazeera america

Facebook and Internet in the Developing World — Will it Happen?

Facebook’s global partnership to expand Internet access in the developing world is getting a lot of attention, despite the campaign’s initial lack of specifics on how it plans to achieve its goals. The initiative — which hopes to get two-thirds of the world’s population online through cheaper smartphones that make a more efficient use of current networks — has been both hailed as a step in the right direction and criticized as a thinly veiled business strategy to reached untapped markets in the developing world.

Tags: social media, new technology, facebook, development, broadband, developing countries

Germany v. France: Berlin Flexes Diplomatic Muscles on Syria

Raising the ante in the confrontation with the Assad regime and its international supporters, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius this week called for the use of force in Syria. Across the Rhine Valley in Berlin, however, his German equivalent Guido Westerwelle urged caution: "Before speaking of consequences we must first have clarification." French daily newspaper Le Monde ran the outsized headline "Toxic Gas Massacre in Damascus". Most German newspapers that day led with the Bradley Manning verdict.

Tags: government pd, europe, foreign policy, france, syria, germany

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