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.
New Iraqi Cultural Center in Washington heralded as fresh start
America's new Iraqi Cultural Center occupies a slice of rented office space above an AT&T store, overlooking a Five Guys and a Hair Cuttery and a bustling Connecticut Avenue in the capital of the country that scuffed and dinged some of Iraq's antique furniture during its 2003 invasion and resulting tenancy. Washington: Capital, also, of Irony.
U.S. Needs a New Public Diplomacy Strategy for Russia
Lacking, however, is support from Washington in the form of a carefully thought-out and articulated U.S. public diplomacy policy toward Russia. With so much emphasis on public diplomacy toward the Arab world, crucial matters such as improving relations with Russia get too little attention. Needed is a coherent, cohesive strategy for Russia, endorsed by the White House and State Department, as the foundation on which American diplomats in Russia can build. This should include greater use of new media technologies, connecting with the Russian diaspora, developing partnerships between U.S.
Chinese art and culture: Hard-sell of “soft power”
A workshop of the Asia-Europe Meeting in Vietnam demonstrated the growing international importance of contemporary and classical Chinese culture. At a recent international cultural workshop held in Vietnam, almost all participants, ranging from officials to NGO workers, from artists to cultural experts, found themselves engaged in projects related to China. "Chinese art and culture are becoming more and more fashionable. There is great interest in China on all levels," says Airan Berg, former artistic director for the performing arts of the European cultural capital, Linz, Austria 2009.
Rescuing Art From the Rubble of the Quake
Haitian artists and cultural professionals have been conducting informal salvage operations for the past four months. But the Americans are bringing conservation expertise — there are few if any professionally trained art conservators in Haiti — and special equipment, much of it paid for by private money.
Role of culture in international relations
The Department of Arts and Culture will host a Cultural Diplomacy conference on 21-22 May 2010 in Pretoria, South Africa...The theme is "Redefining the Role of Culture in the 21st century". The main focus of the conference is to open opportunities to share ideas and exchange knowledge with prominent thinkers on issues of cultural diplomacy.
U.S.-Iran Feud Hits L.A.
Amid the ongoing war of words between the U.S. and Iran, one of the more unusual broadsides from Tehran is that a terrorist organization bent on overthrowing its government has for years used America's second-largest city as a safe haven.
Path of engagement with Burma
The Obama administration's decision to seek a new way forward in U.S.-Burma relations recognizes that decades of trying to isolate Burma (aka Myanmar) in order to change the behavior of its government have achieved little. As Burma's ruling generals prepare to hold elections later this year — for the first time since 1990 — it is time to try something different.
Soft Power, tough play
The dramatic rise of the world’s two largest and populous economies—China and India—has generated ripples in Asia’s regional architecture. One of the outcomes of the two ascents has been the efforts by both countries to enhance their respective strategic leverages in the region. In this regard, both countries have been steadily employing what in strategic parlance has gained popularity as ‘soft power’.
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