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.
Obama statue removed from Jakarta park
A statue depicting US President Barack Obama as a boy was Sunday removed from a park in Indonesia's capital, officials said. The two-metre (six-foot) bronze was removed from Menteng Park and taken to nearby Menteng One primary school, which Obama attended in the late 1960s, vice-principal Akhmad Solikhin told AFP.
President Obama Addresses the U.S.-Islamic World Forum
President Obama spoke via video conference to the U.S.-Islamic World Forum in Doha, Qatar today. The President built on his speech to the Muslim world last year in Cairo, where he spoke of peace and cooperation.
British Council gets in on the climate act
In recent years, on the initiative of Lord Kinnock when he was its chairman, the British Council has been hijacked to promote the need for action on climate change. Why is the British Council spending taxpayers' money on the recruiting of 100,000 "international climate champions"?
Propaganda War: Afghanistan conflict an ‘information war’
Instead it’s now about shaping the information battlefield, because in Afghanistan – and in modern warfare in general – information has become the new front line. At the very heart of Nato and the Pentagon, the disciples of the new art of “strategic communications” know that perceptions matter.
Russia Opens Cuba Cultural Center
The Russian government will open on Saturday a cultural center in Cuba, the first of its kind in Latin America, to promote the learning of the Russian language, said its director, Viasheslav Nikonov. The institution will operate at the Jose Marti National Library near the Plaza of the Revolution in Havana.
Links across the Med on media freedom
In most accounts of how societies democratize, civil society and media freedoms are closely linked and assumed to be mutually reinforcing. Democratisation is enabled by encouraging associations to develop between the family and the state. Independent media allow them communicate and mobilise, including vis-a-vis those who hold political power.
Diplomacy key to power politics
Reputation has always mattered in world politics, but credibility has become crucial because of a "paradox of plenty." When information is plentiful, the scarce resource is attention. The world of traditional power politics was typically about whose military or economy would win. In today's information age, politics is also about whose "story" wins.
The business of exporting Frenchness
French diplomats call it "soft power." But they know it's got real, hard value. That's cultural diplomacy "a la francaise", the government-sponsored, multi-million dollar institutionalized campaign to spread, well, Frenchness throughout the world.
Pages
Visit CPD's Online Library
Explore CPD's vast online database featuring the latest books, articles, speeches and information on international organizations dedicated to public diplomacy.