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.
Shanghai may greet Obama with Disney park deal
With President Barack Obama due to visit China next month, speculation is swirling Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) may finally be about to announce a long-awaited deal to build a theme park in Shanghai. Disney and the Shanghai government have been waiting since January for Beijing's approval to move forward with what would be the country's second Disneyland, after a Hong Kong park opened in 2005 to a string of operational problems and lackluster attendance.
A Broad Dialogue With Muslims Worldwide
The Obama administration has created the post of special representative to the Muslim communities with the goal of building trust with the world's Muslims. The first person to serve that role, Farah Pandith, a Kashmir-born Muslim, says the U.S. role in Muslim engagement includes working with the local communities, to try to provide an opportunity across the board in every region, and opportunities to build on initiatives for the common good.
NATO Secretary General and Permanent Representatives to attend NATO-UAE Public Diplomacy Conference
The Secretary General of NATO, H.E. Mr. Anders Fogh Rasmussen, and NATO Permanent Representatives on the North Atlantic Council will travel to the United Arab Emirates on 29-30 October 2009. They will attend the International Conference on "NATO-UAE Relations and the Way Forward in the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative”, to take place on 29 October at the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi. This conference is co-organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the United Arab Emirates and the NATO Public Diplomacy Division.
Soft Power is a Fancy Way of Saying Indecisive
Now thanks to all that squelching soft power we have gone from a foreign policy in which few liked us but we could get things done unilaterally... to a foreign policy in which everyone supposedly likes us but are actually less willing to help the new multilateral us, and as a result what we are left with is a foreign policy approach that can't get anything done at all anymore.
Judith McHale and the PAOs
Undersecretary of State Judith McHale's October 15 speech to the 2009 global Public Affairs Officers conference provides some useful insights into PAOs' concerns and Secretary McHale's thinking. McHale remains optimistic, citing what she perceives as "a genuine wish to see a revival of American leadership…grounded in partnership and respect."
Public Diplomacy debates reflect bigger IR questions
The “success” of PD for the United States is not going to come once a specific cadre of professionals are recognized as important or uniquely situated as the stewards of public diplomacy. It is going to come when leadership recognizes what kinds of objectives and/or policies are really the domain of public diplomacy.
As US seeks closer ties with Turkmenistan, government cracks down on students
he United States has in recent months sought to improve relations with Turkmenistan, the secretive former Soviet possession that is home to rich oil and gas deposits and straddles a strategically vital central Asian location, sharing borders with both Iran and Afghanistan. But those efforts are being complicated by a government campaign against students seeking to study at the American University of Central Asia (AUCA), located in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
Beijing runs a diplomatic marathon
After the extravaganza this month marking the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China (PRC), the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leadership has unleashed what the domestic media heralds as "marathon autumn diplomacy" (malasong qiuji waijiao).
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