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.
J Street and the ATFP are norm breakers
Innovative thinking links progressive Palestinians and Jews. Both ATFP and J Street are self-critical and respectful of the adversary. Both are encouraged and influenced by Obama. Both believe in the US ability to be the honest broker of peace. Moderation is a response to unsustainable realities on both sides of the Arab-Israeli divide.
Cinema should be vehicle of social change
Describing cinema as India's soft power, President Pratibha Patil on Wednesday said that more needed to be done to create social change through films. Speaking at the 55th National Film Awards for 2007, Patil said, "Cinema should not only be a source of popular entertainment for families and individuals, but also a vehicle of social change.''
What Obama’s Nobel Really Means
Both the Right and the Left in the United States have joined in disbelief at the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to President Barack Obama...In fact, the award signals a cry for leadership of a global civil society that is fitfully emerging, and which an American president, precisely because of his own country’s power, is best positioned to take on.
Environment Africa Hunts for Partners
Programmes director Innocent Hodzonge said they wanted to expand their operations further and realise their motto, "Partnership for Action". The projects, he said, were initiated in Malawi but were envisaged to spread to other regional countries, including Botswana, Zambia, Mozambique and Namibia. Hodzonge said last year saw the development of a vibrant partnership on corporate social responsibility with the South Africa-based Africa Institute for Corporate Citizenship.
Diplomacy 2.0
In a world where mobile phones, satellite television, and social networks make information locally global and easy to share, diplomatic engagement with average people is at least as important as sitting across from peers at the UN or similar bodies...Technology does not provide public diplomacy in itself, but it can be part of facilitating communication between previously unconnected people.
Congress passes green-card bill for spouses of deceased U.S. citizens
Congress passed a bill Tuesday that would make widows and widowers of U.S. citizens eligible for green cards even if their spouses died before their applications were approved...Now, surviving spouses can apply for a green card for themselves and their children regardless of when the U.S. citizen died or how long they were married.
Confluence of Civilisations, Not Clash of Civilisations
I believe we can fundamentally change and evolve the way civilizations, religions and cultures interact. This is not utopia; it is a pragmatic vision. I have seen it work. The question is: Can we make it work globally?...Let me outline nine imperatives to achieve harmony among civilizations: The first imperative is to make the 21st century the century of soft power...The second imperative is to intensify global dialogue and outreach.
Embassy Row
The ambassador from the European Union is leaving Washington worried about the breakneck pace of spending and borrowing on both sides of the Atlantic...He cited common goals from developing future relations with China, Russia and India to fighting the war against terrorism. "We can only achieve these goals if we have power - soft power and sometimes hard power," he said, adding that those goals are unachievable without money.
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