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.
Dissent Memo: USAID official charges Holbrooke Pakistan aid plan flawed
A senior USAID economist has written a formal dissent memo which tells senior State Department officials that Special Representative Richard Holbrooke’s Pakistani aid demands are causing turmoil in the U.S. AID mission in Pakistan and are counterproductive for achieving near-term counterinsurgency goals in the country.
Take Five With Les Blachut
I knew I wanted to be a jazz musician when I heard jazz on Willis Conover's The Voice of America short wave radio broadcast. The first thing I heard was Charlie Parker's unreleased take of "Parker's Mood," and that is still one of my most favorite recordings.
Trend of China-India friendship irreversible
In June this year, Chinese President Hu Jintao met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Yekaterinburg, Russia. Both leaders reiterated they would jointly promote the sound development of bilateral relations, enhance mutual trust, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, strengthen communication and coordin ation, and push forward the Strategic and Cooperative Partnership between the two countries towards continuous, stable, and healthy development.
Clinton says North Korea missile tests won’t affect talks
North Korea interrupted moves toward dialogue on its nuclear program Monday by reportedly test-firing five short-range missiles off its east coast. The timing of the tests, the North's first in three months, is particularly significant since North Korea's leader Kim Jong-il has shown clear interest in opening two-way dialogue with the US – and has even indicated his willingness to enter six-party talks that he had previously vowed to spurn
No Doubt Obama Deserves the Nobel!
It is said that Obama has received the Nobel Peace Prize without having any concrete accomplishments. To the contrary, in his eight months in office he has worked for peace in very concrete ways. Take the race question in the United States, still a purulent, throbbing wound that stirs up conflict. Since the eve of his election in his Philadelphia speech until his recent peaceful and pacifying response to the alarmist remarks with which Jimmy Carter evoked the persistence of racial conflict in the Deep South, Obama does not cease repairing, cauterizing, mending, in short, pacifying.
“Brand America” back on top
Simon Anholt: I launched the NBI because public perceptions of countries are, whether we like it or not, critically important to the progress and prosperity of those countries. I sometimes call these studies the "Index of Ignorance": what people believe about other places may be biased, utterly misconceived, weirdly distorted, unfairly negative, sometimes undeservedly positive, often outdated and always ludicrously simplified, but that doesn't mean we can ignore them.
Chinese Vice President Xi visits China Cultural Center in Berlin
Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping is continuing his visit to Germany. He made a stop at the China Cultural Center in Berlin, highlighting the importance of soft power, by exporting Chinese culture overseas. This cultural center serves as a window for Germans, who want to get a better understanding of Chinese culture. In the past year, it has hosted exhibitions with themes ranging from Chinese history and medicine to Tibet's past and present.
Obama, Europe and the Inevitable
While many are celebrating the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to President Obama, it has raised questions in the minds of others. Yet, as German Marshall Fund President Craig Kennedy points out, the U.S. public should really be asking how Obama’s popularity in Europe can improve cooperation on some tough issues.
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