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.
The State Department’s Digital Diplomacy Footprint
What criteria should be used to guide decisions regarding the new approach of using Web 2.0 technology to public diplomacy? This is an important question to address given the limited resources available to the State Department’s public diplomacy operations in 309 US missions and US virtual presence posts overseas.
Our View on Obama vs. Osama: U.S. Gains Ground in Battle for Muslim Hearts and Minds
Both men were appealing to the same audience: the Islamic world in general and the Middle East in particular. And neither was playing from a position of advantage. Bin Laden has been steadily losing popularity in Muslim nations in recent years, judging from polls, and he can have no greater fear than that downtrodden Arabs are turning away from his violent, medieval vision.
Americans Should Realize Diversity of Muslim Voices
The United States must focus once again on the arts as a meaningful way to promote stronger cultural engagement and, ultimately, to find new channels of communication with the Muslim world. Doing so will show that relations need not be defined only through political conflict. Rather, there is now an opportunity to define connections between America and the Muslim world by sharing the richness and complexity of Muslim artistic expressions -- as a vital step in finding grounds for mutual respect.
The Cairo Appeal
His address in Cairo offered an eloquent case for American values and global objectives -- and it looked to be a skillful use of public diplomacy in a region where America's efforts to explain itself have often been weak.
Obama’s Speech Strikes a Chord in India
President Barack Obama's stirring speech at the Cairo University struck a chord in India, home to the world's second largest Muslim population, with academicians and intellectuals seeing in it a new beginning by Washington to repair the US' strained relations with the Muslim world. "It is an attempt on Obama's part to build a coalition of Arab-Muslim nations. Cairo has the perfect blend of modern and traditional Muslims," said Jayalakshmi, a professor at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).
In Cairo, a Qualified Success
Barack Obama’s election had the potential to be the nation’s most consequential act of public diplomacy since the Marshall Plan. The story of his rise highlighted the openness of American society; his personal connection to Islam set him up as a powerful spokesman to a part of the world that bedevils and threatens us; and as a decisive break from the hated George W. Bush, he represented a fresh start when the world yearned for one.
Our President in Cairo: Muslims Listened. Did America?
"When all other means of communication fail, try words." I walked by this anonymous quotation every day in grad school -- stuck on a cork bulletin board. Now it makes sense. For the past 8 years, our bad attitude made us really unpopular. President Obama is out to change this reputation.
Obama’s Words Have a Familiar Ring in Turkey
For Turks, President Obama's address to the Islamic world today had a familiar ring. Two months ago, on his first official visit to a predominantly Muslim country, the U.S. president voiced a similar message of reconciliation in a landmark speech to the Turkish parliament.
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