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.
Clinton Needs Diplomats and Nation Builders
Correcting that acute imbalance in American "hard" and "soft" power is likely to prove the single greatest challenge for the next secretary of State. Its corrosive impact on foreign policy is already evident in a series of troubling trends and statistics. U.S. public diplomacy has failed to dispel rising anti-Americanism around the world.
Being Invisible 2.0
In a major speech at the beginning of December outlining his vision for "Public Diplomacy 2.0", Under-Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy James Glassman argued that "in the war of ideas, our core task... is to create an environment hostile to violent extremism." Israel's war on Gaza has done quite the opposite. It has unleashed a tsunami of outrage in the Arab world, with every Arab and Islamist trend jockeying for position in the rapidly reshaping landscape.
Don’t squander worldwide feeling of hope for America
Barack Obama not only won a decisive electoral victory at the polls across America on Nov. 4, he also generated rousing approval across the globe. From Latin America to Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East - everywhere, it seemed - jubilant banner newspaper headlines, dancing in the streets and tears of joy reflected a fresh surge of goodwill toward the new president and the United States.
Israel licks its wounds in the Gaza propaganda war
Israel has taken a battering in the global propaganda battle over its war with Hamas, despite deploying all the latest weaponry from Youtube videos to Twitter blogs and an overworked spokeswoman, experts said...Military spokeswoman Major Avital Liebovich has become an international media celebrity as she parries tough questions about the Israeli attacks and the hundreds of Palestinians killed. Israeli ambassadors have also been forced to join the television battle.
“Ping pong diplomacy” celebrated as China, U.S. play ball
They are not common diplomatic tools: several paddles, a few ping pong balls and some table tennis players from China and the United States. But the fact that nine American table tennis players were invited to Beijing for exhibition games with Chinese players in April 1971 did break the ice between the two nations. Thirty-eight years after those historic games, players from the two nations lined up for a rematch in the Chinese capital on Wednesday.
Soft Power and the Open-Source Ethics of Public Diplomacy 2.0
In some sense, PD 2.0 does help U.S. soft power by "modeling" democratic modes of communication and political discourse. And, perhaps by opening a space for criticism of the U.S., it may repair some of the U.S. credibility worn away by contradictory rhetoric and policies.
Outgoing US Cultural Affairs Official Touts Social Networking Website
On the first day of the 2009 winter quarter, about 180 students, members of consular corps, and others packed the Kerckhoff Hall Grand Salon to hear Goli Ameri, the outgoing U.S. assistant secretary of state for educational and cultural affairs, deliver a speech about U.S. public diplomacy in the 21st century. Ameri touted a U.S.-sponsored social networking website launched late last year to engage more young people in virtual, cross-cultural "hanging out." She described ExchangesConnect, the U.S.
Getting Past Smith-Mundt
Revisiting Smith-Mundt means acknowledging the context of its original passage - and how it central it was to establishing a capacity to inform global audiences at a time when arguably “good” U.S. policies like the Marshall Plan were being drowned out by Soviet propaganda...With an incoming administration - the possibilities for a revised Smith-Mundt and a renewed vision for U.S. public diplomacy are encouraging. Removing the ban won’t single-handedly revitalize U.S.
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