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.
President-elect Obama, We Need a New Kind of Public Diplomacy
America is not well prepared to wage and win this conflict of ideas. We lack the focus and means to convince people around the world of the rightness of our cause of freedom...The biggest problem is a failure of overall leadership. The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), which oversees U.S.-funded civilian international broadcasting, is conflicted by different agendas...At the end of the day, strategic communications - the sum total of the government's efforts to influence foreign opinion - is bigger than public diplomacy.
Reforming U.S. Public Diplomacy for the 21st Century
While there is no easy fix, the President and Congress need to reform the strategy, doctrine, and structure of strategic communications to engage in the war of ideas seriously and effectively. This requires establishment of a new institutional framework focused on a new agency--a U.S. Agency for Strategic Communications--as well as substantial reforms of the Department of State and greater utilization of the Pentagon's combatant commands.
Obama Poised to Rebrand America, Experts Say
Obama represents a "clean break" from the past, and his election is the first big step toward change, said Dick Martin, author of "Rebuilding Brand America."... Closing Guantanamo, adhering to the Geneva Conventions and eliminating torture are key issues for people around the world because they are the symbols of American unilateralism, Martin said. Martin also suggested that Obama take a page out of President Eisenhower's playbook and give the rest of the world an opportunity to experience American culture through an agency like the now-defunct United States Information Agency.
Common Aim: Wives Push Peace
A world torn apart by bigotry can turn to the UAE for a solution that works, the head of the Diplomatic Wives’ Circle in Dubai said. Larissa Krasnogor, Chairperson of the Peaceful Co-Existence Is Our Common Aim campaign and wife of the Russian Consul General, said: "The UAE has made it possible and has set an example for others to follow...Krasnogor – who has a doctoral degree in Arabic literature – and six other diplomats’ wives lent their support to the campaign held on Monday at the Dubai Public Library. "To achieve peaceful co-existence, we should promote cultural engagement.
Beijing’s thrust into Latin America
The rise to power of leftist governments in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay and Venezuela has strengthened bilateral diplomatic relations. China established a series of "strategic partnerships" and "strategic dialogues" with a number of Latin states, and also shares a common "South-South" perspective on many global issues, particularly with Brazil...Educational exchanges are needed. Only two bona fide university programs in Chinese studies exist in the region - Mexico City and Buenos Aires.
First Lady of the Arts
Matthews, the Opera House's former head of government relations, is one of the best-connected arts strategists in the business. She has worked for a number of cultural organisations in Sydney, including the Powerhouse Museum and the Australia Council. In a sense she has come full circle. She was the British Council's manager of arts and cultural relations when she arrived in Australia in 1998 after graduating from Cambridge and completing a masters at the Courtauld Institute of Art.
Public Diplomacy Expectations
According to the Obama campaign Web site, Mr. Obama's public diplomacy outreach will be mainly focused at the grass-roots level, doubling the size of the Peace Corps and Americorps, creating a body of citizen volunteers with special language skills, etc...What is specifically needed is a new U.S. Agency for Strategic Communication under the guidance of a director of strategic communications.
Liberia: 25 Citizens Undergo Diplomatic Training in Egypt
Twenty-five Liberians have departed the country for Cairo, Egypt, to undergo a two-week training program in diplomacy...covering a wide range of topics including development diplomacy, conflict resolution and multi-track diplomacy, and media and public diplomacy.
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