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.
A Message for the New President: Getting Diplomacy Right
Whoever becomes this country’s new president in January, the US cannot continue to conduct its foreign policy along the business-as-usual lines of the Bush administration. The next president will, in reality, have only one foreign policy option. This is the imperative to rely far more on traditional diplomacy, public diplomacy and foreign aid delivered through civilian means to begin to repair America’s face and effectively conduct its business abroad.
It’s the carrot, not the stick
There is a way to battle the lies and hatred of violent extremism that does not depend on F-16 fighters, nuclear aircraft carriers, M1 Abram tanks and most important, the sacrifice of brave American service men and women. It is called public diplomacy. Public diplomacy is best defined as the communication and presentation of America’s interests, culture and policies to foreign populations in a fashion that generates good will, respect and support.
Senator Urges Suspension Of Iraq Publicity Contracts
Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., on Thursday sent a letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates asking him to suspend $300 million in contracts for civilians to produce pro-American news stories, entertainment programs and public service ads in Iraq until the Senate Armed Services Committee and the next administration review the contracts.
Milk Scandal Sours China’s ‘Soft Power’
China's formidable state machinery was able to stage the largest Olympics in history and to have a "Taikonaut" perform a 20-minute spacewalk last week. Yet the world-scale scandal emanating from contaminated milk products has exposed the worsening malaise in the country's political and administrative structure.
America As Superpower: Shaken, Not Deposed
The U.S. financial crisis that has all but certainly thrown the world's largest economy into recession is also prompting pronouncements that what had been dubbed "the American century" is over...Yet others say, "Not so fast!" and predict the American era will continue – in part because the world has devised no alternative to it. If nothing else, the need for coordination in the face of the globalized economy's first epic financial crisis will provide a test of where America's power and leadership really stand, they add.
Reevaluating the Peace Corps
As the organization approaches its 50th anniversary, former staff and volunteers are asking tough questions about the program’s effectiveness. At the same time, a campaign is underway to double the budget of the Peace Corps, an objective that is gaining support in Congress.
UN Yearbook goes online, bringing the Organization’s work closer to the public
The Yearbook of the United Nations, the basic reference book on the work of the Organization, went online today, placing 60 years of UN activities at the disposal of the public. The new website – unyearbook.un.org – provides free public access to the 59 volumes and over 60,000 pages of the Yearbook collection, detailing the work and achievements of the UN system over the first six decades of its existence, from 1946 through 2005.
EU Too Divided To Solve Frozen Conflicts, Azerbaijan Says
Vladimir Socor from the NGO the Jamestown Foundation and a long time expert on the region said the "EU is by far not matching Russia in soft power in Azerbaijan" and the wider region. The conflict in Georgia damaged the confidence of investors in the Caucasus energy corridor - the only direct link the EU has with the oil and gas-rich Caspian countries without passing through Russia - he explained.
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