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.
McCain vs. Obama
A good use of the US Government’s “public diplomacy” mechanisms by either candidate can do a lot to improve global misperceptions about American intentions. The problem is that the Bush Administration has had to use these tools to showcase US policy on lower priority issues where the US is relatively open to dialogue...since it cannot point to meaningful consultations with allies on the strategic policies that Washington is still developing unilaterally.
Downsized U.S. Goals and Presence in Iraq
In a new report from The Century Foundation, former National Intelligence Council vice-chair Ellen Laipson argues that the United States needs to move quickly to reset its Iraq policy goals...This public diplomacy challenge could affect the political atmosphere in the United States and in Iraq...Over time, public attitudes may rally to new policy approaches that show promise of achieving better outcomes.
Malaysia to bring up fuel prices at OIC meeting
Malaysia will discuss the issue of escalating fuel prices at the next Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) meeting in Kampala in Uganda from June 18-20...Earlier, Dr Rais said the conference would discuss issues such as improving Muslim World-West engagement, understanding Islam in a globalized world, enhancing Muslim World-West public diplomacy and preventing emerging Muslim world-West crises.
El Mundo al Dia Launched Today
El Mundo al Dia (The World Today) brings the Voice of America's (VOA) television audiences in Venezuela, Colombia and other Andean nations a comprehensive new daily 30-minute Spanish-language news program. The show features news updates, exclusive interviews, and reports from Washington, D.C., and elsewhere in the United States.
Shanghai among eight Asian commercial centres: MasterCard
The index, developed by a panel of social scientists, rates cities on seven key dimensions including legal and political framework, economic stability and livability, MasterCard said. "The Centers of Commerce Index is a roadmap for corporations to identify and evaluate investment and market opportunities in a world where cities, instead of countries, have become the primary economic players," said Yuwa Hedrick-Wong, economic adviser for MasterCard Worldwide, Asia/Pacific.
There is only one man who can save America
Obama's historic purpose is to reconnect to America's other tradition - of exercising "soft" power rather than "hard" power. Soft power was the way the US defeated the Soviet Union, not through military conquest but through cultural osmosis. It was as much American rock music and Levi's consumerism that undermined the Warsaw Pact and brought down the communist bureaucracies.
The Unique Reality of Condi Rice
In case you missed it--or, if you didn't miss it, in case you didn't have the energy to read the entire 9,000 words--Condoleezza Rice's interminable lead article in the current issue of Foreign Affairs is a doozy...In the piece, Rice concocts something she calls "a uniquely American realism." In it, it's America's job to change the world, and in its own image.
Rethinking the National Interest
We must help weak and poorly functioning states strengthen and reform themselves and thereby prevent their failure in the first place. This will require the transformation and better integration of the United States' institutions of hard power and soft power -- a difficult task and one that our administration has begun.
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