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.
Strait talking on Taiwan
The Guardian
The real, often unnoticed trend in Taiwan-China relations is not towards military conflict but towards ever closer cooperation, fostered principally by Hu's switch towards non-military methods of "recovering" the island....China has renounced counter-productive threats of force and discovered "soft power".
Americans in Pyongyang
Newsweek
The big question was whether the night's musical success can act as a catalyst for a diplomatic one, too....[North Korean vice culture minister Song Sok Hwan] told orchestra members their concert had "opened the hearts of the Korean people [and] serves as an important occasion to open a chapter of mutual understanding between the two countries."
New York Philharmonic Receives Standing Ovation in North Korea
VOA News
North Korean government propaganda has always portrayed the United States as a hostile aggressor. The orchestra's visit is being widely described as a form of music diplomacy, with similarities to ping-pong diplomacy opened by the Nixon administration toward China in the 1970s.
Atlantic Eye: President-to-be Obama
In many European capitals people wonder how you would be as president. You are the talk of the town. Not just young people, but seniors and middle-aged alike are fascinated by you. It does not matter, from Prague to Warsaw, from Bratislava to Vienna, from Berlin to London, from Copenhagen to Stockholm -- I am asked about the elections, and shortly thereafter about you. And this was the case long before good fortune came your way.
Chavez to boot English terms from business
CNN
The Communications and Information Ministry said in a statement that Venezuelans must recover Spanish words that are "threatened by sectors that have started a battle for the cultural domination of our nations."
Obama’s Ohio Grilling
The Washington Post
The question, then, is what do we do with the 1.3 billion Muslims, who are along a spectrum of belief. Some extraordinarily moderate, some very pious but not violent. How do we reach out to them? And it is my strong belief that that is the battlefield that we have to worry about, and that is where we have been losing badly over the last seven years. That is where Iraq has been a disaster. That is where the lack of effective public diplomacy has been a disaster.
China Willing to Resume Human Rights Talks With U.S.
Bloomberg
China's government said it's willing to resume a dialogue with the U.S. on improving human rights after a five-year halt, taking a step to prevent rights advocates from boycotting Beijing's Olympic Games in August.
American Interests, Policies, and Results in the Middle East
Saudi-US Relations Information Service
Our public diplomacy, such as it is, has concentrated on explaining away or defending Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, and "extraordinary rendition" rather than on seeking common ground with the world's Muslims, the vast majority of whom share our horror at Al-Qa'ida's amoral tactics and reject its deviant vision of Islam.
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