Mohamed Al-Subeeh was a senior restorer at Syria's best-known mosaic museum, but as war swept deeper into his province, destroying artefacts and threatening his and his family's lives, he was forced to flee […] But when he heard about a project at some of Berlin's top museums that trains newcomers to become Arabic-language guides for fellow refugees, he leapt at the opportunity.

Tags: non-state pd, Cultural Diplomacy, refugees, international advocacy, germany, europe

President Obama will become the first sitting American president to visit Hiroshima, Japan, the White House announced on Tuesday, making a fraught stop this month at the site where the United States used an atomic bomb at the end of World War II.

Tags: government pd, apology diplomacy, nation branding, cultural memory, japan, united states

A Muslim charity will use advertisements on public buses across Britain to portray Islam in a positive light ahead of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, the charity group announced Monday. London's iconic double-decker red buses will use banners with messages "Subhan Allah", an Arabic phrase meaning "Glory be to Allah", in Latin script.

Tags: london, united kingdom, advocacy, global aid & development, non state pd, islam, ramadan, islamic relief, refugee crisis, syria

The deceit of history consists in making us believe we live in the present; when in reality, history is all there is, and everything is but mere repetition. [...] Pope Francis, in delivering a message of hope, invoked the founding fathers of the European project, and exhorted European political leaders to follow their footsteps and that “Today more than ever, their vision inspires us to build bridges and tear down walls.”

Tags: pope francis, papal diplomacy, religious diplomacy, religion, non state pd, europe, dialogue, catholic church

Lehrer Dance, based in Buffalo, is known for its strong, inspiring, choreography. Internationally known. The eight-person troupe is just back from a European tour, and they’ll spend the next two weeks in Russia. [...] This is the fourth time Lehrer has led his dancers on a Russian cultural diplomacy trip.  The tradition started in 2012, when the United States Consulate in the port city of Vladivostock invited them.

Tags: united states, buffalo, russia, dance diplomacy, Cultural Diplomacy, cultural exchange, arts, lehrer dance

Arguing that the United States has so far failed to invest seriously in understanding or pushing back against the problem of Russian propaganda and disinformation, Anne Applebaum, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and Washington Post columnist, and Edward Lucas, a senior editor at the Economist, are launching this week a counter-disinformation initiative at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) in Washington, DC. 

Tags: radio free europe/radio liberty, united states, russia, putin, international broadcasting, propaganda, disinformation, media

Digital diplomacy is the use of internet and new information communication technologies to help achieve diplomatic objectives. [...] On this side of the globe, India is leading the way on digital diplomacy. Despite a modest budget in public diplomacy, India’s ministry of external affairs’ Facebook page with more than 1.2 million followers has come second only to the US state department among foreign ministries in the world. 

Tags: india, ministry of external affairs, digital diplomacy & new tech, twitter, facebook, instagram, google plus, social media, international image

A Sudanese public diplomacy delegation arrived in the Ethiopian Capital, Addis Ababa, on Sunday for a week-long official visit.The Speaker underscored that the visit would further bolster the historic and long-standing brotherhood and solidarity between the two countries. “Though Ethiopia will not be new to you, during your stay, we are hopeful that you will explore further opportunities of partnership in order for the two countries to grow together.”

Tags: sudan, ethiopia, government pd, addis adaba, africa, bilateral relations, partnerships, economic development