Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and visiting Estonian counterpart Taavi Roivas pledged Friday to strengthen cooperation on cybersecurity and digital identification technology.

Tags: japan, estonia, cyber security, cyber attack, shinzo abe, taavi roivas, technology, tokyo olympics, smart power, economic partnership, Digital Diplomacy & New Technology

Originally given to the United States as a goodwill gesture from China during the restoration of relations between the two nations in the early 1970s, the current family of giant pandas remain here on long-term loan.

Tags: panda diplomacy, soft power, china, national zoo, international exchange, international diplomacy, united states

Following U.S. President Barack Obama’s trailblazing visit to Cuba, a free concert by the Rolling Stones in Havana might seem like a relatively minor event. Obama revived relations with Cuba after more than a half-century of deep hostility. The septuagenarian Stones just played some very loud music. And yet, symbolically, the concert was not minor at all.

Tags: Cultural Diplomacy, music diplomacy, music, u.s.-cuban relations, communism, castro, cuba, united states, rolling stones

Given Trump's increasing erratic foreign policy positioning, the fact that he remains a frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination is sending shockwaves around the world. And this is damaging the reputation of the United States (so-called ‘Brand America') internationally. 

Tags: Donald Trump, nation branding, public diplomacy, international perception, international reputation

Aliya Harir was born in 1991 in Karachi, and grew up hating India. As a child, she’d often worry about India attacking Pakistan and ask her father where he’d take her in case an attack happened. But today, she is one of the founding members of the Catalyst, a non-governmental organization (NGO) working for peace. It is a part of the Aaghaz-e-Dosti (start of friendship) initiative, in association with Mission Bhartiyam group of India, to enhance people-to-people relations between India and Pakistan.

Tags: india, pakistan, aaghaz-e-dotsi, social media, digital diplomacy, nongovernmental organizations, people to people diplomacy

Worries about ineffective U.S. government response to foreign propaganda campaigns and calls for coherent, coordinated and compelling American messaging are growing. Having failed to pass reform in the last session, Congress is again deliberating how to restructure U.S. international broadcasting (USIB) to match the challenges facing American interests around the world. But the International Communications Reform Act, intended to “improve the missions, objectives and effectiveness of U.S.

Tags: international broadcasting, americas, united states, usib, government pd

The Belarusian society for friendship and cultural ties with foreign countries helps build a solid basis for a peaceful future, chairwoman of the society Nina Ivanova told BelTA. The organization [...] implements programs with the help of 40 societies for friendship with different countries. The strengthening of friendship ties between people living in different cultural, social and political environments helps build a solid basis for a peaceful future, Nina Ivanova pointed out.

Tags: belarus, belarus friendship society, people to people diplomacy, non-state pd, Nina Ivanova

In February, Financial Times did a special report on the opening of the southern branch of NPM, saying that Taiwan is using “museum diplomacy” to improve its global standing and international visibility.  [...] Different from the Taipei Branch, the museum showcases permanent exhibitions on Asian art history, the shared regional heritage of tea, Buddhist art, textiles, history of Chiayi and holds temporary special expositions.

Tags: taiwan, museum diplomacy, Cultural Diplomacy, National Palace Museum, Chen Cheng-po