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.

Iran's Failed Cultural Diplomacy in Syria

In her examination of cultural diplomacy, Von Maltzahn looks briefly at its relationship with ‘soft power’, with the Europeans developing structured programmes between the world wars, followed lately by China, but with few Arab countries taking the practice seriously, other than recently through satellite television channels.  Compared to Iran, Syria has had little desire to propagate its culture abroad. 

Tags: iran, syria, Cultural Diplomacy, nadia von maltzahn, cultural understanding, soft power

You Can Only See a Fraction of These Publicly Owned British Artworks

The Parliamentary and Government taxpayer-funded art collections hold a combined 22,000 artworks, which are intended to promote British art and cultural diplomacy. But only a few of the pieces can be viewed for a fee by tourists visiting the House of Parliament, Sarah Cascone reports for artnet News. 

Tags: united kingdom, soft power, art diplomacy, Cultural Diplomacy, government pd

Brazil's Foreign Policy Failures

The Brazilian foreign policy establishment rightly sees relations with emerging countries, so-called South–South diplomacy, as one of the pillars of Brazil’s global strategy. However, the crisis has reduced the country’s soft power and economic tools to attract these nations.

Tags: brazil, foreign policy, soft power, south-south diplomacy, dilma rousseff

The Reality of Kurdistan

Kurdish forces, the Peshmerga – which means “ready to die.” They have had more success against IS than anyone else, even though they are fighting for a homeland that appears on no maps except their own. It is time for the rest of the world to acknowledge the courage and importance of the Kurds and recognize an independent Kurdistan.

Tags: kurdistan, middle east, syria, iraq, isis, nato, turkey, government pd, Peshmerga

Unhappy New Year for Coca-Cola as it Upsets First Russia, then Ukraine

All Coca-Cola wanted to do was to wish consumers a happy new year, but instead it ended up stirring anger in [...] Russia and Ukraine, over [...] Crimea […] In a new year’s message on VK, the most popular Russian social media network, Coca-Cola published a map of Russia that did not include Crimea. Faced with barrage of criticism [...], it published the map again on Tuesday [...] including Crimea, and apologized.

Tags: non-state pd, PD fail, nation branding, ukraine, russia, crimea

How China’s Economic Slump Could Hurt American Colleges

Almost a third of the international students were from China — which means that the country’s economic slump could hit U.S. institutions hard […] And while the numbers of Chinese undergraduate and graduate students in the U.S. increased last year by 13% and 4%, respectively, that pace was down considerably from the 18% and 12% growth of 2013-14. 

Tags: international exchange, nation branding, china, united states, study abroad, global economy

What Hashtagged in 2015? Periods, Refugees and Nigerians At Hogwarts

From the mundane to the bizarre, everything seemed to include a hashtag in global development this year.

Tags: non-state pd, digital diplomacy, international development, international advocacy, social media, africa, europe

The Foundation of Art in Embassies Brings High Art and Innovation to U.S. Schools

The Foundation for Art and Preservation in Embassies (FAPE) [will] provide "permanent works of American art for U.S. embassies worldwide, contributing to the U.S. Department of State's mission of cultural diplomacy and cross-cultural understanding within the diplomatic community and the international public […] Exciting cultural diplomacy initiatives can be seen through their site-specific commissions.

Tags: government pd, Cultural Diplomacy, nation branding, international exchange, united states, art diplomacy, FAPE

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