There is a lot of talk about political leaders, foreign ministries and individual ambassadors in the social media, but there is a more important discussion when it comes to digital diplomacy. Rather than consuming digital content and playing with social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook, the real challenge of online diplomacy is about "digital making."

Tags: digital diplomacy, europe, digital making, social media, egmont institute, dutch clingendael institute

In historical efforts at cultivating soft power –​ Australia's public image overseas –​ we've leaned pretty heavily on the wildlife [...] Koalas. Beaches. Barbecues. Where's the messaging that Australia is a successful, multicultural, safe, educated, vibrant democracy; the 12th biggest economy in the world; the home of the world's oldest living culture; of Cate Blanchett and Hugh Jackman but also Atlassian and Canva; of the inventors of WiFi, the black box and Gardasil? 

Tags: australia, soft power, koala diplomacy, panda diplomacy, china, hard power

The time is ripe for governments to start monitoring their digital reputation just as they monitor it in the real world.  [...] But the mistake is to equate nation branding with advertising, which doesn’t work for places. A place with a bad reputation won’t be able to fix it this way. Instead, the place must take strategic action to align its reality with its desired reputation. 

Tags: nation branding, strategic communications, place branding, digital reputation, digital country index

The fourth new project will support the stepping up of EU engagement in China through people-to-people contacts: EU Policy and Outreach Partnership in China (€1.8 million) is a Public Diplomacy tool which aims at giving the EU a stronger voice and at reinforcing its capacity to engage with local publics and stakeholders.

Tags: european union, latin america, china, india, non-state actor pd, people-to-people diplomacy

Local films are going abroad in a cultural diplomacy project by the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). Sent to Singapore's diplomatic missions that express an interest, the traveling package comprises 10 feature-length and 10 short films. [...] The ministries partnered the National Museum of Singapore's Cinematheque department to curate the list, with each chosen film representing a significant development in Singapore's film landscape.

Tags: singapore, film diplomacy, Cultural Diplomacy, government pd, berlin, chennai, hong kong, new delhi, london, tourism

Why have tens of thousands of people from around the world chosen to live under the Islamic State’s draconian rule and fight under its black flag? To understand this phenomenon, we must recognize that the world of radical Islam is not just death and destruction. It also encompasses fashion, music, poetry, dream interpretation. In short, jihadism offers its adherents a rich cultural universe in which they can immerse themselves.

Tags: isis, extremism, soft power, culture, jihad, jihad culture

Entitled "Preparing Athletes for 2016 Rio Olympics", the Forum aims to offer a valuable opportunity for local and overseas experts to exchange views on trainingstrategies and application of science and technology in providing support to athletes.

Tags: sports diplomacy, sports exchanges, international exchange, science diplomacy, educational exchange, hong kong, china, government pd

A longtime Las Cruces schoolteacher spent part of her summer in a small village in Albania, working with the Fulbright Association and Cultural Heritage Without Borders to restore historic, Ottoman-era mansions that have fallen into disrepair.

Tags: united states, albania, sweden, kosovo, fulbright, ottoman culture, cultural heritage without borders, Cultural Diplomacy, people-to-people diplomacy