(Dis)Trust and Diplomacy

This week in public diplomacy news, headlines revealed how trust can both smooth and sharpen diplomatic divides. State and spiritual leaders in Africa, Europe, the Middle East and the United States sought to galvanize support for policy objectives by communicating messages of cooperation, confidence and social consciousness to their constituents. More than 300 rabbis from the American Jewish community wrote a joint letter to the U.S. Congress urging lawmakers to endorse the Iran deal; while humanitarian organizations operating out of Nigeria discovered that engaging “religious leaders in communities on the ground will deliver better outcomes.” Yet as relations warmed between Britain and Iran following a four-year standstill, relations froze between Afghanistan and Pakistan after each government accused the other of “trying to create mistrust.”  

• Britain to Reopen Embassy in Tehran this Weekend after Four Years The Guardian
• Engaging Faith-Based Communities Is Key in Building International Trust Triple Pundit
• In Latin America, Quiet Diplomacy Bears Fruit New York Times
• Islamic Experts Urge More Muslim Action on Climate Change  The Economic Times
• Pakistan Summons Afghan Envoy as Ties Worsen The Peninsula
• Rabbis Defend Iran Nuclear Agreement in Letter to US Congress: Report Tasnim News Agency

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Photo by Kyle Steed / CC BY-NC 2.0