In recent months the United States has witnessed a heavy dose of partisan politics driving the nation’s dialogue, creating a deeper divide on important issues. In the process we have used political figures as scapegoats for the impairment caused by this very division. If this destructive pattern does not end, we will drain our most powerful resource for healing and understanding – I call it “domestic diplomacy,” dialogue that engages people to find commonalities and join together as one. 

Dabeet, who serves on Sister Cities International — an organization dedicated to promoting citizen diplomacy among nations — wants to build “bridges of peace and understanding among nations.” He is particularly interested in building some bridges between the United States and his native Palestine and serves on Sister Cities International in a capacity that allows him to do exactly that.

Youth in Des Moines, Iowa have more in common with students in Tunisia than they thought. In particular, a passion for social justice. While participating in Youth for Understanding’s (YFU) Virtual Exchange Initiative, a program that digitally connects students in different countries for moderated, in-depth discussion, a group of students in Iowa brought up the Black Lives Matter movement.

Lee Dong-hak, former renovation committee member of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), has been a maverick in the ruling party, never hesitating to make cutting remarks against the party's senior lawmakers to make room for young politicians. The 36-year-old is now preparing a round-the-world trip posing as a "chief of the global village."

A context of the current social and political situation determines the special attention that is paid to citizen diplomacy on the Crimean peninsula, because now it is important for the region not only to establish friendly relations with other states, but also to overcome a certain information blockade.