Cultural Diplomacy

June 12, 2015

People are strangely fascinated by what other people eat, and even more so when that other person is the head of state. While there is nothing overt about White House state dinner menus, India's External Affair Ministry have always remained taciturn on what was served at the high table, up until recently.

Expo Milano 2015, Milan’s newly opened World’s Fair, promotes global food security by targeting culinary and agricultural innovations. Ambassador of Italy to the United States, Claudio Bisogniero; Milan Expo Coordinator, Beatrice Camp; and culinary innovator, Jose Andres engaged in a panel discussion at Ambassador Bisogniero’s Washington, DC residence on Wednesday, May 27. With the support of Meridian International, the trio discussed Expo Milano and its focus on women in food, sustainable agriculture, and culinary diplomacy.

The June edition of Bruce Gregory's public diplomacy reading list is now available. Known affectionately at CPD as "Bruce's List," this list is a compilation of books, journal articles, papers and blogs on a wide variety of PD topics, and features a number of CPD scholars. Highlights from this list include:

Ever since President Obama’s historic announcement in early December 2014, calling for the restoration of diplomatic ties between Washington and Havana, eyes have turned toward Cuba, waiting to see what changes the new dynamic will bring to the island nation.

Japan and China may publicly snarl over disputed territory, naval brinkmanship and the interpretation of history, but for Asia’s biggest economies the era of vending machine diplomacy has dawned. This month, in the intimacy of a Ginza hotel, one of Japan’s most quietly influential business lobbies will meet its Chinese counterpart for unprecedented talks. Convened through mutual need and ambition, the summit will focus on the future of an industry that generates global sales of consumer products worth more than $50bn per

June 9, 2015

The leaders of seven wealthy democracies gathered in southeastern Germany on Sunday and Monday for a two-day summit that touched on a number of issues, including climate change and combating terrorism. (The Group of 7 consists of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States.) But it wasn't strictly work for the leaders, as evidenced by photos snapped of a beer-swilling U.S. President Barack Obama. When in Rome, er, the Bavarian Alps ...

Last week, a non-governmental organisation, Centre for Values in Leadership (CVL) hosted Taiwo Ajayi-Lycett as she clocked 74 years. A panel made up of Joke Silva, Professor Reginald Ofodilede, Ben Tomoloju and Jahman Anikulapo deliberated on the problems plaguing our arts and culture industry. [...] After the celebrant was ushered in, the panelists were on hand to deal with issues in the Arts and Cultural industry. 

The post Ebola epoch presents an challenge for the three most affected countries such as Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea to refocus their diplomacy and put their diplomats to work, as these countries especially Liberia seeks international partners as the country emerges from an idle and desperate economic situation which has been paralysed due to the scourge.

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