globalization
On the surface, the turmoil in Hong Kong is caused by Beijing’s decision regarding general elections. In reality, the deep sources of the conflict are not so different from the recent large-scale outbreaks of social tensions in Xinjiang, Tibet, and Taiwan.
![This photo is reprinted courtesy Connie Ma, via Flickr Pro-independence flyers in Scotland](https://uscpublicdiplomacy.org/sites/default/files/styles/275x168/public/uploads/14604100029_2d05af060c_k.jpg?itok=kUK0KktD)
CPD Advisory Board Member Kounalakis on what gets lost when independence is gained.
![Source: https://www.daad.de/laenderinformationen/korea-sued/de/](https://uscpublicdiplomacy.org/sites/default/files/styles/275x168/public/uploads/unesco.jpg?itok=Tw-DG_1s)
Irena Kozymka has authored “The Diplomacy of Culture: The Role of UNESCO in Sustaining Cultural Diversity” recently published by Palgrave Macmillan. In her book she discusses how cultural diversity plays an essential role in international relations, especially when there is an increasing shift towards globalization.
![Simon Cockell, Flickr, Creative Commons](https://uscpublicdiplomacy.org/sites/default/files/styles/275x168/public/uploads/Screen%20Shot%202014-04-01%20at%203.23.30%20PM.png?itok=dO1jU-7C)
The future is now. The economic crisis has sped up globalization, and we are already living in a new era.
The future is now. The economic crisis has sped up globalization, and we are already living in a new era. The strength of the BRICS countries has to compete with growth in the “double MIT” (Mexico, Indonesia, Turkey and Malaysia, India, and Thailand) and more. Of the world’s major global companies, 25% are in these countries.
Frameworks for cultural diplomacy in the U.S. are often too narrow and too broad. On the one hand, self-identified practitioners of cultural diplomacy – within and outside government – tend to identify, if somewhat generically, specific exportable forms of expressive culture (think: music, theater, literature, dance, murals, or film).
![Eyes on Rights,Sean Comiskey, Flickr, Creative Commons](https://uscpublicdiplomacy.org/sites/default/files/styles/275x168/public/uploads/Screen%20Shot%202014-03-13%20at%2010.39.02%20AM.png?itok=-thyvT5X)
Topless demonstrators in Ukraine are part of the self-defined “sextremist” Femen group – radical women protesting the Russian invasion of Crimea.