Russia’s combination of traditional public diplomacy and messaging through media organizations like Russia Today (RT) and Sputnik with disinformation and internet trolls is also important. Moreover, in nearby regions, Russia’s domestic media can serve as a powerful instrument in socializing foreign compatriots into a wider Russian cultural world.

Radio is helping Ethiopian farmers make the best of a bad situation as they deal with the effects of the worst drought in decades, writes Kevin Perkins of Canadian development organization Farm Radio International (FRI). 

Initially screened once a week, the show quickly captivated mainstream Australian viewers as well as Chinese-speaking migrants, so that now, due to popular demand, it is screened three times a week. SBS’s online promotion for the show says, ‘With a viewing audience of up to 50 million per episode, this popular Chinese dating show is a cultural phenomenon’.

Measuring the impact of digital diplomacy using quantitative metrics (number of followers, retweets, shares, likes...) has become a general practice among Ministries of Foreign Affairs (MFAs) […] the MFAs’ digital communication campaigns are presumed not to merely “preach to the choir” of sympathetic followers, but to actually reach constituencies outside the self-reinforcing “bubble” of like-minded followers.

There are 38 female heads of state and government, foreign ministers and leaders of international organizations who have a personal Twitter account. The Twiplomacy ‘Women Leaders’ Twitter list includes among others Queen Rania of Jordan, Brazilian President Dilma Rouseff, Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg, and Vice President of the EU Commission Federica Mogherini.

She was taken out of primary school at the age of 12 to marry a man in his 40s whom she had never met before. […] Today, that illiterate girl who didn't even know how to boil water and who [...] was finally sent back to her father's house in disgrace, has become one of northern Nigeria's most well-known writers and the first female Hausa-language author to be translated into English.

On one of Russia’s most beautiful springtime holidays, the country’s top female diplomats reveal some interesting secrets of their profession, which was considered the exclusive domain of men.