Hyseni stated that this project will involve more young people from Albania and Kosovo, who have the potential to promote their countries through implementation of their creative ideas. Albanian Deputy Foreign Minister further said that this memorandum will promote network of “digital diplomats” and will also assist in the implementation of public and cultural diplomacy.

A longtime Las Cruces schoolteacher spent part of her summer in a small village in Albania, working with the Fulbright Association and Cultural Heritage Without Borders to restore historic, Ottoman-era mansions that have fallen into disrepair.

Pristina and Belgrade are set for another diplomatic battle over Kosovo’s bid to join United Nations cultural body UNESCO which could further damage relations between Serbia and its former province.[...] As expected, Serbia’s reaction was immediate and fierce. Its leaders vowed to oppose Pristina’s bid, arguing that Kosovo is not a state and has not proved capable of protecting Serbian Orthodox religious monuments and heritage.

Google “Kosovo”, and Petrit Selimi knows exactly what you’re going to see: dry, diplo-speak scouting reports at best, and depressing references to past conflicts at worst. It’s not exactly the promotional buzz a fledgling country with sights set on global integration would hope for*. To Selimi, Kosovo’s Deputy Foreign Secretary and a pioneer in Digital Diplomacy, this is a major problem.

Google “Kosovo”, and Petrit Selimi knows exactly what you’re going to see: dry, diplo-speak scouting reports at best, and depressing references to past conflicts at worst. It’s not exactly the promotional buzz a fledgling country with sights set on global integration would hope for. 

Public diplomacy fans should read the list of the 10 biggest public diplomacy stories of last year. Thanks to the University of Southern California’s Center on Public Diplomacy, we can see the global trends and how public diplomats are responding to those trends.