Qatar made unsuccessful bids for both the 2016 and 2020 Games, and will no doubt make another one in the years to come. If it is serious about respecting the tradition of the event, let alone becoming a global centre for genuine cultural inquiry, it needs to get over its inhibitions.

São Paulo – Alexandre de Gusmão Foundation (Funag), connected to the Itamaraty, should promote, starting on the 29th, a course for Arab diplomats in São Paulo, Brasília and Rio de Janeiro. According to information disclosed by the organisation, the promotion of programmes for diplomats is a tradition that began in 2006. The objective of the course is to provide professionals a clearer idea of what Brazil is and, later, to facilitate relations with their countries of origin.

APDS Blogger: Alex Laverty

Jon Stewart, Bassem Youssef, & U.S. Embassy, Cairo: Reconceptualizing Diplomatic Norms in the Digital Age

Sports was acknowledged as a catalyst in bringing peace in the face of adversities around the world at the Peace and Sport Dubai Forum2013 which began on Tuesday. IOC Vice President Nawal El Moutawakel congratulated UAE for hosting such a great event, the first event in the Middle East. “Sports diplomacy is the tool that protects the society,” said Mahash Saeed Salem Al Hameli.

Harsh international sanctions against Iran are pointless and even counterproductive, members of the Iran Project argued this week in a new report. The group, consisting of a number of leading experts and former diplomats, argued that sanctions “may be sowing the seeds of long-term alienation between the Iranian people and the United States..."

Following significant critical acclaim and audience enthusiasm for its Pakistan and Morocco seasons, Caravanserai: A place where cultures meet returns for a third installment featuring artists from Turkey. Caravanserai is an innovative cultural exchange program produced by Arts Midwest on behalf of its fellow U.S. Regional Arts Organizations.

Too many times in the past decade, the state of Israel has demonstrated weakness opposite the Palestinians in the public diplomacy war for hearts and minds, because it did not prepare appropriately for an era in which wars are also waged in the public diplomacy arena. This is the conclusion that Knesset member Nachman Shai (Labor party) presents in his new book, Media War Reaching for Hearts and Minds [in Hebrew].

The young culinary student learned paella thanks to exchange cooking classes put on by UNIFIL’s Spanish contingent in south Lebanon. The five-week course seeks to broaden the culinary expertise of a dozen or so hospitality students in addition to teaching some of the Spanish UNIFIL members Lebanese dishes.