Saudi Arabia has an image problem. From allegations of exporting a radical Islamist ideology, to the war on Yemen and gender rights, the country’s reputation often takes a battering around the world. Now, the culture ministry has been given the challenging task of improving domestic and international perceptions, while delivering a 10 per cent increase in positive media coverage of the kingdom by 2020.

On Thursday, May 26, the first day of the G7 Summit, Mr. and Mrs. Abe accompanied the world’s leaders and their spouses on a visit to the Shinto spiritual origin of Japan known as Ise Jingu (Ise Grand Shrine) [...] to emphasize Japan’s spiritual core at a shrine noted for its natural beauty and not national politics like that of Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo that rattles nerves throughout Northeast Asia. 

The logic of climate diplomacy is that the best way to encourage others to do more is to reduce emissions more rapidly yourself. But Singapore is limited in what it can offer in terms of cuts because its small land area restricts the availability of domestic renewable energy.

On May 26th, Gallup announced that the Russian people’s approval of U.S. leadership dropped to arecord 1%, which is the worst rating in the world and the lowest approval Gallup has ever recorded. According to an article written by Gallup analyst Julie Ray, the abysmal view of the United States in Russia is a reflection of the country’s “…increasingly tense relations with the U.S. since the crisis in Ukraine and the threat that many Russians, as well as residents of several former Soviet states, feel the U.S. now poses to their countries.”

The tourist market is getting broader, changing and becoming more competitive. Understandably, nations and cities are constantly battling for their share of the huge tourism revenues to sustain the viability of attractions that bring in tourists and travelers – whether they are pristine beaches, ancient monuments, or natural wonders. To attract more tourists, destinations strive to outdo one another in trying to be different through destination branding.

In 2015 the WHO said that smoking is on course to kill 100 million Chinese in this century, and it warned that if the Chinese continue the habit, that rate could increase to 3 million per year by 2050 [...] From Mao Zedong to Deng Xiaoping, China has a long history of luminary smokers. However, “ashtray diplomacy” has abated thanks to a policy introduced in 2013.

Seeing U.S. soldiers cooperate with the PKK's Syrian wing, the PYD, while the PKK was killing Turkish soldiers, will have serious long-term challenges for U.S. public diplomacy in Turkey