public diplomacy
Right now, all over the world, former Fulbright scholars like me (Norway, 2012) are raising the alarm, trying to persuade Congress to stand by one of its best creations, passed by unanimous bipartisan consent of the Senate and signed into law by President Truman in 1946. Yet the Fulbright budget, which falls under the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), seems to be on the chopping block.
As Ukraine's political divisions play out on the geopolitical stage, the country also faces an unsettling schism among its main churchgoers. Now Filaret says that Ukraine's growing political crisis is a signal from above that it's time to unite all of the Orthodox faithful into a single church.
Can learning about the opposing side’s suffering lead to reconciliation? Palestinian Professor Mohammed Dajani believes it can, prompting him to take a group of his students to visit Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.
I attended the 3rd Los Angeles Turkish Film Festival (LATFF) this past March at the Hollywood’s legendary Egyptian Theatre. When I first heard about the festival last summer from a friend, I honestly thought it would be almost impossible to hold a successful Turkish event in Los Angeles. First, I was so much absorbed in my work on Turkey’s popular culture exports and their role as public diplomacy tools.
Since the new pope was elected in the spring of 2013, commentators have been eagerly speculating about the "Francis effect," or the possibility that the popular pontiff might attract more people to the flock. But Hispanics make up the biggest population of Catholics in America, and if they continue leaving the Church at this rate, it could be particularly problematic.
London crowds can get ready to lose themselves at the sight of Eminem, who will be the first rapper to headline at the Wembley Stadium in July. The show will be Marshall Mathers' first London concert in 13 years and he’ll play to a 90,000-capacity stadium.
Jay Leno, Ellen DeGeneres and others are backing boycotts of the Beverly Hills Hotel and Hotel Bel-Air because of new laws targeting gays and women in the Southeast Asian sultanate of Brunei.
São Paulo’s gay pride has held the record for largest parade since 2006, and this year was no different. Hundred of thousands marched in the streets Sunday, and event organizers claim there were more than 2.5 million people in attendance.