APDS Blogger: Oscar Castellanos del Collado

Thank you, Frank. You have been a steadfast supporter and advocate for public diplomacy and public affairs and I am proud to count you as a friend. Before I begin, I want to acknowledge Walter Roberts. Thanks to your generosity, this fine Institute can continue its great work. You have worked for USIA, for U.S. Presidents on both sides of the aisle, been an administrator, author, teacher, and public diplomacy practitioner, I thank you, and we all thank you, Sir, for your vision, leadership, and service.

The previous Culture Post concentrated on the popular individualism and collectivism dimension. Individualism privileges the individual perspective, goals and actions. Collectivism emphasizes the perspective, goals and activities of the collective or larger group.

Although water scarcity is the Arab region’s most pressing challenge, it gets little diplomatic attention, HRH Princess Sumaya said on Sunday. She urged Arab countries to work together in order to solve the growing water crisis in the region, highlighting that water is the essence of life. “We must establish the underlying truths that neighbouring states which share water resources should work together,” Princess Sumaya said at the opening of the 2nd Arab Water Week.

Cape Town – Municipalities that splashed out on getting their cities ready for the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) shouldn’t expect too much return on their investment, say economists.

The Minister Darguste has laid the "foundation stone" of the cultural diplomacy, by signing a framework agreement between the Just for Laughs Festival, the National School of Humour of Montreal and the Ministry of Culture. "These are excellent Quebec institutions in the field of humor," stressed the Consul General of Haiti in Montreal, who is convinced that Haiti needs humor to thrive in an atmosphere of relaxation and provide International major performances.

In one of her last acts as America's top diplomat, Clinton launched the Open Book Project (OBP), which will make high-quality educational resources freely available online in the Arabic language.

Under Secretary Sonenshine’s visit to India will highlight the breadth and depth of the U.S.-India people to people relationship, particularly our strong educational partnership. In New Delhi Under Secretary Sonenshine will lead the U.S. delegation to the Government of India conference “Mainstreaming Skills in Education” on February 6-7, where she will deliver remarks on our support for India’s development of community colleges and the expansion of skills development education.