public diplomacy
In a New Year coming on the heels of waning economic growth and all-round policy paralysis, India will be hard-pressed to meet the expectations of its own people and those of the comity of nations. The facts that we have a democratic polity, a relatively peaceful multi-ethnic and multi-religious society, and a promising emerging economy are all subject to constant testing rather than being set in stone. Status in world affairs is earned, not given, on a continuous basis.
Australia will boost diplomatic engagement with India in early 2013 with a new Australian High Commissioner to take office next month, and direct Ministerial talks on economic, regional and security issues in New Delhi and Mumbai from January 20-23. Foreign Minister Bob Carr today announced Mr Patrick Suckling as High Commissioner to India from January 2013, replacing Mr Peter Varghese.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations has appointed its first secretary-general from Vietnam, a one-party communist state and one of four ASEAN members in conflict with China over territory in the South China Sea. ASEAN has struggled over the past year to form a consensus on the issue and having a leader from Vietnam will keep the spotlight on the dispute.
The development caught the attention of the Saudi Internet news service, Al Arabiya, which reported this week that Netanyahu's Twitter account has drawn new followers from Iraq, Egypt and Lebanon, currently numbering 717 followers.
President Shimon Peres's comments that Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is a partner for peace hurt Israel's public diplomacy efforts, Information and Diaspora Minister Yuli Edelstein (Likud) said on Monday.
As 2012 draws to a close and turmoil brews across the Middle East and elsewhere, there's no doubt that we are a long way from the golden age of cultural diplomacy. Gone are the days when the U.S. State Department sent the likes of Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington jetting around the world to expose hundreds of thousands to America's great homegrown art forms.
Forecasting the major international stories for the year ahead is a time-honored pastime, but the world has a habit of springing surprises. In late 1988, no one was predicting Tiananmen Square or the fall of the Berlin Wall. On the eve of 2001, the 9/11 attacks and the subsequent invasion of Afghanistan were unimaginable. So with that substantial disclaimer, let's peer into the misty looking glass for 2013.
Participation in multilateral affairs has become a notable feature of China's diplomacy in the past year as the nation, along with other emerging economies, increasingly works toward justice and equity in international order.