After the 2016 election, the new government has realised that soft diplomacy aligned with a more independent foreign policy is far more effective in the long-term than military force. As a consequence, the government establishes a new Department of Regional Cooperation. 

According to Alexander Lukashenko, public diplomacy opens big prospects in cooperation development. “No doubt, further strengthening of contacts between denominations, ethnic associations and foreign missions accredited in Belarus will be useful. You can become a link between Belarus and other states. It will only benefit the peoples,” the President is confident.

“There was a realization among the decision-makers that English needed a presence on Israel TV in prime time – for Israel’s image and for the sake of local English speakers, the foreign press and diplomats.”[...] I told numerous IBA heads that we could be the English equivalent of Al Jazeera and could fight the hasbara (public diplomacy) battle through solid Israel-perspective journalism."

Gospel singer Roy Smith Mwatia better known Rufftone has been re-appointed Republic of Korea’s goodwill ambassador for public diplomacy. [...] the reason the Korean embassy re-appointed the legendary singer to the post was because of the role he played in influencing Kenyan youth positively and due to the passion for the task he (Rufftone) showed the previous year.

Friends of ESRA held their annual fundraising dinner on Thursday of last week to aid ESRA’s “Give a child a future” campaign, with MK Michael Oren delivering a speech on “The Israel-U.S. relationship.” [...] She added that Oren called on Israel to give more support to American Jewish students on the front lines of the public diplomacy battle.

President Barack Obama met his Cuban counterpart, Raul Castro, on Tuesday at the United Nations — all smiles after both renewed their calls for an end to the US trade embargo against Havana.[...] “The president also highlighted steps the United States intends to take to improve ties between the American and Cuban peoples, and reiterated our support for human rights in Cuba,” it said. 

Japan is a strong target for refugee criticism because of its modest engagement in social media and global communications. Typically, it doesn’t proactively make its case to the world, largely allowing the international press and the Twitterverse to frame its issues for it. 

Public diplomacy (PD to its friends) is one of the less celebrated but more intriguing investments in U.S. foreign policy.  For decades, it has earned lasting allies for our country and helped multitudes understand and embrace our core values, including human rights, freedom of information, strong civil society and education for all.