The US State Department on Tuesday announced the selection of two winning websites for its 2012 Doors to Diplomacy Award...This site Water, the New Petrol was built by a team from CEP Santa Rosa Brothers Marist School in Sullana, Peru and IES Manacor School in Mallorca, Spain. Their web project aims to raise awareness of the current state of water issues in the world.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation has stressed the importance of partnership with the United Arab Emirates under the “Istanbul Cooperation Initiative ”...Nicola De Santis, Nato Public Diplomacy Division Coordinator, expressed the alliance’s appreciation for the UAE and its political leadership for their fruitful cooperation.

In the war on terrorism, this restriction is worse than an anachronism: It amounts to self-sabotage. Until Congress relegates this piece of legislation to the dustbin of history, the U.S. cannot expect to conduct public diplomacy effectively.

The purchase might invigorate a campaign by the Chinese government to boost the country’s “soft power,” or cultural influence, in the U.S. and other countries...According to Xinhua, the Party’s Central Committee said “China is facing a difficult task in protecting ‘cultural security’ and feeling the urgency of enhancing its soft power and the international influence of its own culture.”

The paper provides a round-up of some of the major turns of events between 2005 and 2011 in the realms of Internet governance, the development of online public diplomacy at the State Department, the evolution of the Internet-fueled Arab Spring, and the establishment of the shadowy U.S. Cyber Command in Fort Meade, Maryland, among other things

Dilma doing a cameo in a Spike Lee joint, and spotlighting human rights violations. Lula rolls out a new Facebook page and gets tagged at an arts crawl with Dilma. It's all part of the cultural public diplomacy designed to make those who say "they don't care about us" say Go Brazil, Go! before the World Cup and the Rio Olympics.

The Second Nishan Forum on World Civilizations dedicated to promoting cultural diversity and cross-cultural dialogue opened Monday morning in Confucius' birthplace Qufu. With a theme of "Harmony with diversity and the harmonious world: belief, moral values, respect, solidarity," the three-day event has drawn over 90 experts and scholars from more than 20 countries.