While Qatar may be winning rounds in international organizations and associations, it is failing in part as result of continued criticism of its labour system to achieve its public diplomacy goals associated with World Cup.

Creating strong identities for regions through outstanding tourism experiences can deliver a lot more than more visitors. A strong identity can provide soft power support for regions in their struggle for self-determination by building strong local economies. 

Are U.S. Foreign Service officers an endangered breed? They fear the State Department wants to define them away. This is one thrust of a new report from the American Academy of Diplomacy.(...)The risk comes from political appointees encroaching on their turf and State confusing the roles of FSOs and civil service employees, according to the Academy. 

35 well-coiffed foreign ambassadors on formal state business in the US were sitting in the Khan Academy kitchen to learn about the educational nonprofit that has become a global name. Standing amid a crowd of laid-back software engineers and employees in casual garb, the foreign visitors were immersed in a different culture in more ways than one.

Turkey currently is building 18 large Islamic religious centers around the world. The projects include a mosque in Tirana, Albania which will holdmore than 4,000 worshippers. Turkey will also build mosques in the UnitedStates, Russia and Kyrgyzstan.

The world’s top oil exporter is abandoning its traditional preference for soft-power diplomacy, a shift that gathered pace after the Arab Spring. Analysts see vulnerability behind the show of strength: Saudis are concerned that the U.S., their historic protector, has different priorities now, as it negotiates with Iran and talks about pivoting to Asia.

The reasons for what some have called the agency’s “strategic dysfunction” are many, but among them is surely the fact that, prior to Lack’s appointment, there had never been a single decision maker responsible for the BBG. Instead, the organization was governed by a part-time board of nine members.