As a result, not only friendly or hostile foreign public opinion, but also Turkish public opinion is influenced by the strong negative propaganda efforts from the West and the East that consider everything, including lies, distortion of facts...

The civil unrest that erupted in Syria in March last year has left the country's scientific community in turmoil, researchers say. Heavy cuts have been made to research budgets, and work at the majority of Syria's universities and research centres has ground to a halt.

Diplomacy and cooperation at the level of local institutions, these being the closest administrative units to the public, are also seen as an important asset for public diplomacy, according to experts.

Although the cadre at the top of the party is generally pious, it has not imposed sharia rule in Turkey, as some secularist Turks have feared, and has not geared its foreign policy toward spreading Islamism. Instead, it has focused on soft power and economic interests.

The debate over the role of the international community in Syria is disheartening, dominated by skepticism about the ability of outsiders to have a positive impact. This stems from the fact that two main options – continuing to refrain from direct intervention or waging a fully fledged military campaign...

The Arab Spring is the topic of the USC Center on Public Diplomacy’s latest Media Monitor report. The report looks at the unprecedented revolution in five key nations – Tunisia, Egypt, Syria, Libya and Bahrain – and considers the wide-ranging implications for public diplomacy.

Branding a nation is “putting a human face on a product.” According to Aharoni, this is a process and not something that will occur overnight. “It will take time.” Explaining Brand Israel strategy, Aharoni said that the key to any nation branding is to “find out what the nation in whole is good at and communicate that to relevant audiences.”