PUBLIC DIPLOMACY IN THE NEWS

"Public Diplomacy in the News" is CPD's regular aggregation of news articles and opinion pieces on public diplomacy from sources around the world

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MAY 16, 2008
State nominee defends VOA
The Washington Times
Breaking months of silence, James Glassman responded to VOA's critics by vigorously defending its practices, though he did not directly address the delay on his nomination by Sen. Tom Coburn, Oklahoma Republican. "We tell the truth, even if the truth might appear harmful to U.S. interests in the short run," Mr. Glassman, chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), which is in charge of U.S. government broadcasts, said at the Heritage Foundation.  Read more...

MAY 16, 2008
Pentagon scales back AFRICOM ambitions
The Christian Science Monitor
Still, they were unable to sway opposition in African countries, where many viewed the new command as a neocolonialist move to secure US oil interests and counterbalance China's influence. American officials could not overcome the "paranoid rhetoric," said a defense official. The headquarters will now either stay at its current home in Stuttgart, Germany, or be moved to the East Coast of the US. Technically, AFRICOM remains under European Command until its official launch October 1.   Read more...

MAY 14, 2008
Benazir inspired US to launch women’s empowerment initiative
Daily Times (Pakistan)
The enormous influence wielded by former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan inspired the United States to launch a major women’s empowerment initiative, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Monday. She was speaking at the opening ceremony of the ‘One Woman Initiative’, a public-private partnership that seeks to establish a women’s empowerment fund for justice, leadership, and opportunity.  Read more...

MAY 13, 2008
Inside Track: America’s Image Problems
The National Interest
So has America succeeded in improving its image in the Muslim world in any way? Kohut argued that the answer was yes—but only on a very-limited scale. A “Sunni-Shia split” is emerging due to the rise of Iran, prompting more positive views of the United States among Sunnis in Lebanon (Kohut added that this was not a beneficial development, however). And aid money for Pakistan and Indonesia after natural disasters did rehabilitate America in the eyes of Muslims somewhat. Yet Kohut emphasized that the effect of “public diplomacy” is destined to be negligible: policy is the bigger problem.  Read more...

MAY 13, 2008
China and Japan: the symbolism of politics
Agoravox
The game of ping-pong between Hu Jintao and star Japanese player (and Olympic torch-bearer) Ai Fukuhara - watched by the president’s host, Japanese prime minister Yasuo Fukuda - was one example; even more potent was the timely opportunity to engage in "panda diplomacy" provided just before Hu’s arrival by the death on 30 April of 22-year-old Ling-Ling, the last remaining inmate of the panda exhibit at Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo. Chinese and Japanese politicians had a perfect opportunity to symbolise a new era of friendship, seized by Hu with the offer of the loan of two giant pandas as a temporary replacement.  Read more...

MAY 12, 2008
World Publics Say Governments Should Be More Responsive to the Will of the People
WorldPublicOpinion.org
Asked, how much "the government should take into account world public opinion" when "developing its foreign policy," on a 0-10 scale (with 0 meaning "not at all" and 10 meaning "a great deal,") the mean response is above 5 in every nation polled. The average across all 16 nations is 7.1--only slightly lower than the average preferred level for government responsiveness to public opinion at home (8.0).  Read more...

MAY 12, 2008
‘Al-Jazeera is not an Arab news channel’
Jerusalem Post
Though based in Doha, Khan rejects the suggestion that the Qatari government influences the channel's reporting. "We can criticize Qatar. My colleagues, who are ex-CNN, BBC, ABC, Sky, Fox, never felt pressure in any way. But our job is not to criticize, but to show facts and figures." The question seems to irk the veteran Western journalist, whose work at CNN earned him a reputation in Israel as a fair reporter.  Read more...

MAY 8, 2008
First Look: Watching BBC Arabic TV
Arab Media & Society
It will obviously take time for BBC Arabic to establish its place in the crowded world of Arabic TV news. The role it plays and stature it acquires could depend largely on the performance of its main Arab competitors. Despite the different political biases commonly attributed to the editorial lines of Al Arabiya and Al Jazeera, the fact remains that both channels cover most of their news stories most of the time with a reasonable degree of accuracy, detail and balance. Distortions and omissions come mainly when their sponsor-governments’ agendas come into play.  Read more...

MAY 8, 2008
The Chinese Student Frontline in PRC’s Olympic Public Diplomacy
The Huffington Post
When the term public diplomacy is raised in the US, it's usually in terms of the influence of an American voice in winning hearts and minds abroad. Rarely is there a useful examination of the US as a target for public diplomacy (nor is there much attention to the public diplomacy of other countries).  Read more...

MAY 8, 2008
Public diplomacy
The Daily Star
Public diplomacy has assumed importance in the 21st century in promoting the image of the country. The United States has attached high importance to it because of its (US's) shattered image around the world. The United States has a problem in far too many parts of the world.
  Read more...

MAY 8, 2008
Franco-African relations: Who is tired of whom?
Daily Nation Online (Kenya)
Gone are the days when the greatest dream of Francophone artistes, intellectuals, students and politicians was a trip to Paris or settling there. Le Monde, one of the leading French newspapers broke the story, which was based on reports filed to the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs by its diplomats. Their common thread? France’s image in Africa is “very tarnished.”  Read more...

MAY 8, 2008
Young Video Makers Try to Alter Islam’s Face
The New York Times
Mr. Ardekani is among the most visible of a new wave of young American Muslim performers and filmmakers trying to change the public face of their religion. His most popular video posting — “Who Hijacked Islam?” — has garnered more than 350,000 hits on YouTube since July 2006...These video pioneers’ arena of choice is mostly YouTube and similar Web sites, which young Muslims extol as a new way to take their arguments public. The role model is Bill Cosby, who young Muslim filmmakers believe changed the perception of African-Americans by depicting them as ordinary.  Read more...

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