PUBLIC DIPLOMACY IN THE NEWS

OCT 9, 2008
Senator Urges Suspension Of Iraq Publicity Contracts
GovExec.com
Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., on Thursday sent a letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates asking him to suspend $300 million in contracts for civilians to produce pro-American news stories, entertainment programs and public service ads in Iraq until the Senate Armed Services Committee and the next administration review the contracts.  Read more...

OCT 9, 2008
Milk Scandal Sours China’s ‘Soft Power’
Asia Times Online
China's formidable state machinery was able to stage the largest Olympics in history and to have a "Taikonaut" perform a 20-minute spacewalk last week. Yet the world-scale scandal emanating from contaminated milk products has exposed the worsening malaise in the country's political and administrative structure.  Read more...

OCT 9, 2008
America As Superpower: Shaken, Not Deposed
The Christian Science Monitor
The U.S. financial crisis that has all but certainly thrown the world's largest economy into recession is also prompting pronouncements that what had been dubbed "the American century" is over...Yet others say, "Not so fast!" and predict the American era will continue – in part because the world has devised no alternative to it. If nothing else, the need for coordination in the face of the globalized economy's first epic financial crisis will provide a test of where America's power and leadership really stand, they add.  Read more...

OCT 9, 2008
Reevaluating the Peace Corps
Center for American Progress
As the organization approaches its 50th anniversary, former staff and volunteers are asking tough questions about the program’s effectiveness. At the same time, a campaign is underway to double the budget of the Peace Corps, an objective that is gaining support in Congress.  Read more...

OCT 9, 2008
EU Too Divided To Solve Frozen Conflicts, Azerbaijan Says
EUobserver.com
Vladimir Socor from the NGO the Jamestown Foundation and a long time expert on the region said the "EU is by far not matching Russia in soft power in Azerbaijan" and the wider region. The conflict in Georgia damaged the confidence of investors in the Caucasus energy corridor - the only direct link the EU has with the oil and gas-rich Caspian countries without passing through Russia - he explained.  Read more...

OCT 8, 2008
BBC Keeps Radio Broadcasts to Russia
Blogger News Network
Unlike the Voice of America (VOA), which had eliminated radio broadcasts to Russia shortly before the Russian invasion of Georgia, the BBC has decided to continue producing Russian-language radio programs while also expanding its Internet and video production.  Read more...

OCT 8, 2008
More Money For Culture And Public Diplomacy Abroad
The Norway Post
“Funding for foreign cultural policy and public diplomacy is intended to underpin Norway’s political priorities and interests. Cooperating with cultural organisations and art communities abroad is key in this context,” Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere commented.   Read more...

OCT 8, 2008
Former Envoys Decry Arts Cuts
Embassy
Former Canadian ambassadors have come out swinging at the Conservative government's decision to cut funds to arts and cultural programs that helped artists promote their work, and the country, abroad. And while opposition parties say they want to make sure the issue figures prominently in the election, the ambassadors argue the cuts are another blow to Canada's fledgling public diplomacy efforts.   Read more...

OCT 8, 2008
Saving Pakistan
The New York Times
Pakistan will have to be near the top of the foreign policy to-do list of whoever succeeds President Bush. The United States cannot afford to see this nuclear-armed state fail. But how to prevent it?... Implement a robust public diplomacy program that stresses mutual United States-Pakistani interests in combating extremism and creating prosperity.  Read more...

OCT 7, 2008
VOA Teams Up with Pakistan TV On Special Debate Coverage
Media Newsline
VOA has announced that it has teamed up to produce live coverage and interactive analyses of U.S. presidential debates with Pakistan Television Network (PTV) .  Read more...

OCT 7, 2008
Boiling Point in Bolivia
The Christian Science Monitor
While America's foreign-policy debate centers on the Middle East and Russia, unrest is mounting in South America. Bolivia is teetering on the brink of conflict, threatening to destabilize a region much closer to home and further damage our troubled economy.  Read more...

OCT 7, 2008
Foreign Affairs Budget of the Future: Fixing a Hollow Service
The American Academy of Diplomacy
Although America faces many complex foreign policy challenges, several recent studies have found that the US State Department, USAID, and the Foreign Service do not have the human and financial resources to appropriately respond to them...To address this, the American Academy of Diplomacy has undertaken a major study that will build upon the findings of previous reports to detail exactly what budget is needed to enable the State Department and the Foreign Service to accomplish their missions in classic diplomacy, public diplomacy, development diplomacy, and reconstruction and stabilization.  Read more...

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