PUBLIC DIPLOMACY IN THE NEWS

APR 21, 2008
Changing foreign policy tracks
The Mint
Dealing with democracies that are accountable to citizens is very different from doing so in dictatorships and oligarchies. In India’s case it’s doubly so as people in neighbouring countries have been fed on a diet of anti-India rhetoric. This requires careful handling. At one level, this requires that Track 2 diplomacy be taken more seriously than it is now...In the long run, it’s crucial that India mobilizes opinion in these countries using this tool.  Read more...

APR 21, 2008
Can Rudd bridge the West’s gap with China?
UPI Asia Online
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was treated as a real star on his recent visit to China. His smiling face beamed out from various Chinese media, starting with China Central Television, which broadcast an interview with him prior to his April 9-12 visit. Rudd spoke to students at Beijing University and addressed world political and business leaders at the Boao Forum on Hainan Island in southern China. He is the first Western leader to make his public speeches in fluent Chinese, winning him top marks with Chinese audiences.  Read more...

APR 21, 2008
Nonprofit To Honor North Carolina Leader With The Citizen Of The World Award
PRLog
Todd Culpepper, executive director of the International Affairs Council (IAC), has announced that nominations are now open for the Citizen of the World Award. The Citizen of the World Award is presented annually to the North Carolinian who has done the most for the internationalization of the state, as determined by a committee of the IAC Board of Directors.   Read more...

APR 19, 2008
Time for heroes
The Guardian
Iron Man, the latest in Marvel's pop-icon pantheon to hit the big screen, is coming to the rescue of the United Nations. In a specially customised comic book, Ol' Shellhead and his costumed cohorts will battle that most terrible of supervillains, a tarnished public image, by demonstrating the UN's positive, proactive roles. Will it work? It's debatable: over the years these earnest, message-laden stories have not always been too effective as weapons of mass persuasion.  Read more...

APR 19, 2008
RFE/RL Study Explores How Al-Qaeda Exploits Internet
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
"This is a study that really looks at two things," he says. "It looks at the global message that Al-Qaeda puts out and that its affiliates put out. It also looks at the network that is behind that -- and then, how...they get that [message] out to the world. What is the network that brings that [message] to people over the Internet -- because the Internet is really the primary delivery mechanism for Al-Qaeda."  Read more...

APR 18, 2008
China’s image severely damaged
Media Tenor
The chaos surrounding the relay of the Olympic torch in London, Paris and San Francisco has been the latest blow to China's international reputation, with scenes of Chinese men in blue tracksuits running and pushing pro-Tibetan protesters, an image that spread wide and was generally associated with oppression and mockery.   Read more...

APR 18, 2008
A Torch Job To Liberty
The Washington Post
To the Chinese government, the word "harmony" is apparently synonymous with suppression. The Olympic torch is in danger of being extinguished for good, but not by demonstrators. Every day it's put out by Chinese officials and their exported paramilitary force, who seem to think the Olympic spirit is not about accommodating the world, but about forcing the world to accommodate them.  Read more...

APR 17, 2008
Protesters March in Advance of Torch in India
The New York Times
Hundreds of Tibetan protesters marched through central Delhi on Thursday morning shouting "Die for Freedom" hours before the Olympic torch was due to be carried through the Indian capital.  Read more...

APR 17, 2008
New Freedom, and Peril, in Online Criticism of China
The Washington Post
In the wake of the violence that has rocked Tibet and the protests over the Olympic torch relay, online bulletin boards in China have erupted with virulent comments rooted in nationalist sentiments. The verbal onslaughts have been made possible in part by the Chinese government, which has allowed online discussion to progress more freely recently than in the past. With the Olympics nearing, China has gradually allowed some sites that had been left on-again, off-again for years -- BBC, CNN, YouTube and others -- to remain accessible for several weeks now.  Read more...

APR 17, 2008
Cultural Diplomacy in Africa: the Road Ahead
Cultural Diplomacy News
Many African countries are often times not recognized for their individuality and progress but rather are grouped under the broad term of Africa which usually calls to mind more often than not a negative basket case scenario of failed states. This is the result of what has been labeled as “continent brand effect”. The African continent and its countries are consequently suffering from this above Brand Africa phenomenon whereby every country shoulders the reputation of the other, often times to the formers detriment.  Read more...

APR 17, 2008
Chinese vent anti-Western fury online
The Christian Science Monitor
Bloggers are now calling for boycotts and stoking death threats over perceived insults from Westerners who have criticized China's human rights record ahead of this summer's Olympic Games.  Read more...

APR 17, 2008
China Demands ‘Sincere Apology’ From CNN
The Washington Post
CNN offered an apology Tuesday, but the Chinese rejected it as inadequate. CNN's Beijing bureau chief was summoned to a meeting at the Chinese Foreign Ministry Wednesday night, and Thursday a ministry spokeswoman said the global news network needed to do more to "take back the vile remarks."  Read more...

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