PUBLIC DIPLOMACY IN THE NEWS

MAR 30, 2008
‘People trust Canadians, no matter whom you ask, no matter where’
Canada.com
Canada says, "we've got good peacekeeping." If our foreign public -- or the target market -- is aware of the fact that Canada has good peacekeeping, and if the image of that peacekeeping is good, then clearly the agenda of Canada with relation to that country, wherever the target is -- is going to be advanced, which is why our diplomats and our government want to be able to do this.  Read more...

MAR 30, 2008
What it will take to heal U.S. diplomacy
Slate
What we do sends a more potent signal to the world than the cleverest PR campaign. But once we start doing smarter things, we should also be smart about promoting our efforts.  Read more...

MAR 28, 2008
China must prepare for new challenges
China Daily
It is worth serious thought that what China is faced with first and foremost is not governments of other sovereign countries, but problems caused by certain lawmakers, trade groups, consumers, non-government organizations such as trade unions, single-issue pressure groups and media entities, and even a few individual celebrities. Compared to the traditional international relations system, which has about 200 members only, these scattered action groups and individuals of different stripes are spread out and impulsive. They constitute a challenge to China more difficult to deal with because of the development of the so-called "global citizens' community", which is driven by fast-evolving telecommunication technology, flow of information, individual contacts and values.  Read more...

MAR 28, 2008
Fallout From Tibet Is Test for China’s Rulers
The Washington Post
David L. Shambaugh, at George Washington University, characterized the government's attempt so far to manage its image in the aftermath of the violence as "heavy-handed" -- resorting to vilification of the Dalai Lama and questioning the motives of foreign critics. "The government is not particularly adept at public diplomacy, as they define it as 'external propaganda' and pursue it as such," he said.   Read more...

MAR 28, 2008
Caribbean sings (literally) Obama’s praises
The Miami Herald
The trend is not just another instance of pop culture and politics merging in a presidential campaign that have hip-hop stars like Jay-Z and Wyclef Jean endorsing Obama from center stage. It's an example of the Illinois senator's growing appeal beyond U.S. borders and the global excitement enveloping his campaign and candidacy -- even among those who can't vote.  Read more...

MAR 27, 2008
Welcome to the Olympics
The Economist
Resenting criticism of its handling of unrest in Tibet, China wages a gruesome propaganda offensive...The unrest is being fuelled by the Olympics. Many Tibetans see the games as a chance to highlight their grievances and put pressure on the authorities to relax religious and political controls. As China pours more security forces into the region, foreign human-rights activists and Tibetans living outside China are stepping up their protests.  Read more...

MAR 27, 2008
Fight violence with nonviolence
The Christian Science Monitor
The new global norm of "Responsibility to Protect" (R2P) should inspire the use of civil society and nonviolent means. While it includes military interventions, R2P is based on emerging international human security and human rights doctrine that aims to avert further failure by the international community to prevent and stop genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity...Nonviolent Peaceforce is working to bring this kind of peacekeeping to greater prominence, with the goal of increasing its current 70 field team members to a cadre of 2,000 by 2012. For a recent deployment, Nonviolent Peaceforce had applicants hailing from 55 countries for every position available.   Read more...

MAR 27, 2008
Central/South Asia: Iran Pushes Cross-Border TV Project
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
For years, Tehran has pursued vigorous "cultural diplomacy" in neighboring countries that share its linguistic roots -- namely, Tajikistan and Afghanistan. Such efforts were in the spotlight this week after a March 24-25 meeting in Dushanbe of the three countries' foreign ministers. Among other issues, the ministers reportedly prepared a deal on launching a common Persian-language satellite-television network to be run jointly by all three governments.  Read more...

MAR 27, 2008
Dominica welcomes first group of Venezuelans under social tourism programme
Caribbean Net News
Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit opened the doors of his office at the Financial Centre last week to welcome thirty-three people from Venezuela -- the first group to visit Dominica under the Social Tourism Programme. The programme is an initiative of the government of Venezuela to strengthen ties between Venezuela and countries of Latin America and the Caribbean through exchange of their people.  Read more...

MAR 27, 2008
Indian literary works to be translated into Arabic
Thaindian News
A project to translate major Indian literary works into Arabic is on the anvil as part of India’s efforts to project its soft power in the Gulf. “We propose to translate major Indian literary works - fiction, non-fiction and poetry - into Arabic as part of our larger vision to improve ties in the cultural area in the Gulf,” India’s Ambassador to the UAE Talmiz Ahmad told IANS. The translation project is part of a three-pronged approach the Indian embassy in this Gulf nation is taking in the literary area as part of a major cultural diplomacy drive.  Read more...

MAR 27, 2008
What Europeans seek in the US presidential election
The Daily Star (Lebanon)
Could the restoration of America's international reputation turn out to be bad for Europe, by eroding its new monopoly on representing Western values and calling it back to its hard power duties? Could it be that a candidate of fear - McCain or, increasingly, Clinton - really serves Europe's interests better than a candidate of hope? With Obama in power, it would become - at least initially - more difficult for Europeans to denounce America, even if the "New France" of Nicolas Sarkozy has already moved away from this easy temptation. But it would also be less easy to reject a call for greater burden sharing in the world.  Read more...

MAR 27, 2008
Ignoring Al Jazeera
The Washington Post - PostGlobal
The Qatari government, which funds Al Jazeera...knows the channel is about as popular in the palaces of the Arab world as in the halls of the Knesset. Which is precisely why it is so influential among the Arab public, and why non-Arab governments seeking to influence Arabs – whether Israeli or American – ignore the channel at their own peril.  Read more...

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