Public diplomacy

“Why isn’t there a coordinated orchestra with the IDF contributing rather than leading the effort?” Editorial, The Jerusalem Post,December 22 Image from article: Danny Danon [see] with a map of Hezbollah tunnels in front of the UN Security Council, December 19th, 2018. (photo credit: screenshot) Last week, ahead of a UN Security Council debate on the Hezbollah attack tunnels Israel has discovered along the northern border, the IDF launched a media campaign and public diplomacy [JB emphasis] blitz to shake up the world. CNN was given an exclusive story. Its reporter was brought to one of the tunnels and allowed to drop a camera inside to take never-seen-before footage. One of the officers in the IDF Spokesperson’s Office put out a video in English calling on Lebanon to take action to reign in Hezbollah and prevent another war. It was a nice attempt but ultimately it did not succeed. The Security Council met on Wednesday and failed to issue an unequivocal condemnation of Hezbollah or Leb..

tibet.net image (not from article) from Andreas Bøje Forsby, The Asia Dialogue, December 18, 2018When in June 2012 China’s President Hu Jintao made a first-ever official Chinese state visit to Denmark, Chinese diplomats put strong pressure on the Danish government ahead of the planned visit. Their main concern? That Hu would be confronted with any activists or manifestations critical of China. The message was somehow transmitted all the way to the patrolling Danish police forces, who systematically prevented peaceful pro-Tibet demonstrators from exercising their constitutionally guaranteed right to freedom of speech when Hu’s motorcade toured the streets of Copenhagen.Last year, an official investigatory commission – the Tibet Commission – stated in a reportthat the activities by the Danish police amounted to a constitutional breach, which was largely orchestrated by commanding police officers. However, citing the emergence of ‘new evidence’, the Tibet Commission has recently been task..

haiti.org This past weekend, the Haitian Embassy in Washington DC hosted its second annual “Holidays at the Pearl” Pop-Up Shop. This initiative is part of the Embassy’s larger public diplomacy efforts to offer the Washington metropolitan community an opportunity to experience everything Haiti has to offer. The pop-up shop initiative focuses mainly on efforts to promote and rebuild Haiti through entrepreneurship.For the occasion, the Embassy was transformed into a holiday winter wonderland and a luxurious Haitian marketplace where entrepreneurs who are contributing to the reclaiming of Haiti’s title as the Pearl of the Antilles displayed their collection of products sourced and/or inspired by Haiti. Available products included home goods, clothing, fashion accessories, and gourmet food products.Different from the Embassy’s previous pop-up shops, this year’s edition featured a happy hour uniquely curated for the occasion and sponsored by Toast Vodka and Chef Don Berto from Port-au-Princ..

Bennett Ruda, The Jewish Press, December 25, 2018 Image from article One of the last speakers to address the recent Jewish New Media Summit was Emmanuel Nahshon, spokesperson for the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He spoke on the topic of “Israel and the Media: Challenges and Opportunities.” Nahshon noted that there are between 250 and 300 foreign journalists posted in Israel on a permanent basis, even while the nature of media in the 21st century is changing. “Classical” media is in a battle with social media, and losing its importance. This change impacts on how the Foreign Ministry now does business. As Nahshon puts it: “Talking to journalists is one thing, but conducting public diplomacy [JB emphasis] on social media is something totally different”Though we tend to think that the image of Israel in the world is not necessarily positive, Nahshon believes that actually, the reality is a little bit different — it depends on where and how you look. Israel’s New Image He noted tha..

picreadi.ru; entry contains a video; see also uncaptioned image, presumably of Burlinova, from entry Опубликован авторский видео-курс общественного дипломата Натальи Бурлиновой, президента "Креативной дипломатии", на сайте Российского совета по международным делам. Также напоминаем, что "Креативная дипломатия" проводит очные курсы по теме публичной дипломатии. [JB emphasis] Российский совет по международным делам в сотрудничестве с Натальей Бурлиновой представил «Курс общественного дипломата» — научно-образовательную программу повышения квалификации по вопросам «мягкой силы» и «публичной дипломатии» России. Курс сформирован на основе авторской учебной программы по дисциплине «Деятельность российских НПО и фондов в социально-гуманитарной сфере», составленной Натальей Бурлиновой в соответствии с требованиями к обязательному минимуму и уровню подготовки магистра Федерального государственного образовательного стандарта высшего образования МГИМО МИД России. Курс было прочитан студентам маги..

[JB note: Hard to tell from original article who's the author of this piece: Denis Bedoya or Senem Cevik], infosurhoy.com image (not from article) from, with note: HONEYMOON BLISS Valid through December 31, 2018 Starting at SAR2,000++ per night* Whether or not the senate awakening was motivated to defy President Trump and to rebuke Trump administration for its ties with the KSA, this time the pressure on Saudi Arabia is for real CALIFORNIAFor the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), public diplomacy [JB emphasis] has always been at the forefront of its foreign affairs. The Wahhabi and Salafi clergy in the KSA have been spreading their interpretation of Islam for decades through a campaign throughout predominantly Muslim nations. Saudi soft power is connected to the Saudi interpretation of Islam and efforts to export the Wahhabi ideology across the globe. As a result, the KSA’s religious diplomacy pits itself against all other interpretations of Islam and other efforts to export religio..

By Murat Kazancı, thenewturkey.org Türkiye Scholarships will eventually become the most important diplomacy tool of Turkey to widen its scope of influence and soft power in countries that it attracts students from. Image from article: 7th international students graduation ceremony and iftar program, 5 June 2018. Türkiye Scholarships is a publicly funded scholarship program, which can be deemed as the equivalent of government-sponsored scholarships in the U.S., UK, and Australia. Systematic grants provided by Turkey’s publicly funded scholarships to international students dates back to 1992. Although a limited number of international students were able to receive scholarships due to bilateral agreements, the first initiative to have a set strategy and program was the Grand Student Project of 1992. More concrete steps began to be taken with the efficient implementation of the scholarship program, which began to expand from Turkic republics to other regions. With the establishment of the..

The United States must work to thoroughly address the concerns Okinawans have with its presence on the island. Matthew Reisener, nationalinterest.org uncaptioned image from article Excerpt: While America has far too many military bases which have become redundant, costly and counterproductive to America’s national interests, the bases in Okinawa remain a vital component of America’s grand strategy in East Asia. The American military presence on the island, and specifically U.S. Marines, play an important role in establishing American power projection in a critically important region that is home to roughly 60 percent of the global population. Still, in the interest of preserving the long-term sustainability of the American presence in Okinawa, the United States should work with the local government to better address the valid complaints of the Japanese people regarding the role of the American military in Okinawa. ... America’s bases in Okinawa remain extremely important to its securit..

Natalia GrinchevaDigital Scholarship in the Humanities, fqy072, https://doi.org/10.1093/llc/fqy072Published: 24 December 2018Cite Permissions Share AbstractThe article proposes, justifies, and tests a new methodological framework to measure museum ‘soft power’ by employing geo-visualization as a new method empowered by the rapid development of digital humanities. This research not only demystifies the buzz term of ‘soft power’ that is frequently applied in relation to contemporary museums and their international cultural engagements but also develops an evaluation framework to assess museum capacities to exert global impacts. Specifically, the article draws on the academic scholarship outlining a plethora of approaches for ‘soft power’ evaluation, including Resources, Outputs, Perceptions, and Networks evaluation models. It argues for a new integrative approach that can comprehensively combine different methods to construct a more advanced tool to measure museum ‘soft power’. The artic..

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