Public diplomacy

Bill Bredesen, dpa-international.com image from With Chinese investment in the region set to rise dramatically in the coming decade, some question whether the US is doing enough to protect its influence there. Singapore (dpa) - The conspicuous absence of Donald Trump at this week's summit of South-East Asian leaders in Singapore has raised questions about how committed the US president's administration is to the region. Amid Beijing's increasing assertiveness and an ongoing trade war between the United States and China, Trump's decision not to attend the ASEAN Summit - and this weekend's APEC forum in Papua New Guinea - has been interpreted as a more hands-off approach to the region compared to his predecessor Barack Obama. But analysts say such criticism of Trump's engagement - or perceived lack thereof - may be out of proportion to the reality on the ground. "The American business and commerce presence in South-East Asia has never been stronger," David S..

tuftsgloballeadership.org DATE & TIME November 28, 2018 12:00pm LOCATION Distler Hall, Granoff Music Center PROGRAM IGL General Music, Public Diplomacy [JB emphasis], and Beethoven for the Rohingya Join us and George Mathew, conductor, humanitarian and founder of Music for Life International, for an exploration of identity and transformative social action through music, for healing in our troubled times.

Christian Edwards, provided by Business Insider, ctpost.com uncaptioned image from articleExcerpt: A mini Pacific Game of Thrones will be going down this weekend as Papua New Guinea plays host to 21 nations at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Port Moresby.Australia and China in particular will be vying for influence and they already have the checkbooks out.China's President Xi Jinping is already on the ground in Papua New Guinea for a state visit.But Bridi Rice, the Director of Policy and Advocacy at the Australian Council of International Development and a former Australian government anti-money-laundering adviser to Papua New Guinea says the country needs genuine partners, not handouts. ...According to Rice, also a current La Trobe University research candidate on Australia’s aid program in Papua New Guinea, inclusive infrastructure investment may be welcome, but other reactive expenditure on short-term public diplomacy [JB emphasis] is simply ineffective. ..

16 Nov in 16:15 By Vestnik Kavkaza The Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia hosted a scientific and practical conference dedicated to the 200th birth anniversary of Mikhail Nikiforovich Katkov - an eminent publicist, public figure, publisher, literary critic and teacher. “The fact that this event hosted by the Diplomatic Academy is not accidental. Mikhail Nikiforovich built this building, created here one of the best educational institutions of the Russian Empire, and headed it for many years,” the rector of the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Yevgeny Bazhanov, said. Russian Bulletin edited by Katkov was one of the leading literary and socio-political magazines of the second half of the 19th century, where the works of Lev Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Turgenev, Saltykov-Shchedrin, Fet, Tyutchev and many others were published for the first time. The conference was co-organized by the Alekseevsky Stavropegial Convent "Mikhail Katkov and his wife w..

Thomas Carothers, Frances Z. Brown , carnegieendowment.org uncaptioned image from article Summary: President Trump has attacked U.S. support for democracy overseas. Here is how Congress can limit the damage. While the new U.S. Congress will face deep divides on many issues, it does have a chance to act on one issue upon which both sides broadly agree: supporting democracy abroad. Under President Donald Trump, U.S. government support for democracy around the world has reached its lowest ebb in forty years. Many American diplomats and aid providers diligently continue to defend democracy overseas. But their leader’s praise for dictators, disdain for U.S. liberal allies, and anti-democratic outbursts at home have undercut these efforts.Despite this, the 116th Congress can and should step up to reaffirm the United States’ decades-old commitment to supporting democracy around the world. By passing new and useful legislation, encouraging pro-democracy diplomacy, and showing its support for d..

www2.fundsforngos.org image (not from entry) from Deadline: 15 July 2019The U.S. Embassy Abuja Public Affairs Section (PAS) has announced this Notice of Funding Opportunity for its Public Diplomacy [JB emphasis] small grants program.PAS awards a limited number of grants to individuals, non-governmental organizations, academic institutions, and other civil society entities that further the Embassy’s policy goals and strengthen relations between the American and Nigerian peoples.PrioritiesPAS will prioritize grant program proposals that:Promote Nigeria’s democratic governance, unity and stability by improving government transparency and accountability, the rule of law, civil society capacity and engagement;Strengthen human capital to promote inclusive economic growth and development via entrepreneurial initiatives, STEM education, women’s empowerment, and cultural exchange;Protect against security threats and foster peace and stability through measures to counter violent extremism, mit..

gpo.gov; for more details, see Download FilesFormatsText (2 KB) | PDF (83 KB)Descriptive MetadataMODSAuthenticity MetadataPREMISAll Format & Metadata FilesZIP fileMetadataPublication TitleFederal Register Volume 83, Issue 221 (November 15, 2018)CategoryRegulatory InformationCollectionFederal RegisterSuDoc Class NumberAE 2.7: GS 4.107: AE 2.106:PublisherOffice of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records AdministrationSectionNoticesAgency NameDEPARTMENT OF STATEPage Number Range57525-57526Federal Register Citation83 FR 57525 Docket NumbersPublic Notice: 10611FR Doc Number2018-24958Document in ContextThis is part of Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 221 (November 15, 2018)View Entire Issue

Xin Liu, uscpublicdiplomacy.org, Nov 15, 2018 uncaptioned image from article Since China became openly engaged in projecting soft power, its endeavors have constantly faced challenges. When China’s investment in soft power exceeds the combined government spending of the U.S., UK, France, Germany and Japan, public diplomacy [JB emphasis] starts to blur into the area of dollar diplomacy, and inducement combined with intimidation were often considered to be the “hard edge” of China’s soft power. To some, the edge has become so sharp that it is deemed to have changed the nature of soft power, as argued by Christopher Walker and Jessica Ludwig when they coined the new phrase “sharp power” in 2017 to refer to “authoritarian soft power” because it “pierces, penetrates, or perforates the political and information environments in the targeted countries” through the use of “outward-facing censorship, manipulation and distraction.” They used China and Russia as typical examples and stated that “..

Lorraine Ali, Los Angeles Times, Nov 16, 2018 | 4:00 AM See also (1) Walter Isaacson, "A Declaration of Mutual Dependence," The New York Times (2004), which states: "Thus the Declaration of Independence is, in effect, a work of propaganda -- or, to put it more politely, an exercise in public diplomacy [JB emphasis] intended to enlist other countries to the cause." (2) John Brown, "Propaganda and Public Diplomacy : Their Differences," American Diplomacy (2003) President Donald Trump speaks during a conference supporting veterans and military families through partnership at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington. (Manuel Balce Ceneta / Associated Press) The “P” word. But here we are, two years in, tiptoeing around The Word That Cannot Be Said. Let’s just call it what it is: Propaganda. The state-sponsored spread of deliberate misinformation is not a “half-truth,” “distortion of reality” or “the president’s loose relationship with the facts,” as..

Joseph Gonzalez, journalnow.com image (not from article) fromExcerpt: U.S. presidents have needed the House of Saud to restrain first Iraq and then Iran, pump oil into world markets and create a more moderate climate for the State of Israel. [R]est assured: President Trump’s conduct of foreign policy is novel ... First, he has publicly accepted even the most egregious Saudi lies more or less as fact. This sort of “public diplomacy” [JB emphasis] tends to make President Trump look either naïve or cynical — or both. ... [W]hen it comes to Saudi Arabia, President Trump is following a precept handed down by his Oval Office predecessors: don’t criticize your allies. It’s not often that we see such devotion to tradition on the part of our 45th president. Joseph J. Gonzalez is associate professor of Global Studies at Appalachian State University. He is a specialist on U.S.-Cuban relations.