Public diplomacy

Shehab Al Makahleh, Jordan Times , Feb 21,2019 image from In a hyper-connected world, public diplomacy [JB emphasis] is very significant for any country and is in line with soft power to win hearts and minds. Thus, public diplomacy is defined as a thoughtful communication endeavour to make use of soft power, by providing information deemed by foreign audience as positive. Public diplomacy is sometimes defined succinctly to refer to reaching out to global publics directly via micro approaches, including NGOs, such as the Peace Corps, and macro levels by relying on mass media. Over the past decade, there has been a worldwide surge of public diplomacy and its use as one of the most influential and sustainable soft weapons. Governments have decided to appoint departments and officials to devise strategies to yield the best results. The term has become a revolution in the world of contemporary diplomacy alongside the traditional, cultural, virtual diplomacy and so forth. The concept of publ..

Georgia Spanou, tandfonline.com, 21 Feb 2019 Makarios image (not from entry) from ABSTRACT The article explores the cultural diplomacy initiatives undertaken by the Republic of Cyprus (RoC) during Makarios presidency (1960–1977) in order to strengthen the state acknowledgement and visibility in the international scenery and promote a nation brand focused mainly on the Hellenocentric aspect of the Greek-Cypriots’ cultural identity. Cyprus, a recently independent state (1960), shaped its cultural diplomacy practices according to the political developments; on the escalation of bi-communal conflicts internally and the international insecurity provoked by the Cold War rhetoric. This paper aims to map certain state cultural initiatives in an attempt to make connections between the internal identity-building process and the external projection of cultural identity and gain a better understanding about how a small-sized state can pursue and project a nation brand abroad by practicing the dipl..

angles.saesfrance.org Publié en ligne le 23 juin 2015 Auteurs, Par Raphaël RICAUD Image (not from article) fromRésumé John Lackey Brown était le correspondant littéraire du New York Times en poste à Paris au lendemain de la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Lors des deux premières décennies de la Guerre froide, il fut attaché culturel dans les ambassades américaines de Bruxelles, Rome et Mexico. Ceux qui le connaissaient le mieux disaient de lui qu'il était apprécié pour sa bonne humeur, son esprit et son amour pour la culture. Au sein de sa profession, il faisait figure de modèle. Les paroles s’envolent, les écrits restent. En raison de la nature éphémère et privée des apartés, on ne peut que spéculer sur l'utilisation de l’esprit dont faisait preuve cet attaché culturel dans ses démarches diplomatiques. Les archives de sa correspondance, en revanche, demeurent et méritent être étudiées (elles reposent à la bibliothèque Lauinger de l’université de Georgetown, à Washington D.C.). Cett..

Jae-Yong Ryu, us.acrofan.com uncaptioned image from article On 18 February, the Soorim Arts Center in Seoul hosted a festive opening ceremony for an exhibition devoted to Latvian architecture, Latvia. Architecture at Convergence. This is the first exhibition on Latvian architecture in the Republic of Korea; it has been organised to mark Latvia’s Centenary and introduce viewers to outstanding achievements of the country in architecture, thereby raising the profile of Latvia in the respective sector in Korea. The exhibition will be on display until 24 March. Ten modules of the exhibition with 40 large scale photographs and annotations reflect the diversity of Latvia’s architecture rich in wooden built heritage, mediaeval buildings included in the UNESCO World Heritage list, Art Nouveau masterpieces – all of which have left their permanent imprint on the development of European culture. The photographs have been complemented with panels featuring a graphic presentation of all those histor..

Lahav Hakov, February 20, 2019, jpost.com Image from article: New Right: Naftali Bennett and Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked announce the formation of a new political party in Tel Aviv on December 29. (photo credit: CORINNA KERN/REUTERS) Among the New Right’s candidates is Yomtov Kalfon, an attorney, activist, and founder of “Aleinu,” meant to help get French-speaking immigrants involved in Israeli politics. Excerpt: The New Right Party introduced more candidates and Yisrael Beytenu presented its list ahead of Thursday’s final deadline to submit lists. ... Ran Bario Bar-Yoshafat, deputy director of the right-leaning Kohelet Policy Forum, also joined the New Right’s list. Bar-Yoshafat, 35, conducted Israel advocacy tours in the US and wrote a book about Israeli public diplomacy [JB emphasis] . ...

Shakeel Ahmad Ramay, dailytimes.com.pk image fromPakistan is celebrating the announcement of $20 billion investment by Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman (MBS). Indeed, this is a cause of great relief and satisfaction for Pakistan’s investment hungry economy, which was struggling to overcome the shocks and devastating impacts of the war on terror, frequent floods and bad governance. There were offers from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), but they were not acceptable. Moreover, our allies in the war on terror were using the IMF as leverage against us. In this dire situation, Pakistan executed a plan to engage our friends and brothers. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates responded to Pakistan’s call with generosity. Qatar and Oman are also not far behind. Qatar has already offer 100,000 jobs for Pakistanis. MBS visited Pakistan to re-enforce Riyadh’s commitments with Pakistan. Pakistan and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) signed a diverse range of agreements in multiple secto..

Emily Langer, washingtonpost.com JB personal note: I grew up in Rome as a foreign service brat, '58-'62 and can still swear in Romanesco. On my remarkable diplomat father, see. Image from article: Dr. Gardner taught at Columbia Law School for nearly six decades before his retirement in 2012. (Gary Gilbert/Courtesy of Columbia Law School) Richard N. Gardner, who helped mold U.S. foreign policy and generations of policymakers as a Columbia Law School professor for nearly six decades and as a U.S. ambassador to Italy and Spain, died Feb. 16 at his home in New York City. He was 91. The cause was congestive heart failure, said his daughter, Nina Gardner. Dr. Gardner spent more than half a century moving between academia and government, training the legal and economic expertise that he gained as a Yale law student and Rhodes scholar on some of the most pressing global concerns of the Cold War and its aftermath. At Columbia, he was best known for his seminar “Legal Aspects of U.S. ..

Pamela Starr, Jeffrey Phillips Feb 19, 2019, uscpublicdiplomacy.org uncaptioned image from article The December inauguration of Andrés Manuel López Obrado (AMLO) as Mexico’s 58th president creates a tremendous opportunity in U.S.-Mexico relations. AMLO and President Trump have established a surprisingly cordial relationship that can serve as the foundation for better binational ties. But this improved landscape is still encumbered by the negative perceptions the two countries have of one another, which inevitably undermine policy outcomes. No two countries matter more to one another, while understanding and appreciating one another so poorly, than the United States and Mexico.Consider this: trade between the two countries totals $1.7 billion a day. The United States is, by far, Mexico’s largest trading partner, while Mexico is the United States’ third-largest trade partner after Canada and China. About 11 million Mexicans live and work in the United States, while nearly one million Ame..

newbusinessethiopia.com, February 20, 2019 uncaptioned image from article The leaders of Ethiopia and Eritrea are set to formalize relations by signing detail cooperation agreements to boost economic relations focusing on trade regulations and infrastructural connectivity. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopia and Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki, are soon to seal a comprehensive cooperation agreement aimed at formalizing the two countries [.] This is indicated by Ethiopian Ambassador to Eritrea, Redwan Hussein. The two countries have been undertaking extensive discussions on ways to institutionalize the national and border trade. Discussions have also made on port usage, custom, immigration and transport linkages and the comprehensive agreement would be tabled for the respective leaders for approval, according to Ambassador Redwan who spoke to the state daily - The Ethiopian Herald. “After Ethiopia and Eritrea endorsed the agreements by their legislative organs, they would establish ..

Hajira Maryam, Mirza Agency image from article The Kashmiri occupation have been engendering violent behaviors and terrorism, and this can only be resolved through negotiation and mediating talks instead of episodic blame game or ongoing rivalry ISTANBULLast week on Feb. 14, a militant attack was carried out in the Pulwama district of India-held Kashmir. Killing 40 paramilitary police officers [1], the militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed took responsibility for the attack. After a meeting with the Cabinet Committee on Security chaired by Narendra Modi, India placed allegations that the attackers were linked with the Pakistani state. Also, Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced “complete isolation” and revoking “the most favored nation status” to Pakistan under World Trade Organization rules (a trading status to ensure non-discriminatory trade).The statement by the Indian leadership comes at a very fortuitous time with “more holes than Swiss cheese”, as it were, when one observes th..