John Brown's Public Diplomacy Press and Blog Review

The Balkan White House: Slovenia (Melania) vs. Croatia (Mira) [with a mention of public...

Friendship pins Slovenia-Croatia From the New York Times: "Melania Trump Says an Aide ‘No Longer Deserves the Honor of Serving in This White House’"...

National Styles in Science Diplomacy: Russia

Olga Krasnyak, uscpublicdiplomacy.org, November 12 uncaptioned image from article Note from the CPD Blog Manager: This essay was adapted by the author from her monograph, “National Styles in Science, Diplomacy, and Science Diplomacy: A Case Study of the P5 Countries,” a 2018 publication from Brill Research Perspectives in Diplomacy and Foreign Policy. Read the author's CPD Blog posts about science diplomacy in the UK and France here and here.Science diplomacy is becoming an important tool and mechanism that allows states to more effectively promote and secure their foreign policy agenda. Recognizing the role science plays on national and international levels, in addition to identifying the national diplomatic style, helps to construct a national style of science diplomacy and evaluate its potential for global governance in addressing global issues on a massive systematic scale. The study highlights how national style in science diplomacy affects the process of global competition a..

Strengthening Australia’s partnership with ASEAN

pm.gov.au PRIME MINISTER OF AUSTRALIAimage from I was delighted to join my ASEAN counterparts at an ASEAN-Australia Summit this morning. Australia has committed to a Southeast Asia Economic Governance and Infrastructure Initiative that will help unlock our region’s next phase of economic growth. Through this initiative, Australia will provide countries with technical advice to support economic growth, such as taxation and competition policy and debt management. It will also support infrastructure project selection and preparation and help governments to mobilise finance. This investment will provide ASEAN countries with access to public and private-sector specialists and support regional dialogue on economic and infrastructure issues. A new five-year phase of the Greater Mekong Water Resources Program will support more equitable, transparent and effective water resource management. This investment will help make available Australia’s internationally recognised expertise on an issue at ..

Over 2000 people to attend Arctic: Today and the Future Forum

Arctic.ru (press release), November 14 image from entry The 8th International Forum Arctic: Today and the Future will be held in St. Petersburg on December 5‒7. More than 2,000 people from 40 Russian regions and 20 countries have declared their intention to participate. Over 350 speakers are expected to take the floor at the forum. The event is supported by the State Commission for Arctic Development and organized by the Association of Polar Explorers. The forum will promote Russia's core national interests in the Arctic through developing civil society interaction, both in the form of public dialogue with government authorities and also via public diplomacy [JB emphasis], with collaboration between the participants and international non-government organizations," the organizers stated. There will be eight concurrent lines of discussion at the forum in the usual working formats, such as plenary meetings, work sessions and round table discussions. Major Russian companies operating ..

EDA launches Women in Diplomacy Network

gulftoday.ae Image from, with caption: Emirates Diplomatic Academy Convocation 2016 highlights Abu Dhabi: The Emirates Diplomatic Academy (EDA) on Wednesday launched the ‘Women in Diplomacy Network’, a global platform designed to offer practical and policy-oriented solutions to help women excel in their foreign affairs and public diplomacy [JB emphasis] careers. The initiative was announced on the opening day of the inaugural Abu Dhabi Diplomacy Conference that is currently under way in Abu Dhabi. Convened under the patronage of Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the two-day event has brought together more than 300 high-profile personalities, industry thought leaders and practitioners to contribute to discussions shaping the future of diplomacy. Announcing its launch, Dr Nawal Al-Hosany, Permanent Representative of the UAE to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and Deputy Director General of EDA, said that..

Is Trump ceding South-East Asia to Chinese influence?

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..

Music, Public Diplomacy, and Beethoven for the Rohingya

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.

APEC host Papua New Guinea doesn’t need cheap cash and hollow promises, it needs...

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. ..

Diplomatic Academy honors traditions of Katkovsky Lyceum

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..

Three Ways the New Congress Can Defend Democracy Abroad

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..