PD News: Überman America: The Sinister Soft Power of Trump’s Foreign Policy

via mail from the the USC Center on Public Diplomacy

February 27, 2017 Überman America: The Sinister Soft Power of Trump’s Foreign Policy CPD BLOG Bad guys can possess soft power. I know—I wrote a book about it. But over most of the past century the U.S., as the soft power hyperpuissance, has largely set the standards of what constitutes effective national image projection. The United States has drawn its soft power, the “ability to shape the preferences of others,” as put by Joseph S. Nye, who devised the term. Read More... Digital Geneva Convention THE HUFFINGTON POST Microsoft’s call for a Digital Geneva Convention, outlined in Smith’s blog post last week, has attracted the attention of the digital policy community. Only two years ago, it would have been unthinkable for an Internet company to invite governments to adopt a digital convention. Microsoft has crossed this Rubicon in global digital politics by proposing a Digital Geneva Convention which should ‘commit governments to avoiding cyber-attacks.' Read More... China-Singapore Summit a Proof of Willing Partners Within ASEAN CHINA.ORG.CN The Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation, the highest level of bilateral cooperation between China and Singapore starts today, February 27. Singapore Deputy PM Teo Chee Hean arrived in Beijing on Sunday for a three day visit at the invitation of China's Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli. Both leaders are co-chairs of the platform, which is for promoting dialogue between China and Singapore. Read More... Climate Change a Focus at Science Diplomacy Summit DAILY WILDCAT U.S. representative Raúl Grijalva said climate change is the greatest danger facing the world right now in his closing speech at the Science Diplomacy and Policy with Focus on the Americas conference in Tucson. Applause erupted from the conference attendees, speakers, panelists and organizers in the audience. [...] The conference aimed to provide a “state of the art” vision for the future in science diplomacy and policy. Read More... Russia's Soft Warfare AL JAZEERA Russia has been making the headlines of international media for a while now. But none of that had to do with a strong economy or a powerful army because Russia simply doesn't have either. Instead, it has learned to interfere through other means in the politics, media, elections and national security of other countries. [...] The new methods of Russian influence are well-known, but it seems that Western countries have turned out to be unprepared for them. Read More... How Bloomberg's Data for Health Initiative is Reshaping Australian Aid DEVEX When Australia’s Foreign Minister announced a $15 million contribution to Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Data for Health initiative in March 2015, the program became a key way for Australia to improve outcomes of its overseas health aid. [...] Data for Health is showing its worth, allowing the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and other partners to work with governments in developing countries on evidence-based health policies. Read More... Open Arms, Open Mouths SLATE This stand is the fourth commercial venture that Zwawe has opened in São Paulo in as many years, but the first, he says, that will show “what authentic Syrian cuisine really is.” He’d opened his previous stand inside a bakery in the industrial district of Brás, just east of downtown. “I used to do the recipes that people here are more familiar with, like falafel, kebab, sfihas, and kibbehs,” he says. Read More... CPD Website | Contact | Unsubscribe