Friday, March 3, 2017

PD News: Pursuit of All-Weather Diplomacy


via USC Center on public diplomacy by email

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March 02, 2017
THE DAILY SIGNAL
Current Time had its official launch in February. In a world of fierce competition from Russia, China, Iran, and others for the information space, the U.S. government is finally entering the fray in the ambitious and focused way that the current international climate demands. [...] With the motto “Real News for Real People, in Real Time,” Current Times focuses on live news. Russian audiences are used to highly orchestrated news and are attracted to more immediate, unedited content. Read More...
THE GUARDIAN
Refugees are pouring in. Bran keeps a list of why. Besides “killing and torturing” are “abduction of men, trading has stopped, no schools, looting of properties”. “It was preventive fleeing,” says Charlie Yaxley of the UN high commissioner for refugees. [...] Yet inside Uganda something extraordinary is happening. Refugees can move freely, work and own a business. “Uganda is incredibly switched on,” says Musarait Kashmiri from African Initiatives for Relief and Development, which has opened 343km of roads in Bidi Bidi. “Uganda is a showcase,” says Yaxley. Read More...
VOICE OF AMERICA
Mexico's nominee to be its next ambassador to the United States said Thursday that the two countries' relationship is at a “critical” juncture with the new administration of President Donald Trump. Ahead of high-level talks scheduled for next week in Mexico City, ambassador-in-waiting Geronimo Gutierrez Fernandez said Mexico must pursue a good relationship with Washington but that should not come “at all costs nor under just any conditions,” or in a way that is “to the detriment of national interest.” Read More...
THE STRAITS TIMES
Much work was concluded in Beijing of late by Singapore ministers and their Chinese counterparts, related to the bilateral government-to-government projects in Suzhou, Tianjin and Chongqing. [...] Yet for all that, there is an abiding sense of realism that even old ties are subject to the vicissitudes of geopolitical changes. That was borne out in past months when diplomatic friction surfaced between the two countries. Read More...
THE GUARDIAN
The Business and Sustainable Development Commission which was launched in Davos in January 2016, has the Managing Director of LADOL Dr. Amy Jadesimi as a member from Nigeria alongside other 36 global business entrepreneurs drawn from business, finance, civil society, labour, and international organizations across the world. [...] the body essentially deliberated on ways of getting the African continent to optimally benefit from the huge projection with the conclusion that the continent could rake in $1 trillion dollars from the projected $12 trillion largesse, if well harnessed. Read More...
General George Brandis and a senior DFAT official have defended Julie Bishop’s #fashiondiplomacy as a “huge asset” to Australia. [...] Senator Brandis told the hearing it was “integral” to the Foreign Minister’s role to promote Australian interests and businesses in response to questions from Labor senator Kimberley Kitching. “The fashion industry in Australia, I’m told, contributes $12 billion to the economy every year and employs 220,000 people,” Senator Brandis said. Read More...

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