Monday, July 24, 2017

USC Center on Public Diplomacy - CPD Weekly (July 21)


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Jul 21, 2017 via email

BBC
YouTube says it will redirect people searching for "violent extremist propaganda" and offer them videos that denounce terrorism. People searching for certain terms relating to the so-called Islamic State group will be offered playlists of videos "debunking its mythology". Read More...
THE GUARDIAN
“I hope we have made Afghanistan and the people of Afghanistan proud,” Azizi said. Of that there was no question. The Afghan ambassador, Hamdullah Mohib, said greeting the robotics team at Dulles International Airport was the “proudest moment of my career”. He described the girls as symbols of a new Afghanistan emerging from the shadow of America’s longest war. Read More...
FIJI SUN
Minister for Defence and National Security Ratu Inoke Kubuabola yesterday met with the Australian Minister for International Development and the Pacific, Concetta Fierravanti-Wells. [...] “Fiji will pursue the establishment of the Regional Peacekeeping and HADR Centre and we hope development partners will join our efforts and look at a specific component of the model to support.” Read More...
THE WIRE
Crowdsourcing support can become a process where new ideas are mined and become part of a policy package for difficult relationships. [...] It has been said again and again that this is the age of digital diplomacy. For diplomacy to be digital requires, as one ambassador has said, that “we do things differently and develop new skills – the secrecy and exclusivity of the diplomatic bag no longer applies. Read More...
THE PRESS AND JOURNAL
More parts of the north-east will be dancing to an international beat this summer when a major festival spreads its influence further than ever. Musicians from 18 countries spread rights across the globe are due to arrive later this month as part of the Aberdeen International Youth Festival (AIYF). Read More...
TAIWAN NEWS
The Bureau of Foreign Trade and Taiwan External Trade Development announced that the Taiwan Excellence logo, the mark of outstanding Taiwanese achievements, will appear on the jerseys of the Italian volleyball team, Top Volley Latina. This season the entire team will wear the Taiwan Excellence emblem on their jersey. The move supports the success of Huang Pei-hong, the only Taiwanese member of this international team and promotes Taiwanese recognition through sports. Read More...

Jul 20, 2017

AL BAWABA
The first ever opera festival in the Arab world debuted yesterday, and it took place in Amman. [...] In a statement to The Jordan Times, Barhoum said, “Throughout my career, I have been blessed to work with people from around the globe. Through my music and art, I have realized the importance of cross-cultural connections, and I have seen first-hand how music provides an important bridge that unites cultures from all over the world. With music, we speak one language; a language we can all understand without interpreters.” Read More...
AGENDA
A New York theatre venue is hosting nine prominent playwrights from Georgia for a festival premiering their plays within the ongoing Georgian-American Theatre Feast in the city. [...] The Georgian-American Theatre Feast is the latest event run by Red Lab Productions, an international collective with focus on holding performance arts events in promotion of cultural diplomacy. Read More...
THE GUARDIAN
In postwar France, two men had a bold, even utopian idea: a peace-loving network of ‘world cities’. [...] The symbol of the global city remains an effective one. As the idea of globalisation falters and tensions between nations ratchet up once more, is the world ready to revisit the older idea of global cities? Read More...
REACTIONS
The World Bank is working with the UK Government to set up the London Centre for Global Disaster Protection (LCGDP). [...] The centre has been established in partnership with the World Bank and Germany in a bid to grow the role of insurance in mitigating damage caused by natural catastrophes in less economically developed economies (LEDCs) and encourage countries to better manage risk. Read More...
AGENDA
The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway, an important section in the middle of the modern Silk Road, will soon be fully commissioned, increasing connectivity among Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey. [...] Once the railway will be fully operational, all three countries will mutually benefit from improved trade and economic relations and gain additional Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) through the new railway connecting Europe and Asia. Read More...
XINHUA
Egypt sent a cargo of medical aid including medicines and other medical supplies to neighboring conflict-stricken Libya, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday. [...] Hosting several meetings between Libyan rival factions, Egypt is keen on reaching a political settlement to restore security and stability to the war-torn neighboring country whose chaotic conditions pose a threat to the Egyptian western borders with eastern Libya. Read More...

Jul 19, 2017

THE MALTA INDEPENDENT
July marks the end of BirdLife Malta's 20-month Action for Nature project, an international exchange initiative that has seen a total of 84 youths and leaders participate from Malta, Hungary and Norway to improve the NGO's nature reserves as part of an environmental campaign. Read More...
ROTORUA DAILY POST
A Te Arawa cultural group will perform in front hundreds of thousands of people at two festivals in Korea this week. Then in December, Korean cultural performers will take the stage at Rotorua's first Mudtopia Festival. Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister Maggie Barry said the two cultural exchanges would have cultural and economic benefits for both countries. Read More...
AKI PRESS
The exhibition "Splendid world of Indian textiles" will kick off in Bishkek today at 4:00 pm local time, the Embassy of India reports. [...] The exhibition is arranged by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) and organized by the Embassy of India, Bishkek and Ministry of Culture of the Kyrgyz Republic, jointly with Altyn Taj (India – Kyrgyzstan Friendship Society). Read More...
THE JERUSALEM POST
The Google search “Benjamin Netanyahu” yields 16,100,000 results – but “Gal Gadot” yields 20,700,000. [...] It’s no secret that Israel has an image problem. Gadot’s newfound celebrity is possibly the best international publicity for the Jewish state in years, and is a perfect example of soft power. Read More...
B92
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Serbian literature generally referred to Albanians an uncivilized nation. Such an image of them was created by anti-Albanian politics and propaganda of the ruling regimes, and some well-known writers also succumbed to this. [...] There is a strong desire to raise the level of knowledge about one another, which is worryingly low, and therefore subject to all possible disinformation, stereotypes, conspiracy theories. Read More...
THE NATION
Thailand has been listed among the “ones to watch” in the annual Soft Power 30 report published by Portland Communications on Tuesday. [...] The cuisine, culture and warm hospitality also played a role in attracting international attention, the report said. Read More...

Jul 18, 2017

REUTERS
Careem, a Middle Eastern rival to Uber, has become the first ride-hailing firm to operate in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Dubai-based Careem, whose name is a play on the Arabic word for generous or noble, launched in Ramallah in June, aiming to bring digital simplicity to the Palestinian territory. Read More...
ECO BUSINESS
In 2016, over 1.3 billion international tourists spent an estimated US$1.4 trillion. That’s the equivalent of Australia’s gross domestic product, dispersed around the world. [...] Governments can reduce leakage by thinking strategically about procurement, emphasizing local business development, integrating supply chains and investing in education and training to prepare workers for tourism jobs. Read More...
POLITICO
France is this year’s top soft power, according to a report published Tuesday. The Soft Power 30, published by PR firm Portland Communications, ranks countries on their exercise of soft power — the ability to influence others through attraction and likability rather than coercion. Read More...
CPD BLOG
South Korean—Russian space cooperation is an important landmark in the South Korean contemporary quest to become a global space power. The success of several joint space projects was possible due to cooperation with Russia, an unusual and unlikely partner considering South Korea’s historically close ties to the United States. In view of the circumstances and specifics of such ambitious projects, we look at South Korean—Russian space cooperation through the lens of science diplomacy, distinguishing national diplomatic styles in particular. Read More...
THE GUARDIAN
Young amputees in some of the poorest parts of the world will be able to navigate rough terrain to access jobs and opportunities with the help of new, specially developed prosthetic knees, after a non-profit company received a grant from the UK government to develop its design. [...] D-Rev, a development company based in San Francisco, California, has been awarded around $100,000 (£76,280) in UK aid money to develop a polycentric, four-bar knee, which wearers will be able to use over uneven ground. Read More...
BROADWAY WORLD
The Soap Factory is excited to partner with Kutilvera to bring four emerging and mid-career Minnesota-based artists to Tranås, Sweden, to participate in a month-long residency at their organization. This residency is about time and place, an opportunity to reflect and cultivate ideas through experience and exchange. Artists will be given opportunities to learn about their host city, meet other artists, and space to work independently or collaboratively in their studios. Read More...
THE STRAITS TIMES
Japan on July 17 pledged US$1 billion (S$1.37 billion) over the next two years to back the United Nations' development agenda, raising its profile as one of the world's largest foreign aid donors. Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida told a meeting at the UN that the funding will go to help children and youth worldwide, in particular to promote education, health, disaster response and gender equality. Read More...

Jul 17, 2017

THE TELEGRAPH
For the last day of her state visit to the UK, which included an official farewell to The Queen and Prince Phillip at Buckingham Palace followed by a tour of the Francis Crick Institute, Letizia wore an ivory prom-style skirt by one of the UK's best-loved high street labels, Topshop. [...] Diplomatic dressing is a favored sartorial tactic of many of the world's most high-profile women, who use their style choices to pay tribute to the places and countries they visit. Read More...
AHRAM ONLINE
Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities is now issuing visitor’s passes for foreigners to visit all archaeological sites and museums in Cairo and Giza governorates. [...] The Annual Visitors Pass, meanwhile, includes all open archaeological sites and museums across Egypt, with several options available. The first is for foreign diplomats and foreigners who work in international and multinational companies in Egypt. Belarus would like to see the diaspora more involved in the country's development, Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei said at the opening of the 7th Congress of the Belarusians of the World in Minsk on 15 July, BelTA has... Read More...
THE GUARDIAN
The organizers of one of the biggest draws at the Edinburgh festival, the military tattoo, are hoping to expand worldwide, eventually holding the event across Asia, the Middle East and North and South America. [...] The tattoo, which began in 1950 and is a charity, has become a showcase for British forces and their counterparts from around the world and been a sellout for the last two decades, attracting audiences of about 220,000 at the event and 100 million on television. Read More...
SOO TODAY
Luke Dalla Bona, a former Sault resident currently living and working in Ecuador, has a plan to help a small South American community prosper by getting a completely natural product on the market. [...] After the earthquake took a painful bite out of Agua Blanca’s tourism revenue, the villagers, Dalla Bona said, decided to pursue bottling of natural shampoo, using the surrounding forest as a resource. Read More...
BLUEFIELD DAILY TELEGRAPH
Mercer County will host five judges from Mongolia later this month to learn the ins and outs of the U.S. legal system. [...] Jamkhandi said host families are a significant ingredient of U.S.-sponsored exchange programs, allowing international professionals a “unique perspective of American life and culture. More importantly, home stays foster friendships, a key element in people-to-people diplomacy.” Read More...
ECONOMY NEXT
World Bank Group is considering lending Sri Lanka $100 million to expand higher education including increasing enrollment in priority areas for economic development like science, engineering and mathematics, and promoting innovation. [...] A Finance Ministry statement said the proposed programme aims to increase enrollment in higher education programmes that are important for an aspiring upper middle income country. Read More...

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