Monday, June 12, 2017

PD News Weekly: Governments and Soft Power: Their Creative Power


via email from USC Center on Public Diplomacy

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Jun 11, 2017

THE HERALD
The United Nations General Assembly designated 2017 the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development. In line with the global designation, Zimbabwe launched last week, the Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development under the theme, “Travel, Enjoy and Respect”. It is my sincere hope that this launch, albeit done mid-year, should be used as a way of bringing all stakeholders to exchange ideas to foster sound partnership to advance tourism for sustainable development and poverty eradication in Zimbabwe. Read More...
SKY NEWS
New Zealand gave about $NZ215,000 ($206,000) in aid for North Korean humanitarian programs over the past eight years, only halting the yearly fund due to concerns about the rogue state's missile tests. Documents released to the Taxpayer's Union under the Official Information Act have revealed New Zealand provided around $30,000 per year to its embassy in South Korea, with the money then directed to non-government organizations in North Korea. Read More...
LUSAKA TIMES
Chinese Minister of Culture Luo Shugang says Zambia-China cultural cooperation stands out as a role model for China-African cooperation. The Chinese minister has also praised the visit of the Zambian tourism Minister Charles Banda, saying that the visit would elevate existing cultural relations between the two countries to a higher level. The Chinese Minister also agreed to the need for the two parties to expedite the process of finalizing the Cultural Agreement and called for more substance to be added to the framework so as to widen the scope of cooperation. Read More...
FIRST POST
Qatar has said citizens of the nations that have cut ties with the emirate will be allowed to stay in the country despite measures against its own nationals. A statement carried on state media said Doha would "not take any measures against residents of Qatar who hold the nationalities of countries that severed diplomatic ties or lowered diplomatic representations with the state of Qatar, on the back of hostile and tendentious campaigns against the country". Read More...
MOROCCO WORLD NEWS
he Foreign Ministry seized the opportunity to highlight the close ties between Morocco and the continent during the celebration of Africa Day on June 8, and lauded the Kingdom’s policies regarding co-development, sharing of expertise and win-win partnerships in Africa. The celebration of Africa Day was organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the theme “Morocco, An Actor for a Collective Emergence in Africa.” Read More...
THE GLOBE AND MAIL
Following the release of the federal budget this spring, many members of Canada’s international development community worried about this country’s long-term commitment to families like the Hernandez’s. hankfully, a practical new framework for Canada’s international assistance, released Friday by Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister for International Development, underscores Canada’s commitment to our sector and provides relief for those troubled by Canada’s stalled aid contribution in the 2017 budget. It also commits $150-million over five years for local women’s organizations in developing countries. Read More...

Jun 10, 2017

TAIWAN NEWS
A little bit crab apple, a little bit cherimoya, the ambitious atemoya hopes for soft power prowess and export success. When the atemoya (鳳梨釋迦) was first exported from Taiwan in 2008, its sales quickly surpassed that of other Taiwanese staples, including mangoes and pineapples. In 2014 alone the atemoya brought in NT$580 million (US$19,272,303) in export profits. Exports hope the atemoya will become as ubiquitous with Taiwan as the kiwifruit is with New Zealand. Becoming the industry leader in atemoya exports, particularly in the Asian region, could aid Taiwan in national branding campaigns. Read More...
THE NEW YORK TIMES
Alan Gilbert has chosen to celebrate the close of his tenure as music director of the New York Philharmonic on a political note, with a program called “A Concert for Unity.” BY inviting musicians from countries including Iran and Israel to join Philharmonic members on the stage on Thursday-Saturday, Mr. Gilbert is clearly trying to steer against the divisive winds coming out of Washington. But he is also interesting himself into a tradition of bridge-building musical events that reach back to the aftermath of World War II. Here are five memorable moments of musical diplomacy: Read More...
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
Xi Jinping and Narendra Modi were apparently talking movies, among other things, at a summit in Kazakhstan on Friday. Xi mentioned that he, like millions of Chinese, had enjoyed the hit Bollywood film Dangal. Xi and Modi went on to discuss boosting cultural cooperation between the two countries. [...] Dangal is still screening across China at more than 7,000 cinemas.Its success follows a string of other Bollywood films that have won over Chinese audiences in recent years, including the previous biggest hit, PK, which took in 118 million yuan. Read More...
THE STANDARD
Finland became the first country in the world to publish its own set of national emojis in December 2015 on the country branding website ThisisFINLAND.fi, produced by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland. A set of summer emojis was added to the selection on the Day of Finnish Identity in May 2016 and ahead of Finland’s two-year term as chair of the Arctic Council starting in May 2017. The Finland emoji collection has met with great success abroad, garnering numerous international awards and reaching about 240 million people through traditional and social media. Read More...
THE STAR
Women-focused aid groups welcomed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s unapologetically feminist foreign aid policy. [...] In five years, 95 per cent of Canada’s overseas development assistance will be devoted to programs that target gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. Fifty per cent of the development budget will go to sub-Saharan Africa and the amount of funding going to health and reproductive rights will double. [...] “The research shows beyond a doubt that investment in a girl’s education is the most effective investment we can make in international assistance.” Read More...
CURRENT ZIONSVILLE
Zionsville Community High School has received a plaque of appreciation from the U.S. Dept. of State for hosting three students from Kosovo and Liberia through the YES program during the 2016-17 school year. The YES program offers a competitive grant to students from countries with a significant Muslim population. [...] “The focus of these programs is to encourage diplomacy for future generations in hope of fostering a more peaceful world,” said Jan Ellis, local coordinator. Diella Ymeraga, 17, a Kosovo exchange student, described ZCHS as a good and open-minded community. Read More...

Jun 9, 2017

NEWS MAX
Two unprecedented events this week shook one of the wealthiest regions on earth to its core. It underscores the urgency for diplomacy and a global engagement suited to the 21st century. They also emphasize the need to end egotistic "140-word" foreign policy strategies and bullying of nations. [...] In what’s becoming a new norm in diplomatic exchanges, however, UAE’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Anwar Bin Mohammad Gargash, “tweeted” that "Qatar’s seeking protection from two non-Arab states 'Turkey and Iran' is tragic and comical." Read More...
ECONOMIC TIMES INDIA
Generations of Indian diplomats have been using mango for years to win both friends and foes. [...] Foreigners didn’t know how to tackle the fruit, a fact happily taken advantage of by one Indian diplomat living in Geneva. He once met Dag Hammarskjold, the UN secretary-general, who told him he kept getting mangoes from Indians which he didn’t know how to eat. [...] It was reported in 1955 that as Chou ate his mango “his beetling brow relaxed, his lips rippled into a smile… Thereafter, he ate out of Mr. Nehru’s hand and signed the famous joint declaration.” Read More...
XINHUA
German Foreign Minister pledged 3.5 million euros of extra refugee aid for the conflict-ridden state struggling to emerge from the throws of civil war. The money will be used to improve the catastrophic conditions seen in the refugee camps across the country, with systematic sexual abuse and violence reportedly widespread. In the first five months of this year, 60,000 refugees have come to Europe via Libya, a rise of 26 percent compared to the previous year. Approximately 1,700 people were killed as they attempted to cross the Mediterranean Sea from January to May 2017. Read More...
KNOWLEDGE @ WHARTON
With the International Olympic Committee (IOC) set to have chosen Paris over Los Angeles as the site for the 2024 Olympics, it is timely to ask: Is hosting the Olympics good for a nation’s brand, and do they provide a good financial return on investment? [...] He also noted that the concept of nation-branding pervaded China’s handling of the 2008 Beijing games. “In China their goal was broad recognition as a leader on the global stage.” He said that China was largely successful, but that in terms of political reputation, the country was thrown into a negative light. Read More...
HOLMES REPORT
Agenda and MHP Communications has launched #WeAreNato, the organization's first major communications campaign in nearly a decade.[...] "Helping NATO reach audiences in more than 28 member countries and to explain its mission of guaranteeing peace and security for its citizens in the kind of work we love to do." [...] According to Agenda, the framework contract encompasses a wide variety of communications, public affairs and creative media relations. Read More...
SDG KNOWLEDGE HUB
On the second day of the UN Ocean Conference, side events focused on the ocean economy; global cooperation on ocean science; and environmentally sound waste management. [...] Representing the shipping industry, Carl Carlsson, described PPP collaboration method and project platform for safer, more energy-efficient maritime transport. A presentation ceremony appreciated The Seychelles, for innovative financing; Norway, for promoting professional involvement in ocean science; UN Environment to reduce plastic in the ocean, etc. Read More...

Jun 8, 2017

DAILY SABAH
The ambassadors of countries with embassies in Turkey attended an iftar (fast-breaking) dinner Tuesday evening hosted by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) in the capital Ankara. [...] Saudi Arabia's Ambassador to Turkey, whose country spearheaded efforts to isolate Qatar over what it calls support for extremists, was seated near Qatari Ambassador as both envoys briefly engaged in a warm conversation, according to a journalist from Hürriyet daily who attended the dinner. Read More...
NATIONAL REVIEW
Now that Qatar is embroiled in controversy with nearly the entire Sunni Islamic world, led by Saudi Arabia, the 2022 FIFA World Cup is suddenly at risk. The Qatar World Cup has been dogged by controversy since the day it was announced in 2012. But even years of international and humanitarian moral outrage could not do to Qatar what Saudi Arabia proved able to do almost instantly: isolate Qatar’s ruling emir and take away his biggest soft-power achievement. Read More...
GOVERNMENT EXECUTIVE
Recently an interesting debate arose over the fundamental meaning of branding. [...] The project's founder, Simon Anholt, is known for the concept of “nation branding,” also known as “place branding,” which seeks to enhance the images of nations much the way companies try to bolster the reputations of their products. [...] “My belief, backed up by much research (nearly 400 billion data points from 10 years of the Nation Brands Index), has long been that there’s no such thing as place “branding” and that countries are judged by what they do rather than by what they say." Read More...
DEUTSCHE WELLE
Can music really build bridges of understanding amid conflicts? Participants at the 2017 European Forum on Music in Cyprus think so, though they admit that music can also become a weapon. [...] On Saturday, June 10, music will bridge that divide when Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot musicians take the stage together in Pafos to perform at the 2017 European Forum on Music. Read More...
DECCAN CHRONICLE
Technology allows governments and citizens to communicate faster and more effectively. In the age of “digital diplomacy”, the ability to harness digital platforms effectively to engage people, exchange ideas and deliver key messages is more important than ever. Prime Minister Narendra Modi provides a great example of digital diplomacy done well by a head of a state. His use of digital tools has been central to his success both as a politician and India’s global advocate-in-chief. Read More...
NEWSWORKS
On Monday evening, members of the Philadelphia, Chinese and Mexican communities got together to have dinner with some of the city's Mummers. As the latest in a string of after-hours, invitation-only dinners, they each prepared a dish unique to their culture. A Chinese chef demonstrated how to make pork dumplings, traditionally made for Chinese New Year. The Mummers shared their own New Year's tradition, made with the same meat: an Italian stuffed pork loin. Rocco Gallelli demonstrated how to make an Italian stuffed pork loin. Read More...

Jun 7, 2017

WACO TRIBUNE HERALD
For a few hours on Sunday, Ariana Grande, a 23-year-old pop star from Boca Raton, Florida, was the leader of the free world. The position has been open for months. Contestants ranging from German Chancellor Angela Merkel to, improbably, Chinese President Xi Jinping have been auditioning for the job. [...] While President Trump gutter-tweeted argle-bargle and played another round of golf, Grande delivered what will likely stand as the official American response to the bombing in Manchester and to another terrorist attack, the night before the concert, in London. Read More...
ANKASAM
Turkey has started to use public diplomacy in its modern sense and as a state policy for the first time during the AK party era. [...] In addition, TIKA (Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency) the first soft power institution of Turkey (opened in the 1990s), has been restructured in order to adapt to public diplomacy. [...] The Yunus Emre Institute, which was opened in 2009, has started to carry out the cultural diplomacy activities of public diplomacy. In this respect, Turkish foreign policy has also opened up to the cultural and social fields. Read More...
TRANSITION ONLINE
Are there any limits to the channels and tools that a state can use to perpetuate narratives on national identity? Traditional approaches to what has been defined as nation-building have tended to rely on such things as studies of the use of the national language, school education, and political narratives. [...] Indeed, cinema, large-scale events with hundreds of thousands of attendees, cultural initiatives, and even food narratives can be used to construct identity in a path that goes from traditional nation-building to what has recently been defined as nation-branding. Read More...
THE HILL
President Trump set off a firestorm Tuesday when he conducted diplomacy-by-tweet. The President took credit for the decision by Saudi Arabia and several other Arab countries to cut off ties with Qatar, an ally that is home to a large base with as many as 10,000 U.S. military personnel. The tweets were a huge surprise given that a day earlier, top U.S. officials had sought to downplay the dispute. “During my recent trip to the Middle East I stated that there can no longer be funding of Radical Ideology. Leaders pointed to Qatar - look!” Trump tweeted TuesdayRead More...
EAST BAY TIMES
Chef Dicky Cheung is the former co-owner/chef of Golden Willow Chinese Restaurant in Concord. [...] The good news is that Chef Dicky hasn’t hung up his apron just yet. Since his retirement, he has been volunteering his kitchen mastery “wok-ing” to help various nonprofit organizations raise money for worth causes. [...] The Concord Ambassadors organization was established in 1974 when executives representing Concord and Kitakami, Japan, met in Concord to draw up a charter of lasting friendship between the two cities. Read More...
BRAND SOUTH AFRICA
Former Ethiopian health minister Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has been chosen as the director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO). He was nominated by the government of Ethiopia and elected by the WHO member states to begin his five-year term as director-general on 1 July 2017. He succeeds Hong Kong’s Dr Margaret Chan, who has held the position since 2007. [...] His successes with these two organisations included securing increased funding to fight life-threatening diseases in Africa. Read More...

Jun 6, 2017

IRISH TIMES
Efforts by China to forge a new global alliance on climate change and sidestep US president Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris Agreement were boosted after California governor Jerry Brown affirmed his state’s climate change alliance with Beijing. Mr Brown, governor of the state with the largest economy in the US, has been in China for a high-profile visit during which he pledged to co-operate in shaping global climate change policies and signed a deal with China to co-operate on clean technology. Read More...
YAHOO NEWS
Zika has faded from the media spotlight in recent months, but public health officials are gearing up for the virus to resurface as the summer brings warmer weather and mosquitos. The virus is linked to serious birth defects in babies of mothers who were infected while pregnant. But global health experts warn that the infectious disease and others like it will be much more difficult to contain in the future as Trump moves ahead with the reenactment and expansion of the Mexico City Policy, a ruling that blocks U.S. federal funding for NGOs and agencies that provide abortion counseling or... Read More...
THE INTELLIGENCER
Attorney Tom Jennings said he was just looking to brush up on his Russian when he got involved in Citizen Diplomacy’s cultural exchange program in 1998. The Jennings have opened their home to more than three dozen visitors “and deal with many others,” said Tom.“The stories could go on forever, but the central theme is it’s an opportunity available to people in our area. Citizen Diplomacy is peacemaking at the retail level, one handshake at a time,” he said. Read More...
BRAND SOUTH AFRICA
Brand South Africa in collaboration with the Gauteng Department of Economic Development, will host various stakeholders ... as part of its workshop to build South Africa’s competitiveness and a cohesive image of the South African Nation Brand. Government asserts that; “the Nation Brand alignment workshops are a critical part of achieving coordinated and coherent manner of presenting the country. This year we aim to further drive these conversations... making it inclusive and diverse with the core message, to build a strong Nation Branding.” Read More...
GRAPHIC ONLINE
About 600 experts, representatives of the international development agencies and other stakeholders are to converge on Accra next month to discuss how to fast-track the implementation of an open data system in Africa. The regional conference with support from the global level and the World Bank will among other things discuss the progress and achievements of the open data industry. It has been a platform to raise awareness of and determine the next line of action in the effective implementation of the phenomenon in Africa. Read More...
UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS
When students study abroad, they add a global perspective to their education, and they experience the personal growth that comes from living in a new culture. The College of Engineering has been working to promote and support study abroad experiences and international exchange programs for its students.One of these programs is an exchange program with Aarhus University in Denmark. In the fall, six engineering students and four students from the Sam M. Walton College of Business will be spending a year at Aarhus, while three Danish students come to the U of A. Read More...
VOICE OF AMERICA NEWS
To celebrate the June 5 World Environment Day, diplomats from more than a dozen foreign embassies and international organizations Monday joined the U.S. State Department to plant underwater seagrass in the Potomac River, a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay. Diplomats told VOA their participation in “green diplomacy” is to help raise awareness of the challenges of clean water here and at home. By working with the CBF’s “Grasses for the Masses” program, diplomats are demonstrating the commitment to environmental protection. Read More...

Jun 5, 2017

NEWS GHANA
Ethiopian Tesfahun Tsehaye was one of the 15 university students who have participated in the recently held 16th edition of Chinese Proficiency Competition, dubbed Chinese Bridge, in Addis Ababa, capital of the Ethiopia. Winning the contest held at country-level with second highest score, the electrical engineering student highlighted the strong China-Africa relations, particularly with the ever-growing Chinese investment on the African continent. Read More...
ABC NEWS
Australia is a beautiful multicultural democracy that respects cultural diversity and promotes equality among all ethic and cultural groups. However, even my freedom in Australia is increasingly under threat from China's "soft power". It is wonderful that the Chinese communities in Australia are allowed to establish all sorts of associations, run Chinese-language media and keep their cultural practices and traditions. With the ambitious goal of establishing "discursive power" in the world, the CCP's Central Propaganda Department has carried out the Grand External Propaganda Program. Read More...
SHANGHAI DAILY
About 1,100 participants from 38 countries and regions will participate in the 2017 China International Skills Competition and International Forum on Skills and Development that kicks off in Shanghai and Suzhou today. After joining the WorldSkills International (WSI) in October 2010, China has dedicated itself in the development of world skills. It has integrated deeply with WSI’s global family, and is now bidding to hold the 46th WorldSkills Competition (WSC) in 2021 in Shanghai. Its bidding slogan is “New Youth, New Skills, New Dream.” Read More...
NORTH AFRICA POST
Morocco is illustrative of a rising power that has cannily deployed its soft power toolbox, including investments, human development projects, media, culture and religion to boost stability in the Sahel and Africa. In an article on the World Politics Review on the contribution of four main players in the security arena in the region, Morocco was distinguished by the author, Anouar Boukhars, for succeeding to tap into the potential of soft power in its ties with African states. Read More...
THE GUARDIAN
Campaigners who believe funding for schooling in the world’s poorest countries has hit crisis levels say next month’s G20 meeting will be a “make or break” moment for education. The share of aid funding spent on education has fallen for the past six years, from 10% in 2009 to 6.9% in 2015, according to new figures from the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco). Education now receives as little in aid funding as transport. Read More...
THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS
China has scored a major victory in soft diplomacy by quietly launching its own Nalanda University, while the original Nalanda campus in Bihar, planned almost a decade ago, is still stuck with 455-acre dead space. China’s education ministry had managed to keep the plan a secret till a few weeks ago when it formally announced the enrolment for the Nanhai Buddhist College in Hainan province in May. Read More...

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