Coca-Cola Commercial – Lyrics: We have sworn to erase the impossible/ It should be
hope, or no other alternative/ No matter how long they say the night is/ There
is no sleep, when it is time for seriousness/ Make tomorrow better, with your
hands, you will defy the clouds/ Make …
Robin Wright of the US Institute of Peace has a new book on the role of culture in both reflecting and inspiring this year’s uprisings across the Middle East and North Africa. Rock the Casbah, released earlier this month by
The Economist recently ran an article that highlights the tension between spending on foreign assistance and domestic political support for it. Prime Minister David Cameron, who ran on a platform supporting more aid and has insulated it from the cuts he has levied on almost every other …
The New York Times recently ran an article on the band Native Deen, which took a State Department sponsored tour of several countries and recently released their latest album. When they were first asked to participate in the first tour they had qualms:
“We had …
Sarwar Kashmeri, a senior fellow in the International Security Program of the Atlantic Council and a fellow of the Foreign Policy Association, has two recent offerings that give excellent insights into how the Libya operation might affect NATO’s future:
1. A posting on
In honor of today’s royal wedding, I draw to your attention a very interesting article that appeared in one of Canada’s leading newspapers, the Globe and Mail – Britain’s Crisis of Succession: Charles and the Story Behind the Royal Wedding. The article gives us a glimpse …
Public Diplomacy as a Linguistic Phenomenon, by John Brown in the Huffington Post
The War on Soft Power, by Joseph Nye in Foreign Policy
Last month BBC New Magazine ran a curious story (here) about the US State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), calling it “a little-known scheme run by the US State Department [that] has demonstrated an uncanny capacity to pinpoint these leaders-in-waiting.” Despite the BBC’s assertion, the …
Earlier this month the president of Cornell University, David Skorton, published an excellent essay in the Huffington Post on the role that higher education can – and should – play in public diplomacy (full essay is here). I …
The American University in Cairo’s School of Global Affairs and Public policy is coming out with an impressive – and timely – new journal, The Cairo Review of Global Affairs. Here is what they say about the journal’s mission and focus:
Among all the articles about the Middle East over the past two weeks, these three jumped out at me as being highly relevant for U.S. global engagement strategy.
1. Amid Arab protests, U.S. influence has waned by Liz Sly in the Washington Post. The old …
NOTE: This post was co-authored by guest blogger, Robert R. Gosende. Mr. Gosende is a retired Foreign Service Officer who now serves as the John W. Ryan Fellow in International Education at the University at Albany. He was President Clinton’s …
Yesterday the Associated Press ran an interesting article on President Obama’s plans to increase engagement with Africa in 2011.
President Barack Obama is quietly but strategically stepping up his outreach to Africa, using this year to increase his engagement with a continent that …
Last night 60 Minutes (a TV news program in the U.S.) had an excellent two-part presentation on Wynton Marsalis and his Jazz at Lincoln Center (JALC) Orchestra. The followed the band’s trips to London and Havana, where they …
Here are a few items worth reviewing from 2010 and some things to keep an eye on in 2011.
Notable Events in 2010:
Release of the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR): This is the long-awaited (14 months) road map for reform of the State Department and USAID – what they do, …
