VOA IS ‘Not a Mouthpiece of the White House,’ Director Says
Huffington Post
VOA is a tool of U.S. public diplomacy — after all, it reaches over 140 million people around the world, Ensor says. He also talks about VOA as a news source for Americans through its English-language website, and about covering controversial stories like the National Security Agency leaks and Syria’s civil war.
Richard Stengel Leaving Time for State Department
Joe Pompeo and Dylan Byers / Politico
Richard Stengel is leaving Time magazine to work at the U.S. Depart of State as the Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs.
Africa: Should Access to the Internet Be a Human Right?
Doreen Akiyo Yomoah / allAfrica
Internet access was officially declared a right by the UN in 2011, eight years after the World Summit Information Society first met in 2003. Among their goals was to address the global digital divide; to “improve access to information and communication infrastructure and technologies as well as to information and knowledge.
China’s Reputation as a Global Power
Andrew Hammond / Daily Times
China must restart a process of addressing foreign concern about its intentions as a rising power. Here, it needs to intensify efforts to be seen as a responsible, peaceful power.
Stimson Center Essays Examine U.S. – China Space Relations
PR Newswire
The Stimson Center issued a collection of essays which discusses U.S. – China space competition. Co-founder and Space Security Project Director Michael Krepon asserts:
“China and the United States are increasing their capabilities to engage in space warfare. Beijing has been reluctant to engage bilaterally with Washington on space diplomacy. One path forward leads to sensible rules of the road for space. Another leads to warfare in which every space-faring nation loses.”
Offensive Charm: Why Vladimir Putin Tried – and Failed – to Woo the U.S. Public
Jeremi Suri / Foreign Affairs
According to public opinion polls, U.S. readers sympathize with Putin’s arguments against military strikes in Syria. Many Americans also display deep doubt about any special role their country can play to improve the world. Despite these points of possible agreement, it appears most readers recognize that the author of the New York Times op-ed is a foreign leader whose actions contradict most of his claims and who has strong interests in diminishing American influence abroad.
U.S. Pop Culture a Diplomatic Tool
Zhang Xiaoli / China Daily
The two-term election of Barack Obama, the first African-American US president, has been widely hailed as a popular cultural rather than a political development in the United States. The mainstream mass media in the US have made full use of this development to push their public diplomacy goals, that is, to promote the idea that the US is a land where dreams are realized through personal efforts.
The post This Week in Public Diplomacy September 18, 2013 appeared first on American Security Project.
