John Brown's Public Diplomacy Press and Blog Review

John Sjoholm, limacharlienews.com; see also (1) uncaptioned image from article A sequestered, off the record meeting in Sweden drives U.S., North Korea, South Korea diplomacy. At a sequestered conference facility outside of Stockholm top diplomats from North Korea, the U.S. and South Korea are now meeting under the protection of Swedish military and paramilitary forces for a week long off-the-record gathering. The facility and the area around the facility are off-limits for observers, including accredited journalists. The meeting began on January 19th and is being held at the Hackholmssund Conference Hotel, by the Mälaren Lake, north-west of Stockholm. The area is under lock down by the Swedish paramilitary police force “Nationella Insatsstyrkan” and the Swedish military is conducting training of several of its elite quick response counter-terrorism units in the vicinity. Sources within Rosenbad, the nerve centre of Swedish politics, tell us that the meeting was initiated and coordinat..

eeas.europa.eu image (not from entry) from The closing date for the submission of applications is 1st February 2019 at 18.00 (CET). Late applications will not be accepted. The European External Action Service (EEAS) supports the work of the High Representative in her tasks of conducting the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy and chairing the Foreign Affairs Council. It also supports the High Representative in her capacity as Vice President of the Commission with regard to her responsibilities within the Commission in the external relations field including the coordination of other aspects of the EU’s external action. The EEAS works in close cooperation with Member States, the Council and relevant services of the European Commission. The EU Hybrid Fusion Cell was established in 2016 as an initiative of the Joint Communication on Countering Hybrid threats. It is incorporated into the analysis division of EU INTCEN, which, along with the EU Military Staff Intelligence Directorat..

omny.fm Ogborn image fromExcerpt: U.S. President Donald Trump made a televised offer to Democrats in Congress, regarding border security and the government shutdown, yesterday. This in the midst of the very public fight between President Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, with Pelosi urging Trump to delay his State of the Union Address and Trump cancelling Pelosi's plan to use a military aircraft for a series of foreign visits, including visiting troops in Afghanistan. Roy [Green] and public diplomacy [JB emphasis] expert William Ogborn cover these topics as well as Brexit and Canada’s relations with China, among other things. ...

May Zhou, China Daily USA, Updated: 2019-01-21 22:57 uncaptioned image from article Some more "personal diplomacy" and people-to-people exchanges was the prescription given by experts and former diplomats for what ails China-US relations. Forty years since China and the United States established diplomatic ties, much has been gained and will be gained if cooperation is chosen instead of confrontation, people from both countries agreed. From Thursday to Saturday, some 200 ex-envoys and observers from both countries gathered in Atlanta for a symposium celebrating the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. The goal was to conduct candid discussions on finding a new and effective framework for the Sino-American relationship. The symposium was organized by the Carter Center, the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and the Institute of American Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Topics included education, perceptions..

jewishnews.timesofisrael.com; article contains additional images; see also (1) Image from article, with caption: chel Gluck with Bashir Chaudhry, chairman of the mosque which held the event Excerpt: The exhibition demonstrated how Muslim Albanians not only protected their own Jewish citizens, but also offered sanctuary to Jewish refugees who had arrived in Albania and faced deportation to concentration camps. ... Attendees at the exhibition included Councillor Jas Athwal, Leader of Redbridge Council, Fiyaz Mughal of Faith Matters, Vivian Aisen [JB - see], Director of Public Diplomacy [JB emphasis] at the Israeli Embassy, Sara Khan, Lead Commissioner for Countering Extremism, and Rabbi Wollenberg who represented the Chief Rabbi. ...

Brian Stelter, CNN Business, January 20, 2019; see also (1) image (not from entry) from New York (CNN Business) Voice of America has been busy for the past month covering the partial government shutdown. But unlike other major news outlets, many of Voice of America's reporters are working without pay, victims of the shutdown themselves. The VOA is part of the US Agency for Global Media [JB see], which was known until recently as the Broadcasting Board of Governors. The agency is funded by the government, and beams news coverage around the world through networks like VOA, Radio Free Europe and Radio Martí and on the web. The offices of the Agency for Global Media are closed. But the newsrooms are open and its reporters are navigating furloughs and lack of pay to keep the news going. "The two of us who cover the White House have been going back and forth between unpaid working and furlough status," the news organization's White House bureau chief Steve Herman told CNN Business...

Anastasia Edel, The New York Times, Jan. 19, 2019; original article contains links The American president has changed my relationship with both my old country and my new one. image (not from article) fromExcerpt: American attitudes toward Russia and Russians have always been hostage to the larger relationship between our nations. During the Reagan years, Russia was the “evil empire,” purveyor of nuclear arms, spies and Hollywood villains. The Russians repaid in kind: At a New Year’s show in the Kremlin Palace that I attended at the tender age of 9, the antagonist was an agent of the “rotting West” sent to steal Soviet children’s gifts. But there were always counterpoints. Which American intellectual didn’t lose him or herself in “The Brothers Karamazov”? Which Soviet dissident didn’t hope to be shouldered by the American government, the guarantor of human rights, dignity and freedom of conscience? As we listened to the Voice of America on crackling radio transmitters in our tiny Soviet..

rw.usembassy.gov/embassy/kigali/grants/public-diplomacy-grants/ US Embassy Kigali image (not from entry) from U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE U.S. EMBASSY KIGALI, PUBLIC AFFAIRS SECTIONFunding Opportunity Title: U.S. Embassy Kigali PAS Annual Program Statement Funding Opportunity Number: PAS-RW-FY19-01 Deadline for Applications: July 31, 2019 CFDA Number: 19.040 – Public Diplomacy [JB emphasis] Programs Total Amount Available: $Variable Maximum for Each Award: $25,000A. PROGRAM DESCRIPTIONThe U.S. Embassy Kigali Public Affairs Section (PAS) of the U.S. Department of State is pleased to announce that funding is available through its Public Diplomacy Small Grants Program. This is an Annual Program Statement, outlining our funding priorities, the strategic themes we focus on, and the procedures for submitting requests for funding. Please carefully follow all instructions below.Purpose of Small Grants: PAS Kigali invites proposals for programs that strengthen cultural ties between the U.S. and Rw..

The Sunday Times Sri Lanka; see also (1) (2) Image (not from article) from So this is what we have come to. Our budding (and some budded) diplomats will, over the coming years, be let loose in the capitals of the world to tell whoever is willing to listen that Sri Lanka is a country like no other. (see 1) In some ways it is truly a country like no other. The way some of our politicians conduct affairs and still others have their hands dipped in even more dubious deals leave more than a lasting stench in the civic nostril. When one heard the other day about advice proffered by Minister Tilak Marapana to our diplomats in the making, it seemed that something was decidedly wrong. It seemed as though Minister Marapana had switched portfolios and had taken to promoting age-old products such as spices and tea — with or without sympathy — without even a word to us faithful followers of the political gymnastics that our leaders and the lesser political breeds engage in providing the world-weary..

By: Jonathan Hicap, Manila BulletinPublished January 18, 2019, 3:29 PMThe Philippines recorded the biggest growth rate in the number of hallyu, or Korean Wave, clubs and members in Southeast Asia in 2018, according to a year-end report released in South Korea.According to the Korea Foundation’s global hallyu status report for 2018, the number of hallyu fans reached 89.19 million in 113 countries including the Philippines, an increase of 16.06 million or 22 percent, compared to 73.12 million in 2017. The number of fans clubs worldwide also increased to 1,843 in 2018 from 1,594 in 2017, or a gain of 249. Among regions, Asia and Oceania posted the highest number of hallyu fans with 70.05 million in 457 clubs followed by Americas with 11.8 million in 712, Europe with 6.56 million in 534, and Africa and the Middle East with 230,000 in 140. (Clockwise from top left) BTS, iKON, EXO, Jung Hae-in, Wanna One and Sandara Park. (Photos: Twitter, YG Entertainment and Jonathan Hicap)The report defi..