"Qatar remains a vulnerable micro-state wedged between its large neighbours, Saudi Arabia and Iran. In the long-term this cannot be gilded by its smart advertising strategy. Long-term success can only be achieved with a labour market that is not dependent on gas revenues and a qualified local workfo
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rce that will remain in the country even in the event of a crisis." (Publisher description)
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"The communist government’s diaspora engagement policy in the Xi era represents a departure from tradition. Not only is it a very non-ideological policy, but it is also based on Xi’s vision of public diplomacy— indigenizing public diplomacy approaches and instruments to accommodate the needs a
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nd interests of foreign audiences. These new diaspora engagement policies reflect the new communist leaders’ well-informed and realistic appraisal of the international environment and their new foreign strategy—prudent projection of Chinese hard power along with active wielding of Chinese soft power. In addition, through these new engagement policies, the Chinese diaspora can play more versatile and important roles in China’s rising public diplomacy." (Conclusions, page 18)
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"Nach dem Fall der Berliner Mauer und dem Ende der Sowjetunion musste der Auslandsrundfunk sich neu orientieren. In der Außen- und Entwicklungspolitik sind Kultur und Medien zunehmend als wichtige Faktoren für die Gestaltung auswärtiger Beziehungen und internationaler Entwicklungszusammenarbeit e
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rkannt worden. Führende International Broadcaster des Westens wie BBC, RFI, DW, RNW und die Programme des US-amerikanischen Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) haben sich daher neben der Außendarstellung des eigenen Landes die Förderung von unabhängigem Journalismus und interkulturellem Dialog zum Ziel gesetzt. Sie produzieren Bildungs- und Informationsprogramme und führen Medienentwicklungsprojekte mit zahlreichen Partnerländern durch. In ihren Zielgebieten stehen die international ausgerichteten Sender der westlichen Demokratien zunehmend in Konkurrenz mit Auslandsprogrammen von autokratisch regierten Staaten wie China und Russland, die dort selbst politisch und ökonomisch Einfluss nehmen wollen. Nicht zuletzt unter diesem Druck und nach einschneidenden Budgetkürzungen haben europäische und amerikanische International Broadcaster die kostspielige Kurzwellentechnologie weitgehend aufgegeben und setzen stattdessen auf die Verbreitung multimedialer Inhalte über eine Vielzahl von Plattformen: von Internet- und mobilen Onlinediensten bis zur Ausstrahlung durch Partnersender in den Zielregionen. Radio- und Audioformate stellen in diesem Medienverbund weiterhin wertvolle Instrumente dar, die nicht unterschätzt werden sollten. In Regionen, die von Fernsehen und Internet bisher kaum erschlossen sind, ist terrestrisch ausgestrahltes Radio nach wie vor das Medium der Wahl, um Informationen und Bildungsinhalte zu verbreiten. Das betrifft weite Teile Afrikas sowie asiatische Länder wie Afghanistan und Pakistan. Gerade mit seinen Bildungsprogrammen erreicht das Radio auch Zuhörer, die nicht lesekundig sind, und schließt auch in Gebieten mit besser entwickelter Infrastruktur Nutzer nicht aus, die sich teure Satellitenempfänger oder Internetzugänge nicht leisten könnten." (Fazit, Seite 24)
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"Russland versucht seit Jahren, sein Image zu verbessern. Für dieses Ziel werden Auslandsmedien ausgebaut und PR-Firmen beauftragt. Aber es fehlt eine Gesamtstrategie und das Grundverständnis, wie demokratische Öffentlichkeit funktioniert. Trotz teilweiser Erfolge wird Moskau ohne einen politisch
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en Wandel und gesellschaftliche Modernisierung in Russland nicht viel erreichen. Das zeigt auch der Blick auf einige der Akteure staatlicher Imagepolitik in Deutschland." (Abstract)
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"Russia still aspires to influence the news media in the former Soviet republics. The objective appears to be to manipulate their media environments in order to promote dependence on Russia and distrust of the West and to help Russia to pursue its political and commercial objectives–such as persua
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ding former Soviet republics to adhere to the Eurasian Customs Union or promoting opposition to the United States and NATO. The push by Russia to influence the media among its near neighbors not only marks an important thrust of Russian foreign policy, it also poses a major challenge to the international media development community." (CIMA website)
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"Media Evolution on the Eve of the Arab Spring brings together some of the most celebrated and respected names in Arab media research to reflect on the communication conditions that preceded and made the Arab uprisings possible." (Publisher description)
"This book is about public diplomacy as it is practiced by American diplomats at US embassies around the world. The focus is intentionally on field operations, since that is an aspect of public diplomacy that has been neglected in the literature. The book shows how American diplomats cope with the c
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hallenges of criticism—and correct misunderstandings— that foreign publics have about US foreign policy and American society and culture. It discusses the techniques they use to engage in a dialogue with people from different cultures. Some of these techniques are new, designed to cope with new technologies, and some are older and have been tested over time. The book it takes the reader inside American embassies to show how public diplomacy specialists work with ambassadors and other American officials as part of a team representing the United States. This book is based on extensive original field research into actual cases of public diplomacy operations as conducted abroad in the twenty-first century. Much of the research has never been published before. The book uses empirical evidence to formulate written and unwritten rules that have been followed by experts and it highlights their best practices. It is also informed by the author’s personal experience of thirty-one years in the Foreign Service, including two ambassadorships and several tours as public affairs officer (PAO) or assistant PAO." (Introduction)
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"Mixing religion and public diplomacy can produce volatile results, but in a world in which the dissemination and influence of religious beliefs are enhanced by new communications technologies, religion is a factor in many foreign policy issues and must be addressed. Faith is such a powerful part of
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so many people's lives that it should be incorporated in public diplomacy efforts if they are to have meaningful resonance among the publics they are trying to reach." (Publisher description)
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"China is currently implementing a full-fledged ‘Going Global’ strategy, particularly in Africa. Chinese engagement on the continent is all pervasive and spearheaded by summit conferences and flanked by a surge of Chinese state-own media houses and state-funded cultural institutions. This report
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seeks to contextualize the Chinese media and culture policies and to examine their ideological constituents. An important component of ‘soft power’ as understood by Chinese policymakers is to utilize non-governmental forces, and build citizen diplomacy. Thus mobilizing and educating the Chinese about the strategic importance of Africa has been on the government’s agenda. The report discriminates between various narratives on China-Africa relations and issues emerging from the Chinese press from 2002 to 2011. The conclusion drawn from examining this half-orchestrated, half freestyle media chorus is that, China has been employing domestic media to engage public support to buttress its expansion in Africa." (Abstract)
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"Daya Thussu's book rescues the concept of soft power from American hands and applies it insightfully to India, and the concept is made richer and more useful as a result. With its dynamic and prosperous diaspora, the growing global popularity of its spiritual beliefs and practice, its reach as a gl
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obal economic and technological powerhouse, and even its cherished cuisine, India's growing soft power potential is evident. Yet Thussu also takes a hard look at the impediments that stand in the way of India taking full advantage of its soft power appeal." (Steven Livingston, Professor of Media and Public Affairs and International Affairs, George Washington University)
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"The end of the security transition process in Afghanistan in 2014 marks the need to rethink foreign public diplomacy efforts in the country. As Afghanistan is entering its ‘transformational decade’, there is a unique opportunity to disconnect public diplomacy from the military–security paradi
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gm that has dominated international relations with Afghanistan since 2001. With a much more limited foreign military presence on the ground, public diplomacy can be considerably more than a strategy to win hearts and minds. Comparing the experiences of the United States and the Netherlands, the more sizeable American ‘model’ of public diplomacy can be considered a more defensive mechanism of foreign policy, linked to the military and counter-insurgency activities in Afghanistan, and to the broader ideological objective of being part of the debate on the relationship between ‘Islam and the West’. In contrast, the Dutch ‘model’ shows a limited public security effort that incorporates cultural activities and training as an extension of foreign policy. This model is less ideological and is not directly connected to the military conflict in Afghanistan. It is a more indirect form of supporting foreign policy objectives. What is needed beyond 2014 is an approach that is disconnected from the current military framework, that departs from the more modest and non-military Dutch model, but that includes the broader political and especially financial commitment of the American model." (Abstract)
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"The demands of public diplomacy have shifted with the development of social media technologies. Increasingly, governments are required to gauge and respond to public sentiment over and above the one-way communication of broadcast media. The social media and accompanying elevated public role have co
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mplicated the decision-making process in China to the extent of potentially influencing its outward engagements. On the receiving end of China’s diplomacy is Africa, which is undergoing its own important technological changes. South Africa’s domestic circumstances, however, demonstrate that larger factors can override online sentiment. In two such important regions in the world, it is important to consider whether these domestic changes are likely to strengthen or undermine future China–Africa future relations." (Abstract)
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"[...] This series thus proposes to unpack the concepts of transparency and volatility across three major arenas of international affairs: security, diplomacy, and development. Each issue-area features two essays, each focusing on different aspects of transparency and/or volatility. Two additional e
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ssays (by Gerald Hyman and Joseph Siegle) examine the ramifications of the growing interplay between issue-areas in the information age. Some authors situate their research within the context of academic literature, while others are more focused on policy and/or operational contexts. Taken together, the papers in this series seek to usefully organize the issue under inquiry in order to render it manageable and understandable to a wider scholarly, policy, and practitioner audience.
While this paper series uses transparency and volatility as a framework for examining international relations in the information age, it does not necessarily place information and communication technologies at the forefront of the analysis. While some papers do focus on ICT, the purpose is not to minutely examine new forms of technology and their impact. Rather, the premise for this series is that ubiquitous global communication flows have, over time, created an encompassing information environment that nurtures transparency and volatility as pervasive conditions and/or guiding norms." (Introduction, page 4)
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"This article addresses the emerging patterns of contemporary media-based engagements between China and Africa and argues, after an examination of current media systems in both China and Africa, that, despite expressed worries to the contrary, because of reasons spanning from history to geo-politics
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, the Chinese model of media system as it currently stands does not stand a chance, at least in the foreseeable future, to be exported to Africa – a continent whose current media landscape is, and will arguably remain, significantly Western-oriented. The article concludes with a call for scholars to exercise analytical restraint in their examination of the potential impacts of recent China–Africa media relations." (Abstract)
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