International Relations and Culture
For a complete menu of "International Relations and Culture" articles and reports from the past two weeks — including items not selected for this listserv message — please visit http://www.culturalpolicy.org/issuepages/results.cfm?issue=International&info=Read&int=no.
El Pomar CEO's new goal: improving world's view of U.S.
Colorado Springs Gazette (CO), 4/1/2008
"Bill Hybl, chairman and CEO of the El Pomar Foundation in Colorado Springs and past U.S. Olympic Committee president, will head a federal agency that oversees the State Department's diplomacy policies and programs. Hybl said that as chairman of the U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy he wants to improve the world's view of the United States through music, sports and cultural affairs."
http://www.gazette.com/articles/hybl_34832___article.html/olympic_president.html
Muslim true/false
Los Angeles Times, 4/2/2008
"Winning hearts and minds — the Bush administration, foreign policy wonks, even the U.S. military agree that this is the key to any victory over global terrorism. Yet our public diplomacy program has made little progress on improving America's image. Few seem to recognize that American ignorance of Islam and Muslims has been the fatal flaw. How much do Americans know about the views and beliefs of Muslims around the world? According to polls, not much."
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-esposito2apr02,0,6118014.story
Neighbors Feel China's Expanding Power
NPR's All Things Considered, 4/3/2008
"As China expands its reach around the world, its power also is growing in its own backyard. The United States exerts considerably less influence than it used to in Southeast Asia, and China is increasingly filling that role, even in countries that were once firmly anti-communist. . . . China is using the 'soft power' of culture and ideas to make friends all over the region."
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89350477
New Bill May Speed U.S. Visas for Artists
New York Times, 4/3/2008
The House of Representatives has voted to speed up the visa approval process for some foreign artists. The current process, lengthy and burdensome, "turns everyone into an enemy," says Nigel Redden, director of the Lincoln Center Festival. "It loses us friends around the world and respect around the world."
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/03/arts/03visa.html
