US public diplomacy helping women in Pakistan

A blogger discusses the help of US public diplomacy in improving the role of women in Pakistan.

Public Diplomacy in China

Soft Power in China is a new book that explains China's use of public diplomacy to engage the world. This brief notice gives idea of the book's contents.

Growth in citizen diplomacy predicted

A blogger for media and peace predicts increase in citizen diplomacy during 2011.

UN and citizen diplomacy

Videos requested to promote the Millennium Development Goals and an opportunity to be a citizen diplomat to the United Nations.

NCIV and Citizen Diplomacy

New website of the National Council for International Visitors provides information on how one can become a citizen diplomat.

Afghanistan women entrepreneurs

A good article about a public diplomacy effort in Afghanistan that is helping women become entrepreneurs.

Jan. program on terrorism.

The Center for International Studies and Albuquerque International Association connected with the University of New Mexico will present a program in January:

January 21 (Fri) –International Terrorism since 9/11: New Trends and Lessons Learned by Dr. Paul R. Pillar, Georgetown University
The opening lecture will define terrorism and explore trends in the ways and means of terrorist activity since 9/11, as well as the ultimate nature of the threat and its implications.

Group to be sent to Morocco

Sister Cities International to send group to Morocco for 10 days to help promote citizen diplomacy.

Citizen Diplomat award

Greater Cincinnati World Affairs Council wins "Citizen Diplomat" award from the Wold Affairs Council because of its work, especially for the International Visitors Leadership Program.

Last part: Italian trip

This is the last post of our Oct. 2010 visit to Italian hill towns. Montepulciano, Pienza, Castiglione del Lago and Orvieto are covered below:



Montepulciano occupies a strategic hilltop and offers
great views of the countryside. The duomo’s unfinished façade casts a pall over the central piazza. The nearby Vino Nobile winery tour does raise the stature of the town noted for its red wine production.







Pienza lies only a few miles from Montepulciano,
and its small size is compensated by an attractive duomo
and adjacent papal palace. Easy-to-stroll streets make
for a pleasant visitor experience.








Castiglione del Lago, on Lago Trasimeno just inside Umbria
and almost touching Tuscany, provided an unexpected treat. The lakeside amenities, nearby ancient walled city and adjoining ramshackle fortress don’t make it into most major tour guidebooks. The lakeside amenities are geared to summer activities, so most establishments were closed by the time of our autumn visit. The small, walled town offers tempting shops, and accessible church, and luncheon spots overlooking the lake.





Orvieto is just a short diversion off the A-1 toll way between
Cortona and Rome. The side trip is highly recommended,
as the duomo’s exterior is simply magnificent. Shops and eateries abound along the streets.









How to get to the Italian hill towns:
Options abound for international flights to Rome, and most of our party took direct return flights between Chicago and Rome. Of course, you have options of flying to nearby Italian cities such as Florence and Milan.
Once in Italy it is easy to travel to major cities by train. If you don’t like the idea of driving in Rome, you can take the train to Arezzo and rent a car there for local trips. Rental cars are available at the airports, and U.S. companies such as Hertz offer their services in Italy.
A number of companies offer villa rentals, and their offerings can be viewed on the internet. We used a British-based company, Italian View Ltd., to secure our rental. You will have to pay a deposit to reserve the villa, and full payment is normally required prior to arrival. The company does have a local representative to help you with any questions, requests or assistance.

Global Pittsburg gives youth award

Urban Youth Action, Inc., the Pittsburgh-based non-profit organization that has taken groups of African-American teens to China for the past two years, will be honored by GlobalPittsburgh with its International Bridge Award for building bridges of understanding and communication between the Pittsburgh Region and other parts of the world.

Part IV: Cortona, Arezzo, Seina

Part 4 of Italian trip: Cortona, Arezzo, and Siena.



Cortona is an ancient walled town originally settled by the Etruscans before being conquered and consumed by the ancient Roman Empire. The small town provides a couple of streets lined with shops and cafes. Views over the countryside from the town are spectacular with valley and mountains stretching every direction into the distance.

Arezzo provided disappointments and pleasant surprises. The town has long outgrown its ancient walls, and operates as a regional hub. As such, traffic and parking can prove to be hassles. Since it no longer survives on tourism, its Medieval and Renaissance attractions seem to receive minimal promotion. Nevertheless, its Grand Piazza and duomo are worth the visit.

Siena is noted for its central piazza used for a once-a-year horse race. While I opted to spend an extra day in Cortona, five of our group drove to Siena. They reported back the charming ambiance of the piazza and the magnificence of the duomo. Next trip I must add it to my itinerary.

San Francisco tour company promotes citizen diplomacy

Global Exchange, a San Francisco-based human rights organization, is offering Reality Tours program to give Americans the opportunity to travel to countries around the world and learn the truth about them first-hand through “citizen diplomacy” delegations.

Part III: Italy trip

As our main site, we stayed in a villa near the hill town of Cortona. Here's the third installment:

The nearby town of Camucia, which is the service center for the more tourist-famous Cortona, offers an excellent Coop supermarket where produce, meats and other essentials, including wine, are offered for purchase. Also, the train and regional bus service runs through Camucia.

To provide ease of transportation, we had rented two cars at the Rome airport. Public transportation among the hill towns is limited, or slow, so for maximum flexibility an auto is required. A local train line runs through a portion of the area, and local bus service connects most towns, but schedules can be complicated for visitors who speak minimal Italian.

It can a bit harried to drive out of Rome on the major highways, but once located, the A-1 toll way (about €10) that ties Rome and Florence is a quick trip of a couple of hours to the Cortona exit.

Richardson to North Korea

KRQE TV station reports on New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson traveling to North Korea to engage in a bit of citizen diplomacy

Part II of Italy trip

Part II of trip to Italian hill towns of Tuscany and Umbria:

Eight friends gathered for this autumn visit, so we rented La Poventa villa, a renovated 19th century farmhouse just outside the Tuscan hill town of Cortona, as our base of operation. The villa had five bedrooms with the capacity to sleep 10 people, and four bathrooms.

Villa amenities included heating, full kitchen with cookware and dinnerware. Of course in this day and age, television and wireless internet came with the package.

The front-loading washing machine, with instructions printed only in Italian, proved too complicated for us to use. The manager has promised to provide English-language instructions for subsequent guests.

The villa featured a swimming pool, but with the cool October temperatures, only one member of our party was brave enough to take a dip.

A trip to Italian hill towns

In the next dozen or so posts I will talk about a recent trip to the hill towns in central Italian regions of Tuscany and Umbria:

“Under the Tuscan Clouds” served as watchwords for a recent visit to Tuscan and Umbrian hill towns of central Italy. We will just have to leave it to author Frances Mayes to share the experiences of her summers as recounted in her popular book, “Under the Tuscan Sun”.

Clouds, rain and cool temperatures provided the dominant weather pattern during our early October 2010 visit. An umbrella proved a practical item most days, and a jacket or a raincoat was appreciated. The cool temperatures, however, made for some great nighttime sleeping.

Autumn finds the hill towns of Tuscany and Umbria settling into a slower pace as the cooler weather reduced the hordes of summertime tourists. And many villa rentals enter a “shoulder season” with reduced prices when compared with summer rates.

On an earlier trip my wife and I had visted the larger Italian cities of Rome, Venice, Florence and Naples; this time around we wanted to acquaint ourselves with some of the smaller hill towns that dot the landscape of central Italy. So, on this trip we visited Cortona, Arezzo, Siena, Castiglione del Lago, Montepu1ciano, Pienza and Orvieto.

Visitors gain a cultural appreciation of Italy when visiting the hill towns. The people are friendly, the food and wine rate top notch labels, and the pace is considerably slower than found in the metro cities. So, if you are looking for relaxation and immersion in rural and small-town Italian life and history, the hill towns have no equals.

(Part Two will discuss the accommodations)

Fulbright and citizen diplomacy

Last week, 418 Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistants packed the Dean Acheson Auditorium at the U.S. Department of State for their mid-year seminar. They hail from 49 countries and are teaching 31 languages at 230 colleges and universities in 48 states and the District of Columbia. The event was designed to help Fulbrighters share insights and anecdotes after their first semester of teaching in the United States. This information comes from a U.S. Dept. of State blog.

Looking for Square Two

A new book, "Looking for Square Two," by a San Franciscan active in the peace movement sees a role for citizen diplomats in maintaining world peace. Looks like it's worth a read.

India and citizen diplomacy

Government of India holds conference Dec. 10-11 to discuss social media, public diplomacy and citizen diplomacy in the current era of diplomacy. Guess it thought needed to acknowledge reality.

International Committee for Citizen Diplomacy

International Committee for Citizen diplomacy is developing the youth in Eastern Europe to act as citizen diplomats.

US visitors shop a lot

Mandela Research releases preliminary information from study of 2,500 U.S. visitors and find that shopping is a major activity. Full report to be released in January. Perhaps retailers need to sharpen skills as citizen diplomats.

House passes NVCV resolution

U.S. House of Reps. passes resolution commending NCIV and citizen diplomacy.

Citizen Diplomacy Day

Finally the vote for supporting NCIV's recognition of citizen diplomacy day next Feb. was scheduled by the US House of Reps.

Plea for BDA to stay open

A call for Business for Diplomatic Action to stick around as WikiLeaks puts a dent into US public diplomacy efforts.

NCIV and Citizen Diplomacy

NCIV is considered for recognition for citizen diplomacy in a US House of Rep. resolution reports this blog. The vote is expected Dec. 7.

Public Diplomacy and WikiLeaks

Salon article shows that U.S. public diplomacy has shown that it is not always truthful in its approach to foreign people and governments, as the WikiLeaks documents show. Perhaps tha makes citizen diplomacy all that more important.

SCI Webinar on visitors' visas

Sister Cities International will sponsor a Webinar on Dec. 9 on how to help International Visitors obtain visas to the U.S. Go to the SCI Website to find out how to register.

BDA to close

Business for Diplomatic Action organization will close its doors a public diplomacy blogger reports.

Failure of U.S. public diplomacy

A new book discusses the failure of U.S. public diplomacy since 2001, especially in the Muslim World.