Digital diplomacy on Medium

2. FRANCE

As mentioned here on Medium by Kate Lee, the platform’s head of content development, former French president Nicolas Sarkozy debuts on the platform with his new book “Tout pour la France” and the announcement of his candidacy for president of France in 2017.

3. OBAMA’S FOREIGN POLICY

While not officially on Medium with her own profile, Ambassador Susan Rice, national security advisor to President Barack Obama, explains the president rebalance strategy on foreign policy and the pivot to Asia.

Throughout the Asia Pacific, the United States remains committed to expanding and deepening our engagement. As we continue to strengthen our alliances and security cooperation in the region, a critical piece of work to be done is Congressional ratification of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or the TPP.

4. FACEBOOK DIPLOMACY

The Renaissance was a real laboratory of innovation, the equivalent of today’s Silicon Valley.

As Facebook’s founder Mark Zuckerberg visits Rome and the Vatican, Paolo Barberis, innovation advisor to the Italian Prime Minister, pens (both in English and Italian) a few thoughts about Italy and innovation.

The Italian government firmly believes that it is possible today to build an Italian way to create a technologically advanced future. We work every day, nonstop, to build this future.

5. G20 IN CHINA

Ambassador Noé van Hulst, Dutch Permanent Representative to the Organisation for Economic Co‑operation and Development (OECD) in Paris, assesses China’s G20 presidency in a post for the official OECD profile on Medium.

Created as a mechanism for crisis management, it is now moving in the direction of a “steering committee” of the global economy. China’s emphasis on medium- and long-term structural policies has been helpful in this respect.

6. MIGRANT CRISIS

I first saw the picture of Alan Kurdi a few hours after it was taken. My immediate thought was that this could have been anyone’s son or daughter. The little blue shorts, the red t-shirt — this was a boy who was dressed for a journey. I remember asking the question: “If these powerful images of a dead Syrian child on a beach don’t change the world’s attitude to refugees, what will?”

Panos Navrozidis, Greece country director for the International Rescue Committee (IRC), bylines a post on the official Medium channel of the IRC to discuss the 1 year anniversary of Alan Kurdi’s tragic death, and ahead of the United Nations summit on migrants and refugees on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. The photo of the 3-year-old Syrian refugee, whose lifeless body washed up on a Turkish beach, became the symbol of the migrant crisis in the Mediterranean sea.

7. UN IN SYRIA

Stephen O’Brien, UN under-secretary-general and head of United Nations OCHA (the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs), responds to a report by British newspaper The Guardian asserting that the Syrian government controls UN aid and that the UN has channeled funding intended for life-saving humanitarian response to the Assad regime.

The articles mischaracterise the UN-led humanitarian operation in Syria, fail to offer a balanced perspective on the challenges of operating in Syria, and discredit the courageous work of national and international humanitarian aid workers who risk their lives on a daily basis to help millions of people in need in one of the world’s most vicious conflicts.

8. #NEXTSG

The selection for the next Secretary-General of the United Nations shows up once again in my round up as the Security Council has agreed to nominate António Guterres of Portugal. In a post on Medium, UKUN_NewYork publishes Ambassador Matthew Rycroft’s remarks on the selection process and his comments on the many calls for a woman at the helm of the UN.

Seven of the thirteen candidates were women, and I want to pay tribute to them in particular. I’m very glad that a majority of candidates in this race were women. I was clear all along that, although it’s high time for a woman, other things being equal, nevertheless the most important thing for the UK was the qualities of leadership of this position.

9. TECHNOLOGY IN AFRICA

From Lagos to Nairobi, welcome to a thriving startup scene.

Medium’s curation team highlights the role of innovation, technology, and startups in the African continent with a collection of posts on the future of Africa.

10. US EUROPEAN MEDIA HUB

The Brussels-based U.S. — European Media Hub of the U.S. Department of State publishes in Russian a guide to President Obama’s visit to the United Nations in New York on the occasion of the UN General Assembly. The focus is on humanitarian assistance, peace and security, the fight against terrorism and countering violent extremism.

The Hub has been active on Medium since 2015, publishing translation of remarks and documents in Russian, Portuguese, Spanish, Arabic, and Urdu.

The State Department runs other Medium accounts in foreign languages, including USA en Español and USA en Français, both of which have been posting stories on the UN General Assembly and president Obama’s speech.