Cultural Diplomacy Research
Publications
Articles
The ICD has published numerous articles over the years.
A selection is presented below:
Tuesday, March 31st, 2026
Cultural Diplomacy Essays & Reflections
Winter 2025/2026 by Mark C. Donfried
More Wednesday, March 18th, 2026
From Middle-earth to Modern Times: The Hobbit’s Guide to Our Future International Relations
How Tolkien’s Lessons in Hope, Courage and Responsibility Can Shape Our Future
More Monday, March 16th, 2026
When Rivals Study Democracies’ Divisions: How Modern Adversaries Exploit Polarised Democracies
From Ukraine to Iran: Strategic Competition in an Era Where Domestic Discord Becomes a Geopolitical Vulnerability
More Sunday, March 15th, 2026
When Democracy Divides Itself: Divided at Home, Vulnerable Abroad – France’s Early 20th-Century Lessons for Polarised Democracies
Politics Before Strategy: How political fragmentation, fractured institutions and domestic discord created openings for rule-breaking adversaries
More Sunday, March 08th, 2026
From Weimar to Tehran: How Divided Democracies Face Long-Term Threats
“Boxing with a Knife”- the Rule-Breaking Adversary: Iran and the Challenge to Divided Democracies
More Sunday, March 01st, 2026
From Grotius to the UN Charter: The Philosophical and Historical Evolution of Justified Force
Tracing the Intellectual Legacy of Hugo Grotius, Emer de Vattel, Henry Wheaton, and Lassa Oppenheim in the Theory and Politics of War, Self-Defence, and International Order
More Sunday, February 22nd, 2026
Old Wine in New Bottles: Europe After 75 Years from the Schuman Declaration
From Coudenhove-Kalergi’s Pan-Europa to Monnet’s Memoirs, how the European Commission’s first priorities echo seventy-five years of vision
More Sunday, February 15th, 2026
What the “Miller of Sanssouci Legend” teaches about the Greenland Question: Power, Law and the Limits of Ambition
From Potsdam to Nuuk, “Are There Still Judges in Washington”? The Rule of Law in an Age of Territorial Temptation
More Sunday, January 18th, 2026
When Good Outcomes Arise from Unlawful Acts
Philosophical, Legal, and Historical Reflections on Contested Interventions in Venezuela and Iran
More Sunday, January 04th, 2026
Venezuela: From Doña Bárbara to Petrostate Paradise, Only to See it Return
Rómulo Gallegos’ Century of Civilization, Decay, and Redemption
More Monday, December 29th, 2025
Nonviolence as a New Year Resolution: Lessons from Tolstoy and Orwell for the Year Ahead
Conscience, Peace, and Human Accountability: Lessons from The Kingdom of God Is Within You (1894) and Homage to Catalonia (1938) for 2026
More Wednesday, December 24th, 2025
“Die Waffen nieder! - Lay Down Your Arms (1889)”: The Book by Nobel Laureate Bertha von Suttner on Peace and Diplomacy
As the Year Closes: Reflecting on Humanity, Diplomacy, and the Pursuit of a World Without War
More Thursday, December 11th, 2025
From State Diplomacy to Royal Festive Culture, from Queen Victoria to Today
London’s Buckingham Palace at the Heart of December
More 
Arab News: Friday, February 11th, 2022
The Future for Afghanistan under the Taliban
The return of the Taliban to power in Afghanistan brings monumental changes in the context of regional security. While the…
More Arab News: Friday, July 23rd, 2021
Midlife crisis in global relations exposed by COVID-19
Since the emergence of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the world has begun to realize that any organization or country that…
More Arab News: Friday, April 09th, 2021
The importance of cultural diplomacy in turbulent times
On July 24, 2008, students and friends of the Academy for Cultural Diplomacy in Berlin went with thousands of other…
More Arab News: Wednesday, March 31st, 2021
Arab News AMF 2017 panel: Arab image in the US
An Arab News panel discussion held on May 2, 2017, in Dubai proposed solutions to the Middle East’s image problem…
More Arab News: Tuesday, March 16th, 2021
COVID-19 crisis shows the time for global cooperation is now
A year has now passed since the mass outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at a global level. Now that…
More Arab News: Monday, November 09th, 2020
A new free world is locked in outdated 20th-century systems
It was clear already from the middle of the 18th century that the US was going to be a much…
More Arab News: Sunday, May 03rd, 2020
National health security a post-pandemic priority
The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has taken multiple assets from the world and forced its people to feel vulnerable. The…
More Arab News: Sunday, April 19th, 2020
Coronavirus to prompt worldwide cultural changes
Not too long ago, smoking cigarettes was a very common habit within private houses, offices and public spaces. Older readers…
More Arab News: Sunday, April 12th, 2020
Globalization unstoppable despite its contribution to virus spread
The worldwide coronavirus crisis can be compared to a volcanic eruption that came after a long boiling process, which was…
More Arab News: Thursday, March 26th, 2020
Pandemic preparedness a national security issue
In an instant, out of the blue, the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has arrived and has brought 21st century civilization —…
More Arab News: Friday, October 19th, 2018
Culture of defamation means media is misused all over the world
The disappearance of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi reflects the dangerous working environment for journalists and the media worldwide.
More Arab News: Saturday, March 03rd, 2018
How faith can fight extremism
During a recent trip to Washington, Mohammed Abdul Karim Al-Issa, secretary-general of the Muslim World League, made an amazing statement…
More Arab News: Saturday, January 13th, 2018
How Saudi Arabia is building a new national brand
Recent decisions in Saudi Arabia with regard to good governance and tax reforms, women’s rights and new opportunities for its…
More Arab News: Sunday, May 14th, 2017
New nation-branding plan needed for Arab world
It is crucial for the Arab world to put together a committee of the best experts and partners to create…
More Arab News: Wednesday, May 03rd, 2017
Arab News panel at AMF examines solutions to Mideast’s image problem
DUBAI: An Arab News panel discussion held on Tuesday proposed solutions to the Middle East’s image problem in the West,…
More Arab News: Tuesday, May 02nd, 2017
‘The Islamic world is too big to generalize’
DUBAI: Mark Donfried, founder and director general of the Berlin-based Institute for Cultural Diplomacy (ICD), is not surprised at the…
More Arab News: Saturday, February 25th, 2017
The modern vehicle on the global security road
Over the past five decades, the Munich Security Conference (MSC) has established itself as an important international platform for exchanging…
More Arab News: Tuesday, January 24th, 2017
Arabs and the Berlin attack: One month later
On Jan. 19, a 30-day memorial ceremony was held in the German Parliament to reflect on the horrible events of…
More 
