Since the fall of communism, nations around the globe have worked not only to distinguish themselves, but to market themselves as well. Now cities are the new nation-states, and competition for markets and dollars is fiercer than ever. Urban centres face enormous opportunity – and pressure – to sell what makes them unique.

Carleton is the only university in the world to have a full-fledged India-centric Centre of Excellence in Science, Technology, Trade and Policy. Set up last year with Indian assistance, the Centre of Excellence aims to raise awareness about bilateral studies and public diplomacy...

India is planning a big cultural centre in Toronto along the lines of the famous Nehru Centre in London – the first of its kind in North America. The new cultural centre will be ready by next year to cater to the North America Indian diaspora. It is part of India’s thrust to use culture as a tool of its foreign policy.

The number of people using Facebook during May fell in the US, UK, Canada, Norway and Russia, according to new data. The slowing growth in user numbers may indicate that Facebook has hit the limits of expansion in the countries where it was first successful – and perhaps even that some early adopters from those countries have stopped using it.

In the downtown theater, the Goh Ballet Youth Academy was debuting its latest production, Lamour, a three-act ballet that the troupe will be taking to China in late August and September for a series of shows to promote friendship and cultural exchange between the two countries.

Portugal is more pro-multilateral, emphasizing soft power and persuasion rather than picking fights, argued Jez Littlewood, director of the Canadian Centre of Intelligence and Security Studies at Carleton University. This, he argues, is actually similar to the position Canada used to take when it sat on the council.

In the last two decades, Canadian investors have been taking advantage of the dramatic changes in Latin America. This existing relationship emerged at a conference which drew leading actors in the Canada-Latin America relationship from academia, business, government, civil society and NGOs.

Mr. Khanna argues that in a time of rising state capitalism in many places, corporate diplomacy is national diplomacy too. Research in Motion's security approach in India and Bombardier's China policies, like it or not, are Canadian policies.