Today's cultural diplomacy efforts look dramatically different than they did twenty or thirty years ago. In the post-Cold War, Internet, Twitter and Facebook era, government-sponsored cultural initiatives focus on fostering the types of cross-cultural encounters that can ultimately engender mutual understanding.

By all appearances, the United States faces a serious public diplomacy challenge in Kyrgyzstan. Washington’s sluggish initial response has enabled Russia to take the early lead in what is shaping up as a race to cultivate the goodwill of the Kyrgyz provisional government.

Everyone is an architecture critic. Why not? So many of the national pavilions at the Shanghai Expo are peacocks waiting to be admired — or not — and it would probably drive their creators nuts if everyone didn't have an opinion.

Under the previous U.S. Administration there was a failed attempt to reach out to democracy forces in the Arab and Muslim world, while under the current Administration there are efforts to partner with the Islamists and engage the Jihadists at the expense of the Muslim Democrats.

U.S. lawmakers and religious leader on Friday expressed their best wishes to the forthcoming Shanghai Expo at a grand reception at Consulate-General of the People's Republic of China in New York.

APDS Blogger: Martha Adams

Green is not just a color. Culturally, green can have contradictory meanings within its spectrum of usage. It is often associated with slang for money or ‘green with envy’, while the opposite end of its range of meaning is closely related to the Old English verb growan or “to grow” [plant life], or more relevant today, sustainable practices and formation of trust.

The Canada-U.S. Institute, the first of its kind in Canada, is expected to become a focal point for exploring shared and conflicting values on issues such as health care, border security, domestic and foreign policy, and how they affect the two countries.