For centuries, opera has been a tool of power, a spectacle developed and organized by influential Western nations and the elites within them. Using opera to understand the connections between cultures and to experiment with what can bridge them is no longer merely an aesthetic possibility; it’s a moral necessity.

Tags: opera, Cultural Diplomacy, cultural exchanges, collective identity, cultural heritage, people to people diplomacy

International collaboration can cause African universities to become more dependent on the North. But they can also have the opposite effect: they can empower African researchers and help them to become more independent.

Tags: education diplomacy, exchanges, africa, collaboration, academic culture, interdependence, globalization, colonization, capacity building, public diplomacy and development

[T]he modern diplomat must engage with a far wider audience and the advent of the digital age gives him or her the tools to do so. He is also expected to be in the front line when it comes to promoting his country’s business interests, culture and values to audiences young and old, rich and poor, and of all faiths, creeds and sects.

Tags: statecraft, digital diplomacy, new media and technology, uk, british diplomacy, government pd

By installing Johnson at the Foreign Office, May has brought in her own little Nixon – ready for the day she needs to go to China. The problem with all this political logic is that it’s for domestic use only. It’s not what the rest of the world sees. And, remember, that’s what this job is for: to be our nation’s chief diplomat, our face to the nations of the earth. It’s not just another piece on the Westminster chessboard.

Tags: uk, diplomacy, government pd, public opinion, brexit, statecraft, public perception, people to people diplomacy

Biriyani is the quintessential celebratory dish in India and an aromatic delicacy that dazzles as a sublime one-dish mea....How easily we forget that Iran is next door to this land-locked nation and Persian language isn't the only element in the shared inheritance.

Tags: iran, india, gastrodiplomacy, cultural exchange, Cultural Diplomacy, cultural heritage, cross-cultural exchanges

All countries should join efforts to invest in the education of refugee children to ensure a bright future for them. The call was made yesterday by the Pakistan-born 2014 Nobel laureate, Malala Yousafzai, while visiting Mahama refugee camp in Kirehe District, which is home for over 49,000 Burundian refugees.

Tags: malala yousafzai, education, non state pd, rwanda, burundian refugees, africa, advocacy, unhcr, women and girls empowerment

Soft power – broadly a country’s ability to persuade other nations to cooperate without recourse to force – has long been a tool of Western foreign policy,  but in recent years Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has introduced his own much less benign variant of the initiative. 

Tags: vladimir putin, smart & soft power, russia, journalism, civil society, propaganda, russian orthodox church, international image, media

Last month, the head of the Thai junta, Prayut Chan-o-cha, visited India for the first time since he seized power in a military coup in May 2014. Though India and Thailand have long been diplomatic partners, the visit saw an uptick in their cooperation as they prepare to commemorate the 70th anniversary of their relationship next year. 

Tags: narendra modi, india, prayut chan-o-cha, thailand, government pd, bilateral ties, partnerships, trade, people to people diplomacy, southeast asia, buddhism, tourism