When Starbucks first opened in China in 1999, the company's future seem doomed in a country that has thousands of years of tea-drinking history. However, in just 17 years, Starbucks changed and revolutionized the way the Chinese view and drink coffee. […]It's been reported that Starbucks intends to double its locations in the country by 2019.

Tags: Cultural Diplomacy, nation branding, non-state pd, international business, china, united states, starbucks

In 2015, 45.5 million visitors came to the City of Angels, an increase of 1.3 million from the previous year, tourism officials announced Monday. The numbers marked the fifth consecutive year of growth, according to Mayor Eric Garcetti and Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board. Garcetti has set a goal of boosting tourism to Los Angeles to 50 million people per year by 2020.

Tags: international exchange, nation branding, city diplomacy, tourism, los angeles, california, united states

Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group has acquired Legendary Entertainment, the Hollywood production company behind “The Dark Knight,” “Jurassic World” and “Godzilla” movies. […] The deal represents the largest acquisition to date of a U.S. production company by a Chinese firm and the latest sign of the deepening ties between Hollywood and the world's most populous country.

Tags: international broadcasting, Cultural Diplomacy, celebrity diplomacy, hollywood, nation branding, china, united states, east asia, north america

The Vatican’s diplomatic corps is among the oldest in existence, with some of its bilateral relationships, such as with Spain, dating to the 15th century. More than once, people have questioned the need for the Vatican to have such a sovereign standing. Yet arguments in favor of the Vatican’s unique status are also abundant, including its track record for making a difference […]

Tags: non-state pd, faith diplomacy, international advocacy, pope diplomacy, vatican

A Congolese hip-hop artist exiled in a Malawian refugee camp is determined to fight xenophobia with his music.

Tags: Cultural Diplomacy, international advocacy, refugees, music diplomacy, africa, democratic republic of the congo, malawi

In 2013, North Korea conducted its third nuclear test, and the world responded by inducing a period of brinksmanship that came dangerously close to spiraling the unending Korean War out of control. [...] Any creative collaboration one could possibly imagine between the US and North Korea is not only theoretically possible, but an actual reality.

Tags: north korea, pyongyang, united states, obama, history & theory, government pd, Cultural Diplomacy, bilateral relations, education, culture, tourism, arts, sports

Israel seems to be backing off an effort to appoint settler-advocate Dani Dayan as ambassador to Brazil. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly announced that he was naming Dayan—who has “devoted” much of his life to “expanding the Jewish presence in…disputed historic places across the West Bank”—in a Tweet in early August. 

Tags: israel, brazil, netanyahu, diplomatic relations, twitter, government pd, latin america, west bank, united nations

Pope Francis has called on European leaders not to turn their back on refugees and migrants despite the cultural and security challenges associated with the arrival of 1 million people this past year.

Tags: pope francis, papal diplomacy, non state pd, europe, syrian refugees, refugee crisis, culture, security, north america, human rights