Some Caribbean and Central American countries are bracing for cutbacks in shipments of cut-rate oil from Venezuela, as Caracas struggles with sliding crude prices and a spiraling economic crisis.

Tags: venezuela, oil, caribbean, central america, economic crisis, social spending, infrastructure, caracas, subsidies

Azerbaijan`s first lady, head of the Azerbaijan-France interparliamentary friendship group at the Milli Majlis (Azerbaijani Parliament), president of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva has met with president of the French Senate Gerard Larcher in Paris.

Tags: first-lady diplomacy, Cultural Diplomacy, azerbaijan, france, government pd

Uber, the San Francisco-based ride sharing company, has set up a mobile phone software development team in Amsterdam, its international headquarters.  Uber on Thursday announced that it raised another $1.2 billion in financing, which will allow it to make "substantial investments," especially in Asia.

Tags: united states, amsterdam, international development, non state actors, modern technology, asia, business diplomacy

Nelson Mandela died one year ago today, but his legacy lives on. He changed the image of South Africa from that of a country despised for its atrocities to a “Rainbow Nation” (Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s term) that protects and promotes human rights and democratic values.

Tags: africa, nelson mandela, apartheid, public diplomacy, african national congress, south africa, Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, soft power, nation branding, media

Education has long been a tool to transmit a culture’s values to its own citizenry as well as conquered territories.  The concept of soft power, developed by political scientist Joseph Nye, can be defined as a persuasive approach to international relations, typically involving the use of economic or cultural influence. 

Tags: soft power, joseph nye, united states, cultural relations, educational opportunities, international exchange

"It is more important now than ever for Americans and the peoples of the Middle East and North Africa to share ideas, knowledge, and skills in order to promote collaboration, enhance economic development and prosperity, address global and regional issues such as climate change, and achieve broader understanding between cultures.”

Tags: morocco, fulbright scholar, educational diplomacy, Cultural Diplomacy, international exchange, united states

A sold-out tour of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” ended in Beijing last week. Meanwhile, a Chinese publishing house has nearly finished translating Shakespeare’s works into Mandarin – both signs of the English playwright's surging popularity in China.  

Tags: china, beijing, uk, soft power, shakespeare, london, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, mandarin, Cultural Diplomacy

Reassurance is needed. Hopes that China’s spectacular climb to superpower status might be completed without conflict have been dented in recent years. Its assertive approach to old but until recently largely quiescent territorial disputes with Japan, the Philippines, Vietnam and India has jangled nerves. 

Tags: china, foreign policy, public diplomacy, asia, japan, philippines, xi jinping, vietnam