Belden found himself leading his band Animation in Tehran, with Iranian listeners cheering him on. That performance last month made him the first American musician to play Iran since the country's 1979 revolution and, perhaps, the spearhead of a kind of cultural diplomacy.

Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian is the first Iranian artist to have a solo exhibition at the museum. Many others are featured at gallery spaces across the U.S.

China announced Monday an ambitious plan to overhaul the nation's soccer management hoping to achieve World Cup recognition, a move observers believe will boost China's soft power.

China will host the Fourth International Forum on Buddhism in Wuxi, Jiangsu province in late October to promote international exchange on Buddhist learning and practice, the country's Buddhist association has announced.

The notoriously hermetic and isolated country of North Korea closed its borders to tourists last fall due to concerns about the threat of Ebola. Remarkably, it has recently decided to reopen them in order to hold a sporting event: the Pyongyang Marathon. 

The U.S. and Cuban presidents announced last December a restoration of diplomatic relations after more than half century. The skaters are hoping their efforts help things get off to a flying start.

The second Dhaka International Theatre Festival is being held against the backdrop of social and political unrest.

Australia's neighbourhood is made up predominantly of countries whose political and cultural backgrounds differ from its own. Thus, cultural issues impinge disproportionately on its foreign relationships, perhaps none more so than with Indonesia.