"The Newport Jazz Festival is the finest celebration of jazz that the music world has to offer," said John Hailer, president and chief executive officer, Natixis Global Asset Management - The Americas and Asia. "In celebration of this year's anniversary, we launched the 2014 Jazz Diplomacy Project to share the history of jazz and explore the lessons the world has learned through the genre. 

Shashi Tharoor is fond of narrating this apocryphal story to elaborate on how India is emerging as a “soft power”- as opposed to military might or “hard power”- through its many advances in science and technology and, more importantly, culture, of which the Indian film industry is a prominent component.

Beijing knows how important China is for Hollywood and it can afford to make high demands. Western producers are still lining up to get access to the Chinese market. In addition to mercantile barriers, China has also set up cultural barriers to Hollywood. The goal is to make sure the local film industry isn't suffocated by Hollywood. And, fascinated by Hollywood's soft power, the leadership in Beijing is dreaming of setting up their own big industry in the medium term. Hollywood, India's Bollywood, now soon "Chinawood"?

Mention China and most Westerners will think about its food. This is not surprising given the popularity of Chinese cuisine in the West, where some countries have more restaurants serving Chinese dishes than the traditional local fair. Perhaps this is why China appears exotic and wondrous to many Westerners.

Union culture minister Shripad Yesso Naik has no clue about a storm brewing in his backyard. In what is perceived to be a "misguided effort to save money" for the ministry, a few bureaucrats have come out with an order that has made dancers across the country lose their poise. The order, which fixes the selection methodology for the Festivals of India that are held abroad, is likely to have a serious impact on the country's soft diplomacy.

On a Chinese hospital ship off Hawaii, crew members demonstrate traditional massage techniques to U.S. sailors. The mood is one of collegiality, even after China opted out of Japan-led humanitarian drills at the world’s largest international naval exercise.

China has been quietly working to recreate one of the most legendary trade routes, "the Silk Road", linking Africa to the Middle East (Iraq and Iran) to India, to Indonesia and all culminating in Beijing, while at the same time the reverse leg of the route goes to Kazakhstan, Moscow and ultimately, Germany. The purpose: "to enhance political and economic ties with southeast Asia and beyond."

Held for the second time this year, the camp mostly eschews religious practice, except for brief midday prayers. Instead, the emphasis is on traditional Islamic arts and crafts that are not commonly taught in America — including paper marbling, marquetry (wood inlay) and decorative bookbinding — as well as on personal development through community service and leadership workshops.