The young man looked strange. In fact, as he climbed by mistake onto the Chinese table-tennis team’s bus at the world championships in Japan, in April 1971, he was one of the oddest creatures Zhuang Zedong had ever seen. His pinkish Western skin was framed by brown hair that curled to his shoulders. His goofy grin seemed fixed, naively and nervously, to his face. And when he turned round—for there were no seats, and he was standing facing a bus of crop-haired, staring Chinese—the letters on the back of his training suit read, large as life, “USA”.

Thai and Chinese officials signed a cultural-exchange agreement that will see mainland martial arts performed and taught here, and Thai artists and musicians entertain there...China will also provide support to Thailand in satellite technology and other advanced technologies. Thailand, in return, will allow establishment of a new Chinese satellite project in Thailand.

One of the most memorable shows singer/songwriter Mary McBride performed on her worldwide tour as a cultural ambassador for the U.S. Department of State was at a senior center in Iraq.

The expansion of Turkish-African relations is also a way for Ankara to assert its position as a regional power and extend its influence. In doing so, it employs references to Ottoman times, mainly in opposition to the colonial past of Western countries (or "neo-colonialist" ones like China). "Ankara's interest for Africa...is opposed to that of the West", because Turkey "does not follow a colonialist logic that favours one party only, but wants to establish a long-term partnership based on mutual respect and usefulness"

Newly confirmed Secretary of State John Kerry is now the face of America to the world -- a pervasively religious world. With more than 80 percent of the global population affiliated with a religion, Kerry's ability to engage religious issues and actors will be vital to the success of his diplomacy.

American director Sam French helped make history this year when his film "Buzkashi Boys" became the first movie shot in Afghanistan to receive an Oscar nomination. But the 29-minute film holds another unusual distinction: It was funded almost entirely out of a $150 million State Department campaign to combat extremism, support Afghan media and burnish the U.S. image in Afghanistan.

Nordic Ministers of Culture and representatives of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, as well as Greenland, the Faroe Islands, and Åland met with Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Tara Sonenshine on February 20 at the U.S. Department of State to mark the opening of the Nordic Cool 2013 festival.