The Confucius Institute at Liberia University, which was jointly established by Changsha University of Science & Technology in China and the Liberian government, through the University of Liberia (UL) nearly 4 years ago , has made some landmark achievements in the area of cultural exchange program.

Following news last week that Andrew W.K. -- America's self-declared unofficial King of Partying -- would be visiting Manama, Bahrain, as a cultural ambassador to participate in a cultural exchange, the U.S. Department of State has rescinded its offer... Plans for Andrew W.K. to visit the Middle East country were first announced on his website, where he drew a parallel to mid-20th century's American Jazz Ambassadors.

Monocle may call it 'soft power', but there's nothing soft about the economic dividends that sharing culture can bring. Our own 10 Country British Council research shows that sharing English, education, and culture helps build trust for the UK worldwide, and that trust translates into people worldwide wanting to study in the UK, visit, and do business with us for mutual benefit.

The United Kingdom has been given the world’s top rating by the international magazine Monocle for its use of Soft Power... The magazine singles out everything from Harry Potter to the new James Bond movie to give Britain its top ranking. By contrast it says the United States has slipped from number one because of an introspective year caused by internal politics and the US elections.

Earlier this month we took a look at what Hu Jintao’s political report to the 18th National Congress had to say about cultural policy in China — specifically, the focus on building China as a “socialist cultural power” (社会主义文化强国) to offset perceived Western cultural dominance. A report in today’s People’s Daily summarizes the discussion...

Indian Ambassador to the United States Nirupama Rao visited Bluegrass Community & Technical College (BCTC) last week and spoke with college administration about the role of BCTC and ways community colleges might be adapted for India.

One Beijing international primary school hosted an event on Saturday in order to enhance the cultural understanding and exchange between Uzbek and Chinese youngsters. This friendly exchange meeting, as the school called it, was held in Fangcaodi International School's affiliate Shiji Primary School in Beijing, under the theme of "Paint a flower of friendship, sing a song of peace."

If you give us nature, we travelers will come. We will come to take pictures, to be close to wildlife, to learn about different cultures or, in growing numbers, to help. When I went to Namibia in the summer of 2009, I spent two weeks in a volunteer program that is helping to bring back the country's big cat population.