On a sunny morning in late September, the great Chinese artist Ai Weiwei sat in the courtyard of his studio in Beijing, lamenting his continued harassment by his country’s authorities. Last year, when they’d detained him for almost three months, they had also taken his passport.

We like to think we are a leading force in Asia, culturally and diplomatically. We might just be kidding ourselves. You have to give credit to the artist. Gangnam Style has set a new standard for music videos. Since its July release on YouTube, Gangnam Style has received more than 390 million views - and counting. The song has topped charts across the West, including here and in Britain.

One of the great excitements of Hay’s international festivals is getting to know major writers who are often barely known, if at all, in Britain. The oldest of these figures currently in Xalapa, Mexico, is Sergio Pitol, a 79-year old Mexican who hobbles round the town in a faded grey suit and tie, looking like an intellectual from another era.

Denpasar. Indonesia must make the most of a key opportunity to showcase its cultural wealth on the global stage when it hosts the inaugural World Culture for Development Forum in Bali next year, a senior official said on Saturday.

YouTube is extending its original programming initiative into Europe, with at least 60 new video channels from media companies including Britain's BBC, London-based FreemantleMedia and the Netherlands' Endemol. The Google Inc.-owned video site said Monday the new channels, with content from Britain, Germany, France, and the United States, will be in addition to the 100 channels launched in the U.S. last year.

For me, three long-term drivers of relationships between the peoples of the world are access to opportunity, access to information, and access to technology. And of course they are completely intertwined. Humans are good at reacting to shocks and events, but not as good at spotting trends or predicting futures.

Before a standing room only crowd at the Institute of World Politics (IWP) in Washington, DC on October 5, President Ronald Reagan’s Ambassador to Switzerland, Faith Whittlesey, offered up some sage advice on lessons learned from a lifetime career in public service, “Listen carefully, read widely, listen to diverse opinions, and be somewhat humble about yourself and our country.”

Psy, a portly 34-year-old rapper with a penchant for silly dances, brought central Seoul to a standstill last week as he gave a free concert for 80,000 adoring fans, including two renditions of his global hit “Gangnam Style.”