While the athletes have been competing for medals at the London Olympics, their countries have been duking it out in a different type of games. Think of it as the Branding Olympics, with the competitors being more than 40 national hospitality houses set up across London to host VIPs and medalists, welcome visitors and showcase what the countries have to offer.

Russia is missing out on opportunities to use soft power in Africa, according to experts on the continent. Russian authorities struggle to push "soft power" buttons in an effort to rebrand Russia's image and to regain some social and cultural influences in Africa population, experts say the plan of cultural diplomacy might only be achieved with consistency and to deliver on their promises promptly.

I particularly like the idea of “using food as a foundation for public diplomacy programs to learn about different cultures and discuss important related issues such as nutrition, sustainability and food security.”

Recently, American Voices held its annual Youth Excellence on Stage (YES) Academy in the city of Duhok, in the Kurdistan region of Iraq... At American Voices, we believe that cultural diplomacy requires sustained engagement and as such this year marked our sixth summer performing arts academy program in Iraq.

“Min hem ya neem,” bellowed the baritone Kurdish Hamlet. To be or not to be—always a good question to be asked of any public diplomacy venture.

The "Kung Fu Panda" movies, about a bumbling panda who becomes a martial arts hero, are hugely popular in China. They prompted debate about why a Hollywood studio was more successful than the country's own studios at creating a successful movie based on Chinese themes.

“While this trip was monumental in itself with the partnerships that were developed, this year marks another special moment in the history of the Confucius Institute at WKU,” Martin said. “This year marks the official first full year of the summer camps provided by the Confucius Institute at WKU.”

As one of 40 US graduate students in the 2012 Sino-US Young Professionals in Science and Engineering Exchange Program, Campbell will spend two months conducting his study at Tsinghua University in Beijing...It aims to improve academic and cultural exchange between young professionals from China and the US.