Participants at the First Meeting on Public Diplomacy, organized by the Moroccan Association for Development and Parallel Diplomacy (AMADIP) in Rabat on July 27 and 28, stressed the need to unify visions and efforts of public diplomacy actors and have a proactive approach to diplomacy instead of a seasonal and folkloric one.

Speaking at a seminar on "Kochi-Muziris Biennale -socio-cultural benefits" here on Monday, they said the event can be a major initiative in cultural diplomacy to raise the international profile of city and the state, and enhance the image of the city in the eyes of its own citizens.

Yet on July 23 and 24, the two nations shared a bonhomie typical of their cultural diplomacy, when the Oscar-winning documentary “Saving Face,” filmed in Pakistan, premiered in New Delhi and Mumbai. Brought to India by the Asia Society, the short film drew packed audiences in both cities, with over 550 people turning up in Delhi and about 475 in Mumbai.

"Promoting cultural communication is an interesting job," says Krause in fluent Chinese. "The Confucius Institute is more like my kid, a 5-year-old who has started kindergarten but doesn't need breastfeeding anymore," he adds.

As the profile of the Games has exponentially increased over the years,the Games is no longer seen purely as a celebration of the best of sport, but also a celebration of the host country, a communication exercise intended to increase a country’s ‘soft power’ and relative standing within the international arena.

The YouTube video of Madam Ambassador's address at the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy in Geneva has gone viral on social media, leaving behind a nation cringing in embarrassment at the quality of its diplomatic representation in a key location in the world.

Aggregate data are not available, but figures from local language centres across the continent suggest that the number of people in Europe enlisted in taking the official Chinese Proficiency Test - or HSK - over the last two years has grown by close to a factor five.

Whatever the London 2012 opening ceremony includes, I am sure it will effectively communicate to a mass audience more about modern Britain in just one show than politicians have achieved in decades... we must remember that no matter what our countries financial difficulties (or not), the arts have a role to play challenging the idea of what a country is and stands for… So here’s to cultural diplomacy.