A long-delayed project to build three colossal museums on an arid Persian Gulf island will be finished by 2017, officials say, realizing the designs of some of the world’s leading architects while underlining the ambitions of this city to emerge as a global capital.

Nothing could act as a better reminder that culture is a marketing tool, as well as an organic process that grows from the ground upwards. With contributions from a host of famous names, the climax of the Cultural Olympiad aims to prove once and for all that London, not New York, not Paris, really is the arts capital of the world.

Vietnam did a great job in 2011 to promote its land and people. Various activities were held on the theme of building a shared awareness of cultural integration and combining cultural diplomacy with political and economic diplomacy. In 2012 the country will continue to use diplomacy to foster its culture.

Culture diplomacy has been increasingly used to enhance the exchange of ideas, values, and traditions, with the intention of fostering mutual understanding.The second edition of the Indo-US Printmaking Exhibition, which displays the printmaking works of over 120 artists of repute from the USA and India, was inaugurated in New Delhi.

A photo exhibition titled ‘Jam Session: America’s Ambassadors Embrace the World' provided art and music lovers with a sense of how cultural diplomacy can work wonders in fields where politics fears to tread. The display features images of U.S. jazz musicians as musical envoys between the 1950s and the ‘70s, particularly during the Cold War.

Hishaam Aidi, writing for Illume Magazine, emphasizes the central role played by hip-hop in the Arab Spring; indeed, as Aidi points out, Time Magazine not only rated Tunisian rapper Hamada Ben Amor ("el General") as being one of the 100 most influential people of 2011...

Vice-President Xi Jinping's trip to the United States this year is expected to be an opportunity to further promote public diplomacy between the two countries, as more US citizens have positive views on China, a US embassy spokesman said on Thursday.

The year-long series will conclude in the winter, the ambassador said. "Sports, movies, animation and cartoons, music and youth exchanges are among the priorities campaigned by both sides" to promote public diplomacy, Niwa said.