Neil MacGregor, the director of the British Museum (BM), flew to Saudi Arabia, his first visit to the heart of the Islamic world...Mr MacGregor and Venetia Porter, the BM’s keeper of Islamic art, spoke to the chairman of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities...

Established thirteen years, the role of the Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs has been an enduring question of the State Department, the Defense Department, National Security Staff, the Congress and the many others interested in America’s efforts to understand, inform, and influence global audiences.

China is the home of pandas and kung fu, yet it took Hollywood to make the smash-hit animated movie Kung Fu Panda, the sequel of which was China's most popular film in 2011. Through massive investment, and countless censors, the Communist Party aims to boost China's "soft power," or cultural influence, abroad.

Confucius institutes are part of a global campaign, funded by Beijing, to promote Chinese language and culture. However, the involvement of the Chinese one-party state, and its soft power ambitions, have generated some opposition. The siting of these centres in universities and public schools also makes them contentious.

Nowadays, video games have become a dominating entertainment medium. The industry alone creates tens of billions dollars for other industries, every year. Like other pop culture staples, people have noticed the cultural influence of video games. By releasing online game featuring Hollywood characters, Taiwan's innovation and soft power are manifested.

Art is often the vehicle of choice in building bridges in cultural diplomacy. The “Ahh” moment is one of appreciation when our imagination has been captured. Cultural diplomacy can take the inherent power of art and transform it from an “Ahh” moment of appreciation found in one cultural setting to an “Aha!” moment of delight and wonder in other cultural settings.

In previous Culture Posts, I talked about the goal of developing an “in-awareness” approach to culture in public diplomacy. In the comments section, as well as other CPD posts, important observations have been raised about the challenges of cultural diplomacy. Developing a stronger “in-awareness” approach may be the key to designing and implementing rewarding cultural diplomacy initiatives.

In this post I discuss the idea of thinking about culture as a concrete noun as one way to develop awareness.

Culture as a Concrete Noun

The film, “The Flowers of War...is Mr. Zhang’s take on the Nanjing Massacre. At the moment, no other cultural product or artist better embodies the hunger by the Chinese state and its citizens to create culture that can attract foreigners, bolstering China’s “soft power”...