Welcome to the opening entry of Culture Posts, an interactive blog for exploring the cultural underbelly of public diplomacy. Over the next two years, I hope that you will join me, collecting and discussing your insights on the hidden, and often times not so hidden, aspects of culture in public diplomacy.

Plenty of performers go abroad on missions of cultural diplomacy aimed subtly at shoring up relations between their own nation and others. And then there are the three dozen dancers and singers of “Water Is Rising,’’ a show that is not coy about its purpose.

The program is designed to introduce Indian audiences to various dances including intangible cultural assets. Korea has a unique cultural heritage listing system for recognizing intangible skills that have been passed on through the generations, such as “Salpuri”and “Seungmu.”

Cultural activists, cultural workers, researchers and policymakers from Mali and Algeria to Singapore, and Limpopo to Cape Town, gathered in Joburg recently for the much-anticipated Diversity Conference.

Almost four years have passed since I began cultural diplomacy through anime...I have given lectures at universities and appearing as a guest at Japanese pop events. I have noticed the government's policy toward such overseas events seems to have changed..

"America's Foreign Service officers and military personnel represent our country all over the world... This photography exhibition provides a unique view of their work to resolve conflicts and forge new partnerships and advance America's interests and values.

What character does the U.S. have in the fantastical lands of Bollywood? A handful of recent films have truly absorbed America into their land of dreams. They’ve ditched most of the stereotypes about corrupt, debauched Westerners seen in films from past eras...but they also creatively use American settings for stories that deal with the unique risks and freedoms of the 21st-century world.

Cross-cultural tensions on the American campus may still increase because...it’s fundamentally a clash of civilizations. Chinese and Americans have fundamentally different values, norms, and worldviews, and Chinese students on U.S. campuses is merely the first front of the inevitable struggle between the hegemon and its challenger.