More than 300 of the Communist Party’s most powerful leaders met in Beijing and discussed ways of boosting the nation’s “cultural soft power”: an admission that for all the country’s economic prowess it lacks the magnetic draw of a country like America.

Called Viki, the Singapore-based web startup pools the linguistic talents of thousands of its users to help push world television content into markets historically impenetrable to all but a handful of foreign-language productions. The service relies on an active community of translators proficient in 158 languages to caption the footage.

Bollywood is an industry that employs many, and is an important source of India's soft power. It is the government's responsi-bility to ensure that Bollywood is not put out of business by rampaging Hollywood moguls keen to capture the Indian market.

India's soft power in Afghanistan is omnipresent. Bollywood films, film stars, TV serials and cricket players are a national obsession...New Delhi's role in providing humanitarian support... has also helped build the groundswell of goodwill.

The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs announced today the 2011 late fall tour schedule for The Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad...Using music and culture as diplomatic tools to bring people together and foster mutual understanding...

t the convention another hot topic that was discussed was the diffusion of South Korean culture throughout Asia...and the growing popularity of Korean entertainment and culture. Korean dramas and pop music have grown quite popular among the youth in the region and abroad.

With cultural diplomacy, the idea is to bring people together on an international scale in a more socio-cultural context, rather than on a diplomatic basis.

Since its inception in 2007, Art Trek V has carved a place for itself in Singapore's annual arts calendar, while serving as the centerpiece of the Embassy's cultural diplomacy program.