The show is the brainchild of American rodeo promoter Richard Tucker and is considered an important component of the China-U.S. cultural exchange program for 2011. It is being jointly hosted by the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, China International Friendship Cities Association, the National Stadium, and... Less is Forever More.

Aside from performances by the Philippine All Strar hip-hop, crooner Jed Madela singing Broadway tunes, US Navy fleet band, Baguio residents will also get the chance to participate in interactive games and contests organized by the US embassy.

On Friday the Richard Nixon Foundation commemorated the 40th anniversary of what became known as pingpong diplomacy. The notion that sport could open a country seems outlandish on its face, but pingpong diplomacy is just one of several examples of sport influencing politics. Ultimately...sports' ability to humanize is part of the reason pingpong diplomacy can work.

Remember Czech artist David Cerny's "Entropa"? The sculpture, which showed stereotypes of all 27 EU member states, was perhaps the most memorable symbol of the otherwise ill-fated Czech EU presidency in the first half of 2009.

n the immediate aftermath of the IDF’s takeover of the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara during last year’s pro-Hamas flotilla to Gaza, Israel’s greatest public diplomacy victory came in the form of a private initiative by Latma... a satirical media criticism website...

It is convenient to represent cultures as monolithic entities especially if they are to be seen as a threat to “our” way of life. It is clear from the poetry, music and voices in general that the Arab culture is not such an entity. In this age of musical and political cosmopolitanism, as opposed to alienating exclusivism or anything-goes pluralism, I hope for a celebration of every viable strand in our tapestry.

If the story of “Fuchun Mountains” is richly symbolic of China’s tumultuous history and its six-decade estrangement from Taiwan, then the painting’s reunification last month at the National Palace Museum here in the Taiwanese capital is a made-to-order metaphor for the reconciliation that Communist Party leaders have long imagined for what they deem a breakaway province.

“Taiwan’s pop music represents an important aspect of the country’s soft power, with cultural flair and business potential, and has taken the lion’s share of the Chinese-speaking market,” GIO Minister Philip Yang said at a news conference. “The tours will take the beautiful and diverse sounds of Taiwan to our neighbors,” he said.