Vietnam’s successful cultural diplomacy in 2010 was reflected in activities dedicated to ASEAN and the 1,000th founding anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi, and the effort to win UNESCO recognition of the country’s cultural heritages.

The Cultural Development Trust (CDT) is hosting a theatre production from Brazil, Favela-Força from 7 to 19 December 2010. The theatre production consisting of five actors plus the art director is visiting South Africa as part of a cultural exchange programme between CDT and IBISS Brazil, a non-profit organisation that works with youth in the Favelas (townships in Rio de Janeiro).

A new television cop show has hit the airwaves in Afghanistan. Called Eagle Four, it tracks the fictional adventures of an elite police unit that chases terrorists, kidnappers and smugglers in the midst of a war zone. Loosely inspired by American TV thrillers such as 24, the show has plenty of cartoonish action, but the people behind it, including financial support from the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, are hoping it also conveys a message.

The objective of culture is no longer only to create art or literature. "Cultural Diplomacy" is increasingly being used as a vehicle to promote liberal democratic values and to foster "democracy and participation", says Dutch Liberal member Marietje Schaake (ALDE), who last week presented her report on cultural diplomacy. We spoke to her and asked her about her report.

British Council’s new Country Director Tony Reilly who assumed duties just over a month ago stressed in an extensive interview with Daily Mirror Life that he wanted the British Council’s cultural relations programme to make a sensitive, but meaningful contribution to Sri Lanka’s socio-economic development...

Tehran has held a festival in an attempt to introduce Syrian culture and traditions to Iranians and boost cultural ties between the two countries. The festival was opened during a ceremony at Tehran's Bahman Cultural Center on December 4, 2010. Syrian ambassador to Iran Hamed Hassan attended the event along with a number of Iranian officials.

There is an old American public diplomacy maxim that states: “To know us is to love us.” But in Taiwan, gastrodiplomacy—the promotion of Taiwan abroad through its cuisine—has served up a mouthwatering variation on this theme: “To taste us is to love us.”