Yet again we are confronted with a dilemma: when is culture an instrument of soft power? We talk about cultural diplomacy, cultural exchanges and even cultural influence. What is less discussed is how cultural paraphernalia connect to, integrate with, and ultimately enhance a nation’s soft power capital.

Halfway around the world, Madison native Adam Fierman was able to find glimpses of home in Jordanian culture.
A current student of psychology and Arabic at Vassar College in New York, Fierman just returned from a two-month trip to Jordan, where he spent time immersing himself in Arabic – the language and the culture.

The Victorian government is now establishing a Victoria-Jiangsu Chinese Language Scholarship Program. This program will involve up to 50 Victorian higher education students and young professionals a year, involving intensive Chinese-language study at a Jiangsu-based university.

The U.S. government hashas funded thousands of programs that not only help people in the developing world, but work to maintain vital transnational relationships... The foreign affairs budget also funds scholarship and exchange programs that bring foreign students and community leaders to the United States to study, network, and engage in cultural exchange.

Adaji said the National Troupe has at various times engaged in cultural diplomacy by collaborating with international cultural groups such as when they recently hosted a performance by an Israeli troupe. He told the minister that the troupe has received four invitations from the Republic of Congo, Egypt, Brazil and Germany to represent Nigeria.

Penrith deputy mayor Jim Aitken said the exchange was a great opportunity for both sets of students to experience another culture. "In today's global society, it is important to recognise opportunities to learn from one another and it's a great way to put Penrith City on the global map," he said.

A group of Middle East high school students on an educational tour is not a common sight in South Korea, more often visited by tourists from its two neighbors China and Japan....Thanks to a cultural exchange program organized by Shin Joo-ho, son of a South Korean diplomat previously based in Jordan, they came to Seoul on July 23 to learn about the country.

Back in 1990, an overly excited Gavin Owen, along with his San Mateo Little League teammates, hopped on an airplane and traveled to Toyonaka, Japan as part of a Sister Cities cultural exchange program.
At that time, the program was in its 23rd year of introducing young boys to the Japanese culture using the power of baseball as a means to this introduction.