The opening ceremony of the Giro d'Italia cycle race has taken place in Belfast.  The Giro d'Italia is one of cycling's most famous events and TV coverage is watched every year in 165 countries.

Right now, all over the world, former Fulbright scholars like me (Norway, 2012) are raising the alarm, trying to persuade Congress to stand by one of its best creations, passed by unanimous bipartisan consent of the Senate and signed into law by President Truman in 1946.  Yet the Fulbright budget, which falls under the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), seems to be on the chopping block.

An £18m fund is being earmarked to encourage international collaboration and cultural exchange, and generate more money by sending the best of English arts and culture overseas. 

Pad Chinese doesn't have the same ring to it, but it might be a bit more accurate. Pad Thai, the now-ubiquitous noodle dish made with chewy, stir-fried rice noodles, vegetables, bean sprouts, peanuts, and egg, among other things, is so popular it’s become the de facto measure by which Thai restaurants in New York, London, and other storefronts around the world are judged.

Since its early days, train travel has been shrouded in an aura of romanticism. It has become emblematic of a bygone era of epic voyages, adventures, and discovery—the excitement and possibility of accessing vast new territories.

Frameworks for cultural diplomacy in the U.S. are often too narrow and too broad. On the one hand, self-identified practitioners of cultural diplomacy – within and outside government – tend to identify, if somewhat generically, specific exportable forms of expressive culture (think: music, theater, literature, dance, murals, or film).

Japan and South Korea were in a festive mood over the weekend despite continuing tensions over history issues and territorial disputes. A two-day cultural exchange festival ended Sunday after participants at Hibiya Park in central Tokyo enjoyed a variety of performances by people from both countries, including traditional music, dance, and a martial arts performance.