"Good use of soft power objectively helps us reach priorities in international activities," Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov told a meeting of the Public Chamber's Council for International Cooperation and Public Diplomacy.

Trunk or boot, hood or bonnet? The United States and United Kingdom have so much in common, but there are differences. And when it comes to ‘soft power,’ what young people around the world fear might be in your glove compartment may set us apart.

Trunk or boot, hood or bonnet? The United States and United Kingdom have so much in common, but there are differences. And when it comes to ‘soft power,’ what young people around the world fear might be in your glove compartment may set us apart.

After 11 years of armed conflict in Afghanistan, a growing number of Americans question the motivation for continuing the United States’ engagement in the region. The reason is Malala Yousafzai, a 14-year-old Pakistani female blogger shot twice by a gunman in the Swat Valley on October 9 because she criticized the Taliban’s treatment of the population, particularly their intimidation of girls attending school.

Pakistan can learn lessons from Brazil, which has pursued this course in the last two decades and has emerged as the leading nation of South America, they said. The conference on Pakistan-Brazil relations was jointly organised by the Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI) and the Brazilian embassy.

The number of students from China studying at universities across the United States has increased dramatically. According to some statistics, the number of undergraduate students from China in the U.S. has doubled in the last two years. Economists say the trend is due, in large part, to a growing middle class in China. VOA's Elizabeth Lee reports from Los Angeles county, with one of the largest Chinese student populations in the U.S. - totaling more than 4000 students.

Let me say at the outset, I am proud to be an American. I believe that with my citizenship comes a responsibility to be engaged and pay attention not just to what is happening domestically but also to what is happening in the world. In addition to being a proud American, I also see myself as a citizen of the world. So much of America is interconnected with the world and much of what we do here in the U.S. – from who we elect, to the goods and services we buy, to the media we consume – touches millions of lives around the globe.

MediSend International, a global leader in building technical capacity for healthcare systems, is assisting Nigeria in the development of a national biomedical technologies initiative through a program of professional training and ongoing technical support.