Youth engagement has already been a priority at many United States embassies. The United States is focusing on economic empowerment, through programs around the world that educate, create employment opportunities, and foster entrepreneurship for young people. Programs like Youth:Work, which has trained and employed thousands of young people in Latin America. We are launching initiatives that encourage civic participation, create local leadership opportunities, and develop linkages between young people and their governments.

The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs will host over 125 participants for the inaugural Around the World in an Afternoon, a cultural and academic festival. This is the largest ever gathering of Study of the U.S. Institute participants who represent 30 countries. More than 115 undergraduate student leaders from 20 countries will share information about their countries and cultures.

The United States has increased its funding for the binational Fulbright Program to $8.5 million per year, making it one of the largest Fulbright programs in the world. The U.S. government has committed $15 million for a new five year Fulbright Indonesia Research, Science, and Technology Program – or FIRST Program - to support American and Indonesian students and scholars.

More broadly, a default would leave America a global laughingstock. Our “soft power,” our promotion of democracy around the world, and our influence would all take a hit. The spectacle of paralysis in the world’s largest economy is already bewildering to many countries. If there is awe for our military prowess and delight in our movies and music, there is scorn for our political/economic management.

Education and exchange programs provide deep roots for the U.S.-India relationship. U.S.- India education cooperation enhances each country’s emphasis on building a knowledge society. These partnerships are critical to strengthening scholarship and research in each of our countries, improving and expanding access to a quality education, and developing greater mutual understanding.

The Chinese government has expressed its strong commitment to lift educational cooperation with Kenya and promised to increase the amount of scholarships given to Kenyan students to study in Chinese universities from the current 32 to 64 annually, a top Kenyan government official said on Friday.

China will open a two-day education exhibition on Friday in the Kenyan capital Nairobi to promote local understanding about the Asian country's higher education and attract more Kenyan students to study in China.

''The teaching of Chinese language and culture is welcome in NSW schools but it should be available free from the influence of the Chinese Communist Party doctrine and censorship.'' China pays NSW schools more than $200,000 to promote its language and culture through the Confucius Institute, based at the Education Department's Ryde office.