The movie was The Martian, and it had everything we should be promoting: It showed Americans as smart, resourceful, and innovative. It showed us as independent thinkers, but also as selfless team members who worked together when needed... And it showed America as a culturally diverse nation where people with talent could succeed, regardless of their race or religion.

The struggle against Islamic State in Iraq should be strategic and diplomatic in the true sense of the word: the creation and disruption of coalitions built on profound geopolitical analysis and accompanied by effective public diplomacy. 

Ten years in the making, "The Study Quran" is more than a rebuttal to terrorists, said Seyyed Hossein Nasr, an Iranian-born intellectual and the book's editor-in-chief. His aim was to produce an accurate, unbiased translation understandable to English-speaking Muslims, scholars and general readers.

Ulla Rønberg, wife of recently appointed Danish Ambassador Lars Gert Lose, has spent her career promoting cultural diplomacy long before the term came into vogue. Although she’s on a leave of absence from the Danish Agency for Culture while in D.C., Rønberg is finding ways to incorporate her love of culture with her new role as an ambassador’s spouse.

Boots on the ground are necessary for defeating them where they now freely organize and operate. The question becomes: Whose boots?

Refugees stranded at the Greece-Macedonia border have stripped down and sewn their lips together to protest against the restrictions placed on their movement. A group of Moroccans, Iranians and Pakistanis, stranded by a policy employed by Balkan states to filter the flow of people passing through the region, blocked rail traffic and demanded passage to Western Europe on Monday.

It had been a "a real coup" for Australia and had probably generated "more than $60 million of free publicity" for the country, he said. And the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade praised Eurovision in its annual report, acknowledging it as a boon for "public diplomacy" that had showcased Australia’s creative talent to 200 million viewers. 

The Russian police force has offered to send France a puppy to replace the dog killed during an anti-terrorist operation in Paris. It's a symbolic gesture perhaps indicating a shift in how Russia wants to interact with Europe.