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.

In the wake of the devastating terrorist attacks in Paris on November 13, Paris residents took to Twitter to offer accommodation to the stranded using the hashtags #PorteOuverte and #OpenDoor […] As a communication tool, the crowdsourcing power of social media again proved to be effective […] But what does this support, the “cause” in Facebook's words, actually deliver?

So ISIS takes pop culture, or soft power, very very seriously indeed, even if we don't. The attacks on Paris demonstrate their cultural focus most of all. They attacked restaurants, theaters, and sports events rather than military or political targets […] The forces that will defeat ISIS aren't the army, the navy, and the air force; they're Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. They have to involve themselves in the war.

Why targeting a sporting event often feels like a direct attack at the heart of a nation […] Sport has always been seen as a manifestation of national identity. It is sometimes an outlet for our most primitive, tribal instincts, or, as the former Holland coach, Rinus Michels, put it: "Football is war."