Cultural relations work really looks different if you make the connection with the role of nationalism in European politics in the period after 1850. The theory and practice of nationalism places language and culture at the heart of what makes the nation. It was the rise of nationalism that corroded multinational empires and consolidated national states in Europe.

Part of the plan is to hire nationals of the target markets with right skills and networks to head the charm offensive instead of sending Kenyans with little or no connections...he move not only marks a major shift in the country’s diplomatic positioning but also makes a significant departure from the way Kenya has traditionally staffed its embassies and high commissions abroad.

More than 750 million people have a Facebook account and more than 200 million people use Twitter, but the EU’s European External Action Service (EEAS) has only 4,132 followers on Twitter and 1,774 ‘likes’ on Facebook. The EEAS, the EU’s main foreign policy group, has all the presence of an ant on social media compared to Barrack Obama, who has more than 9 million Twitter followers.

Remember Czech artist David Cerny's "Entropa"? The sculpture, which showed stereotypes of all 27 EU member states, was perhaps the most memorable symbol of the otherwise ill-fated Czech EU presidency in the first half of 2009.

Harvard professor Joseph Nye talks of a world shaped by the shifting distribution of power from West to East and the growing dispersal of power from state to citizens.The “Arab Spring” is the most spectacular example...

With a potentially contentious Russian presidential election looming in 2012, we at RealClearWorld thought it would be useful to examine just where Russia's leadership is most prized, and respected. Using Gallup data, we set out to find the Top 5 Most Pro-Russian Countries.

This is a joint project between the Kosovo and British Governments, which will be implemented by the British Council to improve the process of Kosovo’s recognition by countries which have still not taken such a decision.

The European Commission has pledged $14.5 million in emergency food aid to help 650,000 North Koreans at risk of dying from malnutrition. An EU mission visited the country last month and saw hospitals, kindergartens and state food distribution centers.