Public diplomacy is a key pillar of a country’s foreign policy toolkit. (...) Indonesian leaders have tended to focus their attention on other foreign political elites through foreign policy initiatives like the Bali Democracy Forum and interfaith dialogues rather than promote cultural diplomacy.

The pope comes to the table with “no threats, no bullets, no drones.” The head of the Catholic Church is the ultimate example of soft power.

A couple of days ago, Pope Francis had stated that the theories of evolution and the big bang, which is today thought of as the origin of the world, "is not inconsistent with the notion of creation" and that it was possible to believe in both evolution and the Catholic church's teaching on creation. 

Several newly flourishing institutions have attracted both media and public attention for culturally interacting with other nations and providing humanitarian aid. Without a doubt their efforts bolster Turkey's influence in its surrounding region.

These are tough times for Russia’s tourism industry with the numbers of visitors – especially from the West – nosediving in recent months.  That has sent hotels scrambling to attract guests from other parts of the globe – including Muslim nations in the Mideast and Asia that have placed no sanctions on Moscow over its intervention in Ukraine.

Pope Francis has doubled down on his progressive stance toward including gays in the Roman Catholic Church after conservative bishops stymied his efforts.  Francis shared his remarks after the bishops rejected a report from last week containing language they deemed too favorable to gays.

The Twittersphere and social media is abuzz in the Arab-Muslim world, this time over what conservative clerics say is a controversial practice of hajj pilgrims to Mecca taking “selfies” with their smartphone devices.