Can North Korea capitalize on this with a new push of cultural diplomacy fronted by its musicians? Its Unhasu Orchestra are wrapping up their high-profile visit to Paris and they performed Wednesday last week. The eventwas unique in many ways; it is the first time this orchestra and most of it’s members have played abroad...

A North Korean and a French orchestra performed a landmark concert on Wednesday, adding a note of harmony to long-standing tensions between the isolated nation and the West. Most of the 90 North Koreans musicians — many under age 30 — were performing with a Western ensemble for the first time.

In Japan, by contrast, there is little recognition of the importance of cultural diplomacy. This is clear from recent public discussions on the subject. Why is it that so many Japanese seem unable to grasp the value of using cultural power in foreign policy?

This new tool will enable us to improve our communication with Arab-speaking audiences and will complement the France Diplomatie website in Arabic as well as the websites of our embassies and consulates in the countries of the region.

Unsuspectingly, Sunday night's Academy Awards turned into a kind of prism of global politics as Oscars were given out to Iranian and Pakistani films as well as to a film produced by a French director with French actors financed with French subsidies.

If a state possesses sufficient “soft power,” it has acquired the ability to frame and shame events and actors in international relations...The French role in last year’s intervention in Libya was a perfect example.

“In terms of public diplomacy, it is always more interesting if members belonging to the local population express your message. The French won’t believe what the emir of Qatar tells them, but they will believe the director of a start-up in the French suburbs,” said Pelletier.

It remains to be seen if divergent views on support to farmers will have a negative impact, not just on the World Trade Organization’s Doha Round, but also on bilateral relations. On the soft-power side, France needs to attract more Indian scientists and students to its academic institutions.