Synthetic ivy and orange blossoms climb walls adorned with paintings of stirring Korean landscapes, silk flowers fill the vases and the karaoke machine is pumping out the hits as the dinner crowd fills Pyongyang, an incongruous outpost of North Korean culture and cuisine in the capital's teeming streets.

Four Israeli master chefs from different ethnic and religious backgrounds cook up a variety of ways to make beautiful cuisine together. Taste of Peace (Taam Salaam in Arabic and Taam Shalom in Hebrew) was founded in 2009 by a multiethnic corps of chefs...Their first event was a "coexistence cooking competition" where 10 Jewish and 10 Arab chefs paired off to cook dishes together without knowing the recipe.

I recently came across an article found in PDiN (Public Diplomacy in the News) with the headline “Public Diplomacy Done Right with School Meals” by writer William Lambers, author of Ending World Hunger: School Lunches for Kids Around the World. The article argues that the U.S. should look back to a successful era of U.S.

In the 21st century, the United States, because of many factors, is perceived as the cause of instability. The U.S. is no longer the only country that has the capability to provide international food aid and is seen by much of the developed world, in terms of meals and health, as an unhealthy country that cannot provide the right nutrition for its own children.

McHale calls the Marshall Plan "the greatest example in our nation's history of Public Diplomacy done right." Food was what got the Marshall Plan started, in the form of an interim aid program in 1947-1948, and this is where public diplomacy came in.

Public diplomacy is a field predicated on the communication of culture and values to foreign publics; gastrodiplomacy is the act of winning hearts and minds via stomachs. Gastrodiplomacy uses culinary delights to appeal to the global public’s appetite, and thus helps raise a nation’s brand awareness and reputation.

Ever ordered fried “wantanes” and “chop suey de pollo”? More and more Latin Americans are doing just that as China tries to quietly promote its food and culture in the region.

Over the last century or so, Israelis have worked to make Israel a part of the Middle East. Israeli sabras (native born Israelis) with their argumentative attitudes; take no prisoners mentality; love for hummus, falafel and “Israeli” salad; tan skin; the yalla (let’s go) and no-translation needed ‘tseh (tongue hiss) live up to the Middle Eastern stereotypes and fit in with regional commonalities. If a tourist was dropped off in a nightclub or beach in Beirut or Tel Aviv, the only notable difference between the patrons would be the spoken language.