Ideas and good writing may be fun, good music can be soothing, the cinema and theater are certainly entertaining, and sports and video games are heart-racing. All that is good and well, and all are the flesh and blood of the soft power that many countries try to build and whose management the United States has possibly mastered.

Americans have taken to hummus with gusto, but should the flavour of the traditional Middle Eastern spread be tampered with?

Sake is gradually increasing its presence at banquets where Japanese government leaders play host to foreign dignitaries...sake has begun to be included among other beverages at dinners and receptions amid growing calls from within the ministry to actively push sake in the field of diplomacy.

South Korea has been actively engaged in a serious re-branding effort. The South Korean government has been worried that the country’s brand has been underperforming in years past...One area that the Korean government has chosen to try to conduct public diplomacy outreach is in the realm of gastrodiplomacy.

The traditional South American beverage called yerba mate is still relatively unknown in the U.S. But it's becoming more and more prevalent in natural food stores and cafes...In South America, mate is a shared experience, almost a ritual.

Israelis reacted with a measure of resignation and humor to the news that Lebanon one-upped them for the world record for the largest plate of hummus. In the latest installment of the hummus war between the countries, a team of Lebanese chefs prepared a serving of hummus that weighed in at 23,130 kilograms (59,992 pounds), setting a Guinness World Record

APDS Blogger: Paul Rockower

“Food is our common ground, a universal experience.”
- James Beard

The Times' editorial series on food diplomacy explores the possibility that the United States could improve its global image and enhance national security by launching "a high-profile food diplomacy initiative planned, funded and executed for the purpose of improving national security through humanitarian means."