While organisers hope London 2012's economic impact will be one of its main legacies, bringing £1bn of extra business over four years, some question the mixed message being projected by the GREAT campaign.

At a time when the rest of the world marvels at – or perhaps dreads – China’s rise, Beijing perceives a serious weakness in its own armor: the lack of soft power. For all its economic woes, the West still possesses ample soft power as evidenced by its cultural domination. Behind China’s worries also lurk fears about regime stability.

China has launched a multi-million pound effort to improve its image around the world with the launch of a new global news TV station that it hopes will one day compete with global names such as the BBC, CNN and Al Jazeera. The new station 'CCTV America', has hired more than 60 international staff in a bid to produce credible programmes that will aim to give a voice to Beijing's view of the world.

Britain’s Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt launched a major campaign on Thursday to attract an extra 4.6 million tourists to the U.K. through advertisements in 14 cities worldwide. The goal of the campaign...is to maximize the tourism and business potential generated by Britain’s hosting of the 2012 Olympics.

The American Film Showcase, an international cultural diplomacy initiative that brings people together worldwide through film...a partnership between the U.S. Department of State and USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, brings award-winning American films...to foreign audiences through events worldwide.

The Chinese mainland and Taiwan jointly launched a multimedia database offering free access to Chinese linguistic literature on line. The database is expected to facilitate learning and research of the Chinese language across the world.

China put a key element of its global soft-power push into play this week with the official launch of state broadcaster CCTV’s American service. The service will eventually offer four hours of programming a day, produced by roughly 100 journalists in 15 bureaus spread throughout the Americas...

...In his three decades of foreign service, the US ambassador to the United Arab Emirates has learned that art can play a powerful part in diplomacy, communicating in a way that transcends culture and language.