Minister Mari Elka Pangestu said on Wednesday that Indonesia had a clear blueprint for developing its creative economy, promising that there would be no overlapping authorities... “The benefit of a creative economy is that we will elevate the nation’s branding and create more jobs.”

So much for our public diplomacy. When the Indonesia mission’s offices in New York City renege on paying parking fines and instead simply rake up the bills, what does it really say about the nation’s reputation abroad?

About 750 foreign students from 73 countries received scholarships from the Indonesian government to study Indonesian culture, arts and language at universities across the country...the program, launched in 1974, was among Indonesia's cultural diplomacy programs aimed at promoting Indonesian cultures to the rest of the world.

Today, the USC Center on Public Diplomacy released a Media Monitor Report on "Expo Shanghai 2010 - Flaunting Nations' Beauty through the Practice of Nation Branding".

Counterterrorism efforts should, Marty said, address the local circumstances and conditions that give rise to terrorism such as political grievances, communal conflicts, economic and social marginalization, human rights issues and poverty

Despite its size, Indonesia is distinctly lacking in hard-power assets. The source of Indonesia’s influence is soft power, which it has used to create regional institutions such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to promote regional stability and pursue its key strategic objective of ensuring that Southeast Asia never fall under the hegemony of an outside power.

The cultural center is called @america – a name chosen because diplomats in the world’s most populous Muslim country thought it would appeal to the technical savvy young people, while conveying a measure of respect.

China is taking note. It has begun flying Indonesia's Islamic scholars to China on study tours in order to show how Muslim minorities thrive in China, despite its official atheism. It's the kind of public diplomacy that the US has used for decades to burnish its image, so it's hardly surprising that China is doing the same.