Donald Trump was a master at branding in his business career, but he seems to have left those skills in New York. In just a month in Washington, the president has significantly damaged the American brand abroad, in ways that could harm U.S. interests for years. America is not perfect in the eyes of the world. But it is different — and it is seen to be different. Since President Woodrow Wilson framed our entry into World War I as necessary to make the world safe for democracy, American leadership in advancing democratic ideals and global prosperity has been second to none.

Raffarin said another former French premier, Laurent Fabius, had once organized – on the same night – some 150 dinners in French embassies around the world, with more than 1,300 chefs preparing the food for the guests who included public figures and political leaders. Gastronomy, he argued, has served as a means of creating networks and building relationships in a world in which networks are vital.

When Caryl Stern, president and CEO of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, tried to raise financial support for the children of Middle Eastern refugees, she said many Americans tended to “look at her blankly.” It turns out that there was a widespread belief among donors that the Gulf nations are “rich oil countries and they don’t take care of their own,” she said. More troubling was a prevailing stereotype that the region is “a hotbed of terrorism.”

The Indonesian Embassy in Moscow will again host the Festival Indonesia this year as part of economic diplomacy efforts to promote superior products and the potential of Indonesia. [...] The Festival Indonesia this year to promote superior products of Indonesia will be enlivened by among other things, business forum, products exhibition, Indonesian arts and cultural performances, and information services on Indonesia.

Convergence — that is what Incredible India is seeking to bring into the increasingly digital campaigns to market the country to tourists. One of the objectives of the Incredible India 2.0 campaign is fostering engagement between Centre and state initiatives, as well as extensive collaborations with industry, to promote tourism. [...] The ministry is promoting a give-and-take approach. 

This week in Gwangju, we also see cultural diplomacy in action. "With support from the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, some 100 participants and their families and communities have come together with a team of dancers from Battery Dance, a New York-based contemporary dance company, to help build understanding and bridge divides."