Plenty of performers go abroad on missions of cultural diplomacy aimed subtly at shoring up relations between their own nation and others. And then there are the three dozen dancers and singers of “Water Is Rising,’’ a show that is not coy about its purpose.

One of USAID’s key objectives, said Mr. Miller, is to assist countries and regional institutions in the Pacific to increase adaptive capacity and resilience to the negative impacts of climate change.

While media attention typically focuses on the hard power role of the US military in the Pacific, the US Navy also invests significant time and energy in the soft power potential of humanitarian and reconstruction efforts in the region.

In an increasingly globalized world, cooperation between the Arab world and the Pacific islands can be a decisive force for change, UAE Foreign Minister HH Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan said today.