On November 21, 2004, the first Confucius Institute opened its doors in Seoul, South Korea. The placement was by design, like every aspect of this public diplomacy endeavor by an increasingly confident Chinese government. The Korean peninsula, for example, has a long history of adhering to the Confucian system of thought, society and governance. Even more symbolically, before the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-5, Korea was a part of China’s traditional cultural empire. In fact, it was the last part to fall.

These past two months the Chinese Navy’s Type 920 Hospital Ship, a vast 14,000 ton floating hospital called “The Peace Ark,” docked in major cities of South Asia providing key medical services and surgeries to local residents. Over the course of the next few weeks the ship will sail to Bangladesh, Myanmar, Indonesia and Cambodia before heading back to China in October. During the five day visit to Pakistan, the ship’s staff clocked in 10 hour days totaling 2,029 outpatient visits and 28 surgeries.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has distanced itself from a series of obscene Facebook posts written by a senior official who is currently in charge of efforts by Israel to improve its image. Daniel Seaman, who was recently promoted to the post of head of Israeli public diplomacy on the internet, is the architect of a controversial new programme to mobilise hundreds of university students to write pro-Israel Facebook posts by giving them scholarships, and formerly served as director of Israel’s Government Press Office.

For a brief period on Thursday morning, the Washington Post's website redirected some visitors to a webpage controlled by the Syrian Electronic Army. In a brief statement, the site didn't indicate how the infiltration occurred, but subsequent reports suggest that the hackers were able to manipulate a content recommendation service The Post uses on its site.

As part of the United States Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence Globally, U.S. Embassy Bridgetown is addressing gender-based violence across a range of diplomatic, policy, and programmatic areas in the Caribbean region. These efforts build upon the priorities outlined last December at the first-ever Caribbean Dialogue on Rule of Law and Gender-based Violence, hosted by the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Global Women’s Issues (S/GWI).

I've been a writer and observer of all things American propaganda ever since I worked at the United States Information Agency in Washington. On Monday, August 12th at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan, I found two unlikely kindred spirits who share my interest in the subject, especially as it relates to what we know or think we know about American foreign policy.

I got into the public diplomacy game as a local hire as a Foreign Service National (FSN) working for the Israeli Foreign Ministry as a Press Officer for the Consulate General of Israel to the Southwest. As such, I have a deep appreciation for others who work as FSN for various foreign ministries and the U.S. Department of State.

Olivia Siller, one of the teenagers on the British Council Summer School educational and cultural trip to the UK, blogs about the group’s adventures on their visit to Liverpool. Imagine walking through the busy streets of Manhattan, tilting your head to see the giant skyscrapers towering over you. Then envision the beautiful buildings of London that overflow with character and history.