The aim of the visit was to share ADEC’s knowledge and expertise related to development of education, student assessment strategies, means of strengthening mutual cooperation, exam development, printing, marking and reports, professional development programmes and means of motivating qualified teachers.

The term “engagement” is a floating signifier; its meaning is typically embedded in the context of the articulation – who is saying it, in what venue, to serve a particular argument claim, etc. It’s a form of jargon that informs practice, and helps to rationalize acts of public diplomacy into the larger strategic language for U.S. diplomacy.

First, that the combined power of the crowd can accomplish anything. Second, that it takes critical networks of communication and collaboration to activate that crowd. While the revolution eventually led to the collapse of a 30-year old regime, it has also had a lesser-chronicled impact - becoming a catalyst for a growing movement of technology start-ups booming across the country.

The embassy of Japan in Nigeria is stepping up its ties with Nigeria through culinary diplomacy with a food fair in Abuja where Ambassador Ryuichi Shoji revealed his country's "great" respect for culture and its influence, especially through food.

The Korean Film Archive (KOFA) has signed an “agreement of cooperation” with the newly opened Shanghai Film Museum, the South Korea state-backed body announced. The pact, the first of its kind to be pursued for KOFA since its inception in 1974, means the two organizations will collaborate for film screenings, exhibitions, and restoration projects.

The Governments of Jamaica and Cuba have inked an agreement, which will see Cuban specialists in movie animation and high quality art and craft coming to the island to impart their knowledge to local youths. The ‘Youth and Cultural Exchange’ agreement will be implemented as a pilot before the end of this year.

As the name of our new publication suggests, soft power is all about influence and attraction which in the end we believe are far more powerful than coercion. If we draw people towards us because they respect our values, because they are excited by our visual arts, because they admire our universities, then the relationship is going to be far stronger than if it was based on any other factors.

The Foreign Secretary said the UK was currently the world’s most effective country at using “soft” diplomatic power to influence global events and further its interests. But he said the British have to “confront” the fact some of this power would ebb away if Scotland decided to separate, while Scotland would lose its seat on the “top table” of international institutions.