The Chinese Communist Party does not hide its hostility to and fear of the political values -- freedom, human rights, political competition, and constitutional rule -- that underpin American democracy. In the eyes of the Chinese ruling elites, the United States presents a political threat, even though they understand that a full-fledged military conflict between two nuclear-armed great powers is extremely unlikely. Chinese leaders feel so endangered by U.S. soft power that they are now even orchestrating a propaganda campaign against constitutionalism.

Georgia has invented a new kind of public diplomacy - "cycle diplomacy." "The project goal: to discover a new Georgia for the Azerbaijani society, strengthen friendly ties, promote a healthy lifestyle, classical, folk and extreme sports, advertise companies, attract business partners, tourists in Georgia, etc. It is planned a reception by President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan in Baku, meetings with the population in 26 large cities and regions," it was reported.

The public diplomacy and Diaspora affairs and the religious services portfolios have the greatest potential to shape the relationship between Israel and her Diaspora. Both of these jobs were demanded by Bennett, head of the Habayit Hayehudi party, home of the national religious the settlers.

My thesis today is that public diplomacy is critical in extending civilian-military power. It combines soft and hard power to make the kind of “smart power” that is necessary to succeed. Public diplomacy is inextricably linked to key U.S. foreign policy goals of preventing deadly conflict, managing conflict when it occurs, and building civil societies out of the ashes of conflict

The exchange was comprised of several activities testing their interoperable command, control and communications capabilities, including naval gunfire support procedures, helicopter deck landing procedures, vessel boarding, search and seizure techniques. “Engagements such as these are critical to our strong international partnerships,” said Lt. Cmdr. Morgan Roper, response department head at Coast Guard Sector Guam. “These activities allow us to learn the procedures and capabilities of our defense partners, and develop the plans which guide real-world responses.”

Nevertheless, Mr. Ecclestone's comment highlighted the fact that mega events and public office are double-edged swords. They potentially allow countries to showcase themselves, polish or improve a nation's international and a government's domestic image, serve as tools to enhance soft power and create commercial, economic and political opportunity.

Following the successful Joseph Calleja concert held last April, the Maltese Embassy in France will be organising 'Cine Malte: les possibilités d'une Ile' on 17 June. This event will be held at the beautiful 'Louxor - Palais de Cinéma', unique art déco hall, which has just recieved a major facelift by the City of Paris. This event will be among the very first to be organised at this location, which played an integral part in the Golden Age of Parisian cinema.

The mirror image of this issue is that traditionally, there has been too little emphasis from Beijing upon public diplomacy programmes to reach out to foreign publics directly. Rather than winning hearts and minds in this way, Beijing has tended to place emphasis, especially in Africa and the Middle East, on improving working relationships with strategically important governments through assistance programmes that may not always serve the interest of local people.