Soon, I realized that the event was not intended for Americans. It was to impress people from here in Jakarta: Invited Indonesians and Indonesians who read the news from the invited press. It was a showcase of American “soft power”, a term popularized by Joseph Nye, a professor at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.

As temperatures drop across the East Coast, where the clean up efforts from Super Storm Sandy are ongoing, stories of resilience are permeating online: tales of New York City Marathon runners shifting gears from the cancelled event to volunteer efforts in Staten Island, tales of moms in New Jersey organizing clothing and supply drives to help those in the cold and dark, tales of musicians gathering in Brooklyn to entertain volunteers.

Nicholas Cull on the role of film in public diplomacy. 

The South Korean ambassador is offering residents of Ottawa a rare opportunity to visit a portion of his homeland without needing a passport. To mark the 50th anniversary of South Korea-Canada diplomatic relations, the ambassador's home at 540 Acacia Ave. in Rockcliffe Park will participate in the popular Homes for the Holidays tour in support of the Hospice at May Court.

The Italian Foreign Minister, Guilio Terzi di Sant Agata, has emphasised the importance of using dialogue to bridge any cultural gap between the two countries. Speaking at the official reopening of the refurbished Italian Embassy in Tripoli, Terzi said that he supports strong cooperation between the two countries in a range of areas, most particularly the exchange of academics.

Communist Party general secretary Hu Jintao highlighted the need for China to become a global cultural power - matching its rising economic clout - in his report to the party's 18th national congress yesterday. "Cultural strength and competitiveness symbolise a country's economic strength and its national revitalisation," he said.

USAID launched three grand challenges for development – to save lives at birth, get all children reading, and power agriculture through clean energy. We’ve also created new funding mechanisms that will help bring new ideas to scale like our Development Innovation Ventures program, which is supporting new solutions to prevent electoral fraud and to expand access to credit for underserved populations.

The United States Embassy Kuala Lumpur and the Sultan Ismail Library is holding a special photo exhibition called An Enduring Bond to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Peace Corps.