The screening room of the public library in the U.S. Embassy is dim and quiet. Around 20 pairs of eyes are locked on the flat screen Sony TV at the front as the theme song to The West Wing rises to a crescendo.

During last week’s presidential debate on foreign policy, Republican nominee Mitt Romney missed an opportunity to criticize one aspect of President Barack Obama’s foreign policy that has gone largely unnoticed: the shift away from U.S. international radio broadcasting in favor of more high-tech media outlets.

Members of Russia's Civic Chamber, a state-appointed consultative body that advises the government on civic issues, will observe the U.S. presidential elections. They will act as foreign observers for the first time ever, Alexander Sokolov, the head of the Civic Chamber Inter-Commission Working Group on International Cooperation and Public Diplomacy, said on Friday.

In what experts describe as an unusual form of public diplomacy, U.S. colleges have created State-Department-funded “American Cultural Centers” in partnership with Chinese host universities. “Their primary purpose is to expose Chinese audiences to the depth and breadth of U.S. culture,” said Erik W. Black, an assistant cultural affairs officer at the American embassy in Beijing.

Turkish municipalities are developing sister city relations with their counterparts in Balkans, as the two sides aim to boost economic, cultural, educational and people-to-people contacts to foster mutual understanding and co-operation.

An agreement has been reached between Nepal and China to establish a Chinese Cultural Center in Nepal. Secretary at the Ministry of Cultural, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Yagya Prasad Gautam and Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Yang Houlan on Thursday signed the agreement at the Ministry.

Georgia is intended to restore its trade and cultural ties with Russia in the near future, new Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili told reporters.He emphasized that it was very important for Georgia to establish relations with its “Great Neighbor”.

The US Department of State and the Association of American Voices is facilitating a unique musical program called American Music Abroad. The program works to implement Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s vision of “smart power”diplomacy