The wide-ranging effort creates an American Chef Corps, a network of culinary leaders who could be deployed to promote U.S. cooking and agricultural products abroad. “They might meet with an embassy, cook a lunch, post blogs or [write] articles, speak at events,” says [U.S. Chief of Protocol Capricia Penavic] Marshall, listing the many ways participants might engage.

“Symbolic Meanings: Calligraphy and Paintings by Calligrapher Liang Hong” and “Cross- Cultural Communication with Ethnic Groups Costumes from China” are shows sponsored by the Confucius Institute at Penn State and presented by the Bellefonte Art Museum for Centre County.

“The best way to advance America's interests in reducing global threats and seizing global opportunities is to design and implement global solutions. ...We must use what has been called ‘smart power,’ the full range of tools at our disposal -- diplomatic, economic, military, political, legal and cultural -- picking the right tool or combination of tools for each situation."

As China plays an increasingly significant role in the world, its soft power must be attractive both domestically as well as internationally...The Western model has not been able to decisively address these issues; the China model therefore brings hope that we can make progress in conquering these dilemmas.

India's soft power remains its biggest strength in being a global leader but strict visa rules has dented the country's image abroad, writes former Union minister of state for external affairs Shashi Tharoor in his new book. "Today's India truly enjoys soft power, and that may well be the most valuable way in which it can offer leadership to the twenty-first-century world."

Isabella is one of the first chefs to be tapped by the State Department to serve as a culinary ambassador abroad, part of an ambitious new undertaking to use food as a diplomatic tool. Initiated by the U.S. Chief of Protocol Capricia Penavic Marshall, the Diplomatic Culinary Partnership aims to “elevate the role of culinary engagement in America’s formal and public diplomacy efforts."

The Chinese Summer Bridge camp was launched in the summer of 2007 just a few months before the Confucius Institute at the University of Memphis (CIUM) officially opened. Since the program's inception thousands of American high school students have been invited to participate in the summer camp in China.

The initiative is supported by UQ, the UQ Confucius Institute and the Australia Chinese General Chamber of Business – headed by Mr Chiu-Hing Chan, who was a Young Queenslander of the Year in 2009 for his contribution to the ethnic Chinese community.