China has pushed Confucius Institutes — subsidized Chinese language schools — and expanded some of its domestic media in hopes of exerting more influence over global culture. Despite pouring billions of dollars into these and other programs, they haven’t really worked...If China really wants to boost its soft power, it should be making video games.

Simply put, China deploys soft power in Africa very prudently. China projects soft power by building visible infrastructure projects on the continent. From the ‘Uhuru’ Tanzam Railway project to the Indian Ocean to the African Union’s new gleaming skyscraper headquarters complex. China is making real and noticeable differences in the lives of Africans all over Africa.

China has been wooing foreign universities and foreign students in a bid to internationalise its universities and as part of a ‘soft power’ policy to project itself internationally...“There is a clear national policy in China of ‘soft power’ using education," said Yang Rui, an assistant professor in Hong Kong University’s faculty of education.

As the United States embarks on a strategic “rebalance” toward Asia, Washington and its allies in the region must do a better job making the case for policies that require broad public support. This is especially true in fiscally constrained times, when the threat of sequestration may require the United States to rely more heavily on its friends and allies in the region.

The UK Culture Minister Ed Vaizey was speaking to delegates from nearly 40 countries yesterday who had gathered in Edinburgh for the world’s first International Cultural Summit. Praising the work done at London 2012, he said the spectacular opening and closing ceremonies “told the world about the importance of creativity”.

In this day and age, when Britain sometimes struggles to justify its status as a permernant member of the United Nations Security Council or as a "major player on the world stage", the medal table may prove to be a more accurate measure of the international standing than the size, for example, of the GDP or the armed forces.

A newly published study by the American Security Project (ASP), “The New Public Diplomacy Imperative,” highlights public diplomacy (PD) as a crucial element of our national security strategy and details the many obstacles for U.S. public diplomacy to reach its potential.

Huang is one of the 24 Chinese students who were brought to Bibb county through the Confucius Institute to teach Madarine in primary grades. At Heritage, all students in pre-kindergarten through 3rd will learn Madarine this year.