China’s ruling Communist party has long lamented that its “soft” power falls far short of that of the US. Efforts to improve matters, however, have been hampered by an overeager propaganda agenda. Mr Wang said this would change. “Our country puts too much emphasis on ‘going out’”...The harder you strive to do that, the less you will succeed."

The United States, while maintaining an excellent exchange program, needs to focus more efforts and resources toward empowering young people from the U.S. to not just experience foreign cultures but to engage in dialogue about pressing global issues.

"The goal of The Water Tank Project is to produce art as social intervention and bring about changes in knowledge, attitudes, and behavior among those who experience it." Ideally the artwork will increase awareness about the global water crisis, appreciation of high quality drinking water, and education about the negative consequences of plastic waste.

It is important for us to borrow from the rich cultural content of Africa, for us to reposition Africa and ensure that culture is not only a tool of diplomacy, but that we also can deploy it to achieve economic as well as the Millennium Development goals for the continent.

Today, the U.S. Department of State announced it will raise the curtain today, June 19 on its groundbreaking cultural diplomacy initiative, Center Stage, which brings performing artists from Haiti, Indonesia, and Pakistan to the United States to engage American audiences in 60 medium- and small-sized towns and cities.

Global events such as the Beijing Olympics and the Shanghai Expo have provided an opportunity for China to show to the world a new face, and big investments in the developing world have seen China's image improve among the Africans and South Americans.

The social media revolution is taking place not just in Tahrir Square and Arab streets, but also in foreign ministries around the world as policymakers try to grasp the demands of real-time diplomacy.

The world’s media focused on the atrocities of the Syrian conflict prior to Euro 2012 – and how quickly, it would appear, that we have forgotten the suffering of others just because we are watching another TV channel...Could we now be described as being subjects of ‘compassion fatigue’..?