The deep connection engendered by music and the arts helps bridge barriers of languages and cultural traditions. A belief in the value of sharing our nation's music and arts is the motivating factor behind an organization that now has its home in St. Louis - American Voices.

Mr. Xi’s journey to America’s heartland underscores the importance of the public dimension of U.S-China diplomacy. Since China’s “soft power” efforts have largely been bi-coastal, Mr. Xi’s trip to the fly-over country is particularly noteworthy. Let’s hope that Mr. Xi’s Iowa visit will help broaden and enrich the Chinese imagination of America.

Muscatine, Iowa, is to play host to a special guest on Wednesday, when China’s Vice President Xi Jinping, the nation’s presumed next leader, returns to the small town he first visited as part of a sister-state program more than two decades ago. Mr. Xi’s journey to America’s heartland underscores the importance of the public dimension of U.S-China diplomacy.

The coming visit of Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping is expected to provide an opportunity to further promote public diplomacy between the two countries. Xi is visiting the United States at the invitation of Vice-President Joe Biden, starting from Feb 13 to 17.

Where are the Emiratis living in tents? This is the question I have heard numerous times from visiting journalists. So at the end of the Emirates' international branding efforts and countless projects that have received international recognition, we are still struggling to educate the world on how far we have come as a nation and as a society.

At a time when the rest of the world marvels at — or perhaps dreads — China’s rise, Beijing perceives a serious weakness in its own armour: the lack of soft power. For all its economic woes, the West still possesses ample soft power as evidenced by its cultural domination.

Cuddly pandas are China's ambassadors of soft power and other countries use money or culture to enhance bilateral ties, but Singapore prefers to say it with flowers -- orchids, to be exact. The tropical city-state cultivates special orchid varieties and names them after a motley mix of foreign leaders and celebrities as part of its diplomatic repertoire.

This connection between communication and organization pops up in Cold War thinking on writings on ‘public diplomacy’ notably in W. Philips Davison’s (1965) International Political Communication. Davison argues that the key role of communication should be to support the organization of pro-US political forces rather than attacking the communists.