The video project was voluntary and the students had to raise the funds to see it through. The Israeli Student Union offered advice on logistics. "We discovered a huge potential for improving Israel's public diplomacy efforts around the world through this creative and groundbreaking project," said Maayan Friedland, a Student Union spokesperson.

Chinese leaders, determined to persuade America that they mean no harm, have recruited Sun Tzu to their cause. China is hamstrung by a contemporary culture that has little global appeal. Since the present is a hard sell, China is having to lean heavily on the distant past.

Each country has a sizable diaspora from its neighbour – Tajikistan’s population is 15% Uzbek, while Uzbekistan’s is 5% Tajik – and shared cultural values. Those factors indicate that public diplomacy, an approach used frequently in Central Asia, could lead to significant progress in bilateral ties, observers say.

The "hip hop jam session" between African American hip hop musicians and Sfax native El General is at the core of the hip hop diplomacy: critical cross-cultural exchange and dialogue achieved through musical collaborations. The interaction between youth through a shared global language (hip hop and social media technologies) may be a "bab" for this bilateral political and cultural education.

China's most expensive film, a bloody blockbuster about the Japanese army's massacre of civilians in Nanjing, will be released in cinemas across the country on Friday as Beijing steps up its efforts to project its "soft power" across the world.

Public sentiment here against China has worsened since the captain of an illegal Chinese fishing boat allegedly killed a Korea Coast Guard officer on Monday. Public anger further deepened as Beijing only expressed regret, falling short of offering an official apology.

Talk to Pakistani politicians, scholars... you are beyond the realm of politics and diplomacy and into the realm of hurt feelings. Words like “ditch” and “jilt” and “betray” recur. With Americans, they complain, it’s never a commitment, it’s always a transaction.

In official and political circles in Ottawa today, little or nothing is heard of PD. Diplomatic representatives can no longer connect directly with foreign populations unless their scripts have been pre-cleared, and even the use of the term has been discouraged...