During International Education Week, the U.S. Department of State highlights existing efforts to attract future leaders from abroad...All U.S. embassies and consulates expedite visa processing for foreign students to ensure qualified students are able to begin their academic program on time.

As part of its cultural diplomacy program, the U.S. embassy brought the FEW Collective, a hip-hop troupe from Chicago, to Islamabad, where they danced, rapped and recited poetry to a Westernized, educated elite audience of young Pakistanis.

The progressive utilization of this kind of soft power...will be a fast track pass to engage with masses of young people all over the world based upon what they are truly interested in.Governmental cultural diplomacy can sometimes come off as forced or out-of-touch, but K-pop is an authentic reflection and spectacle of youth culture that is impressively close to the pulse of the "global cool."

Just when it seemed there was little hope for Twitter in Lebanon, the site finally got its "moment" earlier this week...when Mikati and British Ambassador to Lebanon Tom Fletcher had a live 'Tweebate'...Following the event, Mikati tweeted that "social media is helping build digital diplomacy as a form of parallel public diplomacy".

Cultural exchanges take place periodically at the regional level...Sri Lanka has a rich heritage of cultural resources. We will increasingly focus on public diplomacy and cultural exchanges. It also relates to smart power and soft power.

Welcome to the opening entry of Culture Posts, an interactive blog for exploring the cultural underbelly of public diplomacy. Over the next two years, I hope that you will join me, collecting and discussing your insights on the hidden, and often times not so hidden, aspects of culture in public diplomacy.

Hasbara is a form of propaganda aimed at an international audience, primarily, but not exclusively, in western countries. It is meant to influence the conversation in a way that positively portrays Israeli political moves and policies, including actions undertaken by Israel in the past.

However, the fact that Israel’s president Shimon Peres now calls military action “more and more likely” suggests that, regardless of the eventual decision, Israel has embarked on a public diplomacy campaign intended to seize international attention.