The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and U.S. Soccer announced today that former U.S. Women’s National Team players Shannon MacMillan and Tracy Noonan will travel to Guatemala as Sports Envoys...where they will lead soccer clinics for young girls and boys...and reach out to underprivileged youth with the National Soccer Teams.

The U.S. Department of State...announced today a new partnership with the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts to engage international audiences through American film...this people-to-people exchange will send American filmmakers and film experts overseas to present independent documentaries, feature films, and animated shorts.

Japan has enlisted celebrities to reassure timid travelers that it’s safe to visit after the March 11 disasters triggered the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi plant. But...with few visitors biting, the national tourism agency is looking to try a different tact that perhaps outshines the biggest of star power: Come to Japan…for free.

The problem is, the proposal India’s Parliament is now batting around isn’t going to help attract U.S. universities...and might actually scare them away, because it imposes too many restrictions on their entry.

As a public diplomacy exercise, we hope that the “India Is…” contest will encourage people to think of India in creative, interesting and hopefully positive ways. With an eye on drawing participation of young people into the contest, we have planned a marketing campaign across social media including Facebook and Twitter in particular.

The strategic partnership lays considerable emphasis on people to people ties. The two sides have agreed to simplify the rules to facilitate people to people exchanges. India appears to be taking a cooperative security approach to deal with security issues, combining hard and soft power options.

October in India means many things. The start of a busy festival season, the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, and this year, the advent of the F1 races in Delhi.

Both Jerusalem and Haifa will be sending delegations to an October 31 event in Assisi, Italy, which will celebrate the launch of a global network aimed at promoting environmentally- sustainable pilgrimages among the world’s major religious sites.