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.

According to the Overseas Chinese Cultural Centers Development Plan, issued by the Ministry of Culture, China will form a relatively complete global network of cultural centers by 2020 to further promote Chinese culture and enhance the role of overseas cultural promotion.

...it is time for Europe to adopt a different strategy toward Russia, its biggest and most important eastern neighbor. In practice, it means recognizing that Europe’s interests are best served by pursuing its values with soft-power instruments like trade and visa policy, as its relations with North Africa and the Middle East before the Arab Spring show.

Given the United States’ weak economic position, the Obama administration’s ability to compete with China’s ‘soft power’ has gradually diminished. All this has meant that not only is the United States having problems ‘charming’ states such as Cambodia and Laos, but it’s also facing difficulties in retaining the loyalty of long-time allies such as Thailand and the Philippines.

“Chinglish” is more closely tied to topics of globalization and the intersection of U.S. and Chinese business and culture, than to more traditional notions of Asian-American identity. But the play provokes questions about bilingualism and relationships within communities and cultures – subjects with which Asian-Americans can easily identify.