Today, the USC Center on Public Diplomacy released a Media Monitor Report on "Expo Shanghai 2010 - Flaunting Nations' Beauty through the Practice of Nation Branding".

China continues its 'soft power' diplomatic efforts to expand its influence around the globe with the establishment of ever-more Confucius institutes at universities around the world and, recently, the spread of an offshoot aimed at schools called the Confucius Classroom scheme.

Israel’s Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren told The Jerusalem Post, “Netanyahu had an extraordinarily successful visit here in New York in terms of public diplomacy and his appearance on American television. His interviews, were an unqualified success.”

As China's economy and exchanges with the world see rapid growth, there has been a sharp increase in the demand for Chinese learning...Committed to providing Chinese language and cultural teaching resources and services worldwide, the Confucius Institute goes all out in meeting the demands of foreign learners and contributing to the development of multiculturalism.

China's global soft power push is being refined through forays into Australia during the Year of Chinese Culture here. Ten writers recently came from China under the new format via the Chinese Writers Association, a government organisation, for a four-day conference with Australian counterparts.

Edelstein said that despite the positive speech by President Obama in the United Nations this week, Israel still has a lot of work to do to explain its position regarding the Palestinian Authority’s unilateral statehood bid and to present the real face of Israel. It is for this reason, he explained, that dialogues with non-Jews were also included in his public diplomacy campaign.

This information is presented online on a user-friendly, easily understood and engaging map. It’s an... idea that allows us to be more transparent and accessible to the U.S. taxpayers and the public. We are also using it to track trends in human rights violations and in our public diplomacy efforts.