The term "soft power" refers to using warships for humanitarian purposes, such disaster relief, which had not been a Chinese capability . Now it has recently built a... hospital ship and... Landing Platform Dock helicopter landing ship — both of which deployed to Middle East nations in 2010.

The East-West Center is a Hawaii-based, federally supported institution, long a key part of U.S. outreach to the countries of the Asia and the Pacific and a fixture in Honolulu.

Tal Dror, the conference’s coordinator, said that though Israel’s public diplomacy is mostly directed at the media, the “real battle” takes place in the arena of international law. For this reason, Dror said, it is essential to educate international law students about the reality of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

For the past seven years, Canadian street artist Kaid Ashton has been traveling to some of the world's most dangerous slums documenting the people he meets with his camera. He then posts his work on walls around the cities he visits. Ashton's street art is not political. It is about crossing cultures and getting to know people in the process.

More recently, whilst in office from 2003 to 2010, former President Lula da Silva presided over an era of unprecedented political and economic engagement between Brazil and Africa. In that time Brazil has doubled its number of embassies on the continent to 34, tripled its exports to over $9.5bn in 2010 and quadrupled trade with Africa.

Among foreign leaders and in global markets, the political histrionics have eroded America’s already diminishing aura as the world’s economic haven and the sole country with the power to lead the rest of the world out of financial crisis and recession. Now the topic of discussion...is whether the Age of Obama is giving way to an Age of Austerity, one that will reduce America’s influence internationally.

Artists that have been based in Berlin for 3 years or more are being offered the opportunity to be inspired by living in a new culture, with funding from the state.... The project is envisioned as a cultural exchange programme and the length of time to spend in each particular country varies.

Press freedom advocates and Ethiopian Americans are declaring a partial victory in their fight with the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), a U.S. government agency, over the censorship of the Voice of America radio programs to Ethiopia.