To develop cultural understanding between the U.S. and Russia, the American-Russian Cultural Cooperation Foundation (ARCCF) and American University’s Initiative for Russian Culture (IRC) seek to connect the next generation of American diplomats to the versatility and richness of Russian art, literature, film, language, and history.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s covert aggression in Ukraine continues – and so do Western sanctions against his country. But the economy is not all that is under threat; Russia’s soft power is dwindling, with potentially devastating results.

What is power today? Who has it, and who will prevail? Right now, 19th-century hard power is confronting 21st-century soft power. Although hard power appears to have the edge, don’t write off the soft power, and especially economic might.

BRICS could emerge as a voice for an alternative world view and development model as there is a good scope to take the relationship forward, Rajiv Sikri, former secretary at India’s Ministry of External Affairs, told RT.

Kazakhstan is scrambling to keep its diplomatic options open amid rapidly rising Western-Russian tension. Not wanting to get dragged down by Western sanctions imposed on Russia, Kazakhstani President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s administration is ramping up an international charm offensive.

Negotiating a peaceful end to the Cold War was a great diplomatic achievement. A little over two decades later, however, we can see that post–Cold War diplomacy did not create a stable international system. Why did diplomacy succeed at the one task, yet fail at the other?