On Friday, a new production of “Iftah Ya Simsim,” the Arabic cousin of “Sesame Street” that ended in 1990, will have its premiere on nine channels across the Gulf Cooperation Council countries of the Persian Gulf. The show, like its United States counterpart, aims to use entertainment to set an example for children on issues like obesity and literacy.

One of the most revealing moments in Eva Omer's documentary The Network, which is about TOLO TV, Afghanistan's first television network, comes about halfway through the film. Television executives and producers are discussing "Eagle 4,” the network's first high-production-quality action drama. The show focuses on Afghan police, and a number of the interviewees explain that the intention of the show is to demonstrate that those police forces are courageous, honest, and trustworthy, in the interest of preparing the country for the moment when American forces leave the country.

After agreeing to underwrite a local Pakistan version of the ubiquitous children’s television show, Sesame Street, USAID officials pulled the funding for this project after corruption rumours began to appear in local newspapers.

When I first heard that America was shopping a version of “Sesame Street” to Pakistan, I couldn't help but feel a touch of pride that someone finally got around to stealing my idea for Baywatch Imperialism.

"Sesame Street," the world's most-viewed children's educational television show since the 1960s, has debuted in Afghanistan. Its producers hope their culturally adapted version of the nearly half-century old format can reach Afghan kids facing some of the world's most daunting adversity.

'I think, we have had a really good take off on making a Sesame Sim Sim Hamara which belongs to Pakistan. It has Pakistani characters, it has content which is specially designed for Pakistan and there is a lot of development on the side of making an international level production,'

Sesame Street has been helping to grow new generations of conscientious global citizens. Through its thoughtful and entertaining characters, we have learned about the world, how to care for it, and how to see it through the eyes of others...

Blowing in the wind at the moment is the question of cultural diplomacy. Bob Dylan plays a gig in Beijing, then heads with his guitar to another of his nation's traditional enemies, Vietnam.