In addition to the aesthetic and educational value of international cultural exchange and collaboration, Asia TOPA provided an excellent platform for developing critical economic, political, and security relationships between Australia and its Asian neighbors.

President Trump’s decision to visit the Vatican on his first overseas trip underscores the importance of United States diplomatic relations with the Holy See. History shows that the moral persuasion, or “soft power” diplomacy, of the Holy See is an important resource for successful pursuit of American foreign policy goals. Going forward, the United States and the Holy See should work together on their common objectives of defeating Islamic extremism and promoting human rights.

 The internet builds on and enlarges networks, sometimes transforming them into webs of knowledge. This ultimately brings power to civil society, which gains leverage over the political decision-making process, and at times this even translates into how governments decide to shape their international alliances. Thus through cyberspace, foreign policy is becoming more accessible to the individual. 

Foreign aid is a key instrument of international engagement in Japan’s foreign policy toolkit. Although Tokyo is no longer the world’s top aid donor that it once was in the 1990s, it still was the world’s number four aid donor in 2015 with close to a US$10 billion annual budget. It is not just the size of the aid budget that has changed. So has Tokyo’s thinking behind foreign aid.

Chinese and American officials kicked off a film and media partnership in the shadow of the Albuquerque Studios complex Monday with representatives of both the state of New Mexico and Panda iMedia, a Beijing-based digital media firm, promising job growth, expanded opportunity and cross-cultural understanding.

In a resounding testimonial to the government's public diplomacy efforts, India has been ranked among the top 10 countries in terms of its digital diplomacy performance, according to a global research and advocacy platform.