According to Martha Bayles, a professor of humanities at Boston College, public diplomacy has disappeared. Her new book is “Through a Screen Darkly: Popular Culture, Public Diplomacy, and America’s Image Abroad.”

Advertising agency Dentsu recently released the results of its annual Japan Brand Survey, in which it asks people from around the world for their opinion on the country. This year’s study involved 3,600 men and women living in 17 different countries, whose responses were used to compile a list of 10 things they feel Japan does better than anywhere else in the world.

China has made a significant contribution to international peace and security in the 25 years it has been taking part in United Nations peacekeeping operations. People's Liberation Army personnel have built and repaired more than 8,000km of roads, defused 8,700 landmines and other explosive devices and treated in excess of 60,000 patients. The missions are an important facet of the nation's soft power; praise has been won and goodwill generated. 

Taiwan has launched a new program in which students and young professionals from the United States will visit Taiwan to learn more about the country through engaging with their Taiwanese counterparts and meeting government officials, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Tuesday.

This is the busy season for local film festivals in Israel. The Tel Aviv International Student Film Festival opened last weekend, the Cinema South International Film Festival opens on Sunday in Sderot, and the ninth annual Tel Aviv International LGBT Film Festival, TLVFest, will open Saturday night.

U.S. secretary of commerce Penny Pritzker will travel to Vietnam, the Philippines, and Myanmar with American chief executive officers in early June. Her visit is important because for Asia the heart of sustained engagement and indeed the very concept of security is economics.

The Shangri-La Dialogue styles itself as the premier forum for defence diplomacy in Asia.  Institutions and individuals whose primary function is the organised use of force are turned to the business of dialogue and communication. In a region so beset with tensions and rivalry as Asia, defence diplomacy is an important and welcome addition to the international scene.