The minister said she would “like to focus on increased coordination with ministry of tourism, human resource development and external affairs to ensure a focussed and coordinated effort to promote culture which not only projects India’s soft power, but also benefits the cultural and economic lives of all our citizens”.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan dashed hopes for a normalisation of his country’s relations with Israel, on his return to Ankara from a state visit to Berlin Friday, after German Chancellor Angela Merkel directly appealed to him to reopen dialogue with the Jewish State.

During the tour Cameron will seek to revive relations with both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where the UK has significant business interests in the oil industry. In addition, Britain will also seek to peddle 100 Typhoon fighter jets to both nations in a deal worth a potential US$10 billion.

Nation states are facing a second wake-up call in public diplomacy. The first wake up call, prompted by the 9/11 attacks, was the realization that perceptions of foreign publics have domestic consequences. The second wake up call, which rang out first for China during the 2008 Olympics, and then for other countries with Wikileaks, the Arab Spring, and the Occupy Movement, is that adversarial publics are able to challenge states in the quest for global public support. How states can effectively respond to this second wake-up call is a pressing area of public diplomacy research.

“If you tap this untapped resource, it would be incredibly valuable for the economy of Slovakia,” adds Sedgwick, the US Ambassador to Slovakia who, along with encouraging women’s entrepreneurship, has been preoccupied with explaining different aspects of the presidential elections in his homeland for the Slovak audience, which, he says displays considerable interest in the American presidential race.

Ironically, technology has radically democratized nearly every social institution and industry except democracy itself. A handful among us are pioneering ways to bring transparency and interactivity to the process of self-government. On the eve of America’s political new year, Election Day, we highlight this year’s most innovative people in democracy.

The most significant management shake-up in Apple Inc's recent history, including this week's forced departure of the technology company's top mobile software and retail executives, will do little to undercut the "soft power" of iconic American companies in Southeast Asia.

In what experts describe as an unusual form of public diplomacy, U.S. colleges have created State-Department-funded “American Cultural Centers” in partnership with Chinese host universities. “Their primary purpose is to expose Chinese audiences to the depth and breadth of U.S. culture,” said Erik W. Black, an assistant cultural affairs officer at the American embassy in Beijing.