I have always been intrigued by the desire of countries to convey their cultural, political or social values as part of their public diplomacy mission. On the surface, it is appealing. However, in practice, it is fraught with challenges and is something of a paradox.

From that point on, Asean may begin to consider the prospects for developing its own collective “soft power.” Since Asean countries individually and together do not amount to much in hard power terms, that which is taken to be soft power, for what it is worth, may also be Asean’s best bridge to the future.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton believes in the power of food. Over more than three years as America's top diplomat, she has increasingly used cuisine as a tool to bring people together.

The U.S. Department is launching the Diplomatic Culinary Partnership Initiative tonight, September 7, at 6 p.m. Local chefs such as José Andrés of Think Food Group, Bryan Voltaggio of Volt Restaurant and Robert Wiedmaier of Marcel’s and Brasserie Beck have been chosen to be part of the initiative.

Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs Mike Hammer will travel to Asia from September 10 to 15. He will visit Ulaanbaatar, Beijing, and Hong Kong.

Kosachev did not reveal any detailed plans about the reorganization of the agency, but the gist of change was immediately clear: Russia plans to begin actively using soft power, and Rossotrudnichestvo will be charged with conducting these new politics....Dmitry Medvedev explained to the assembled delegates why this move is important.

The escalating tension is not only increasing the chances of conflict, it is also leading to a hemorrhage of any "soft power" that China previously possessed in the region. Regardless of the intentions of the U.S., it would be wise for Chinese officials to preserve and, if possible, rebuild any form of "soft power" that it can in the Asia Pacific region.

The result, as one Japanese analyst put it, was that “China scored an own goal,” immediately reversing what had been a favourable trend in bilateral relations under the ruling Democratic Party of Japan. More generally, while China spends billions of yuan in efforts to increase its soft power in Asia, its behaviour in the South China Sea contradicts its own message