The name 'Amitabh Bachchan' does more for India abroad than other known symbols of India's soft power such as the Taj Mahal, curry or the Kama Sutra, according to Rachel Dwyer, an expert on Indian cinema and culture.

No amount of economic aid by the Obama administration has been able to ease Pakistani concerns over US counterterrorist policies and Washington’s ties with India, with opinion polls showing that Pakistanis now overwhelmingly view China more favorably than the United States.

Nearly 64 years after Harry Truman laid out the case for reconstructing Europe’s economies, in a speech that became known as the Marshall Plan, few diplomatic, economic and foreign policy accomplishments have garnered such residual feelings of goodwill and accomplishment in the United States.

Watched annually by more than 100 million people, Eurovision is the world's most-watched non-sporting event. Although viewership in Britain and Ireland has declined for several years, the backlash against Eurovision may finally be changing on the British Isles.

Summer festivals and concerts inject millions of pounds into the economy, employ thousands of people and make the UK a hot destination despite the weather, a UK Music report reveals. The report recommends more is done to attract further foreign music tourists to the UK.

While on a visit to Israel to collect a million-dollar award from Tel Aviv University, American filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen said that they did not believe that boycotting Israel would solve political problems. The brothers' Jewish heritage is on display in a number of their films, most obviously in 'A Serious Man'.

Cannes celebrated Bollywood with the midnight screening of a specially prepared montage of great moments in Hindi musical cinema."Bollywood: The World's Greatest Love Story" was put together to make up for a perennial dearth of Indian films in competition at the world's biggest film event.

From chic styles to cuisine, from cinema to comics, Taiwan is trying to project its soft power across the globe in an effort to step out of China's shadow.