"Our approach … is to use the ‘soft power’ of business," he says. "These businesses have influence as powerful economic actors and in countries in Africa and Southeast Asia; they are often very important to the local economy. [...] Soft power is one option, but companies could potentially use their economic clout by threatening to pull out of a country. 

Private efforts at gastrodiplomacy have also sprouted, including metro Detroit's own Peace Meal Kitchen, a newly launched pop-up dining and education series that highlights cultures from countries with which the U.S. is in conflict.

While Denison said that the Japanese government’s continued desire to clamp down on piracy demonstrated the soft power value of Japan’s anime industry, she also said that viewing methods had changed considerably over recent years.

Millions of people across the world are marking the second International Yoga Day on June 21. The brainchild of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is an enthusiastic yoga practitioner himself, the UN-sponsored day has been endorsed by an unprecedented 175 countries, including Qatar.

In a school hall in Dujiangyan — the home of Taoism — hundreds of young people, from all parts of the country, elbowed for mat space, to soak in from an authentic Indian master, the finer points of Yoga, which has become the new spearhead of India’s soft-power push in China.

A photo exhibition opened on Tuesday in Warsaw, Poland, showcasing pictures of that country and China to help boost cultural exchanges between the two ahead of President Xi Jinping's first state visit to this country. The "Beautiful China, Beautiful Poland" exhibition, organized by China's State Council Information Office and Chinese embassy to Poland, features more than 40 photos from both countries.