Welcome to the Ask the Ambassador, in which Eater meets with different diplomats to discuss their eating and drinking preferences and where they can get a taste of home while they serve their mission in New York City.

Since it is a given that the Palestinian proposal for unilateral statehood will pass in the UN General Assembly, it is not enough to ignore the proposal or simply lobby against it. Israel should announce, very publicly, that it will vote in favor...

Hu Yuandong of UNIDO...says the focus of the project is job creation, poverty alleviation and environmental protection. Xiao has made clear that the $3bn investment is not coming from the Chinese government, but rather from various funds "around the world" - even from the Middle East. But it would be difficult not to see this as a smart move by China and an extension of its soft power.

Your plan must include approaching the most senior politicians, mobilizing the relevant force multipliers... using the media, influencing local public opinion, and public diplomacy aimed at all the relevant communities.

I’ve been tracking elements of China’s complicated and ambitious policy of expanding its information sphere to a possibly waiting world. In late May, I heard Dr. Hu Zhengrong, one of China’s most distinguished ambassadors to the international academic world, give a talk on this “going out” policy to the International Communications Association in Boston.

I would introduce another working definition that culture is observable worship or work. It is the sum total of the core beliefs expressed through action of one’s perception of reality... Using the above as a platform, the nearly missed opportunity of cultural exchange of the African reality this year is plausibly understandable.

Australia’s Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd is pressing ahead on a high profile public diplomacy campaign to secure support for Australia’s bid to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for 2013-14. There is much to be said about the public diplomacy value of political leaders in such campaigns. Kevin Rudd is a case in point. Previously Australia’s Prime Minister, Rudd is already well known and regarded among political and intellectual elite audiences across the globe.

Four United Nations entities today launched a new initiative to promote and protect the rights of indigenous peoples, aiming to strengthen their institutions and ability to fully participate in governance and policy processes at the local and national levels.