Narendra Modi takes on Xi Jinping in a soft-power battle in America. “ANYTHING Xi can do, I can do better,” seemed to be the mantra of Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister, as he toured America in late September, hot on the heels of China’s president, Xi Jinping.

Security experts often disagree when ranking America’s security challenges, but most believe that the top three are violent Islamic extremism, Russia and China. These adversaries or potential adversaries have radically different capabilities and goals, but share one characteristic: All seem to be beating the United States on what can be called “the battlefield of perception.” 

Friends of ESRA held their annual fundraising dinner on Thursday of last week to aid ESRA’s “Give a child a future” campaign, with MK Michael Oren delivering a speech on “The Israel-U.S. relationship.” [...] She added that Oren called on Israel to give more support to American Jewish students on the front lines of the public diplomacy battle.

In 2010 former Lowy Institute research fellow Fergus Hanson published a forward-looking policy brief urging Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) to catch up to the rest of the world, join the 21st century and get online. Social media, he argued, is only one aspect of digital diplomacy. 

In an effort to promote his “Made in Ghana” campaign, Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama visited Wallis Annenberg Hall on Thursday to discuss his country’s local products. [...] The “Made in Ghana” campaign, which  launched in 2014, stemmed from Mahama’s goal to better inform the international community about Ghana and its products. 

The Grand Valley State University baseball team made history with an unprecedented trip to play their sport in Cuba. Now they’re ready to share their experience in a brand new documentary.  The Laker baseball team went to Cuba in January 2012 on a humanitarian mission with a local non-profit organization. The documentary “A Lesson in Diplomacy: Grand Valley State University Baseball in Cuba” tells the story of that historic trip… from the baseball games to the players to the cultural experience.

In his native South Africa, Noah's debut was widely hailed as a smash hit, with South Africa’s foreign minister taking time out of her schedule at the United Nations General Assembly to visit the comedian in his new New York studio. Having a South African host the show, said Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, is not funny business - it’s cultural diplomacy.