Ding, 24, made it to the U.S. through a football diplomacy program of sorts. The International Federation of American Football (IFAF) / USA Football International Student Program offers football training clinics for foreign teens, and funds educational opportunities in the States for promising players

As former President George W. Bush once noted, learning a foreign language is not just an education priority; it also relates to our economic security, our national security, and the effectiveness of our public diplomacy. President Bush also observed that when you take the time to learn someone's language, you are sending messages that you also care about that person -- her country, her heritage, her future.

Brand USA... declared its support for the National Travel and Tourism Strategy (the Strategy) unveiled today by the Task Force on Travel and Competitiveness, the inter-agency body formed in January by Executive Order to develop a set of policies and recommendations to promote domestic and international travel throughout the United States.

The Marine Corps decided their own public diplomacy strategy in Afghanistan (though they call it psyops, and other refer to it as propaganda) needed to be evaluated by a third party. They hired the Rand Corporation to review their programs, and then ...published the results, good and bad, for the world to see. Some takeaways...

Hundreds of Chinese Students and Faculty filled the auditorium of Tianjin University of Sport for the inauguration ceremony of a unique new center that will share U.S. culture through the medium of sport.

The majority of U.S. embassies now use Twitter, a sign of the aggressive push by the State Department to bring diplomacy into the social media age. According to a new analysis from the Sunlight Foundation, 121 U.S. embassies have Twitter accounts and 54 do not.

"Youth Excellene On Stage" is the theme of this workshop launched in 2009 jointly by the US Embassy in Thailand and a non-profit organisation, American Voices, with the aim to form a bridge between American and Thai cultures through the power of art and music, by providing budding Thai talents a chance to learn and master their skills from seasoned professionals.

APDS Blogger: Oscar Castellanos del Collado

Between January 29 and May 6, 2012, posters of Frida Kahlo’s self-portrait were hung from light posts around Los Angeles. The portraits served as invitations to “In Wonderland: the Surrealist Adventures of Women Artists in Mexico and the United States,” the first co-organized exhibition by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and Mexico’s Museum of Modern Art.