There’s a real spectrum of celebrity activity. George Clooney really stands out, along with Angelina Jolie and Bono -- you can disagree with some of the cases that they pick up, but they’re very conscientious, they’re advised well, they’re in it for the longer run.

There is good reason to think that, whatever happens as a part of these expressive or performative opportunities, cultural diplomacy as display and for the creation of an audience is in fact not the best route to intercultural dialogue.

Big studios are trying to push further into China, where box office receipts rose more than a third last year to $2 billion. China represents one of the most attractive growth opportunities for the U.S. movie industry, which is facing declining North American theater revenue and slumping DVD sales.

The framework does have an interesting reference on closer coordination and collaboration between State and Defense: ”where DOD runs public-facing websites, we have developed closer coordination with State on editorial oversight and content selection.” This may mean State, likely the regional bureaus to be specific, has input to Defense-run sites.

The report from the Inspector General’s office says that’s because the State Department’s programs are poorly run. It says some programs need to be restructured and another federal agency — the Labor Department — may need to take over others.

A century before cultural diplomacy became a buzzword for governments around the world, Japan scored a spectacular success -- Washington's cherry blossoms, which have become one of the US capital's top tourist attractions.

As long as the U.S. military is the point-man for American involvement in Afghanistan, however, it is the use of hard power — force — that will capture public attention. The predominant effort, if we are to be at all present in that foreign country, should consist even more of soft power missions than it already does.