Muscatine, Iowa, is to play host to a special guest on Wednesday, when China’s Vice President Xi Jinping, the nation’s presumed next leader, returns to the small town he first visited as part of a sister-state program more than two decades ago. Mr. Xi’s journey to America’s heartland underscores the importance of the public dimension of U.S-China diplomacy.

The coming visit of Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping is expected to provide an opportunity to further promote public diplomacy between the two countries. Xi is visiting the United States at the invitation of Vice-President Joe Biden, starting from Feb 13 to 17.

...the U.S. Constitution is now copied less frequently by countries writing new constitutions than in the immediate aftermath of World War II...The implicit fear, made manifest by a posse of commentators, is that our constitutional “soft power” is in decline -- much as our hard power is perceived to be faltering.

In partnership with the Chinese embassy in the United States, the WAE brought the "Colorful China," a cultural exchange program that made its debut in the United States in October 2010, back here again last November with a showcase of exquisite costumes, dances, music and rich fabric of Chinese ethnic groups.

Such "food diplomacy" allows Taiwan to demonstrate its soft power and helps strengthen trade in agricultural products between Taiwan and the United States, said Chang.

Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) will hold a special telephonic meeting tomorrow (Saturday, Feb. 11) to decide on an interim successor to Walter Isaacson to act as “Presiding Governor” of the Agency. Isaacson... resigned as Chairman of the BBG...

Brand USA, a non-profit, public-private partnership, is to launch a global advertising campaign next month, as part of the country’s concerted effort in marketing tourism to the world. Symbolic as it may be, it sends an unmistakable signal reaffirming America’s openness and optimism, the very foundation of the country’s soft power.

The hallyu – or “Korean wave” as the phenomenon is known in Asia – is now spreading to Europe and the US, and spurring South Korea’s export earnings. Cultural exports are...giving the once reclusive country a global cachet for the first time, shaking off the war-torn images of the US comedy M*A*S*H.