Many Chinese are fascinated by the United States, and it remains a top destination for China’s young people to study. Some American programs do send musicians or speakers to China and invite Chinese opinion makers to see the United States firsthand. But the four-day U.S.-China Forum event highlighted how unusual it was for the United States to provide broad access to American culture beyond pirated Hollywood movies.

Voice of America’s Burmese Service is reporting a sharp increase in direct visits to its popular webpage since Burma’s government lifted firewall restrictions in September. Burmese Service Chief Than Lwin Htun says visits to VOA Burmese language social media sites, including Youtube and Twitter, have also increased.

Two years ago, one of the most-cited signs of a Korean food craze in the United States was the success of Kogi BBQ, a restaurant on wheels in Los Angeles that sold Korean-style barbecue in Mexican-style tacos from trucks that sent their location out via Twitter. Now, the Kogi concept has ricocheted to Seoul.

Consider how Washington’s new era of austerity and restraint has reduced U.S. foreign policy: Bush started wars and, after having exhausted the alternatives, engaged in massive nation-building efforts...With Obama, it increasingly seems like we are just in it for the killing.

China’s quest to enhance its world leadership status and America’s effort to maintain its present position is a zero-sum game. It is the battle for people’s hearts and minds that will determine who eventually prevails. And, as China’s ancient philosophers predicted, the country that displays more humane authority will win.

The Public-Private Partnership for Justice Reform in Afghanistan was launched in December 2007 to bring together the Department of State and the U.S. legal community to work to advance the rule of law in Afghanistan...the partnership has funded small-scale, high-impact projects promoting women’s rights, access to justice, legal aid, and professional development for the next generation of Afghan legal scholars.

That doctrine relies on downplaying "hard" power capabilities and relying more on "outsourcing" U.S. security concerns to international institutions like the United Nations, negotiating with military competitors (think: the New START nuclear agreement with Russia) and embracing "soft" power initiatives (think: diplomatic "engagement" with Iran).

The main theme was that Cairo speech carried a reconciliatory tone, different from the arrogance of the Bush administration, and meant America will rely more on ‘soft power’ rather than ‘military power’.