The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs announced today the 2011 late fall tour schedule for The Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad...Using music and culture as diplomatic tools to bring people together and foster mutual understanding...

The State Department’s summer cultural-exchange program is supposed to be a uniting exercise in public diplomacy...It was quite embarrassing, therefore, when 200 students walked off their factory jobs at a Pennsylvania Hershey plant in August, protesting exploitative working conditions.

Former U.S. track star Marion Jones is telling children in Croatia to think hard about making big decisions, saying she wished she had done so"..."Jones' appearances were part of "our embassies' public diplomacy outreach to the Croatian and Serbian people.

Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani called on the US Secretary of State Ms Hillary Clinton to give peace a chance... which reflected the sentiments of Pakistani people....Both the sides urged on the importance of the positive messaging in public diplomacy...

A new era of caution, particularly toward a model that once looked like the wave of the future. Some experts say branch campuses - where a U.S. university "plants a flag," operates its own campus and awards degrees in its own name - are falling from favor.

When you think of this country's so-called soft power, you probably focus on popular culture and the siren song of the energetic immigrant's dream—though perhaps that's more fantasy these days—of moving here and making it in the land of milk and honey. You probably don't think of hair-styling tips.

To fill the vacuum, China and lately India were only eager to replace the U.S. as the main partner of Africa. And instead of their American counterparts and competitors, the method used by the two emerging powers was that of “soft power” rather than blunt military pressure.

As part of America`s "smart power diplomacy" initiative, 15 American artists and collaborative artist teams will visit 15 countries including India to engage in people-to-people diplomacy through the visual arts.