It's inevitable that the economic problems have put a dent in our soft power," he says. "In material terms, it's almost a non-story. The math in the Standard & Poor's downgrade was incorrect.

On the economy, 62 percent of respondents agreed that China’s growing economy was good, while 25 percent disagreed, and 37 percent agreed that a growing US economy was good, while 53 percent disagreed. Somewhat similar results were recorded by a 2008 survey on soft power conducted by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs (CCOGA).

The U.S. State Department, in recognizing the need for inclusiveness in the world of sports and people-to-people exchanges, has announced today that it will bring 14 athletes from Kazakhstan to the United States to participate in an inaugural exchange for athletes with physical disabilities.

Cultural diplomacy usually comes in the form of a traveling art exhibit or a celebrity visit to a war-torn country. But there's a deeper kind of diplomacy taking place at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C...arts managers from around the world have been coming to D.C...

When the first Americans to participate in people-to-people exchanges with Cuba in 7½ years leave Miami on a Marazul charter Thursday afternoon, the central Virginia couple will be aboard. They want to meet the people who go with the music and cigars, said Liane Young.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton joined the meeting at the State Department to promote sports as a means of building ties between countries, underlining US solidarity with Japan after its devastating earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster.

Rebuilding the financial reputation of the United States will be Gary Locke's top priority when he arrives in Beijing on Friday as the US ambassador to China, experts said... And he will certainly engage in public diplomacy, promoting human rights and Western values...

Nearly two starting lineups-worth of young Japanese baseball and softball players assembled at the U.S. State Department Tuesday to kick off a three-week sports exchange. They met with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton...