What do these three recent events tell us about Russian foreign policy? Putin is able to think strategically, using all hard and soft power tools to promote Russian foreign policy interests. To the average Western observer, Russia's recent actions in the Caspian, Iran or its CSTO military exercise are viewed as three different and unrelated things. 

A strong, connected, and open Argentina is in our interest. The people of Argentina have the talent, resources, and ability to compete in and contribute to the economic and digital development of the region and the world. The United States wants to help them unleash that potential, which is why we have designated Argentina as a focus country under the Global Connect Initiative, a program to help connect the unconnected. 

Together O’Neal and Canales became the first official U.S. Department of State Basketball Sports Envoys to Cuba, taking U.S. diplomacy to new heights by forging positive ties with the people of Cuba through the unifying power of sports.  

Americans and Chinese make friends with one another easily, and any program that brings them together is to be encouraged; there is no substitute for face-to-face conversations, which can so effectively break down stereotyping and facilitate deeper understandings. [...] I would like to see the U.S. and China jointly develop programs that use the media – both traditional and social – to enable people-to-people diplomacy to reach broader audiences. 

Dr. Pierre Tzu-pao Yang, Taiwan’s deputy minister of culture, was in D.C. this week to discuss the new division of culture. He also sat down with The Diplomat’s Shannon Tiezzi to talk about the importance of Taiwan’s international cultural programs, why culture will be a crucial part of Taiwan’s future – and why he doesn’t like the term “soft power.” The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.

On the heels of the largest sports diplomacy event, the 2016 Rio Olympics, Empower2Play will launch its very own ten-day sports diplomacy event with the US Embassy in Cite Soleil, Haiti, incorporating American Football, which begins on September 10th. [...] This event will bring together over 300 local youth and 100 volunteers from around the world.