Just promoting historical cultural and political ties with Iran will not cut it. Tehran is at a point where it wants to see cash on the table. With an economy suffering from international sanctions, and a large “youth” demographic that wants education, jobs and prosperity, Iran will soon have many options, including from the West, to attract heavy investment, specifically in areas such as energy, manufacturing and perhaps even services. 

In 2016, NATO’s Public Diplomacy Division (PDD) launched a policy paper competition “Peace and Security in the 21st Century - a youth perspective” for students from all Allied countries. The purpose of this initiative was to learn about the views and visions of young people on current security challenges.

Hip-hop DJs, MCs, beatmakers and dancers from around the world descended on a hotel conference room in Washington, D.C., this spring to learn how to turn their high-energy musical art into tools for empowerment, entrepreneurship and conflict resolution. The program is called Next Level, which teaches “hip-hop diplomacy” and is sponsored by the Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and the University of North Carolina’s music department. 

Among other projects, he founded Cuatro Puntos, the ambitious chamber music collective that has toured around the country and the globe in recent years as part of its declared mission of musical diplomacy and cross-cultural understanding. The group has also sponsored workshops here in Hartford called Chamber Music for Peace, with the goal of helping young musicians learn how to engage in their communities.

On the heels of Wakaa the Musical hitting the London stage, Wakaa's executive producer and Terra Kulture boss, Bolanle Austen-Peters has said the musical has great potential to boost cultural diplomacy and promote our cultural heritage abroad. She made this known during a briefing with the press ahead of Wakaa's opening in theatres in London.

Serbian people, like their political leaders, seem to be in two minds about the world and their place in it. According to a recent poll, 42 percent of young people in Serbia would like to see the Russian political system implemented in their country. But on the other hand, when asked where they would ideally like to live, 70 percent of those between 18 and 35 chose the United States or Europe.

Art is the centre of human life and it plays multiple functions in any given society (religious, economic, social etcetera). This means that its role in this period of rebranding is significant. Therefore, in all the sectors of the nation which are to receive serious attention from the rebranding project, culture is one of them.