Cultural Diplomacy

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    hailee steinfeld

    ByDaveslocker

    PARIS — In a world where geopolitical alliances crumble faster than a croissant in July, one American export has managed to retain diplomatic immunity: Hailee Steinfeld’s face. The 27-year-old singer-actress-emoji-enthusiast has quietly become the soft-power equivalent of an aircraft carrier, bobbing along the 24-hour news cycle projecting cultural hegemony without ever firing a shot—unless you…

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    nate bargatze

    ByDaveslocker

    Nate Bargatze and the Soft Power of the American Mumble: How One Tennessee Everyman Quietly Became the Planet’s Preferred Sedative By Dave’s Locker Foreign Desk PARIS—On any given Thursday, while ministers in Brussels argue over grain tariffs and Beijing’s censors sharpen their knives for the next celebrity, a 44-year-old man from Old Hickory, Tennessee, is…