What is changing is that American football, having long spent its diplomatic efforts exporting the game around the world, is increasingly starting to import it.
The conference is little more than a platform from which to expand France's diplomatic mission and export its soft power back into the Middle East.
China responded by suspending midlevel diplomatic talks; cutting off exports of rare earth metals, which are used to make electronics; and seizing four Japanese businessmen.
Some left the island via diplomatic channels, others were exported privately and illegally, and some, particularly in the early 1990's, were put on the international market by Cuba itself as it sought hard currency.
NATO will have to reassess its assumptions about Russia, albeit cautiously to "avoid creating a self-fulfilling prophecy", as the official puts it.The main threats to the West now are Russia's manipulation of oil and gas exports, its diplomatic spoiling tactics, and its dalliances with Iran, Syria and Venezuela.
When the Arab uprisings exploded in 2011, Turkey gained more importance as a model for others in the region with its trade, diplomatic outreach and cultural exports following its achievement of a working democracy in a Muslim majority state; yet in the last six months Turkey has lost its credibility in the international area.
Before the inception of INFOSAN, we relied on diplomatic communications with the exporting country, which were often unsuccessful.
That is how I ended up in the diplomatic corps, developing the French export business, helping them sell to Brazil things like big machinery, airplanes and helicopters.
Countries would provide whatever expertise they could: air power, military training, arms exports, intelligence gathering, diplomatic efforts and law enforcement.
In defiance of threats from the police, and in contravention of a national taboo, some demonstrators chanted slogans against Mubarak, condemning his government for maintaining diplomatic relations with Israel, for exporting natural gas to the country and for restricting movement through Egypt's border with Gaza.
