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In an age of globalised neoliberalism, prestigious museums have become a diplomatic milieu and their collections a significant token to manifest diplomatic ties between the West and China. This paper explores the 'clash' between 'universal museums' and returning cultural objects to their 'countries of origin' presented in and by the Sino-German Museum Forum. Both countries are seen to use 'the past' for current foreign affairs, not only with regards to each other but also, respectively, towards Africa and Southeast and Central Asia. Germany, for example, utilises the Berlin Palace Humboldt Forum, while China has the One Belt and Road project. Because national museums and their collections are often embedded in colonial histories and are commonly used to forge collective memory, cultural identity and nationalism, to engage critically with museum diplomacy becomes important as it can help to 'reconcile', as well as to provoke new tensions regarding neo-colonialism. ; Peer reviewed

Social media have permanently changed the area of foreign policy: transparency in political activity, interaction rather than mere information, and communication on an equal footing are but a few of the implications for a reconfiguration of
international relations. Governmental actors are
responding to these changes in the digital world. Thus, states such as the USA, Great Britain and Sweden have already defined communication via social
networks as one of the core tasks of their foreign policy. They use cyberspace as a medium for conducting virtual diplomacy - and in this way, they try to bring their foreign policy into line with the changes in media.

Summary
After the Cold War and the race in space, space activities increasing became a geopolitical arena of co-operation. This article is based on my personal experience gathered over fifteen years leading European space institutions: in 2007 I became the Chairman of the Executive Board of the German Aerospace Center. In that position I led the German delegation to the European Space Agency (ESA). From 2015 to 2021 I had the honour and pleasure of being the Director General of ESA. During the whole period from 2007 to today I have had various political interactions that developed my current mindset. Even in times of geopolitical difficulties we need some aspects of international interaction; space can play this role.