They're trained in urban combat, intelligence techniques, foreign languages and foreign cultures.

NPR: Military Works to Retain In-Demand Special Forces

Albert Spalding once compared baseball to war, arguing that the sport could transform foreign cultures just as effectively as an invading military force.

FORBES: Baseball: Wartime Tool Then and Now

In addition, travel has brought more and more Americans into contact with foreign cultures and cuisines, and some of America's fastest-growing immigrant groups, including Mexicans and Asians, have introduced their traditional spicy cooking to Americans in family-owned restaurants.

ECONOMIST: A brief history of chile cuisine

The spectacular mountainous regions of Central Asia, the Hindu Kush and the Himalayas, closed for many years to visitors from abroad, now attract growing numbers of foreign tourists attracted by the unique cultures and natural beauty of these hitherto isolated areas.

UNESCO: Culture

For whom foreign TV channels determine attitudes, aspirations and cultures.

CNN: Tuned In To Hip

Like his fellow Foreign Service officers, he built bridges across oceans and cultures, and was deeply invested in the international cooperation that the United Nations represents.

WHITEHOUSE: Remarks by the President to the UN General Assembly

Consider that the Koreans - indeed, Asians throughout the region - are confronting demands from foreign investors to remake their product mix, their financial systems and even their corporate cultures.

CNN: THE REAL WORK BEGINS