Julia Gillard's speech to the US congress today celebrates the six-decade history of Australia's geopolitical alliance with the US, built on the two countries' deep stock of shared values and interests and manifested by their fighting side by side in every significant international conflict, from World War II to Afghanistan.

The increasingly assertive role in international politics being promoted by Bejing since the Group of 20 was set-up has been accompanied by a strategy of cultural diplomacy designed to project soft power to the rest of the world.

Late last year, a senior official from the Confucius Institute headquarters in Beijing announced that there were now over 40 million foreign learners worldwide studying Chinese.

If you're wondering whether this a joke -- it indeed is. But it also isn't. The Global Times is not in the business of emulating The Onion, the popular online spoof newspaper, but in the serious business of exercising Chinese soft power by providing its take on news around the world.

Ever ordered fried “wantanes” and “chop suey de pollo”? More and more Latin Americans are doing just that as China tries to quietly promote its food and culture in the region.

‘Economic powerhouse’ isn’t a term usually associated with Mongolia...Nor is ‘strategic pivot’...And yet numerous countries in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond are starting to recognize that this geographic titan (it’s larger than France, Spain, and Japan combined) has real potential to become a key strategic partner.

In testimony to Congress last week, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton acknowledged the existence of an ongoing “information war” that the United States is losing. In addition to saying that “Al Jazeera is winning,” Clinton pointed to the major investments in international broadcasting being made by China and Russia.