Taiwan should be the regional leader in soft diplomacy as well. It has plenty to offer the world. Taiwan is the only Chinese-speaking democratic nation in the world, its press is unrestricted, and its citizens enjoy total online freedom. Add into this the fact that it has consistently punched above its weight economically and Taiwan has plenty to take to the wider world to counter-weight the obvious diplomatic difficulties that they face.

An analogy usually works as a low-risk way to make a point. The secret is to stick to comparisons that garner near-universal support. President Trump did it in February when he talked about the need for bold infrastructure projects like Eisenhower’s Interstate Highway System. Last year Sen. Lindsey Graham proposed a Marshall Plan for the Middle East. President Obama launched the Cancer Moonshot, a nod to the Apollo program. 

The concept behind the Good Country Index is to determine what each country gives to the common good of humanity, and what it takes away, in relation to its size. By using a massive collection of data from the United Nations and other international organizations, the GCI gave each country some sort of a balance sheet to quickly show whether it is a net creditor to humankind, an oppressive burden on the planet, or something in between.

Many of the practices now associated with modern-day diplomacy and international law were pioneered and put into practice in Latin America already in the second half of the 1800s. [...] Take the concept of multilateralism, which soon became a fundamental principle for each and every diplomatic corps from the region. The full mastery of legal techniques and codes was then perceived to be one of the strengths of Latin American representatives, especially when they joined high-profile international conferences.

Contrary to public perceptions, foreign aid represents a tiny fraction of the $4 trillion federal budget. According to the Congressional Research Service, in the past three decades, foreign aid has never accounted for more than 1.4 cents of every dollar spent by Washington. [...] "When you deploy hard power, you actually need more diplomats," says Charles Ries, a vice president at the RAND Corporation who served in diplomatic posts in Iraq and Greece.

International-exchange and engagement programs such as the Fulbright, USAID, and the Peace Corps, among others, are key components of American cultural diplomacy, which, as a tool, is cheaper than guns and more widespread in its effects than intercontinental ballistic missiles. Soft power — whether Hollywood, international trade, or exchange programs — has always been a primary means of spreading the American values of democracy, freedom, and prosperity around the globe. 

Next up is San Francisco, where this autumn another comfort women memorial will be erected. There, too, local politicians were subjected to hardball pressure tactics and an orchestrated campaign against the memorial that reflect badly on brand Japan. Shouldn’t public diplomacy work toward improving Japan’s image? In the history wars now being waged by Tokyo, this goal is being sacrificed on the altar of revisionism.

While designing an effective corporate diplomacy strategy, companies must develop in the most ethical way their own approach or stance to foreign governments, rather than manipulate or be manipulated by the policies of their home country. [...] Geopolitical volatility is no different from other forms of volatility. As long as a company's geopolitical assessment processes are comprehensive and its corporate foreign policy perceptive, business leaders will be able to navigate all challenging times.