The United States in 2003 committed $15 billion over five years to the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Although not labeled as such, this is public diplomacy as it should be done. It is about service, not advertising. It improves (and protects) people’s lives, and as a result wins friends and serves the diplomatic interests of the United States.

Thirty years ago this month, the first cases of what was to become known as AIDS were diagnosed. The World Health Organization estimates that more than 25 million persons have died from AIDS. More than 60 million people have been infected, and in southern Africa alone there are 14 million children orphaned because of AIDS.

Britain and billionaire Bill Gates together pledged more than $2.3 billion (£1.4 billion) at an international donor conference on Monday to fund vaccination programmes to protect children in poor countries. The Prime Minister said the new funding arrangement will vaccinate more than 80 million children against diseases such as pneumonia and diarrhoea.

On Monday morning, David Cameron – in his first major initiative in development diplomacy in the UK – will chair a summit for pledges to the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (Gavi). There's a shortfall of £2.3bn, and it's being seen as a litmus test of how well aid can survive in the age of austerity.

Andrew Mitchell said the Coalition’s controversial decision to increase aid spending while cutting other budgets will make Britain an “aid superpower”, something that should be a source of “pride and satisfaction” for taxpayers.

British development money will be invested directly in private companies in poor countries to stimulate their economies and wean them off traditional aid. The UK will push governments in poor countries to cut red tape on businesses and lower tariffs and taxes, as well as “engaging with firms directly" to help them make more money and employ more people.

From chic styles to cuisine, from cinema to comics, Taiwan is trying to project its soft power across the globe in an effort to step out of China's shadow.

Since Osama bin Laden’s killing, US lawmakers have been engaged in a feisty debate over whether to cut aid to Pakistan. They ask why American taxpayers should give over $3bn annually to a country that would harbour the world’s most-wanted terrorist.