Panama’s President Juan Carlos Varela announced late on June 12 his intention to break diplomatic relations with Taiwan in exchange for recognition from China. [...] Taiwan’s formal diplomatic relations are particularly susceptible to Chinese offers of aid and investment. For decades both Beijing and Taipei were accused by the other of engaging in “dollar diplomacy” or “checkbook diplomacy,” where various forms of international aid appear tied to switching diplomatic recognition.

Central Europe continues to actively court Chinese investment. But increased coziness with Beijing comes with tradeoffs, including a loss in influence for the region’s traditional ally, the United States. [...] The question is: How much is Chinese investment worth, in terms of domestic politics and international goodwill? 

Saudi Arabia’s willingness to wield its oil money on the global diplomatic stage appears to have been laid bare, after the website WikiLeaks published tens of thousands of leaked cables from Riyadh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. WikiLeaks has not revealed its source, but a group calling itself the "Yemen cyber army" has claimed it hacked government servers.

In one of the most conservative and secretive kingdoms on Earth, the leak of thousands of confidential diplomatic cables has caused shockwaves in Riyadh.

Before becoming the president of Egypt, Mohamed Morsi wanted visas to take his family on a religious pilgrimage. A Lebanese politician begged for cash to pay his bodyguards.

Public diplomacy can be implemented as a cluster of measures that are more productive than the confrontational steps such as “checkbook diplomacy,” in which Taipei and Beijing competed for formal diplomatic partners.