America’s war on terrorism created a tougher atmosphere for China’s 10 million Muslim Uighurs, most of whom live in western Xinjiang province. The burden of proof is on the Chinese government to convince the international community that it faces the threat of extremism.

U.S. companies' game of catch-up shows the perils of waking up late to the next big frontier market, Africa. The continent's economy is forecast to grow to $2.6 trillion in 2020. While most U.S. companies focused on Asia and Latin America, China was leapfrogging America in Africa.

Whether Volvo’s European chief executive and its new Chinese owner can steer Volvo to success has implications for corporate China's global expansion. Chinese companies have poured billions of dollars into foreign acquisitions - but have had little success managing major consumer brands.

Economic resources can produce soft-power behavior as well as hard military power. A successful economic model not only finances the military resources needed for the exercise of hard power, but it can also attract others to emulate its example.

Aware of its need to project its soft power, the Chinese government has put out advertisements and expanded a whole department of the Chinese Ministry of Education to recruit teachers and send them out to foreign countries around the world, promoting the teaching of Mandarin.

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.

Latin America is blessed with a wealth of natural resources and seeks investment and loans to capitalize on them. China needs the commodities to keep its economy growing. Those interests have come together in an unorthodox partnership, as China lends and invests billions of dollars in countries around Latin America in return for a guaranteed flow of commodities, particularly oil.

While media attention typically focuses on the hard power role of the US military in the Pacific, the US Navy also invests significant time and energy in the soft power potential of humanitarian and reconstruction efforts in the region