Last week the Shanghai Expo 2010 closed. On three sweltering days this summer I toured the vast and frenzied space that was the Expo. My objective was to see how the nations of the world were representing themselves to the Chinese public and how each responding to the Expo's official theme: 'Better City, Better Life.'

Google CEO Eric Schmidt gave insight into the company’s burgeoning international policy on Wednesday night at a meeting at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) in New York City. Schmidt, who oversees the company’s technical and business strategy, spoke about the effects of technological democratization in the modern age and some of the challenges Google faces as it drafts its early forays into diplomacy.

The Hindustan Times carried a small news item the other day that, depending on your perspective, is good news or a sign of the apocalypse. It reported that a Nepali telecommunications firm had just started providing third-generation mobile network service, or 3G, at the summit of Mount Everest, the world’s tallest mountain, to “allow thousands of climbers and trekkers who throng the region every year access to high-speed Internet and video calls using their mobile phones.”

Last week the Shanghai Expo 2010 closed. On three sweltering days this summer I toured the vast and frenzied space that was the Expo. My objective was to see how the nations of the world were representing themselves to the Chinese public and how each responding to the Expo’s official theme: ‘Better City, Better Life.’

Foreign policy is typically the executive branch’s domain because that is the branch that decides who the US negotiates with and what gets offered in those negotiations. However, Tuesday’s Republican victory, particularly the GOP takeover of the House and leadership of some key committees, has the ability to affect the US's dialogue, and in some cases policy, on a few key US relationships with other countries.

Today China’s projection of “soft power” involves a $7 billion international radio and TV broadcasting campaign. In funding, languages reached, frequencies used, and hours on the air, it already outpaces the two other major international broadcasters: Voice of America (VOA) and the BBC World Service.

"Considering not only the spreading of culture and sharing of experience on the development of culture, but also the appreciation of each other's cultural fruits, cultural exchanges between China and France weigh a lot in bilateral relations," a Chinese diplomat told Xinhua in a recent interview.

What is going on here? China, it turns out, wants to increase its soft power by having Xinhua compete with news organizations like CNN and the BBC and is hiring a large number of western journalists. In fact, the government is pouring money into this effort.