The 2006 Beijing action plan provided the first attempt to create institutional-level collaboration through the establishment of Confucius Institutes, although these are also largely organised at the intergovernmental level as part of China’s global ‘soft power’.

The Foreign Ministry’s appointment of the robot cat Doraemon as a “cultural ambassador” in 2008 is one instance. Another, less well known, concerns water trucks sent by Japan to Iraq in 2004 as a contribution to reconstruction of the war-shattered nation. The trucks were marked not by the Japanese flag but by a national symbol deemed (rightly) more instantly recognizable abroad — manga and anime soccer hero Captain Tsubasa. Talk about soft power!

Despite offering a live demonstration of Bollywood’s reach and soft power, Senecal is not the typical Haitian when it comes to knowledge about India. Here’s another story that illustrates just how distant and unknowable India is for Haiti even as New Delhi tries to help it recover from a massive earthquake that practically flattened Port-au-Prince three years ago.

Qatar Museums Authority chairperson HE Sheikha Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani said: “We believe that culture is a powerful tool, and the Qatar-UK Year of Culture 2013, as part of the QMA Cultural Diplomacy Programme, is giving us the opportunity to further promote cultural dialogue and build bridges between societies and communities in both countries.”

The United States will continue to inspire young African leaders to drive the path towards democracy, peace, and prosperity for generations to come. This weekend, Secretary Kerry traveled to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he participated in celebrations for the 50th anniversary of the African Union.

The Swedish media in the Baltic States, not being aware of it, often support the so-called soft power and do not promote the strengthening of European values in the Baltics, Defense Minister Artis Pabriks (Unity) emphasized during the "Security around Baltic 2013" conference in Stockholm yesterday, informs LETA.

With more than a hundred billion dollars in Western aid and private philanthropy sloshing around Afghanistan in the past dozen years, and thousands of groups trying to find ways to spend it, examples abound of efforts from the ridiculous to the sublime.

To mark the 50th anniversary of the African Union - formerly the Organisation of African Unity, BBC World Service listeners suggested the African songs that summed up the continent to them.