Nowhere is the contrast between Benedict XVI and Francis more tangible than in the degree to which the papacy seems to have recovered its diplomatic and geopolitical swagger. The normalization of relations between the U.S. and Cuba in December 2014 came about in part thanks to Francis, who wrote private letters to President Obama and Cuban president Raúl Castro that reportedly helped break the ice between the two leaders.

Selling nuclear diplomacy with Iran was perhaps the toughest job at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's annual conference this year -- second only to shepherding teenage attendees to the AIPAC selfie wall. Still, one gutsy former adviser to President Barack Obama decided to give it a shot -- and soon realized he might have been better off handing out selfie sticks.

Now, more than a year after South Sudan’s leaders plunged their country into a nasty civil war, the nation has become something of a test of diplomacy between the United States and China, raising the question: Can Washington and Beijing turn their mutual interests in South Sudan into a shared strategy to stop the bloodshed?

Germany is emerging, faster than it wanted, as a global diplomatic force. (...) Its new engagement is evident in the awe-inspiring stamina of Mrs Merkel’s diplomacy. In one recent week, she shuttled between Berlin, Kiev, Munich, Washington, Ottawa, Minsk and Brussels on consecutive days. In Minsk, as the picture shows, she negotiated through the night for more than 17 hours with four complicated men (the presidents of Ukraine, Russia, Belarus and France).

Ukrainian military and separatist representatives exchanged dozens of prisoners under cover of darkness at a remote frontline location Saturday evening, kicking off a process intended to usher in peace to the conflict-ridden east. 139 Ukrainian troops and 52 rebels were exchanged, according to a separatist official overseeing the prisoner swap at a no man's land location near the village of Zholobok, some 20 kilometers (12 miles) west of the rebel-held city Luhansk.

The Japanese government announced last week that it would provide aid for the first time to foreign militaries through its Official Development Assistance (ODA) program. The move is part of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s aggressive diplomatic efforts to build Japanese influence and ties, particularly in Asia, on all levels, including military.

Nearly a decade and a half after the 9/11 attacks, there remains a key flaw in the ongoing U.S.-led “War on Terror:” Washington’s response has been hyper-militarized, dominated by counter-terrorism and security, while other soft power instruments like public diplomacy have been under-invested in.

India is at a historic crossroads and this might well be a transformational phase in our foreign policy.  However, Prime Minister Modi needs to recognize that the magic of soft power works only when it carries traditional diplomacy along.