“Our strategy is to focus on domestic and regional growth,” she said. But aside from the hard economic power, she added, the creative industries and the soft power of culture are also on the rise. “Indonesia has the potential to grow its creative industries and it also adds to national pride,” she said. “The challenge is how to make it grow.”

...China is on the move in Africa, employing a wide range of soft power initiatives to secure influence, trade, and—most critically—the energy and mineral resources the Communist Party needs to continue
the astonishing economic growth that undergirds its legitimacy.

There is not much Germany can do about it but to continue being a peaceful and democratic country using its economic and ‘soft’ power to advance along its own interests the interests of the EU it now leads.

So far, Beijing's soft power strategy has focused on ramping up the Chinese media overseas, with steps like state news agency Xinhua taking out advertisements at New York's Times Square. The spread of Confucius Institutes across Asia and the world is another high-profile effort.

To be sure, Iran wields a considerable amount of what is known in foreign policy circles as "soft power" in Iraq. Iran sends millions of Shiite pilgrims to Iraq each year to visit the shrines of Hussein and others. Iran builds hospitals, and provides water and electricity.

China isn’t the only country engaged in cyber espionage. But perceptions of its increased activity risk undermining its soft power diplomacy.

Networks are becoming increasingly important, and positioning in social networks can be an important power resource. Coercion remains an important aspect of power in this global information age, but policy answers will often depend on the context of each market and its asymmetries of vulnerability.

The concept of “nation branding” is well established, and it’s clear what Medvedev has in mind, but it’s equally clear that calling an expression of high culture such as the Bolshoi Theater a “brand” like some commercial product merely demeans it.