Former Labor foreign minister Gareth Evans has lamented the quality of political leadership and warned recent sexist incidents had tarnished the nation's international reputation. In an address discussing the concept of "soft power", Mr Evans said image was important for middle powers such as Australia in conducting international diplomacy and maximising leverage.

The Foreign Secretary said the UK was currently the world’s most effective country at using “soft” diplomatic power to influence global events and further its interests. But he said the British have to “confront” the fact some of this power would ebb away if Scotland decided to separate, while Scotland would lose its seat on the “top table” of international institutions.

For too long, the U.S. has relied on a rather imperial mechanism — just telling Latin America what it needs. Compare that to China’s approach: It offers Latin America what it wants (in the form of financing and trade from China).

The realm of social media and the power of the Internet lies in the hands of the people. Together they are a tool that allow greater access to information, global connectivity, a platform for speeches, advocacy and political statements, tools for video and photo dissemination and much more. The Internet, in many parts of the world, is free and open to the public, which allows for the rapid growth of people-to-people diplomacy across national borders, and has a democratizing effect on information. It has also created the space for the tech boom in which the giants of Silicon Valley thrive.

The new world order succeeding the one built on post-WWII realities will be, to a much greater extent, a “soft power” confrontation of countries and blocs. Currently, Russia remains absent on the “soft power” scene and will need to formulate a policy in this sphere, especially in preparation for the major, upcoming, international events and institutional presidencies it will be holding.

For a while, Turkey’s quest for influence, and its country’s apparent success as an affluent and highly functioning Muslim-majority society, seemed to be having the effect that Ankara desired. In a 2011 Brookings Institution poll of the Arab countries, Turkey was ranked first among countries believed to have played a “constructive role” in the Arab Spring.

Middlepowerism is a difficult concept...The term can also denote states that demonstrate strong diplomatic aptitude through activities like diplomatic activism, coalition building, niche diplomacy, and “good international citizenship.” But for policymakers and diplomatic practitioners, middlepowerism is something very different.

As Barack Obama gave a speech defending the US use of drone attacks abroad, Pakistanis talked back on Twitter. On Thursday, the US president addressed criticism of his administration's use of drones in counterterrorism policy and proposed new policy guidelines for strikes.