Indian foreign policy discourse is hardly Pakistan-centric; its major pre-occupations are the rise of India, its soft-power promotion, UN reforms and India’s role in a reformed UN, relations with the United States etc.

As the drive has accelerated it has helped give Ankara something it rarely had before: soft power, the allure of a country widely seen to be a success.

South Africa certainly has massive foreign-policy weaknesses: poor public diplomacy, inconsistent and unpredictable moves on the world stage, and political and technical skills deficits within the international relations department. But a dearth of morality is not one of them.

...I think the Colombo Plan is an exemplary example of public diplomacy where a whole generation or more of young people, the best and brightest from our region, were given an opportunity to undertake study in Australia. And many of those student are now leaders in government and in the public and private sector, in countries in our region. And this exchange of ideas and understanding is invaluable.

What this brief overview argues is that Turkey has consistently tried to avert recourse to intervention and war in the Middle East and to promote diplomatic approaches that rely exclusively on soft power.

Over the past decade, governments have become increasingly aware of the importance of "soft" power ... as a complement to the "hard" power of traditional military and economic means of achieving foreign policy objectives. Today in Westminster Hall I will be debating how we can develop a foreign policy strategy that better integrates the different elements of hard and soft power.

For liberals hoping for perhaps a less militarist message and a focus on diplomacy and soft power rather than the use of force as lodestars of American power ... well, last night wasn't quite their evening. That whole "changing the mindset" of U.S. foreign policy that Obama talked about in 2008 may have to wait a few more years.