The “pop-up” restaurant trend – in which restaurant owners let their establishments be taken over by amateur chefs for a night – that has been thriving in the U.S. and Europe for a couple of years reached Seoul this past weekend, when two expat food bloggers crafted a “Korean Food Reimagined” menu for their readers.

Beijing isn’t the only government talking about projecting “soft power” these days. TECO head Raymond Wang, Taiwan’s top representative in Manila, told the gathering that through international humanitarian efforts, particularly since Ma Ying-jeou became Taiwan’s president in 2008, “the promotion of soft power has become one of the major policies” of their government.

The February issue of PDiN Monitor focuses on The Future of Public Diplomacy and will introduce a new structure for CPD's regular analysis of public diplomacy in the news. Beginning this month, CPD will graph overall trends in public diplomacy news aggregated daily in PDiN.

India was known for tolerance, spices, camels and austerity. Shashi Tharoor said that India has developed not only through trade and politics but through its soft power. This takes place through its ability to share its culture with the rest of the world via food, music, technology, and Bollywood.

Such "food diplomacy" allows Taiwan to demonstrate its soft power and helps strengthen trade in agricultural products between Taiwan and the United States, said Chang.

If anything, its increasing influence as a global soft power is even more impressive than its 'hardware' achievements, be it in terms of armaments or automobile production. From Bollywood to new-age gurus, from yoga to basmati rice, Brand India has earned itself international recognition. It's all dressed up and ready to sit at the high table with the rest of the global grown-ups.

...economists and political scientists of the India Shining variety have often pitched the billion plus nation as a potential soft superpower . From the curry takeover of Britain to the global yoga industry to the Booker-winning skills of its literati -- every success story has been lauded to underline India's growing clout as a soft superpower.

"Diplomacy with a laugh," is how you might describe one of the U.S. State Department's latest efforts to promote American culture abroad. This week, three Indian-American comedians began a seven-city tour of India called Make Chai Not War. But apart from their shared Indian heritage, these three comedians have very different styles.