China understands Indian sensitivity in Nepal and counsels Kathmandu "to be friendly with India without being hostile to China". As a country that has enduring strategic importance to its neighbors, the real test of Nepal's foreign policy is to maintain balanced diplomacy with full recognition of ground realities...

Over the past three decades, real estate has gained a new significance on the world stage, as many states have relaxed laws to open up national property markets to international buyers. This has not only intensified international business activities: it's also offered states a new way of pursuing their global political ambitions. 

Who would have thought that Tintin would so easily become a social media star? [...] Tintin remains dear to many Europeans, inside and outside Belgium. And if you think about it, there is no reason why he shouldn't be, since he has embodied the continent's values for half a century.

German policymakers continue to believe that political and economic means of influence are more effective than violence, implying further development of soft-power tools, including digital diplomacy. They are also eager to develop more “networked” national and European foreign policies that take into account the activities and possible contributions of non-state actors.

In the two years since Germany’s president, foreign minister, and defence minister signalled that their country would take on a larger role in international affairs, the country’s leaders have received a crash course in geopolitical realism.

The contemporary, increasingly international version of Christmas is less a religious festival than a celebration of affluence, modernity, and above all Westernness. [...] Without anyone willing it, Christmas has become part of a package of Western soft power.

The former British Prime Minister Harold MacMillan once commented that the most difficult thing about politics was "events, dear boy, events." Events can be helpful or unhelpful coincidences for statesmen. [...] The West needs to engage seriously with Turkey.