India's soft power has now been on display for at least a couple of decades: ... Bollywood's prodigious celluloid fare has long drawn huge audiences in significant parts of Asia, Africa, and beyond; India's English-language novelists have often edged out native British writers for the prestigious Man Booker Prize; and, of course, yoga studios have become all but ubiquitous in the United States.

Turkey, the only democratic government in the region, is included among the countries that will be affected by developments in Syria. Trying to exert more influence in the region by means of its “soft power strategy” and economic ties, Turkey may leave this strategy behind and take bold action to protect its interests.

Turkish educational institutions in the Balkans have a longer history than Turkish state agencies, in both pre-university and university levels....The schools have managed to gain the confidence of both locals and foreigners by promoting peace and tolerance... In this way, these schools have become a number one choice of the people.

Can a poor country be a great power? Three examples from recent history suggest it can. These parallels would have weighed on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's mind as he flew to the southern resort city of Sanya in China's Hainan province for the BRICS (a grouping of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit.