Despite souring public sentiment about their domestic economy and some concern about Japan’s declining role on the world stage, the Japanese are outward looking. They believe that involvement in the global economy is good for the country and that Japan should help other nations, particularly developing ones, deal with their problems.

For their 2016 Best Countries report, Reibstein and his associates surveyed 16,200 business experts and ‘informed elites’ around the world and divided their findings into nine sub-rankings like adventure, quality of life, open for business, heritage, and cultural influence. India came in at No. 22 among 60 nations. 

It is 20 years since Gareth Evans stepped down as Australia’s most influential foreign minister, and one of the world’s most popular diplomats. Serving between 1988 and 1996, he helped imprint good international citizenry as a feature of the liberal global order, and left it as a lasting legacy for what defines a better world. [...] Evans, now the chancellor of the Australia National University, has remained faithful to the cause of good international citizenry despite the much changed and challenging global environment.

It is a sign of how much the United States influences our lives that large numbers of Indians tuned in to see the first debate between Presidential contenders Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. The debate was shown early in the morning but many had arranged to not just get up, but also assemble friends to see it together so that they could discuss it in real time, somewhat like, say, World Cup football.

When the argument is made about global power shifting from West to East, it is primarily based on Asia's remarkable economic rise, although China's steady build-up of military and naval capability is also regularly cited. But a new authoritative study suggests that it is not just in hard but also soft power where Asia is fast making gains.