China is often portrayed as a giant in the hard-power leagues of the economy, technology and the military. But when it comes to the country's soft power, China watchers have little optimism. As some analysts have pointed out that soft power is all in the mind, think tanks are important as a deliverer of soft power as they convey ideas.

This year has seen marked resurgence in the use of hard power by states in pursuit of national interests. Yet, not so long ago, talk in diplomatic, academic and journalistic circles focused on the growing importance of soft power in international relations.

The inherent assumption that the European Union’s status as a non-military, ethical actor and therefore a source for good within the international system is based heavily on the idea that it represents and projects the norms of the European people

America is a meticulously constructed brand; it is the indispensable nation with exceptional power. There is no country as adept at branding as the United States.

Given its economic and political might, it would be foolish to predict the decline of the US. It has systematically been able to extend its dominant role.

Established powers' resistance to their rising counterparts' demands for a larger role in setting the global agenda fuel tensions and disrupt the existing world order. That is precisely what has been occurring lately between China and the United States, and is the impetus for China's "Asia for the Asians" policy.

How can democracies fight this ideology? People may die, but ideologies are forever. I suggest that we begin to think of the Islamic State as having soft power but with its own evil spin.

Three fundamental and one extraneous force are currently colliding in our region. Each of these forces has its own agenda and because none of them is truly dominant, the end result is a clash rather than competition.