In the Lisbon Summit (2010), NATO decided to use Soft Power (the term which belongs to Joseph Samuel Nye – Harvard University Professor) for stabilisation of the Western Balkan Countries in the new millenium because it is not only cheaper and effective, but also this strategy brings long-range stability to the region and provides prosperity and more democratic rights to these nations.

China isn’t the only country engaged in cyber espionage. But perceptions of its increased activity risk undermining its soft power diplomacy.

Networks are becoming increasingly important, and positioning in social networks can be an important power resource. Coercion remains an important aspect of power in this global information age, but policy answers will often depend on the context of each market and its asymmetries of vulnerability.

Monday's vote to admit Palestine as a full member of Unesco, the U.N. cultural arm, was a sharp reminder of just how limited Washington's influence -- hard, soft and smart -- has become in respect of the Middle East's most intractable conflict.

What does it mean that China's has become a global force? And more importantly, how have they actually accomplished that?
The quick answer? Through business dealings rather than military alliances, and a superb infographic from the Heritage Foundation offers a rarely seen snapshot of that.

President Obama’s conception of soft power has curiously lacked the very quality that has made it most efficacious in the past—the values dimension. His governance has virtually ignored the values dimension of soft power, which goes beyond the tradecraft of diplomacy and multilateral consultation to aggressively assert the ideals of freedom in practical initiatives.

Upon taking office, he... embraced political means like dialogue, respectful multilateralism, and the use of new media, suggesting that he felt the soft power to change minds, build legitimacy, and advance interests was the key element missing from the recent US approach to the world—and that he would quickly remedy that defect.

Two decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia's failure to cultivate power on the global stage using trade and diplomacy is forcing it back into its costly Cold War addiction to missiles and guns.