Like American politicians, the U.S. Navy needs to woo the American electorate to retain public support.

Torn between its commitment not to intervene in the affairs of other countries and the growing demands of the West to use its growing clout to share some of the burden of shaping the world order, all eyes have turned to China’s budding soft power.

Turkey launched a new European Union communications strategy on Oct. 16 to repair its broken perception in the eyes of European citizens, prioritizing as targets countries that support Turkey’s accession process the least.

The most prominent strategy for how to counter an insurgency is “to win hearts and minds.  Once the battle for popular opinion is won, they will provide the government with the information it needs to effectively prosecute these wars and the insurgency, starved of support, will wither away.

Turkey has brilliantly managed to attract and lure in the Arabs by capitalizing on its ‘Soft Power.’ It has influenced and won over the Arab psyche by producing very successful TV dramas that won over the viewers’ hearts and presenting them with a dreamy image of Turkey.

These government contractors are on the frontline of a huge Turkish development effort in one of the world's most dangerous cities - one which U.N. agencies and international charities prefer to deal with from the safety of neighbouring Kenya.

Will the weakening of ASEAN encourage some members to move closer to the U.S.? And will China and the U.S. intensify their "soft power" struggle for the hearts and minds of Southeast Asians?

India was known for tolerance, spices, camels and austerity. Shashi Tharoor said that India has developed not only through trade and politics but through its soft power. This takes place through its ability to share its culture with the rest of the world via food, music, technology, and Bollywood.