Alone again. Since World War II’s end, Europe has looked at the world through a transatlantic lens. There have been ups and downs in the alliance with the United States, but it was a family relationship built on a sense that we would be there for each other in a crisis and that we are fundamentally like-minded. Donald Trump’s election as U.S. president threatens to bring this to an end – at least for now.

In the areas of foreign policy and diplomacy, technology has brought about a tremendous amount of change. [...] In our point of view, the impact of breakthrough technologies on foreign affairs can be seen through accelerating transformation in five significant areas: security, institutions, participation, dialogue, and leadership.

Diplomacy and cooperation at the level of local institutions, these being the closest administrative units to the public, are also seen as an important asset for public diplomacy, according to experts.

This a limit of China's projection of soft power, and maybe this is 'Chinese characteristics'. But in my view, the experiences of others show that you project your soft power not by the government, but mainly by civil society organisations.

The Commonwealth, too, has an opportunity by virtue of its strengths to carve out a new role for itself in the world...It is not an alliance or a trading area.... But it is a soft power network that represents the realities of our changing world and is underused. We intend to seize this opportunity in Perth.