Skeptics around the world question the motives of countries including the U.S. that take their music or theater abroad. But veteran diplomats say there's ample evidence that cultural exchanges pay off, that exposing other nations to American culture and nurturing cultural institutions in other countries are important elements of foreign policy.

Designing a logo for a new company is never easy but branding a nation is even harder. Which is why the government's plan to create a UAE national logo is creating huge debate among the nation's most prominent design experts because like anything in life, whether or not you like a design is entirely subjective.

In the MENA region, the UAE reigns supreme in the latest Country Brand Index, up from third place last year to hold the top slot, ahead of Israel and Egypt, but it owes its 25th place overall out of the 113 countries surveyed to a blend of positive attributes.

Prof Davutoglu in effect argues that Turkey is able to exercise soft power in its region because of the very qualities the founders of the Turkish Republic in 1923 tried to cast aside. The nation’s first president, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, famously tried to draw a line under a stale and unprofitable historical legacy in order to play catch-up with the west.

Can Turkey play a role in the Arab Spring?... Yes, because Turkey has developed newfound soft power in the Middle East. Over the past decade, Ankara has painstakingly built influence in the region by fostering business networks and establishing state-of-the-art high schools to educate the future Arab elite.

Rita, however, with her striking beauty and bubbly demeanor, has emerged as an unexpected bond between ordinary Iranians and Israelis—part cultural ambassador, part antiwar spokeswoman. A picture of Rita with the banner, "Iranians we will never bomb your country," is posted on her Facebook page.