Iran used both top-down and bottom-up approach to utilize its soft power and exert influence before sanctions were lifted. The emphasis at this time was more on the bottom- up approach. But Iran’s priorities in soft power strategies have tactically shifted due to the sanctions reliefs and its application of hard power.

After more than six decades, United States Forces Korea (USFK) and its mission on the Korean Peninsula are a misunderstood aspect of U.S. foreign policy. [...] Furthermore, the majority of media attention and public debate regarding the perennial security threat posed by North Korea have centered on the DPRK’s weapons of mass destruction

The overwhelming impression given by the bulk of historical scholarship on pre-modern China’s foreign relations, as well as by official dynastic histories, is that generally the Chinese empire sustained its regional pre-eminence through civilisational and economic ‘soft power’ while adopting a defensive military posture and conservative grand strategy.

Pakistani border troops on Wednesday presented sweets and exchanged greetings with their Indian counterparts on the occasion of the Hindu festival of Diwali […] Despite ceasefire violations and violence in the disputed Himalayan region, the exchange of sweets between Indian and Pakistani army personnel along the LoC on their respective days of national importance has been a recurring feature.