Justin Trudeau delivered a message to powerful business leaders in Beijing on Tuesday, shortly after his plane touched down: China needs a little more Canada. The prime minister tried to sell China on the idea that strengthening its connection to Canada would ease international concerns about the stunning rise of the economic superpower.

Overseas, U.S. prestige appeared to be a thing of the past. Policymakers and diplomats, hoping to “fix” this problem, used several ways to do so, including turning to public diplomacy (PD), a little-known, among the American public, foreign policy instrument, implemented by the United States Information Agency, established by President Eisenhower (in 1953), at the height of the Cold War, in order to counteract Soviet propaganda.

Now that I have been elected Governor of Tokyo, which will host the 2020 Games, I am quickly preparing myself and my team for the grueling tests of management that lie ahead of us. In particular, we must become world-class cost-control accountants, so that the Games are a success not just for the athletes, but also for the citizens of Tokyo and all Japanese. We want to take pride in our Games, and we cannot do that if we hobble future generations with debt.

Billed as “portraying a positive image of Pakistan”, the conference in Lahore leaned on the side of propaganda — to drum beat the need of promoting the soft image of the country. In the past many years, since the full-blown terrorist activity started in the country, there has been a parallel drive launched especially from the government or the establishment for stressing upon a softer image of the country.

South Korea's Cabinet on Tuesday endorsed an enforcement ordinance of the public diplomacy act, marking yet another move to bolster the country's diplomatic profile on the global stage. [...] The new ordinance is expected to offer fresh momentum for South Korea's efforts to court foreign countries to promote its commercial and cultural products and bolster multilateral security cooperation.

Taken overall, the medium and long-term reputational and economic impact of previous Olympics has frequently been overstated for host nations. However, in the midst of its current troubles, Brazil now has a significant opportunity to use the world’s largest sport event for a positive brand makeover that could produce a lasting legacy for the country.

Baum + Whiteman food consultancy recently chose Kimchi, Korea’s traditional fermented vegetable dish, as one of the top food trends for 2016. According to Google, Bibimbap was one of 2015’s top five ‘rising’ foods by search query volume. And T.G.I. Friday’s—the north star of mainstream Americana—has even experimented with adding Korean tacos to its menus.