Disjointed aid efforts, in the form of implementing thousands of “quick fix” projects, have miserably failed, however, wasting the precious aid monies of taxpayers to Afghanistan. The way forward must avoid more of the same but draw on the many lessons learned in order to ensure a sustainable and irreversible transition to the Afghan responsibility.

NATO is not a military organization, NATO is a civil organisation. The volume and dynamics of relations between Azerbaijan and NATO deserve a positive assessment, especially for its civil emergency planning, public diplomacy, mine clearance within the Trust Fund, which has successfully cleared mines over an area of 44 million square meters in Azerbaijan.

On top of that, up until now Europe has been able to compensate for the crisis of its military influence with a solid soft power relying on the attractiveness of its economic model or strong ties with former colonies. However this well-known hallmark of the European sway is waning too

By May, A.U. diplomats had succeeded in convincing Qaddafi to sit out any new regime in liberated Libya — a fact little known in the West — but they failed to implement the roadmap fully. Their very decent proposal was lost to South Africa’s communication failures and poor public diplomacy.

Turkish politicians exaggerate Turkey's hard and soft power, so much so that they sometimes do not refrain from chiding other states. In theory, a little bit of exaggerating is useful in guiding public attitudes to important issues.

But Turkey's inclusion in the NATO missile shield project, its balancing role in Iraq, ability to confront the Assad regime in Syria, growing economy and soft power will convince the White House that Ankara is an asset for US national security and other interests abroad.

Talk to Pakistani politicians, scholars... you are beyond the realm of politics and diplomacy and into the realm of hurt feelings. Words like “ditch” and “jilt” and “betray” recur. With Americans, they complain, it’s never a commitment, it’s always a transaction.

Because of this governance gap, it is critical that states use all possible soft power means to dissuade NNWSs from attempting to become nuclear threshold states. Among those means, Russia and NATO members are well placed to promote legal and structural nuclear fuel supply guarantees and the strict implementation of updated NSG guidelines.