While China’s foreign policy has traditionally relied on economic leverage and “soft power” diplomacy as its primary means of power projection, Beijing has also been actively exploiting concepts associated with strategic information operations as a means to directly influence the process and outcomes in areas of strategic competition.

Legendary former Singaporean PM Lee Kuan Yew was way ahead of his time. He was the world’s very first Marketing Director for a country brand. He believed in the power of country marketing long before the Mad Men of Madison Avenue even thought about it.

FOR a lesson in the use of ‘soft power’, turn to Beijing. China has made culture and people-to-people contacts an essential cornerstone of its global diplomacy. The key focus so far has been on countries in the neighbourhood, with China working hard to defuse perceptions that it seeks to dominate the rest of Asia. The rest of the world is now also getting a taste of China’s cultural diplomacy.

In the Middle East, perceptions are as important as realities. A notable change-of-mind occurred when a newspaper published an article by Richard Goldstone, who was the head of a UN Human Rights Council (UNHCR) commission that accused Israel and Hamas of committing war crimes in Gaza.

On Friday we had a stimulating debate in İstanbul on how to better promote Turkish-Italian ties by giving a positive boost to mutual perceptions that were often tainted by misconceptions, stereotypes or even prejudice stemming from lack of knowledge.

Call it sitcom diplomacy. Last month, Katie Couric suggested it was past time to apply that magic to Muslims in America. Her example was "The Cosby Show."

As Cape Town and South Africa are playing an increasingly bigger role in hosting major events, it is important to assess the socio-economic impact of these mega-sporting events.