Just over two decades after Joseph Nye coined the term “soft power”, Russia is set to officially introduce the phrase into its foreign policy vocabulary at the highest echelon.

Just over two decades after Joseph Nye coined the term “soft power”, Russia is set to officially introduce the phrase into its foreign policy vocabulary at the highest echelon. It was recently announced that, starting in 2013, Russia will jump on to the soft power bandwagon by making the highly demanded concept the focal instrument of its new foreign policy strategy. The development, in keeping with the rich traditions of Russian theater, unfolded in three key acts.

Act I

An increasing number of policymakers and think-tank residents are championing the power of social media and big data to pressure governments, empower civil society, deter human rights abuses, and semi-accurately forecast political instability and conflict. In a column today, Thomas Friedman endorsed utilizing existing social networks “to our advantage to gain leverage in diplomacy” by speaking directly to Iranians, Israelis, and Palestinians.

Taiwan and its 23 million people will eventually be absorbed by China, which claims it as a breakaway province, by a process of economic osmosis. So runs the conventional wisdom among many businessmen, and some diplomats. Or will it? Instead of China changing Taiwan, might Taiwan change China? Taiwan has a powerful weapon at its disposal: an inclusive national identity that absorbs and celebrates difference...

North Korea has reacted defiantly to a new round of United Nations sanctions, saying it will boost its military power and nuclear program. Korean specialist Dr. Leonid Petrov from the Australian National University says the UN Security Council's touch approach on North Korea is a mistake. He told Radio Australia's Connect Asia that instead of making threats, the international community should use soft power on Pyongyang.

A US academic has said it was imperative for youth exchanges to take place between the US and Pakistan so that unfounded stereotypes could be erased. Dr Michael Hannahan, director of the University of Massachusetts Civic Initiative, said 25 young people from Pakistan were visiting the US every summer. “These travels change people’s lives.”

Mystery of missing tycoon shows how how Latvia – a small Baltic nation of 2 million people on the doorstep of Russia – has become a playground for Russian interests: business, political and, above all, criminal. But many see evidence of Russian soft power at work.

Yes, drone strikes are not very popular among a large section of Pakistani society. But Pakistanis are not united in opposition to drone strikes. In fact, many Pakistanis support the drone strikes. This suggests that there is room for the United States to engage in a public diplomacy campaign to win over more Pakistanis to the idea that drone strikes are not the bringers of carnage that is so often portrayed in the Urdu-language media in Pakistan.