The ripple effects of Kim’s death extended from Russia to China to Washington and, most improbably, to this restaurant, whose regular clientele is working-class locals – not Koreans. Mr. Egan says that through “barbecue diplomacy,” he became “Kim Jong-il’s guy in New Jersey.”

The spread of Korean pop culture - a phenomenon nicknamed hallyu, or Korean wave - was driven by television and has become one of South Korea's most notable exports in recent years. Having already conquered the East, Korean pop music is beginning to make serious inroads in the West for total world domination.

Christians are a tiny minority in Israel and the Palestinian Territories. However, in Israel, there's a concerted effort to get more Christian tourists to visit the Holy Land and visit the churches, and shrines that dot Israel and the West Bank. They're hoping to make each tourist a sort of ambassador of Israel.

False narratives, even heartfelt ones, will only keep conflict buzzing. Stratfor's findings may be the first time a mainstream US-based intelligence-gathering firm openly questions the existing narrative on Syria. It begs the question: what are we basing our policy initiatives on if our underlying assumptions are inaccurate?

Reports of the arrival of a "China Spring" are premature, but the comparison is closer than anyone would have predicted before last week. Long after authorities from Beijing re-establish control, Wukan's achievement will affect China's internal security policy, succession dynamics in the run-up to the 2012 leadership handover, and even China's foreign policy.

Iran was never tackled in the same way as Iraq was, but with a 17-year long US trade embargo on Iran and no real diplomatic relations for 30 years – the two countries are clearly not friends. Earlier this year, US Secretary of State Clinton labeled Iran as “awful” in a speech about internet freedoms. But do we think Iran is “Evil”?

The rise in emerging market (EM) hard power over the past decade has been dramatic. The crucial question that arises then is whether soft power in the emerging world has risen commensurately to its hard power. If it has, then the combination of rising soft and hard power will give many EM countries more global clout.

To improve Israel’s image in the United States, one of the best things is to bring opinion makers to the country. And just like in Israel where the likes of Yaron Dekel and Keren Neubach often play a big role in setting the national agenda, in the US, there’s no greater barometer for public opinion than the radio talk show host.