That India has woken up to the geopolitical and soft-power benefits of boosting its profile in the Buddhist world—in particular, the Buddhist countries in the India-China neighbourhood—is evident from the energies it expended on the conference [of Buddhist leaders].

As far as dramatic timing goes, the text message from the powers that be announcing the sudden cancellation of a post-performance discussion of “Top Secret: Battle for the Pentagon Papers” was, well, perfectly timed.

Clinton - with security and journalists in tow - went barefoot at the famous Shwedagon Pagoda and rang a bell with a giant wooden mallet as onlookers cheered. It was the type of public diplomacy that is Clinton's forte as a former politician, although many of those snapping her photo were tourists and she had little direct contact with local Burmese.

Some U.S. democracy activists and government officials claim that the advent of new information technology and social networks can bring democracy to places like Russia, Central Asia or the Middle East. They talk in terms of the “TV Party”...

Others rightly resent Pakistan’s unwillingness to undertake tough economic reforms as a step toward helping itself. Still others wonder why we should assist a country where virulent anti-Americanism is pervasive.

"Governments must do everything they can to fully protect Jewish citizens from the oldest and most persistent form of prejudice"...Reporting on and combating anti-Semitism should be part of a full array of human rights and democracy programming, funding and public diplomacy efforts.

Organized by UNAIDS (Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS) and ICCR (Indian Council for Cultural Relations), the concert will see Diabaté, also a UNAIDS goodwill ambassador, play kora, a 21-string bridge-harp used extensively in West Africa, to belt out some mesmerising melodies.

“When you don’t really have efficient soft power in the countries which you want to become part of your geopolitical arena, you need to pay for their loyalty,” said Preyherman, of the Discussion and Analytical Society.