India has offered to train Afghan police to help them prevent future terrorist attacks in a move likely to be seen as highly provocative by long-time rival Pakistan. India has long maintained that its support for Afghanistan is civilian in nature and driven by what its officials call “civilisational links”.

Washington and Islamabad may have traded accusations and veiled threats in recent weeks, but a series of joint concerts here by an American jazz band and a Pakistani soft-rock group demonstrated that in nonpolitical spheres the two countries can have a productive and at times — does one dare say it? — harmonious relationship.

Erdogan was received enthusiastically by every world leader he met with including President Obama...The cache of soft power Turkey brought to New York came not just from its recent surge in regional popularity because of its increasingly tough stance on Israel or burgeoning economy, but because of the personal credibility that its Prime Minister brings as a leader.

Increasing tourism is a great goal, but the idea of kick-starting an economic recovery by attracting Asian shoppers to the United States to buy goods that are, for the most part, made in Asia doesn't sound all that sustainable.

Throughout the Middle East, protestors have employed Facebook, Twitter...and other technologies to organize and spread news at home and to the outside world. Democratic governments aren’t the only ones reacting to the Arab Spring. Autocracies, including China, which hosts the world’s most sophisticated online control regime, are drawing their own lessons.

From the very beginning of the revolution, street art and artists played a significant role in the protests...perhaps the uncensored, tongue-in-cheek, political commentary of Ganzeer and other street artists is just what is called for to help Egyptians make sense of the new world they live in — and their ability to make a mark on it.

Sean Penn was among the demonstrators at a protest in Egypt on Friday calling for a faster transition to democracy. The two-time Oscar winner arrived in north Africa at the invitation of Egyptian film star Khaled El Nabawy as part of efforts to show the country is once again safe for tourists following the revolution earlier this year.

He Tao ...said they have already started a major campaign to turn the city into a top international gastronomic center. This, he said, accords with the national strategy of using each city's soft power, but, of course, the city got a boost after it received the UNESCO's global gastronomy label.