“This is a great platform to showcase Taiwan’s soft power,” Tony K. M. Chang, Taiwan Design Center CEO, said Aug. 16. “Through the event, we hope to connect Taiwan’s design proficiency to the international community, as well as helping industries understand the importance of design and how it can enhance product value.

...despite Turkey’s understanding that Assad must go, the country is unwilling to intervene militarily or use its soft power in regards to trade and the economy to pressure the Syrian regime.

Sessions throughout the weekend will focus on topics such as an in-depth look at civil society in Israel, current developments in public diplomacy, the Arab Spring and the Islamic world, combating the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement and how to serve as an effective advocate for Israel.

China is nonetheless active in bilateral relations with member states, and this involves both commercial diplomacy, high-level visits and public diplomacy. The last increasingly revolve around the notion of “helping friends,” whether these are nations on the periphery of Europe in need of investment or simply cash.

Azerbaijan is set to host next year's Eurovision Song Contest... But will the expressed willingness of Azerbaijan to let its arch-enemy Armenia take part in the 2012 competition produce a breakthrough, where international negotiators and military threats have failed? Will "pop music diplomacy" postpone a war, thanks to an Armenian singer named Lucia Moon?

With India’s ascendance in global affairs, its Foreign Policy establishment has to necessarily increase its international footprint. This can be done by fostering better trade and economic relations and at the political level through public and cultural diplomacy.

An innocuous photograph of Gary Locke, the new US ambassador to China, carrying his own backpack and ordering his own coffee at an airport has charmed Chinese citizens not used to such frugality from their officials. ZhaoHui Tang, a businessman from Bellevue, Washington, took the photo on his iPhone...uploaded the photo to the Chinese social media network Sina Weibo.

The ROK, with its twenty nuclear plants, currently generates 35 per cent of its electricity needs. It is keen to export its nuclear technology to fast developing countries like India. Seoul also aims to export as many as 80 nuclear reactors to various countries by 2030.