China’s new public diplomacy is ramping up to complement its traditional diplomacy. Chinese leaders are traversing the globe and receiving foreign leaders at home, but less noticed has been the blitz of China’s new soft-power efforts.

Over the past year, the Obama administration has been reaching out and listening to Muslim communities around the world, focusing on a “new beginning” based on mutual interest and respect that President Obama called for in his June 4, 2009, speech at Cairo University in Egypt.

Soft power was a prix fixe menu: If you like our movies and music, then you’ll love our Bill of Rights and elections. Knockoff power is à la carte: Millions of people in modernizing societies wear the veneer of an Americanized way today but beneath it are going deeper into their own culture and becoming more fully themselves — prouder, more confident, less eager to follow a far-off superpower’s lead.

South Korea has enjoyed greatly enhanced international status in recent years...For most of the 20th century, South Korea had never been truly included in the core of global discussions. So the country being picked as the 2010 chair country of the G-20 certainly qualifies as a dramatic turn around.

A warming of once-chilly Turkish-Syrian ties has unleashed a one-way trade boom...Turkey's popularity in Syria soared after an Israeli raid on Gaza-bound aid ships in which nine Turks were killed on May 31."Turkey now has a stake in the Palestinian cause, and Syria stands to gain," a diplomat said. "It will be more difficult for Israel to launch any military action against Syria."

Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon has mounted a robust defense of official Israel’s performance on the public diplomacy “battlefield” over the fatal flotilla raid this week...“While some have criticized Israel’s public relations readiness for the ghastly events that took place on Monday morning, far more have expressed increasing satisfaction with the vast improvement in Israel’s official crisis management,” he added.

An interview with Nobels Colloquia winner Simon Anholt on the concept of "nation branding", and the impact the World Cup could have on South Africa...Here he talks to Sean Carey about brands and marketing, the reputations of the UK, London, China, and India, and the impact of the forthcoming FIFA World Cup on South Africa.

Former President Rafael Callejas, who heads the Honduran Soccer Federation, says "nothing unifies the country more than soccer."...Tourism boosters are excited about the possibility of engaging in some positive soccer diplomacy. The team's performance on the world's greatest sporting stage will allow the country to project an image of teamwork and fair play...