Closer economic ties will top the agenda during Chinese President Xi Jinping's visits to Egypt, Iran and Saudi Arabia this week. However, Chinese mediation in the feud between Tehran and Riyadh is unlikely, say experts.

While drinking tea by the Bosphorus a few days ago, I looked up and there sailing past me was the Moskva, a formidable-looking Russian missile cruiser returning home from its mission in support of Russia's Syrian pal, Bashar Assad. [...]Turkey possesses the political stability, economic vitality and military strength to play an ever greater role in its tumultuous region and beyond.

Saudi Arabia has severed diplomatic ties with Iran, as an escalating war of words between the two archrivals threatened to derail a renewed international bid to halt the conflict in Syria. [...] The United States is expected to repeat its appeal for restraint and calm when the State Department’s undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs, Richard Stengel, meets the Saudi undersecretary for international communication and media, Abdulmohsen Alyas, in Washington on Monday.

China has been the kingdom’s largest customer as well as a provider of sophisticated weapons, including surface-to-surface missiles. But China also has lost patience with the monarchy’s support for Wahhabi Islamists in China and bordering countries. [...] More pertinent than public diplomacy, though, is where China is buying its oil.

Say the name Joshua Van Alstine in Saudi Arabia and the likely response is a blank stare. But mention his Web-born persona, Abu Muteb, and chances are good that you will get a knowing nod or a wry smile for the baby-faced American military brat. He slings Saudi­accented Arabic, wears traditional Arabian robes, mixes comedy and commentary, and may be one of the Arab world’s most improbable celebrities.

Saudi Arabia is taking a "soft power" jab at its regional rival Iran this week — a news website in Farsi, the language of Iran. It launches Thursday and the Saudi government expects to eventually start a Farsi-language TV channel as well. The step into soft power is new for the wealthy Kingdom, more known for opening its checkbook to gain influence.

In its trumpeting of Britain’s global “soft power” influence, the government’s Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) unveiled on Monday contains a glaring contradiction. [...] Twenty pages on, the document says the UK will continue to work with close allies, including “vital partners, such as Saudi Arabia, in the Middle East”.