Over the past two decades, Russia's efforts to regain its Soviet-era influence in Africa have achieved little success because "times have changed significantly, for example, a new economic and political environment, new emerging challenges, new competitive conditions and new bases for cooperation," according to Nataliya Zaiser, a Public Policy Advisor at Squire Patton Boggs Moscow office. 

In an age of networks and soft power, this represents a sizeable demographic, and a well-educated and well-off one to boot. The government has clearly recognized this. [...] two years ago the first Minister for the Diaspora was appointed, tasked with taking overall charge of engagement efforts: no longer simply cultural ambassadors operating Irish bars abroad, emigrants are economic and political seeds to be cultivated. 

Taiwan's youth ambassadors will visit the nation's diplomatic allies and friendly countries for a stay of up to three weeks starting next month to showcase Taiwan's soft power internationally, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) official announced on Thursday. [...] "The MOFA-initiated annual youth ambassador program aims at expanding their responsibility and also promoting the relationships between Taiwan and other countries," Shen said.

Last week, days after The Hague’s Permanent Court of Arbitration awarded the Philippines a victory in its case against China in the dispute over rights to the South China Sea, Beijing began a massive public relations campaign to press its position. Part of China’s campaign includes shoring up international support to denounce the ruling and approaching other nations to voice their backing for Beijing.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi concluded his five-day, four-nation tour of Africa on July 11. He spent two days in South Africa and made brief visits to Mozambique, Tanzania and Kenya. As he left Nairobi at the end of the tour, Modi had covered 42 countries in his 51 trips abroad. Antarctica is now the only continent he has not visited in his two years in office.

Soft power – broadly a country’s ability to persuade other nations to cooperate without recourse to force – has long been a tool of Western foreign policy,  but in recent years Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has introduced his own much less benign variant of the initiative. 

The “soft power” of shows such as Downton Abbey and Sherlock can help the UK bounce back globally from the shock of Brexit and help Britain remain a cultural international powerhouse, according to a former ambassador and foreign policy adviser to David Cameron. [...] he is “pretty confident” that “there will be a group set up specifically” to promote Britain and its creative industries around the world.

In a Johannesburg concert venue that usually hosts pop stars, Indian prime minister Narendra Modi had the crowd on their feet. Modi is in South Africa as part of a tour of southern and east Africa aimed at strengthening diplomatic and economic ties. [...] This human connection is the foundation in Modi’s plans to create a stronger presence in Africa, as the country tries to match China. India’s trade with Africa has grown from $1 billion in 1995, to $35 billion in 2008, rising to roughly $70 billion last year.