Arguing that it had a mission to uphold the values of “democracy and liberty”, the corporation said it would set up new shortwave services to broadcast into those countries with a deficit of both, namely North Korea, Eritrea, and Ethiopia. It will boost its digital presence in Russia, where it may set up a satellite-television channel, and beef up its Arabic service. 

It’s a multiple crisis and Germany’s answer is to be nice. During Greek protests, rioters painted toothbrush moustaches on posters of Merkel. Now migrants, passed on from Greece to Germany, arrive with photos of her as their patron saint. That’s brilliant PR, a triumph of soft power, and not enitirely cynical. There really are many Germans — Gutmenschen — who wish to give a helping hand.

Soft Power as opposed to Hard Power is not at all new to the developing world. The concept of Non-alignment, for example, is a manifestation of this species of power which, essentially, is an expression of a country’s or a group of countries’ humanistic values as opposed to their military or coercive capability. Accordingly, Soft Power has its origins in spirituality and religion and pertains to those qualities of heart and mind which play a key role in fostering world solidarity.

With hosting and qualifying for the World Cup finals listed as long-term goals, the authorities plan to substantially increase the number of young people playing football, with the number of special “soccer schools” raised to 20,000 after five years and to 50,000 in a decade.

As it stands, the funding and coordination of America’s soft-power strategy is inadequate. But we know that hard power is not enough, particularly to contest the cyber territory that the Islamic State occupies – for example, by developing a capacity to take down botnets and counter hostile social-media accounts.

This article seeks to explain the Commonwealth of Nations as an organisation and its enduring power. The Commonwealth is an example of a concept that ought to be politically fraught. The (English) language-based association comprises a former imperialist power plus its dismantled empire of former colonies, protectorates, and mandates.