soft power

Stories about cultural diplomacy took center stage in this week's PD news coverage.
The outstanding question is: How should the United States become involved in the internal affairs of other countries? If there is a clear lesson from the two Gulf wars, it’s that we should stay out of the business of invasion and occupation.
Despite decades of U.S. sanctions against Iran, change came when the U.S. worked with Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China and the EU to forge the diplomatic agreement. The glue holding those relations together is U.S. credibility.
China's foreign policy has been undergoing some positive changes in order to allow it to play a bigger role in Asia and the West Pacific region. The changes gained pace after President Xi Jinping pushed for the implementation of the "Belt and Road Initiative", which he proposed in 2013, and advocated Asian people's leadership in Asian affairs [...] in May 2014.
Mexico’s image has rarely been this deteriorated. Nothing remains of the celebration sparked by the so-called “Pact for Mexico,” a 2012 initiative from the ruling party that served as a global example of political civility by achieving consensus among rival lawmakers to pass the country’s structural reforms.
Turkish public response to NATO can hardly be separated from unfavorable public opinion about the United States, since NATO has been largely led by the U.S. Therefore, the waning of American credibility has simultaneously affected Turkish public support for NATO.
Members of the IOC, meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, announced the decision after a secret ballot, dealing a potential boon to the global winter sports industry but sparking outrage among activists and human rights groups who say the committee has rewarded China’s Communist Party during its strongest crackdown on dissent in decades.