When American political scientist Joseph Nye says China’s soft power is limited, he isn’t kidding. China ranked dead last on a 30-country index of soft power released last week by Portland Communications. The index assessed countries on six measures of reputation and influence.

The government of North Korea has rightfully gained a reputation in the West for isolation and obstinacy, but its diplomatic ventures in Africa have poised it to be significantly more influential on that continent than potentially anywhere else. 

The UK has come first in the soft power index, a global ranking of the 30 countries with the most soft power, based on the strength of nations’ so called soft power resources Soft power is a form of global power that shuns traditional foreign policy carrot and stick methods.

The Soft Power 30 is a new, authoritative index that aims to help governments and countries understand better the resources they have at their disposal. It ranks leading countries using a combination of objective metrics and new international polling data to measure soft power, covering categories such as Government, Culture, Education, Global Engagement and Enterprise. 

Done well, digital diplomacy ought to be the use of technology to deliver soft power and public policy messages, alongside the ability to engage with wider audiences of both state and non-state actors and use that feedback loop to understand more and to deliver better policy.

For the past couple of months, the government of Kenya through its top security, administrative and legal machinery has been burning the midnight oil in an effort to find the appropriate response to the spread of violent extremist narrative that forms the nucleus of terrorism.