A bevy of big-screen luminaries including Luc Besson and Arnold Schwarzenegger descended on Beijing recently for a star-studded international film festival, but art-house directors raised the alarm as authorities block a wave of independent cultural events.

Amid the political volatility and ideological chaos, one country that has stood out as a beacon of of peace, stability and modernity is the low-profile nation of Morocco, wedged at the crosscurrents of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean.

Kazakhstan’s success is a model for the entire region. The overwhelming majority of the population supports the country’s so-called multi-vector foreign policy and Kazakhstan’s ability to brand itself internationally through its support for multilateralism and regional initiatives, stance on denuclearization and its prestige campaigns in the West and Asia.

China and India competed to send aid after Nepal's devastating earthquake. Experts discuss whether the strategy was a boon for China's image there.

In an article Braude wrote for The American Interest in 2014, he explained how China’s Arabic-language television and radio outreach efforts are specifically targeted to niche audiences in Middle Eastern countries that can go on to influence those states’ broader societies to be more pro-Chinese.

The White House is keen to capitalize on Abe`s desire to put Japan back at the center of power in Asia, as China flexes its political and economic muscle. In the Oval Office Obama and Abe will discuss trade and are expected to hail progress toward a Trans-Pacific Partnership that brings together 12 countries -- including Japan and the United States.