At a joint news conference at the Kremlin, the two leaders said that their discussion had focused on economic issues, including trade and tourism. They also said they talked about energy issues and Russia’s plans to build a natural gas pipeline through Turkey to Europe, in which Greece could play a crucial link.

China is the largest contributor to UN peacekeeping operations of all the permanent members of the UN Security Council. China’s rise in peacekeeping operations is indicative of China’s rise in global prominence by both expanding its role in foreign affairs and protecting its own economic interests.

Myanmar is now open for business, encouraging countries around the world to consider it as a strong destination for investment. Singapore, Japan and India, among others, are in the process of establishing an economic footprint in the Southeast Asian country. Two nations of particular importance to Myanmar are Japan and India, both Asian giants.

Western governments have long used bilateral aid and World Bank lending to gain favors in the international arena and to influence the domestic politics of poorer countries. Japan has similarly applied its preponderant influence in the Asian Development Bank.

Since the beginning of the year, the small autonomous area of Gagauzia in southern Moldova has become an improbably important focus of Russian foreign policy.

Israel’s public diplomacy has so far focused on what many have said was an unrealistic demand for the complete dismantlement of Iran’s potentially military nuclear infrastructure. Softening that position, Israel’s minister of intelligence and strategic affairs, presented a list of desired modifications for the final agreement.

Interestingly, the resurgence of Asia as a continent is resting significantly on the rise of its ‘soft power’. Asian tigers, including nations such as India and China that are gradually tilting the global economic balance, are emerging as powerful ‘influencers’ in the new international economic order.

Harvard University's Distinguished Service Professor Nye is a political scientist who coined the concept "soft power" -- a kind of power that has the ability to attract rather than coerce, and that has been widely used by Turkish decision-makers to highlight the country's appeal as a modern Muslim democracy. Nye is despondent over Turkey's current direction and believes that cracking down on dissent has a negative impact on Turkey's most significant weapon: soft power.