soft power
The 13th Pravasi Bharat Diwas, starting Wednesday in Gandhinagar, will be used by the Narendra Modi government to showcase not just opportunities unleashed by a wave of economic reforms but also emphasize use of India's soft power to conduct its foreign policy.
It is well known that Turkey has expanded its soft power through international aid, which was about $3.4 billion in 2012. It is quite likely more than that now. Regarding a specific case, in September 2014, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA), and the Mexican Agency for International Development (AMEXCID) on close cooperation in terms of regional and international aid projects.
Israel's advanced technology developments have become its most prominent soft power tool for boosting diplomatic ties and improving its position in the world, enhancing its own security in the process.
Human rights groups have urged Scottish universities to sever links with Chinese language centres that have sparked worldwide fears over academic freedom.
Making the case for an economic return on investment in science can be difficult, but space exploration drives innovative thought and pushes the government and industry to develop new technologies, many of which ultimately find their way into the consumer market, according to a comprehensive study of the US space program by the National Research Council. And continued US leadership in space is a useful demonstration of soft power, the NRC found.
State propagandists - if far from all policy-makers - have long understood the political power of language learning. (...) Most major states figured this out years ago. Democracies like France, the UK and Germany have publicly funded institutes around the world teaching their languages and cultures. This is part of what diplomats call soft power, the drive to boost global influence by co-opting rather than coercing, by friendly persuasion rather than force.
The debate over the strengths and weaknesses of Israel's public diplomacy efforts have been a point of interest for the Jewish state and its supporters around the world.
With the India story growing worldwide, it is not farfetched to imagine that Indian stars could eventually exert influence beyond the diaspora when it comes to politics.