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.

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.

The CIA was never among the world's most trusted global brands, even among U.S. allies, but torture revelations have diminished U.S. claims to moral leadership and reduced its "soft power".

According to the American-born filmmaker and writer, Ukraine is just the latest country in a long list to fall prey to “America’s soft power technique called ‘Regime Change 101.'"

The Australian government has an elaborate campaign, including a 600-page bureaucratic handbook, to build its international image using koalas.

According to Joseph Nye, the American political thinker who developed the concept of soft power, American culture is one of the pillars of the US power structure and instrumental in the projection of that power. The Iranian leadership fears that normal relations will result in the expansion of trade and commerce and thus, suddenly, increase the number of Iranians visiting the US and vice versa.