The fall of the Berlin Wall 25 years ago this month signaled the unmatched strength of U.S. economic and military power, but it also reflected the seductive charisma of American democracy and its open, pluralistic, prosperous society — or so Americans thought at the time.

Dropping bombs isn't the only way to advance American interests abroad. (...) Certainly, the Islamic State poses an enormous threat to regional stability. But is the focus on military efforts the right one?

Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley said today that filmmakers and creative people should use modern tools like cinema to spread knowledge and learning. Referring to the Bal Swaccha Abhiyaan launched today on the occasion of the 125th birth anniversary of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, he said ‘Swachhta’ should be instilled as one of the core moral values in childhood so that children practice the habit of cleanliness as part of their childhood and personality.

The nation now most prone to such diplomatic pirouettes is the United States, still the world’s greatest power. Its strength has ever been defined, in important part, as idealism, “soft” power: belief in pluralism in politics, in free speech and a free press. These institutions are held to self-evidently good for a society: and the United States, with the European allies, has long preferred and rewarded those states which promise to follow that path.
 

We cheer the Brazilian soccer team and find our inner peace through yoga. But what is the flagship example of Chinese soft power? It might just be a day of shopping and singledom.

The business potential of the globally popular ancient practice makes the newly created ministry easier to justify.

It’s a shame that not enough people back in the UK realise the value this 82-year-old institution has for Britons travelling overseas, whether they’re doing business or seeing the sights.