The Centre for Pakistan and Gulf Studies (CPGS), Islamabad, has recently launched a mega-project titled ‘SALAM: Innovating Means to Resolve Radical Extremism in Pakistan’. The aim of the project is to introduce measures for large scale de-radicalisation initiatives in Pakistan by suggesting viable policy options to all stakeholders. The project is particularly focused on devising non-military tools (soft power) to fight this menace. It will be carried out in 3 phases.

Soft power is influence. I do blither on about the soft power of the arts, especially literature, but I’m not wrong. The act of reading changes the world more and for the better than war does, and since Britain is one of the most prolifically literate nations on earth, it still has a say in how the planet is run (badly but it could be worse). Britain, a tiny island, still rates, and soft power is its currency.

Russia has allocated significant spending power to Rossotrudnichestvo, Moscow’s vehicle for promoting its influence abroad, as part of an apparent drive to improve the country’s image, according to a decree published on the government’s website Wednesday. Federal money has been redirected from the Foreign Ministry, formerly responsible for the financial support of Russians living abroad, to Rossotrudnichestvo, which was created in 2008 by then-President Dmitry Medvedev as a means to advance Russia’s political and economic interests.

The United States is facing the worst of all worlds in the Middle East: interventions that erode Washington's prestige and popularity but fail to exert enough influence to secure U.S. interests. If Secretary of State John Kerry's effort to restart Israeli-Palestinian talks is to succeed -- and if the United States is to secure its interests, ranging from oil security to nuclear nonproliferation -- America must once again play a leading role in the region.

Building the nation's "soft power" - the kind of intangible influence the United States enjoys through its cultural strength and global connections - has emerged as a key priority in recent years and was repeatedly emphasised by former president Hu Jintao. "China's impact in Africa should not be underestimated. China is the most influential world power in Africa at present; its soft power is overwhelming," said Anthony Desir, a partner of the Strategic African Mineral Investment Fund, an African resource consultancy.

The scandal caused a decline in American soft power. After the presidency of George W. Bush, Barack Obama incarnated the promise of a new, value-oriented America, a promise for which he received – rather prematurely – the Nobel Peace Prize. Five years later, the PRISM affair has dealt a heavy blow to Obama's – and America's – reputation, which was already dented by the unresolved question of the Guantanamo detainees and Obama's secret drone war.

A new Pew Center poll asked 37,653 people from 39 different countries their opinions on a variety of topics concerning the United States and China. The survey found the world views the United States more favorably than China, but believes China has or will soon become the world's leading power. Across the board 63 percent of respondents have a positive opinion of the United States, while only 50 percent have a positive opinion of China.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has reemerged as the Middle East’s most powerful influential country, Richard Spencer said in article published in the UK’s The Telegraph. “The Saudis are our brothers,” said Sayed Sami Hassan from a tent in Cairo’s Tahrir Square. “They are Muslims, they believe in God. [Egypt’s ousted Islamist] President Mursi, now he was an agent of America and Qatar, but the Saudis are helping us.”