Another day, another parliamentary committee investigating the future of aid, this time the House of Lords select committee on soft power and the UK's influence. Soft power is the concept by Joseph Nye to describe ways in which countries nudge and cajole rather than pay or use force to further their interests. Or, as the committee's chairman put it, it is a way to "promote Britain's reputation, protect its interests and ensure security in a world where the military methods of the last century or two don't always work".

On Monday, the Sino-Myanmar natural gas pipeline began pumping to China, part of the Middle Kingdom’s drive to diversify its energy supplies, but, in light of recent diplomatic troubles, China is quick to shine a rosy light on this latest development. The Chinese state media charm offensive went into full swing. Xinhua described the opening ceremony as follows: "When torches flamed in the sky of Namkham Measuring Station of the Myanmar-China Gas Pipeline, a storm of applause and cheers broke out."

With his remark, "The English language has caused a great loss to the country," BJP president Rajnath Singh threw a stone in the pond before he set off for the US to try out his own brand of the language. The ripple was not long in coming. There was a statement in support by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, who deplored the "illusion that English is the only means of progress" as well as a counter-statement by a Congress leader, slamming Rajnath Singh's stance as smacking of "medievalism or hypocrisy".

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.