According to Professor Rohan Gunaratna, government focus was massive infrastructure development to empower the people but not psychosocial development to engage the people to mainstream their thinking. Today, the LTTE proxy, the Tamil National Alliance, has started to radicalize and militarize the community again. Government should develop laws to deter TNA from instilling hatred and incitement and consider banning the LTTE funded TNA.

Projects funded by the Chinese include gyms and stadiums in Ghana, a hospital in Zambia and an opera house in Algeria. We also look at a Chinese footwear manufacturer's plans to create a global hub for the shoe industry in Ethiopia, and discuss reaction in China to the government's huge investments in Africa. Browse it all on our series page.

Thus far the proponents of military intervention have done a poor job of explaining how this course of action would secure these twin goals. For instance, the most popular option seems to be establishing a no-fly zone in northern Syria. However, the Assad regime still has formidable missile and ground forces and it’s unclear if grounding its aircraft would have a decisive military impact.

Culture Secretary Maria Miller today launched a tourism partnership strategy for Britain which calls for the travel industry and the government, together with key public and private sector bodies, to unite behind a long-term ambition for growth that would see Britain welcome 40 million overseas visitors by 2020, spending £31.5 billion and supporting an additional 200,000 jobs across the country.

China has committed $75bn (£48bn) on aid and development projects in Africa in the past decade, according to research which reveals the scale of what some have called Beijing's escalating soft power "charm offensive" to secure political and economic clout on the continent.

In an Annie Hall moment at Foreign Policy, the inventor of the term “soft power” explains the shortcomings of Chinese and Russian efforts to cultivate it. “China and Russia make the mistake of thinking that government is the main instrument of soft power. In today’s world, information is not scarce but attention is, and attention depends on credibility.”

The financial crisis altered the very nature of the international balance of power. Five years later, the presumption is that the crisis is in the rearview mirror -- and that the volatility that shook markets and felled governments is behind us too. But we've entered a new order that's vastly more uncertain than what preceded it.

ndia’s soft power in Central Asia, especially in Kazakhstan, the largest of the five stans, is enjoying a revival thanks to a new breed of Indian entrepreneurs. Forget Raj Kapoor, Nargis and Indira Gandhi. They now evoke smiles and a sigh. No matter a 15-year old Devushka (young girl) or a 60-something Zenshina (lady) are called Indira, Mira or Gita. Enter Balika Badhu and Shahrukh Khan in Jab Tak Hai Jaan.