Here's a coffee shop in an out-of-the-way part of Baku where the walls are covered with illustrations from an early 20th century satirical magazine called Molla Nasreddin. The magazine represents a bygone era, when Azerbaijan was a font of new cultural trends in the Muslim world, pioneering such issues as female emancipation, anti-clericalism, anti-colonialism and labor rights. Although Azerbaijan was the birthplace of the magazine, arguably the country affected most by its essays and illustrations was Iran.

The pundits believe this is a honeymoon period for China and South Korea. Ironically, it is happening as Pyongyang has been ratcheting up its rhetoric and war posturing.

Many will have written on Thatcher's legacy and contribution to the development of conservative ideas and the creation of a conservative transatlantic relationship, but equally important was her role in ending the long and devastating reign of Communism over the peoples of Eastern Europe. She was among the few leaders of Europe to seriously care about and engage early with the "captive nations" of Central and Eastern Europe.

The opening of Confucius Institutes this week in New York and Washington brings a key part of China's "soft power" initiative to the United States. On Tuesday, administrators at Columbia University will cut the ribbon to inaugurate the Confucius Institute at the Ivy League school in Manhattan. A day later, it will be George Washington University that does the honors, on a campus within walking distance of the US State Department and blocks away from the White House and Capitol Hill.

Zhao Qizheng, former chairman of the foreign affairs committee of China's top political advisory body, said we tended to speak too much "philosophy" and principles when foreign exchanges. Actually, telling Chinese stories can touch people and Chinese features lie in the stories. Zhao make the remarks during the sub-session of the Boao Forum for Asia, Boao dialogue: public diplomacy and intercultural communication, in Boao, south China's Hainan province on Sunday.

One of the key (but less remarked-upon) recommendations in Alex Oliver's policy brief The Consular Conundrum relates to the managing of public expectations for consular services, something New Zealand's MFAT – like DFAT and its political masters – has struggled to do.

The Foreign Minister and I, as he mentioned, did indeed talk about Syria. And I thanked the Foreign Minister for the constant pressure that the Government of Turkey has placed on the Assad regime, which, as we both have said repeatedly, must go. Turkey has also been incredibly generous to the refugees of this crisis, and they have taken them in by the thousands, kept their borders open, done everything possible to try to respond to that increasing humanitarian crisis.

Relations between the two countries, once strong allies, have been in tatters since May 2010, when Israeli troops raided a flotilla of ships carrying aid from Turkey to Gaza. The raid killed nine Turkish citizens and prompted the Turkish government to expel its Israeli ambassador and recall its own from Israel. The countries’ two powerful militaries, once close partners, began to regard each other as hostile forces, and lucrative trade dried up. Even the number of Israeli tourists to Turkey, who once flocked there, dwindled amid fears that the country was no longer safe for travel.