The “soft power” phase of Canadian foreign policy tended to produce “soft” results; R2P foundered on the lack of any noticeable international political will to apply it. UN Resolution 1973 on Libya deliberately avoided reference to R2P because it wouldn’t have flown.

Google and the Spanish Network of Jewish Quarters (Red de las Juderías) made news in Madrid last week when they unveiled a joint project promoting the once-lost Jewish heritage of 24 Spanish cities, from Ávila to Tudela.

John Cha Poong started giving children in Zambia disposable cameras three years ago to record their daily lives. The results they sent back were unexpected: their extreme poverty should have been depressing but the pictures that came back were so happy. The next year, the Korean Catholic priest did the same thing in Mongolia and Burundi. Then it was Laos in 2011 and Sri Lanka this year. It was the same story, the pictures were not the sort charities might use to raise money.

Prior to the arrival of the Arab Spring, Turkey's longer-term objective was to broaden its influence in the Middle East by promoting a 'zero-problems' foreign policy, not dissimilar to the European Union's 'Neighborhood Policy' of engagement with the 'near-abroad'...The surest test of whether Turkey's attempt to use soft power to successfully influence its relationships with its neighbors will now be what happens in Syria.

Where does China’s soft power stem from, and what are its implications for the US? China’s economic power is the key motor behind its mounting soft power.America remains the most powerful state in the international system. No country in the world has more ‘global’ interests than the US. China’s growing soft power affects American interests around the world therefore, a thorough assessment of this process is imperative.

Since the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area was launched in 2010, China has now become the organization's largest trading partner. Now to catch up with bilateral economic achievements, cultural exchange and cooperation are being emphasized.

Japanese is the most widely taught foreign language in Australia, and students choose to study it not only for future employment prospects but for the pop cultural intrigue as well.

"I will definitely keep my promise to open a new era of the Korean peninsula through strong security and diplomacy on the basis of mutual trust," the 60-year old conservative leader said. During the campaign, both Park and her main challenger Moon Jae-in offered competing commitment to improve ties with Pyongyang and its new leader Kim Jong-un.