After investing tens of billions of dollars in Southeast Asia, China has now decided that its vaunted economic power, which has bought it significant influence with regional governments, is not enough. Beijing now wants to be loved, too. In this brave new world of Chinese diplomacy, language and culture -- and, yes, pop songs -- are playing a major role in Beijing's quest to be understood...

Early adopters in countries like Morocco, Algeria and Palestine have a more strongly developed and time-tested hip-hop scene—but across the greater Arab world, hip-hop has risen up alongside folk anthems as a revolutionary soundtrack. And in the Western world, Arab diaspora rap preoccupies itself with questions of Eastern and Western dislocated identity.

Participating in the video conference were personnel from the Prime Minister's Office National Information Directorate, the Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs Ministry, the Foreign Ministry (from Dublin), the IDF Spokesperson's Office New Media Division, and students and public diplomacy activists.

Word is out that the U.K. has toppled the U.S. in Monocle’s 2012 Soft Power Survey. Given all the positive news coming out of the Isles this year, one should neither be surprised, nor particularly worried. Chances are, there are likely some who are not impressed. As evidenced by the Obama-Maroney photo released by the White House yesterday, American memes have a soft power of their own and American culture is strong.

For nearly two hundred years the measure of a nation’s progress has been its capacity to Westernize. Today, to a great extent, China has shifted this narrative. In the last three decades, China has lifted over 500 million of its people out of poverty according to the World Bank. The scale and speed of China’s growth are unprecedented. The world has never seen anything like the rise of China according to Martin Jacques, author of bestseller ‘When China Rules the World: the End of the Western World and the Birth of a New Global Order.’

That Nigeria was born with great and positive dreams in 1960 is accepted by all. Taking the pulse of the domestic and international opinion in 1960, there was an expectation that Nigeria was going to be a great nation because it had a large population that dwarfed the population of most of the African states, it had vast quantities of natural resources and it had an enlightened elite, that was educated and experienced.

China will adopt a more proactive policy to engage in international affairs and be a responsible nation that promotes peace and stability by enhancing cooperation and bringing benefits to its neighbors and other nations. Those were the comments of experts and scholars on China's foreign policy direction after the conclusion of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

India and Sri Lanka have always enjoyed a special relationship not only due to their close geographical proximity but because of their cultural, religious and ethnic affinities and shared history. Sri Lanka President Rajapaksa has aptly described India-Sri Lanka relations as “family”. Of course even such a sibling relationship has had its ups and downs.