The AMC purchase marks the start of what Wanda executives and Chinese officials hope will be an aggressive expansion into Western markets. An article in the state-run propaganda outlet “People’s Daily,” meanwhile, touted aspirations of "exporting the culture" and the regime’s “Going Global” strategy.

He impressed the interviewers from the Georgia Institute of Technology, which ranked 35th among all U.S. universities, with his 'soft power,' and was admitted to its undergraduate biomedical engineering program, which ranked second in the country. In addition, he won a quarter scholarship.

Recognizing that it would require budget-wrecking spending to quickly catch up with the United States as a wielder of military strength, China is, at least for now, emphasizing soft power – trying to extend its influence through attraction rather than coercion.

BEIJING --- During the 20 years since the demise of the Soviet Union, and after a unipolar moment for the United States, China has emerged as the newest superpower. All its predecessors at this exalted level, going back even before Rome, have established their positions by amassing formidable military strength. But China is going about matters differently.

This weekend another 100 were brutally massacred in Syria including the stabbing and axing of nearly 50 children. The U.N. Security Council condemns it, of course, but can soft power or cultural diplomacy play any role here? Or is it only a matter for hard power and military intervention?

The Rapid Growth Soft Power Index consists of three criteria: integrity, global integration and image. Although year-on year changes do occur in the rankings, the absolute changes are not large, demonstrating that a strong power brand typically takes many years to acquire or lose.

Literature, the soul of cultural exchange, is giving conventional diplomacy a run for its space in South Asia with the mushrooming literary festivals that are provoking, discussing and building new bridges across cultures.

A prominent Somali living and working in Mogadishu, for example, very enthusiastically told the author of this article that ‘Somalis love Turks and what they’re doing’. It is also noteworthy that its diplomatic efforts in Somalia presented Turkey with an important opportunity to illustrate its soft power in Africa.