In good promotion and marketing, including "soft power" projection, the starting point is the nature of the product itself...China now devotes increased resources to promotion – the rapid overseas expansion of CCTV is one example. But resources will not be effective unless they are integrated with the product.

China’s rapid growth and expanding influence in the International community has generated heated debates as to whether it has achieved ‘great power’ status. Whereas the Chinese are content with ‘emerging power’ status, its unprecedented growth and influence in the International community depict a nation that has taken charge.

Only after it regains confidence in its culture, the Chinese nation, which has a beautiful language, will get enough say in international affairs, be able to compete with other countries in various fields such as economy and culture, carry forward its civilization, and contribute greatly to global cultural exchanges.

One would have thought that after that 1979 Bollywood breach of the Chinese market, Indian movies would have found slow but ready acceptance in that country. However, the next Bollywood film to make as massive an impact was the Aamir Khan starrer 3 Idiots, nearly 32 years later

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh underscores ‘cooperation’ and ‘competition’ as the elements defining the Sino-Indian relationship. But for the present, competition is the buzzword. Seasoned diplomats admit to the lack of common and contemporary cultural elements besides Bollywood that can project soft power across the militarised borders.

While President George W. Bush openly declared his intention of confronting by force some several dozen nations who were considered hostile, President Barack Obama promised a different approach of using American soft power to re-write international relations and earn the goodwill of the World to the United States. However, he has used both soft power and hard power to attain the same objectives.

The “zero problems” policy... proved to be most successful. With that policy Turkey was able to substantially enhance not only its democracy, economy and security but also its international prestige and soft power. It became a source of inspiration for the entire Arab world ...

Japan’s presence in the international community appears to be fading. Even during last year’s euro crisis, while China’s response drew much interest, there was almost no mention of Japan. This isn’t to say that Japan has completely disappeared from view.