Building China into a socialist country with strong cultural influences is a core principle... In order to achieve this goal, we must understand how best to enhance China's soft power and introduce the Chinese culture to the rest of the world. Take the book publishing industry as an example.

Turkey steadily since the rise of AKP party in 2002 in power, is investing considerable resources upon expanding its reach both in the Islamic and in the Western world, by the use of Islamic organizations that are spread in dozens of countries and are mainly composed by Turkish-descent citizens. The web of relations and transactions between them and with Turkey are multitude and far-reaching.

As well as a huge exercise in soft power — Eurovision is by far the biggest nonsporting live television event in the world — the competition also gives countries a chance to touch on issues of global importance in their songs, while carefully sticking to the rules, which ban specific political messages.

If a high-profile event focusing on Chinese literature risks further undermining freedom of expression in China, then why is the British Council teaming up with the body responsible for censorship to bring a bevy of Chinese authors to London?

Groups, agencies such as Amnesty International have the capacity to perform the role of soft power. Soft power functions well in democratic and transparent political systems. I am afraid to say that in systems such as Bahrain or others, soft power does not play a role in deciding policy.

Japan doesn’t have a particularly deep history in the Middle East, but its economic prosperity is closely tied to the region. Some 90 percent of Japan’s oil comes from the Middle East, according to the Yomiuri Shimbun, so it has a vested interest in promoting stability.

Four decades ago, the US Department of Defense created the Internet; today, by most accounts, the US remains the leading country in terms of its military and societal use. But greater dependence on networked computers and communication leaves the US more vulnerable to attack...

Walt Disney Co. said it would join an initiative to develop China's animation industry, marking the latest push by Hollywood to expand into the world's most populous country.