Today the entire public diplomacy budget is reportedly of the order of magnitude of what a medium-to-large Israeli corporation spends on promoting fast-food or snacks. If one does not invest in winning hearts and minds, it is no wonder that they are not won.

Mass media, in its different forms, has been used by the State to manufacture consent or create dissent in other countries. The former involves media management, the latter is more in the nature of psychological warfare used in peace time, indeed at all times, as an exercise of soft power.

Israel is tired of playing it straight: It is recruiting gays and lesbians as unofficial envoys. In a bid to boost its international image, the country’s ministry of Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs has established a cadre of diverse volunteers who speak about Israel around the world.

China's President Hu Jintao recently warned that "international hostile forces are intensifying the strategic plot of Westernizing and dividing China," and added that "the international culture of the West is strong while we are weak."

The infusion of Chinese government funding into international universities has enabled significant expansions in language teaching, cultural programming, and China-related conferences and symposia, but it has also raised fears regarding academic freedom and independence of teaching and research.

Senior party members agreed at their annual meeting in October to boost the nation's cultural soft power, a move analysts said was partly to ensure the media galvanised patriotic sentiment ahead of a leadership transition in 2012.

The authoritarian Government prefers the docile, cuddly panda as the national insignia, and uses the iconic endangered species as highly successful soft power diplomatic gifts, with the most recent pair sent to Edinburgh Zoo.

The precise reason for penning the editorial now is still unclear, but it seems likely intended to address both concerns about a crisis of values in Chinese society, and the Chinese leader’s keen interest in developing the country’s soft power by creating internationally popular media.