The Turkish leadership’s anti-Israeli rhetoric has certainly helped boost Turkey’s popularity in the region. But this is not the only dynamic that explains Ankara’s growing soft power influence in the Middle East. Turkey’s economic success, liberal visa policies, and a desire to engage constructively with the main players in the region are also important factors.

“The window for diplomacy is closed.” So said President George W. Bush as the U.S. prepared to launch military action in Iraq. Mr. Bush intended that statement as a message to Saddam Hussein that the U.S. was no longer willing to negotiate and that his immediate departure from power was the only option; but in light of history his metaphor was somewhat ironic. In the aftermath of the attacks on September 11, 2001, the United States missed a number of opportunities to repurpose the enormous outpouring of good will around the world into a focused and potent strategy of public diplomacy.

One decade later, has anything changed? This question was asked over and over during the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

Countries in East Asia are increasingly looking to pop culture, as an instrument of "soft power". And the "soft power" competition is alive and well in East Asia, with not just financial returns at stake, but also as a positive influence in the attitudes of target or importing countries.

To establish a longer-lasting world order, the aims have to be set high and broad enough to encompass mutually shared interests...and the working plan should be realistic enough to embrace different developmental strategies for countries in different development stages and having different cultural backgrounds.

In the last few years, India has deftly indulged in Bollywood promotion in China, part of soft power diplomacy that both sides feel help in creating a positive atmosphere for nurturing bilateral ties that often get entangled in sensitive issues.

Turkey has stepped up its use of soft power by attempting to influence the political processes of nations which have recently undergone “Arab Spring” revolutions, namely Tunisia and Egypt...Erdogan has found a window of opportunity in the Arab Spring to restore Turkey to regional hegemony at a time when it only serves to help his party's standing at home.

We have to accept that inevitably Europe will account for a smaller proportion of world output, as the balance shifts to the emerging world. But it can and still will be able to deliver an enviable lifestyle for its people. And insofar as it projects power to the world, it will be soft power, through admiration for its cultural and technical achievements.