To attract foreign students and academics, the Taiwan Parliament approved spending $197 million over four years to make its higher education system more competitive globally. Funds will go to creating more English-language degree programs and internship programs for foreign students.

The American president has certainly made an impression on Britain. Obama is boosted by coverage on US networks looking relaxed and authoritative on the world stage. It does no harm being pictured with America's favourite British couple – not Dave and Nick, but the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Thus, if Bangladesh wishes to use soft power in international politics it has to display its dominant values... If a country's culture and ideology are attractive, other nations are more willing to follow. Precepts and teachings found in the literature of Tagore, Nazrul and Jashimuddin could be significant sources of our soft power.

To some, his capture testifies to the effectiveness of European leverage and underlines the E.U.'s soft power: by holding out the carrot of accession, the E.U. induces meaningful change in would-be members.

Obama's Middle East speech last week laid out a policy of support for the growth of democracy and peace in the area... to support self-determination, equal opportunity, democracy, political and civil rights and religious tolerance.. It is not obvious that the Turkish government could make the same declarations.

This shows that the EU as a guiding framework is particularly successful if it offers the chance of a better future through the possibility of membership. Europe's soft power stems... is a more attractive message than that of mass murderer Mladic after all.

Interest in China is a recurrent theme in Latin America...Close ties specifically with the Asian giant are encouraged not only by Colombia’s status as a rising world power, but also by China’s use of “soft power.”

Consumer brands can be seen as an extension of “soft power” which political scientist Joseph Nye broadly defined as a nation’s ability to attract and persuade rather than coerce. In this respect, India certainly has an advantage over China which does not have strong private sector brands in the consumer space, except perhaps in electronics.