Public Diplomacy Minister Yuli Edelstein this week defended his project to send a group of young Israelis from different sectors of society to speak at North American campuses in a bid to improve Israel's image.

Over these long years Indians have perfected many cultural attributes that may be appealing to the rest of the world - what Joseph Nye likes to call 'soft power’. Some good examples of Indian soft power are Yoga, Bollywood, Ayurveda and the great Indian cuisine (including curry and chicken tikka).

India is an ancient civilization with five thousand years of recorded history. Over these long years Indians have perfected many cultural attributes that may be appealing to the rest of the world - what Joseph Nye likes to call 'soft power’. Some good examples of Indian soft power are Yoga, Bollywood, Ayurveda and the great Indian cuisine (including curry and chicken tikka).

Former minister Shashi Tharoor’s breezy visit to London last week was symbolic in the extreme: as he told British academics of India’s need to project soft power, a desert storm for democracy swirled in the Middle East.

Rugby is a potential way for New Zealand to exercise "soft power" in the world of international diplomacy, a joint New Zealand-US study has found.

Japan is rolling out a red carpet ahead of the arrival of much-awaited special guests from China: a pair of giant pandas. The two 5-year-old pandas are due to arrive at Tokyo's Ueno Zoo on Monday. They'll be the zoo's first since the 2008 death of its beloved giant panda Ling Ling.

China should strive to gain more cultural soft power by discussing its current culture rather than lingering over its traditional culture, said one of the country's top think tanks on Friday.