Randall Lane's new book, "The Zeroes," details one of the stupidest moments in the recent history of America's efforts to engage the Arab world. Lane, a magazine industry genius, was hired to turn out a glossy magazine that would show Muslims images of the real America. Except that the real America, the Bush State Department mandated, contained no donkeys...

“Soft power” challenged Korea’s traditional development paradigm. From the 1960s, authoritarian governments had placed absolute primacy on economic growth. Social and political development was de-prioritized as the entire nation was hitched to an economic locomotive that would convey Korea to the terminus of “advanced nations.”

The 27-nation European Union (EU) has provided the landlocked country in the southern part of the continent of Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers, 180 million Euros for health, education, food security and governance.

Along with global initiatives such as development aid and promoting the Chinese language, these scholarships are not simply academic awards but part of a larger strategy by China to cultivate friends abroad and grow its soft power to match its burgeoning military and economic strength.

India could become more powerful if it boosted its reliance on the "soft power" of cultural diplomacy, according to a paper issued by an Australian think tank.

A 30-second TV commercial promoting the "Made-in-China" brand will be aired across most regions in Europe, Asia and Oceania via the BBC World News from Monday through to Aug.8, one of the ad campaign's designers told Xinhua Tuesday.

Throughout the world, few things are more precious than a safe and abundant water supply. A country that can help another nation improve the availability and quality of water is likely to win friends, regardless of how the respective governments get along.