In sport, China has discovered a new brand of soft power to extend its influence across the globe...In recent times, starting from the successful 2008 Summer Olympic Games, China has also used sport to extend its influence in the global community. The global influence of Chinese athletes such as tennis player Li Na, hurdler Liu Xiang and basketball player Yao Ming are key examples.

Japanese Internet billionaire Hiroshi Mikitani has a solution for Japan’s diplomatic woes with China: let more Chinese players play on the country’s sports teams...Japan is missing out on a chance to build goodwill across the globe by restricting the number of foreign players, said Mr. Mikitani, who is also a member of a panel on industrial competitiveness reporting to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, at a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday.

It's not just about building stadiums or sponsoring training programs and competitions. The government is using the soft power of culture to change the public perception of women athletes. One example is "Hey'Ya Arab Women in Sport," the brilliant exhibit by photographer and frequent Condé Nast Traveler contributor Brigitte Lacombe which runs at the Katara Cultural Village through June 13.

Across Africa, the growing presence of Chinese investments in economy and infrastructure is evident. In the last ten years, various state-owned firms, even a number of private companies, have become major investors in Africa with China being the single largest bilateral source of annual foreign investment in Africa. Indeed Chinese investment permeates almost every sector of Africa’s economy. As of mid-2012, China’s Ministry of Commerce estimated that cumulated foreign direct investment in Africa had exceeded $14.7 billion.

For any of you worried about North Korea, Dennis Rodman has some words of reassurance: Despite what you may have heard about the oppressive and isolated regime, it’s “pretty much like any other country.” On Tuesday, the retired NBA player turned global ambassador paid his second visit to “The Tonight Show” in the space the of a month. When last we saw "the Worm" on Jay Leno’s couch, he was erratic and emotional over the death of Lakers owner Jerry Buss.

Qatar's soccer league, in a break with a reluctance among Gulf states to give their largely expatriate majorities a sense of belonging, is next month organizing the region's first cup for foreign workers' teams. The cup, involving up to 24 teams formed by foreign workers primarily from Asia who account for the bulk of Qatar's 1.5 million expatriates, is part of an effort to improve working and living conditions as well as a bid to fend off international trade union demands to meet global labor standards.

“There comes a point in every man’s life when he has to say, ‘Enough is enough.’ For me, that time is now.” “Now every one of you has good reason to be critical of me. I want to say to each of you, simply and directly, I am deeply sorry for my irresponsible and selfish behavior I engaged in.” The statements made by Lance Armstrong and Tiger Woods, respectively, were attempts to mitigate the damage caused by scandal.

As a well-regarded ambassador once explained early in my foreign service career, diplomacy is about persuading people to do what you want them to do; it’s not about getting along and mouthing pleasantries. The danger with many “celebrity ambassadors” is that they do not understand the distinction and often arrive on their self-appointed mission with no plan for follow through and little conception of the overall complexity of the situation.