As a regional middle power perched on the crossroads of the Indo-Pacific region, Australian diplomacy has entered a more challenging era.

Argentina will have the opportunity to represent Latin America at the UN Security Council, said Foreign Minister Hector Timerman in reference to the presidency his country will play in that organ this month. Timerman made these statements after two meetings President Cristina Fernandez held last night with Brazil's Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota, and the president of the Inter-American Development Bank, Luis Alberto Moreno, Telam news agency reported here.

The community of nations at the United Nations has said ‘we like Australia’. Australia’s first round win of the temporary United Nations Security Council (UNSC) seat is testament to a strong and effective campaign. Labelled a ‘victory for Australian diplomacy and values’ the UNSC outcome signals a comeback for Australia’s global standing – which has spent a little too many years in the doldrums.

India’s policymakers have been fixated with pursuing major strategic ambitions with the hopes of one day becoming a superpower.... It has been lobbying for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council and it has been trying to raise its profile globally through public diplomacy and events such as the Commonwealth Games.

"Soft" power looks like a different story but, to take two examples, Brazil has signed no trade deal since the mid-1990s and its quest for a permanent seat at the UN Security Council has been an abject failure, gaining little support from fellow ...

It is nobody's case that India must mimic the West's position. Even so, as a society with much goodwill in the Middle East, where it is respected for its democracy and soft power and seen as an exemplar of a non-western modernity, India needs to be a presence in the region's new discourse.