Evidently, China has cultivated a delicate foreign policy toward the Southeast Asian region over the years. It initially followed soft-power diplomacy by providing economic aid to various infrastructure projects and opening its domestic market for Southeast Asian manufactured products without antagonizing the region politically.

There has been a flurry of activity on the public diplomacy front in India recently...From international conferences to social media campaigns, the Public Diplomacy Division of the Government of India is in overdrive to shape a desired perception of India across the world.

There is no doubt that American public opinion remains overwhelmingly pro-Israel. But ..among thoughtful leaders in the media, military and foreign affairs, there has been a consensus that our policy toward Israel is severely damaging America's interests and image around the world.

...Nigeria should use cultural diplomacy as a means of leading the way in projecting all that is good in us and Africa. By our share size, we should be able to use our arts, music, literature and drama to project our culture and emphasise the uniqueness of African culture.

Australia’s Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd is pressing ahead on a high profile public diplomacy campaign to secure support for Australia’s bid to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for 2013-14.

Portugal is more pro-multilateral, emphasizing soft power and persuasion rather than picking fights, argued Jez Littlewood, director of the Canadian Centre of Intelligence and Security Studies at Carleton University. This, he argues, is actually similar to the position Canada used to take when it sat on the council.

At the heart of public diplomacy is a commitment on the part of nation-states to open up, reach out and engage people globally. People are the ultimate beneficiaries of all public diplomacy efforts being made by a few key countries.

The path to international recognition of Palestinian statehood by September - when the Palestinians plan to bring the matter before the UN General Assembly - seems clear. The question before Israel and its supporters who oppose such recognition is how to create a detour.