This holiday season has stood out a bit from others, being the first time, at least as far as I can recall, that cyber warfare and the fictional assassination of North Korea's Supreme Leader have featured so very prominently in news and personal discussions. The Sony Pictures release of The Interview [...] has actually generated some interesting ideas about cybersecurity, information warfare, and a host of other issues.

One of the most admirable aspects of Obama-era foreign policy has been the decision to use American soft power to actively promote LGBTQ rights, including in Europe.

Targeting a Hollywood studio from behind computer terminals accomplishes more or less the same goal, instilling fear and insecurity at the heart of American exportable "soft power."

Just months after President Vladimir Putin erased $32 billion in Cuban debt, Russia's ties with the Caribbean island are coming under increasing strain as the ruble collapses and President Barack Obama re-establishes diplomatic ties and eases a five-decade embargo.

Most North Koreans (except those who defected) with whom this correspondent had conversed in Pyongyang and elsewhere appeared to sincerely believe what they read in their country’s media: The United States and its allies are looking for any opportunity to undermine their country’s socialistic system and thwart its attempts to advance, militarily and materialistically.

The revelations about the United States' brutal torture program have damaged the country's best asset abroad.

To those pulling out their tin foil hats and claiming that Sony managed to pull one over on the planet by manufacturing this whole scandal – just remember that the thing about soft power is that you can’t always control how it goes down.

The unfolding episode over the film The Interview underlines the potential for business decisions, whatever their motivation, to become intertwined with foreign relations among states and companies.