fter all the talk of a "pivot to Asia," America’s return to the Middle East is welcome, but wars do not create peace. Killing Bin Laden did not destroy terrorism, and killing ISIS fighters will not bring stability. American leadership and soft power in the Middle East should be invested in three areas...

One of this fall’s newest political TV shows trades in the drama of an Oval Office affair for foreign affairs — and PTA meetings too. Adding to the growing line up of political programs, CBS will premiere “Madam Secretary,” on Sunday, Sept. 21, at 8 p.m. EST. The show, with executive producers Lori McCreary and Morgan Freeman, stars Tea Leoni as Elizabeth McCord — a former CIA analyst who is suddenly asked to leave her life in academia behind to take the reins at the State Department.

Now a former US ambassador who has negotiated his way through some of the world’s most tense political moments says the current threat of the Islamic State is equally severe. “Today we are confronting some of the most difficult problems we’ve had in a long time. Some of them are amenable to some process of negotiation but unfortunately many are not,” Christopher Hill told news.com.au.

Over the past few days, the positions and activities of the GCC and Egypt, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon are becoming clearer against ISIS. The group, which met in Jeddah on Sept. 11, can now be dubbed the GCC+4.  First, the GCC+4 is to develop a multi-prong approach to soft power options to break ISIS’s logistical chains in manpower and finance as well as to develop counter-narratives to negate the group’s capabilities and messaging.

According to The New York Times, a senior State Department official speaking before the meeting with Arab foreign ministers said Kerry planned to not only ask the Arab states to increase their public condemnations of ISIS, but also to “ask them to use their state-owned media, too.” 

The sudden blackout of popular U.S. shows is seen as an example of Chinese leaders keeping a tight grip on foreign media to counter the U.S.'s soft power and shore up China's own television industry. Last year, Chinese censors withheld box office receipts while negotiating a rise in tariffs on Western importers. Now, Chinese leaders want to become not only international exporters of finished goods but also dramas and soap operas...

Moving to end the Islamic State’s reign of terror in the Middle East, several nations are weighing hard-power, military options as well as soft-power propaganda tactics to dismantle the extremist army, discredit its ideology and discourage foreign recruits from its influence.

On Wednesday evening, just before the 13th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that have shaped modern American history, President Obama gave a speech that outlined a plan for fighting the Islamic State extremist group.  Here's some of the reaction from a selection of countries.