Ghazi Stadium in Kabul... Indeed, for a while it was nothing less than a theater of horrors. But now, thanks to funds that have come from the United States, it’s home to a state-of-the-art artificial pitch that can host all manner of sports.

During Chinese President Hu Jintao's state visit in mid-January, Hu and his US counterpart Obama made it a priority to promote people-to-people exchanges to develop friendship between the world's two powers, identifying over 40 joint projects in education, science and technology, culture, women's issues, youth and sports.

From their inception, motion pictures have been offering audience escape, entertainment, uplift or instruction with the intent and skills of filmmakers. Still, during the Cold War, American films reflected the changing mood of the United States towards the USSR.

The ripple effects of Kim’s death extended from Russia to China to Washington and, most improbably, to this restaurant, whose regular clientele is working-class locals – not Koreans. Mr. Egan says that through “barbecue diplomacy,” he became “Kim Jong-il’s guy in New Jersey.”

Most of the Shabab’s Twitter messages are in English, not Somali, and are clearly meant for an outside audience. American officials said they were exploring legal options to shut down the Shabab’s new Twitter account, potentially opening a debate over the line between free speech and support for terrorism.

The rise in emerging market (EM) hard power over the past decade has been dramatic. The crucial question that arises then is whether soft power in the emerging world has risen commensurately to its hard power. If it has, then the combination of rising soft and hard power will give many EM countries more global clout.

To improve Israel’s image in the United States, one of the best things is to bring opinion makers to the country. And just like in Israel where the likes of Yaron Dekel and Keren Neubach often play a big role in setting the national agenda, in the US, there’s no greater barometer for public opinion than the radio talk show host.

America lost its soft power once it used its hard power against Iraq. The global standing of the US suffered tremendously as the war dragged on, with hundreds of thousands of civilian casualties and the revelation of atrocities committed by American troops against civilians and prisoners.