As the killings at a French satirical magazine stunned the world last week,Turkey’s government went on a mission: to defend its brand of political Islam. In a summary of comment by Turkish officials distributed by the prime minister’s Office of Public Diplomacy, the words “Islam,” “Islamophobia” and “Muslim” were mentioned 17 times. Columnists at pro-government newspapers suggested the attacks were planned by intelligence services to justify hostility to Muslims. Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu warned that Europe was becoming more anti-Islamic.

Beijing has previously said its cooperation with African nations covers farm, health and infrastructure-related projects. In July, China said more than half its foreign aid, of more than $14 billion between 2010 and 2012, went to Africa. China says there are no strings attached to its aid, but some of its projects have drawn attention for their support of governments with poor human rights records and lack of transparency, such as Zimbabwe, Sudan and Angola. 
 

It would seem that now, these young Iranians have a president willing to listen to them. (...) The current president promises to bring about the removal of all boycotts against Iran, and is not afraid of Facebook. But he, too, must tread carefully through the Iranian minefield.

Russia-watchers and Russians have spent much of the year debating what's behind Putin's adventurism in Ukraine, his meddling in eastern Europe's Baltic states, his support for anti-American dictators like Syria's Bashar al-Assad and North Korea's Kim Jong Un, and the headaches he is generally causing Western leaders.

China signals a change in priorities, raising the risk of tension with the developed world.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s covert aggression in Ukraine continues – and so do Western sanctions against his country. But the economy is not all that is under threat; Russia’s soft power is dwindling, with potentially devastating results.

What is power today? Who has it, and who will prevail? Right now, 19th-century hard power is confronting 21st-century soft power. Although hard power appears to have the edge, don’t write off the soft power, and especially economic might.

This week, as the Nobel Peace Prize was formally handed to a teenage Pakistani activist and an Indian child-rights campaigner, a Chinese group issued an alternate award to the retired Cuban leader, long regarded by Western counterparts as a tyrant and Cold War nemesis.