Tag Archive for: "soft power"
Whispering to the Asia–Pacific

Australia gropes and stutters towards a renewed embrace of international broadcasting—the vital need to ‘speak for ourselves’ in the Asia–Pacific. The latest lurch towards fresh understanding is the silent release of the review of Australia’s …

How China loses friends and alienates people

The Chinese folk saying ‘lift a rock only to drop it on one’s own feet’, or its English equivalent, ‘to shoot oneself in the foot’, perfectly describes the self-defeating inclinations of dictatorship. And nothing exemplifies …

Soft power’s hard edge

I’ve just returned from the frontline of Australia’s soft power engagement in Asia. The New Colombo Plan that provided this opportunity is funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and is a key …