Jason Lane, University at Albany, State University of New York
For decades, the US has used international education to support democracy and positive relations with countries. For most of the 1970s, Iran sent more students to America than any other country.
It's all very well to be intimidating, but China needs to win people over too.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, center, U.S. President Barack Obama and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon shake hands during a joint ratification of the Paris climate change agreement in eastern China’s Zhejiang province, Sept. 3, 2016.
How Hwee Young/Pool Photo via AP
Matthew E. Kahn, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Although Donald Trump has called climate change a hoax invented by China, Chinese leaders believe cutting carbon emissions will generate economic and political payoffs at home and abroad.
Some countries clearly prefer one candidate over the other. But the biggest loser may be the American political process, long held up as a model for the rest of the world to emulate.
Soft power, getting softer?
DFID - UK Department for International Development/flickr.com
There are some rather remarkable aspects of the increasingly heated debate about China’s influence in Australia. First, the idea that China actually has any “soft power” to exert is actually rather surprising…
Understanding how China operates on an international level means understanding how it exercises soft power.
Shutterstock
How to Train Your Dragon 2 has flown to the top of the foreign box office, raking in US$37.7m from 28 markets. This success was principally driven by China, which brought in US$25.9m, and comes right on…
Proud hosts.
EPA/Alexey Nikolsky/Ria Novosti/Kremlin Pool
As the BRICS Summit meets hot on the heels of the FIFA World Cup, also in Brazil, a remarkable trend is apparent. Most of the major global sports events such as the World Cup and the Olympic Games are…
The enduring image of Brazil’s World Cup?
Marcus Brandt/EPA
The World Cup has come to an end and what a mixed bag it was for Brazil. Central to Brazil’s desire to host the World Cup was the opportunity to showcase their economic achievements to the world and enhance…
Is new Qatari emir as keen on World Cup as predecessor Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani?
EPA
The highly visible role played by Qatar in spearheading the Arab Spring uprisings in north Africa and Syria in 2011 focused world attention on this tiny Gulf emirate. It capped a remarkable year that began…
The largest language promotion project the world has ever seen?
Chinese teacher/Shutterstock
While China’s dramatic economic and trade impact on Africa has caught global attention, there has little focus on its role in education. But there are important questions raised by China’s education push…
Chinese media coverage of the missing flight MH370 is acting as a proxy for the country’s positioning as a rising diplomatic power with expansionary ambition in the Asian-Pacific. Since the flight was…
‘Let your mouth rejoice’ (bite the wax tadpole): Coca Cola in China.
Ming Xia
It’s clear that the financial influence of China is now global: it has invested $75 billion in Africa over the last 10 years in large infrastructure projects while China’s state news agency, Xinhua, has…