How to convert power resources into real power in global affairs is a huge test for the Chinese government at present. For example, we help build hospitals in Africa, but the doctors working there are from Europe. China has long been characterized by its remarkable economic growth and now it is high time to translate such power resources into extensive and enduring influence. In this course, civil power should be unleashed. China can learn from the US in empowering the public and the private sector to aid in the foreign policy goals. Proceeding with strategic transformation in China’s diplomacy, we should adopt a new worldview in compliance with modern development, a more appropriate positioning of the country, a more accurate definition of national interests, a more attractive expression of our values, a more effective allocation of resources, and a more balanced use of different policy means.

Putin’s scathing criticism of US policies in his controversial op-ed in the New York Times last week in full view of the American public did touch a raw nerve in the White House – especially his mockery of America’s exceptionalism. Putin may have scored in public diplomacy but it may prove a short-lived success, from the American viewpoint, it pays to play the Russians and against the Iranians. The Russian-Iranian ties have been under stress and mutual trust is lacking. Syria’s volatile situation could still hamper or even halt the agreement’s implementation. In other words, the two-faceted Syrian crisis, an ongoing civil war plus threats of foreign military intervention, suggests a bumpy road ahead when the agreement is to be carried out.

Regarding outer space, France’s main objective is to perpetuate its autonomy and national sovereignty. As sovereignty is the state of determining itself based on its own will without depending on other nations, satellites are, first and foremost, the guarantee of France’s autonomy in assessment and thereby in decision-making. Space resources also contribute to the other form of autonomy, i.e. the autonomy of action. Both are but two sides of the same coin since deciding autonomously without having the means to act is more or less a statement of weakness showing that one state is constrained in choosing only decisions not to act.

Rusia es una potencia y una gran economía con un extenso territorio que abarca 1/7 del total mundial, que se extiende a través de dos continentes y que tiene accesos a dos océanos, que tiene derecho a sus propios intereses y aspiraciones geopolíticas y que tiene que tomar en serio las amenazas a su posición. Deberá también tenerse presente dentro del contexto, que al ser un factor destacado en la política europea y mundial, durante el transcurso de siglos, esto se ha convertido en parte integral de la tradición política rusa. Putin hace hincapié en que “Rusia en general siempre ha disfrutado del privilegio de llevar adelante una política exterior independiente y esto es lo que continuará haciendo.” Otros países, aliados de Moscú o rivales geopolíticos deben tener siempre presente que Rusia está preparada para defenderse y para defender a sus amigos, como también defender el principio general de derechos igualitarios en la política internacional, lo cual significa que la libertad de maniobra disponible para sus pares no debe ser percibida como ilimitada si la seguridad de Rusia está en juego.