Pentagon officials have described it as an attempt by Tehran to project influence among Iraq's majority Shiite population.
Pakistan has long supported the Taliban, to project influence in Afghanistan and to help control its own large Pashtun population.
"We have no interest in using Afghanistan as a platform to project influence into neighboring countries," he said.
For Brazil, hosting the conference creates an opportunity to project influence into different parts of the developing world.
In fact, what would keep Iran from throwing its own weight around – grabbing territory and projecting influence throughout the region.
Indeed, the complexity, planning and timing of the attack suggested a formidable and calculating enemy that is able to project influence well beyond its Somali base.
But the urge to export movies, Mr. Cain said, has much to do with the Chinese government's promotion of what is often called "soft power"— the ability to project influence through nonmilitary means, including, of course, the film business.
But there is no question that China's economic power and its assertive use of its navy and commercial vessels to project influence has changed the regional dynamics and worried many of its smaller neighbors.
A ship like the Stennis, they say, which was sending aircraft on missions over Iraq one day and over Afghanistan 36 hours later, allows Washington to project influence, unrestricted by borders or basing rights.
And while there may be a significant protest vote, because it is nationally based and not coordinated as a bloc across Europe, its ability to project influence is limited.
