Countries as diverse as the United States and North Korea have all struggled at the nexus of statehood and social media. Until now, none have had to purchase the Twitter handle of their country's name from the owner of a porn site. That dubious honor goes to Israel, which recently purchased the user name @israel from Israel Meléndez, a Spanish man living in Miami, who registered the name back in 2007, early in the microblogging website's history.

A Web site that aims to help Israelis defend the country’s image abroad – which Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs Minister Yuli Edelstein said would be online in April – finally premiered on Sunday. The site (http://masbirim.gov.il/eng/) provides hasbara material related to current events, tips for the “novice ambassador,” myths and facts about Israel and the Arab world, and lists of Israel’s most prominent achievements in science, medicine and agriculture. A Hebrew version of the site has been online since February.

Despite having several decades of history, New China's public diplomacy still lags behind many other countries, affecting its international image and soft power, senior diplomats said at a forum at the weekend.

Despite the dozens of reports on U.S. public diplomacy, it is actually quite rare to see an in-depth study on public diplomacy, particularly in the areas of government broadcasting..Even more rare is an in-depth public analysis of the public diplomacy of another country by another country. This week, an Australian think tank, the Lowy Institute, published such a report.

China has postponed a senior official's visit to Japan amid a diplomatic row over the arrest of a Chinese skipper after a collision in disputed waters.

US troops rely on local Afghan interpreters in the mission to win hearts and minds in the Afghanistan war. But many learn crucial languages on the job, resulting in deadly mishaps.

In her well-received remarks at the Council on Foreign Relations yesterday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton let slip a statement that immediately sent the inter-American affairs semantic fashion police scurrying. She referred to the on-going threat posed by Mexican drug cartels and their allies to Mexican society as an "insurgency."

During a visit to the International Tourism Fair in Caracas yesterday, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced he would meet with leaders of Venezuela's Jewish community. "We respect and love the Jewish people," said Chavez, who added that opponents have falsely painted him as "anti-Jewish."