In a region where people overwhelmingly disapprove of American policy toward the Arab world, Oprah has quietly emerged as a better cultural ambassador than any public diplomacy effort in recent memory. As the months passed, I heard more from fans of Oprah. They are women representing a spectrum of class and religious orientation — conservative women, veiled women, liberal women and even women who don’t speak much English but read the Arabic subtitles.

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Mr. Obama's first attempt at soft power is the nifty new White House Web site, complete with a White House blog. In his Inaugural Address, Mr. Obama focused on soft power alongside hard power: "Our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint."

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A rolling hunger strike in solidarity with Zimbabwe’s starving citizens has been launched in South Africa, with a number of high profile South African’s pledging their support by giving up food for at least one day a week. The action, which was launched in Johannesburg on Wednesday, is the first offensive of a new solidarity movement called ‘Save Zimbabwe Now’ set to raise awareness and draw attention to the severe food shortages in Zimbabwe – a crisis that has left almost an entire nation at threat of starvation.

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Barack Obama's inauguration as the 44th U.S. president was followed across the world almost as keenly as at home. In Europe, many newspapers welcomed - often in euphoric terms - the change in the White House. However, there were corners of the world, where there was hope the Obama presidency would build on relationships forged by his predecessor.

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There will be problems no doubt, especially in relation to Pakistan’s and India’s willingness to reengage in peace talks, not merely to resolve old disputes but to move quickly to trade and cultural relations. Pakistan’s growing suspicion of a US-Indian “conspiracy” to beat down Pakistan and get hold of its nuclear assets is going to throw up psychological barriers.

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Yet Obama’s popularity is also a potential pitfall if we allow ourselves to think that a new messenger will be enough to restore America’s global standing. Even if European leaders want to cooperate with the new administration, they must still make the case for why their citizens should shoulder new burdens in difficult times. Their success is more likely if Obama demonstrates that he is willing to listen to allies’ concerns and understands their domestic politics...Obama will convince wary Europeans to contribute more in Afghanistan not by “selling” U.S.

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As its air campaign ramped up in late December, the Israeli military debuted its own YouTube channel to broadcast clips of surveillance and airstrikes, eager to portray its weapons as precise and show off its technological command of the battlespace. Hamas has also sought to use the media. In Gaza, a group of Hamas fighters allowed Algerian journalist Zouheir Alnajjar to videotape the inside of their homemade rocket factory...Government officials also got into the act.

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Having discovered that economic power does not immediately translate into political influence and may in fact alienate those it is supposed to attract, the Russian government needs to identify new ways to influence the West but finding that its options are not nearly as good as many in Moscow had thought, according to a Russian analyst.

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