Grossman said the partnership with Pakistan was important to establish peace and security in the region. He further said there was a dire need to improve perception about each other through public diplomacy, adding that the US greatly valued democratic Pakistan led by elected leadership.

The projection of America’s abundant soft power is still wholly inadequate. Tally the scorecard in Afghanistan – you’ll see the consequence of our inadequacy in misspent treasure and tragic human sacrifice. When we fail with our soft power, we rely more heavily on hard power to achieve our goals, placing an undue, and unfair, burden on our armed forces.

Middle East and Asia are usually dominated by stories of war and political confrontations. But in places like Iraq and Afghanistan, Gaza and Malaysia, music, art and dance are helping to bring people together. "It's cultural diplomacy, cultural engagement,"...

As long as the U.S. military is the point-man for American involvement in Afghanistan, however, it is the use of hard power — force — that will capture public attention. The predominant effort, if we are to be at all present in that foreign country, should consist even more of soft power missions than it already does.

Through the International Security Assistance Forces AFPAK Hands program, detailed in my previous post, we have learned that much of the efforts towards Afghan media, on the part of ISAF and the international community, are directed towards the Afghan media who have the largest audience

Through the International Security Assistance Forces AFPAK Hands program, detailed in my previous post, we have learned that much of the efforts towards Afghan media, on the part of ISAF and the international community, are directed towards the Afghan media who have the largest audience. Much of this feedback was received from media outlets themselves. However, there are many other media outlets who communicate to specific audiences.