The video was released as many analysts believe the terror network is struggling to cope with the loss of a string of leaders and has found its jihadist message undermined by popular protests against authoritarian regimes which have swept the Middle East.

The young people who are vulnerable to al-Qaeda's recruitment pitches are likely to be impervious to positive messages about the United States. In addition, linking public diplomacy with counterterrorism risks alienating intended audiences...

Al Qaeda’s attack on the United States ten years ago was a profound shock to both American and international public opinion... Anyone who flies or tries to visit a Washington office building gets a reminder of how American security was changed by 9/11

America's real strength, more than its military and economic power, is its "soft power," its moral authority. And this, too, was weakened: As the U.S. violated basic human rights like habeas corpus and the right not to be tortured...

The U.S. military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan... all demonstrates...that the United States is bent on dominating the Muslim world. A decade of public diplomacy has not dented this view, and polls of Muslim populaces indicate that they continue to have a poor opinion of the United States.

For the most part, Muslim Americans disavow Islamic extremism, are happy with the way things are going in the country and in their lives, and are about as religious and educated as the general American public. Those are a few of the lessons from a new report from the Pew Research Center...sparked, in part, by a desire to know whether recent concerns about home-grown terrorism and other pressures had led to increased alienation and anger among Muslim Americans and support for extremism.

When the Chinese government spends vast amounts in Africa to set up communications infrastructure for dictators to flood the populace with their messages, public diplomacy has a new dimension. China is also offering this same region a propaganda-free news service, at a vastly cheaper cost than traditional Western news services. This is a sign of soft power and strategic influence are now going online.

In the States, we hear of hip-hop projects to keep kids off the streets. In Sana'a, the stakes went up a notch. Hip-hop, the hope was, could keep youth out of al-Qaeda. And the charming and unassuming AJ easily endeared himself to embassy staff, government officials, and NGOs that wanted to support his efforts.