After having won many hearts and minds in the Arab world, the Turkish prime minister continued to the Balkans and South Africa last week, presenting Turkey as a confident new player on the world stage. Read the international media coverage of these visits and you can see how big the impact is of this Turkish soft power offensive.

On the tenth anniversary of 9/11, Arabs opinion is, in my view, unduly harsh on a well-intentioned president. After all, the president is fulfilling his commitment to withdraw from Iraq and Afghanistan, and is certainly not meddling in the Middle East to prop up unpopular dictators...

What better way to build bridges across borders than with some light entertainment and gripping love affairs? The soaps and serials that are being scheduled into primetime viewing slots region-wide are creating a desire for cultural exchange, a sort of knowing me, knowing you effect. The frenzy caused by the popularity of Turkish soaps is capturing the imaginations of its viewers.

Israelis studiously track public opinion in the United States and Europe, and Israel's military has taken to using YouTube, Twitter and bloggers to disseminate real-time updates around the world, sometimes in the middle of battle.

...[previously] I posited that historical attitudes reaching back to the dawn of the Zionist movement provide a context, if not a continuous mode of thought, lying behind Israel’s inability and unwillingness to construct a public diplomacy program that directly engages newly empowered Arab publics.

In March 2011 I wrote a piece for the CPD Blog entitled "Israeli Public Diplomacy’s Longstanding Blind Spot: Arab Publics,” in which I posited that historical attitudes reaching back to the dawn of the Zionist movement provide a context, if not a continuous mode of thought, lying behind Israel’s inability and unwillingness to construct a public diplomacy program that directly en

This visit was not just about learning for Egyptian youth. It was also a great example of the “public diplomacy” which we have been hearing so much about recently, and a great sign that Turkish statesmen and Turkey have really learned this business well.

DUBAI --- Take a look at Barack Obama’s 2009 speech in Cairo. It was beautifully written and radiated good intentions. The U.S. government relied heavily on new media tools to disseminate it throughout the Arab world and beyond. Arab opinion of Obama improved significantly; and then it dropped like a rock.