But Turkey's inclusion in the NATO missile shield project, its balancing role in Iraq, ability to confront the Assad regime in Syria, growing economy and soft power will convince the White House that Ankara is an asset for US national security and other interests abroad.

It seems that without an effective American president player on the ground, it will be very difficult to get the Israelis and Palestinians to a negotiating table, unless somehow they can figure out a way to do a secret backchannel. Public diplomacy won’t work without an American role...

Airpower diplomacy, also known as building partnerships by the U.S. Air Force, offers some distinct advantages over any alternatives. Best thought of as the non-kinetic application of air, space, and cyber power, airpower diplomacy is a form of soft power that’s useful in strengthening existing relationships and developing new ones—while protecting American interests.

Consider how Washington’s new era of austerity and restraint has reduced U.S. foreign policy: Bush started wars and, after having exhausted the alternatives, engaged in massive nation-building efforts...With Obama, it increasingly seems like we are just in it for the killing.

That doctrine relies on downplaying "hard" power capabilities and relying more on "outsourcing" U.S. security concerns to international institutions like the United Nations, negotiating with military competitors (think: the New START nuclear agreement with Russia) and embracing "soft" power initiatives (think: diplomatic "engagement" with Iran).

So Obama has left his mark on the Australia-US alliance:...an historic speech on Asia strategy, an important shift towards US military access... But as a major public diplomacy opportunity to consolidate America's closest Asia Pacific alliance, it could have been done considerably better.

The US Embassy in Jakarta has generated a fan base of 430,000 Indonesians with its two-year-old Facebook page. Embassy staffers have been operating the Facebook site as a base for public engagement, conversation, news, culture and tourism promotion.

The speech and doctrine was far less grounded in a liberal illusion of Obama as a cosmopolitan-in-chief. His public diplomacy on this trip was meant less to reassure and more to make plain America’s intent to augment its hard military power in Australia’s backyard. His believe in the efficacy of hard power is one of the most underappreciated aspect of his presidency.