After enjoying a good run in the 1980s and 1990s, democracy has been playing defense lately. Dictators have grown wise to people power. China, Russia, Iran and Cuba have been more successful exporting and extolling their systems than democracies have been in promoting theirs.

After the United State’s invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001 in response Al Qaeda’s attacks on September 11, leadership in Kabul switched over from the Taliban to an interim government whose head of state, Hamid Karzai, backed by the United States, remains president today of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. The war has had a few successes and many failures.

Beyond the harsh rhetoric on who is to blame for 9/11, this appearance on BBC Persian has a few notable implications for U.S. public diplomacy apparatus in general and its policy towards Iran in particular.

In his exclusive interview with the BBC Persian Television, President Obama responded not only to the Iranian president's remarks at the UN General Assembly, but also to some of the concerns of Iranians and Afghans with regards to his administration's foreign policy. Beyond the harsh rhetoric on who is to blame for 9/11, this appearance on BBC Persian has a few notable implications for U.S. public diplomacy apparatus in general and its policy towards Iran in particular.

Almost two years into the Obama presidency, there is a discernible shift in the administration's foreign policy. If Phase One was about repairing America's image around the world by showing a friendlier face to everyone, especially adversaries, Phase Two will be about wielding renewed American influence, even if it means challenging some and disappointing others.

Co-Author: Sam Schneider

President Barack Obama's top cabinet members stressed Tuesday that devoting money and resources to overseas diplomacy and development is essential to U.S. national security. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner agreed that in addition to a military approach, a strong focus on development would reap many benefits for the U.S.

The freedom section of President Obama's address to the United Nations General Assembly yesterday deserves applause -- two cheers at least. It was the most extensive, fulsome, and compelling defense of human rights and democracy of his presidency, and it strategically placed political freedom in the context of economic freedom and development.