I’ve been thinking about the range of theories of influence at work in the Public Diplomacy field so I was interested to see that Organizational Research Services, a Washington state evaluation consultancy, have put out a briefing note Pathways to Change...

Senior leaders representing 17 African national militaries came together with their American counterparts here this week to better understand U.S. Africa Command and to help in developing the noncommissioned officers corps in their nations.

“Cyberspace and the technologies that enable it allow people of every nationality, race, faith and point of view to communicate, cooperate and prosper like never before,” President Barack Obama said in an introduction to the report.

In a small classroom in the Director of Women’s Affairs office, more than 20 women gathered, mostly teachers, for a two-day communications workshop held in Bazarak District here, beginning Feb. 8.

What has changed, however — and this has made governments vulnerable to citizens’ legitimate criticism as never before (which is a good thing) — is that the sheer extent of potentially embarrassing and even “endangering” information that can be divulged by anyone motivated to do so...

The advent and power of connection technologies -- tools that connect people to vast amounts of information and to one another -- will make the twenty-first century all about surprises. Governments will be caught off-guard when large numbers of their citizens, armed with virtually nothing but cell phones, take part in mini-rebellions that challenge their authority.

Philip Seib was quoted in a piece about how Central Command uses social media to respond to "enemy" propaganda, "you get a lot of wrong information, purposely or accidently, on the web, that can take on a life of its own and by engaging people about that expands the debate."