Facebook's new global policy team will monitor the local political landscape and act as multilingual, TV-friendly communicators in countries and for cultures that, in many cases, have very different values and laws about privacy and personal communications than the U.S

Our diplomatic and development programs can prevent crises before they occur, so we do not need to send our greatest treasure - our brave soldiers - into harm’s way. As Mr. Gates has said, “Development is a lot cheaper than sending soldiers.”

Diplomats with decades of experience and knowledge need to work with the under-30 age group that is deftly using Internet-based communication technology, Cohen [Jared Cohen, a member of Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's policy planning staff] said. Traditional channels of diplomacy are fine, but they will need an assist from Facebook, Twitter and other social networks to succeed.

President Obama’s speech at West Point Saturday is the most sweeping statement yet of his plan to create a national security policy emphasizing education, clean energy, green jobs, anti-climate change measures, the granting of full American constitutional rights to accused terrorists, and “engagement” with America’s enemies.