“Good use of soft power objectively helps us reach priorities in international activities,” Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov told a meeting of the Public Chamber’s Council for International Cooperation and Public Diplomacy. Among Russian soft power tools, Gatilov listed the extension of cultural, informational and humanitarian presence abroad.

As she visits Algeria and the Balkans on what may be one of her last overseas trips as the nation’s top diplomat, Clinton is also confronting her legacy, and whether it will be framed by the Benghazi tragedy or her vision that American foreign policy in the 21st Century must utilize social media, coalition- building and export promotion as well as military power.

For advocates of the national security/mass atrocities link, preventing, mitigating, and halting atrocities -- through preventive diplomacy, as in Kenya, or military intervention, as in Libya -- will enhance the United States' strategic posture in key crisis arenas and, over the long-term, strengthen U.S. soft power in conflict-affected regions.

Mr. Schwartz is a career public diplomacy official who has served in Pakistan, India, Israel and South Africa... Some said Mr. Schwartz was among the first in the U.S. government to understand how the U.S.-made online clip would likely fuel unrest in the Mideast.

The presence of Russophobic sentiment in Armenia is already not a secret. The secret for the majority of Armenian society, including its Russophobic part, is the real causes of these trends in the country, which is considered an age-old partner and friend of the Russian people.

The plan to end the Nunn-Lugar program appears to be the latest step by the Russian government in an expanding effort to curtail American-led initiatives, and especially the influence of American money, in various spheres of Russian public policy.

Let me say at the outset, I am proud to be an American. I believe that with my citizenship comes a responsibility to be engaged and pay attention not just to what is happening domestically but also to what is happening in the world. In addition to being a proud American, I also see myself as a citizen of the world. So much of America is interconnected with the world and much of what we do here in the U.S. – from who we elect, to the goods and services we buy, to the media we consume – touches millions of lives around the globe.

Syria has told Russia that a mortar attack that killed five civilians across the border in Turkey was a "tragic accident" that will not be repeated, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted as saying on Thursday. RIA Novosti news agency said Lavrov had also told reporters during a visit to Islamabad that Russia had urged Syria to acknowledge this in public.