...the approach adopted by El-Arabi in pursuing this renewed focus on Africa, as well as the public diplomacy initiatives launched by Egypt post-revolution, had much greater credibility.

The new top diplomat described the United States and European Union as essential partners to Egypt, he adding, noting that he believed more in Egypt's soft power, thus he will seek to enhance the cultural and developmental dismensions in the foreign policy.

It was the dismal failure of Egyptian leadership in the region that was at the heart of the Arab predicament and the deep admiration of Turkey’s growing soft power. With the Arab Spring and particularly Egypt’s revolution, Cairo is now slowly re-emerging as the most likely candidate to fill the vacuum of strategic leadership in the Arab world.

It is hard to remember the time when the Georgian leader was the reform darling of the Euro-Atlantic community, blitzing corruption with one hand, building infrastructure with another and trying to use soft power to win back the loyalties of people in the breakaway territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Economic Diplomacy requires application of technical expertise that analyzes the effects of a country’s economic situation on its political climate and economic interests. The foreign business leaders as well as government decision-makers work together on some of the most cutting edge issues in foreign policy... as well as in the more traditional areas of trade and finance.

Now is the moment for the cynics to drop their all-or-nothing criticism of sanctions, and to see them instead as a limited but useful tool. Because of their value in signalling and soft power; because they are often the only relatively inexpensive policy option; and because smart sanctions can be applied flexibly, they remain an important policy instrument.

CPD Research Fellow Caitlin Byrne(2010-2012) is one of the keynote speaker's at Australian National University's conference on 'Public and Citizen Diplomacy.'

The images of Barack Obama's recent visit were a publicity consultant's dream. But beyond the feel-good photography and the cheerful bonhomie, there was purpose and substance to Obama's trip, specifically the need to redefine America's relationship with Europe in a much-changed world.