On the world stage, Liberal leader Justin Trudeau, the 43-year-old son of former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, has pledged to reassert Canada’s traditional position as a humanitarian soft power. He has wasted little time in signaling a shift in Canada’s foreign policy back to the left after a decisive victory Monday over his predecessor, Conservative leader Stephen Harper.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has been accused of using fashion diplomacy as a self-promotional tool. Labor senator Sam Dastyari took issue with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade devoting public diplomacy funds to a hashtag #fashiondiplomacy initiative in the wake of the Australia Network's demise.

Whatever the successes of US public diplomacy since the attacks of September 11, 2001, they pale in comparison to the cavalcade of scandals. And all these foreign policy “missteps” or manifestations of “imperial hubris”—take your pick—predate the rise of the self-proclaimed Islamic State, or ISIS, the latest fixation of State Department attempts at counter-radicalization through messaging.

Today even administration officials admit that the group is dominating the digital battlefield, but there are private citizens, including former jihadis and parents of Western recruits, who are quietly taking up the fight against the ISIS message machine. [...] “ISIL has used social media better than any terrorist group before or currently. They have mastered the use of it … as a propaganda tool, as a recruitment tool and as a targeting tool.”

The Roots IVY University College on Tuesday invited Ambassador Jauhar Saleem for an interactive session with the undergraduate and A-levels students to enlighten them about the dynamics and functions of the prestigious Foreign Service of Pakistan. Ambassador Saleem is Pakistan’s Ambassador-designate to Germany. [...] He also underscored the importance of public diplomacy in modern conduct of relations among countries.

North Korea on Saturday rejected the idea of resuming talks to end its nuclear program, saying previous such attempts ended in failure, and reiterated its demand that the US come to the table to negotiate a peace treaty.

The nuclear deal between Iran and the world powers is "an opening for further diplomatic endeavors" to resolve the conflicts in the Middle East, the German foreign minister said in Tehran Saturday.

The stability of the world is directly linked to climate change and its impact on food security for billions of people, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Saturday.