Insurgents attacked the Indian consulate in Afghanistan's eastern capital on Saturday, killing nine people and reinforcing fears that a bloody regional power struggle will be played out in the country once most foreign troops leave. Twenty-three people were wounded when checkpoint guards stopped three attackers in a car as they approached the consulate in Jalalbabad city, the office of the governor of Nangarhar province, Gul Agha Sherzai, said in a statement.

Joseph Bookbinder assumed duties as Public Diplomacy Section Chief for the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) on Aug. 1, the AIT announced yesterday. Bookbinder, who has served as a Foreign Service Officer for 21 years, joined the United States Foreign Service in 1992 and has had overseas assignments in India, Taiwan and China, the AIT said in a statement.

As expected, most Australian foreign policy specialists agreed with one another that the Australia-U.S. strategic alliance remains a strong one. In fact, they pointed to signs that the partnership has only intensified in recent years, citing the particularly close relations between our countries’ political and military elites as evidence. However, these experts displayed clear demographic divides in how they view the alliance.

After years of neglect, the Canadian government seems to be ratcheting up international cooperation with its Latin American counterparts. The increase in diplomatic overtures is motivated by the promise of forging new trade relationships and enhancing existing ties, but also by the apparent continent-wide consequences of organized crime and drug trafficking. While an “Americas Strategy” was launched in 2007, the government only recently started matching its rhetorical commitments with action.

Another day, another parliamentary committee investigating the future of aid, this time the House of Lords select committee on soft power and the UK's influence. Soft power is the concept by Joseph Nye to describe ways in which countries nudge and cajole rather than pay or use force to further their interests. Or, as the committee's chairman put it, it is a way to "promote Britain's reputation, protect its interests and ensure security in a world where the military methods of the last century or two don't always work".

A terrorism threat has closed U.S. embassies and consulates throughout the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia on Sunday of this weekend. More than 20 diplomatic missions will be closed including missions in Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia. The U.S. Department of State stated, “Current information suggests that al-Qaeda and affiliated organizations continue to plan terrorist attacks both in the region and beyond, and that they may focus efforts to conduct attacks in the period between now and the end of August.”

A Chinese online game developer has released a military-backed video game that allows players to fight alongside Chinese troops in seizing disputed Japanese-controlled islands in the East China Sea. The Glorious Mission Online game series is the first to be developed jointly by a Chinese company and the People's Liberation Army. Its release date coincides with the 86th anniversary of the PLA's founding.

De Gaulle and Free France’s use of public diplomacy to rally a down-yet-not-out France remains a stirring example of how a semi-official national movement can project legitimacy and rally support for its cause. Through leaflets, communiqués, and international broadcasting efforts, as well as by projecting the trappings of authority, Free France was able to use public diplomacy to rally support domestically and throughout the areas of the French territory worldwide still under contest, as well as to supporters in Britain and the United States.