With more constraints on government resources and increasing public demand for information, "the ability to mobilize human and informational resources efficiently will only increase in importance," he adds. Knowledge management was the first use of eDiplomacy at the department, writes Hanson.

As with many new things, a lot of foreign ministries were initially skeptical of ediplomacy. What did 140 character messages and social media have to do with serious diplomacy? There have now been more than enough social media infused international crises to silence those critics.

Images of the charred U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, flashed around the world as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton entered the Treaty Room in Washington and spoke about the deaths of four Americans there. “Today, many Americans are asking, indeed I asked myself, how could this happen?” Clinton said.

The Celtic Connection, one of the Scotland’s biggest roots music and arts festival supported by the government Scottish Arts Council, yesterday signed an agreement with the Rajasthan International Folk Festival (RIFF) to promote exchanges between roots musicians of Rajasthan and the Celtic regions of Britain.

Through generations, our great nation has been asked great questions -- and we have answered them. Could we feed a people on this driest of lands? Could we unite a nation on a continent without the pressures of revolution or war? Could we carry our weight in the world and fight for the freedom of our friends? Could we defend ourselves in our greatest hour of need? Could we rebuild after decades of Depression and war? Could we embrace change and find new sources of wealth in demanding new times? Could we say Sorry?

The sun had risen over a hazy Benghazi about an hour earlier, and as he grabbed the wheel of his militia’s beaten-up white Toyota pickup, 42-year-old Ibn Febrayir (not his real name) groused to himself that this was no way to treat an ambassador, especially U.S. envoy Christopher Stevens. He had heard war tales about the lanky, good-natured Californian.

Hillary Clinton says she still intends to step down as U.S. secretary of state sometime around January's presidential inauguration, dispelling speculation over reports she might opt to stay in the post amid numerous diplomatic crises if President Barack Obama wins re-election. "It's really still my same time-frame," Clinton told the Washington Post in an interview published on Friday, repeating her plan to step down after one term even if voters on Nov. 6 give Obama another four years in office.

Contrary to popular belief, Angela Merkel does not hold all the aces in her game of high stakes poker with Enda Kenny and the Irish taxpayer. For unless she plays her cards most carefully, Ms Merkel in the longer term could back herself into a corner, and her options might suddenly become very limited indeed.