Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton believes in the power of food. Over more than three years as America's top diplomat, she has increasingly used cuisine as a tool to bring people together.

In late 2005, I found myself in Afghanistan, working for the defence minister at the time as director of communications. I quickly became acquainted with the frustration of trying to communicate effectively through the noise of suicide bombs and high-profile attacks.

The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs announced today that musicians from 21 countries will travel to the United States to engage audiences as part of One Beat. Beginning September 10 in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, OneBeat, a cultural diplomacy initiative, will connect international musicians with American musicians and audiences, especially underserved youth.

Ediplomacy promotes social networking technologies such as Twitter and Facebook to reach out to citizens, companies and others. "I define it as building on traditional forms of diplomacy to account for the technologies, the networks and the demographics of the 21st century," says Ross. "The key role for me is to be an accelerant."

“We are very aware that US officials regularly discuss Tibet and many other human rights issues with like-minded governments. However, more visible, public and coordinated diplomacy is necessary for the Chinese government to feel pressure to alter its conduct."

In an effort to harness the “soft power” of diaspora groups, the U.S. Department of State and USAID recently convened more than 500 United States residents with heritage from 124 countries for the second annual Global Diaspora Forum.

Secretary Clinton’s remarks will always strike a chord for 21st Century Statecraft and open Internet initiatives... Let’s not forget the digital uprisings that came as a result of the SOPA/PIPA protests in the United States earlier this year, topped off with the shut down of Wikipedia and Reddit among others.

DanceMotion USASM builds on Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s vision of “smart power” diplomacy, which embraces the full use of diplomatic tools, in this case dance, to engage people and create opportunities for greater understanding.