Since the 2001 attacks on the United States, American public diplomacy has gradually developed greater sophistication in terms of its respect for Islamic and Arab culture, but that gradualism must now accelerate to keep pace with the confident assertion of Arab identity by millions still relishing the transformations begun in the Arab revolutions.

President Hosni Mubarak did not even wait for President Obama’s words to be translated before he shot back. "You don’t understand this part of the world,” the Egyptian leader broke in. “You’re young.”

Egypt’s president, Mohamed Morsi, is visiting the United States for the first time since taking office, and in an interview with the New York Times shortly before departing Cairo, he provided insights not only about his style of leadership but also about how Egypt has changed since the 2011 revolution that marked the end of Hosni Mubarak’s lengthy rule.

The United States and Pakistan are planning a joint effort to draw the Taliban toward peace talks in Afghanistan, an initiative that could help reconcile some militants and give Pakistan a say in the political future of its larger neighbor. A joint commission, or "action group," would help vet candidates for political rehabilitation, with a goal of helping Afghanistan frame a workable peace deal after U.S. and foreign forces leave.

The anti-American protests raging across the Middle East and beyond are testing much more than the security at America's diplomatic missions, or even the ability of Arab leaders—many of them in nascent democracies—to address extremism.

The notorious tweet reaffirming a statement that condemned “the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims” has been deleted by the US Embassy in Cairo, but the incident raises a question that lingers: Is blasting out 140-character messages on Twitter a good way to conduct diplomacy, given the political, and even mortal, risks?

The US Administration has turned to social media and television ads to try to stem global protest by showing news clips of US President Barack Obama condemning an anti- Islam film made in the US. "...That's something that we'll have to look at is what means did we use to make sure that publics around the world understood where the U.S. Government stands, and were those effective..."

The issue of striking a balance between security and accessibility is one that has been a constant struggle for United States’ diplomatic missions worldwide. How do diplomats meet the competing demands of interacting with foreign populations and keeping safe in a world filled with anti-American extremism?