Big anthropological surveys are feats of cultural diplomacy...And when regular diplomacy breaks down because of hostility or instability, museums feel the impact. We were reminded of this last spring, when Asia Society’s exhibition of Buddhist art from Pakistan was delayed for six months.

The public diplomacy between United States and Israel has intensified in recent days regarding the possible military action against Iran to ‘end’ the alleged military dimension of its nuclear program. Senior officials from United States and Israel are visibly at odds regarding the nature of Iran’s nuclear program and mechanisms to manage the issue.

While the media still face many problems, as does the country itself, the creation of the media landscapes can be a powerful tool to counter forces of instability from dominating the country. Thus, if protected and utilized properly, the “Afghanistan Effect” can be one of the most powerful counterweights to a pre-2001 Taliban and Al Qaeda once again taking hold.

In his book, The Al Jazeera Effect, Philip Seib states that “Al Jazeera is a paradigm of new media’s influence,” similar to the way CNN had been the first to influence foreign policy throughout the world. Al Jazeera, Seib writes, goes further by using new media as a tool that ranges from democratization to terrorism, in addition to creating ‘virtual states’.

The Arab Spring is the topic of the USC Center on Public Diplomacy’s latest Media Monitor report. The report looks at the unprecedented revolution in five key nations – Tunisia, Egypt, Syria, Libya and Bahrain – and considers the wide-ranging implications for public diplomacy.

On the opposing side, there are those who cite Kuwait in the sixties, seventies and a substantial part of the eighties when its leadership in development, business, foreign aid and cultural production afforded it a soft power influence many times its counterparts.

This year's Oscar for the best foreign film went to Iran, a country which is grappling with a tense international environment because of its nuclear program. One debate, always important to Iranians, is about the contribution of such movies to the Iranian image.