More and more governments are now focusing on the potential of tablets, smartphones, and portable devices in the pursuit of foreign policy goals and objectives. Quite simply, mobile technologies are growing fast and not only in North America and Europe, but in the most rural areas of the globe and in regions where human rights and civil liberties are far from being fully enjoyed by all citizens.

A court in Saudi Arabia has sentenced seven cyber activists to between five to 10 years in prison for inciting protests, mainly by using Facebook. The men were arrested in September last year, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW), and their trial began in April.

The recent summit meeting in California between President Barack Obama and his Chinese counterpart, President Xi Jinping was seen by many as an important milestone in Sino-American bilateral relations. Indeed, the informality and broad range of subjects discussed between two competitive nations led many observers to draw parallels to the U.S.-Soviet summits of yesteryear.

Diplomacy is evolving, rapidly adapting to a world in which real time communication is faster than ever and the “rules of engagement” are not limited only to foreign policy and military strategy, but also to social media and public diplomacy. It is a different kind of engagement, a veritable framework to provide the conditions necessary for ambassadors and diplomats to open and nurture a true dialogue with their publics, both at home and abroad.

The State Department’s social media presence vastly dwarfs that of other countries using internet-based tools for public diplomacy efforts, according to a new report by a Canadian think tank.

The term “engagement” is a floating signifier; its meaning is typically embedded in the context of the articulation – who is saying it, in what venue, to serve a particular argument claim, etc. It’s a form of jargon that informs practice, and helps to rationalize acts of public diplomacy into the larger strategic language for U.S. diplomacy.

First, that the combined power of the crowd can accomplish anything. Second, that it takes critical networks of communication and collaboration to activate that crowd. While the revolution eventually led to the collapse of a 30-year old regime, it has also had a lesser-chronicled impact - becoming a catalyst for a growing movement of technology start-ups booming across the country.

The lack of public debate, shifting attitudes towards civil liberties, insufficient disclosure, and a decreasing terrorist threat demands that collecting Americans' phone and Internet records must meet the absolute highest bar of public consent. It's a test the Obama administration is failing.