Almost every day, we see new examples of the power of connection technologies...The Arab spring brought home the power of the Internet to governments far beyond the Middle East, and the result has been more censorship, more surveillance and more restrictions...the Internet space – which has seemed so open and free – could become less so.

Robert Ford, the American ambassador to Syria, slipped out of the country on Sunday after credible threats were made against him. Ford and the Damascus embassy staff have been posting extensive content criticizing Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to Facebook and offering public sympathy for Syrian rebels.

Social media is not, of course, a substitute for the long-term and difficult work that undoubtedly lies ahead in Van where thousands are now homeless and winter is fast encroaching. Nor should it make us complacent as to the impact of our efforts. But as a reminder of what human kindness can achieve, it too has its place.

Digital diplomacy... has been made possible by the adoption, within diplomatic institutions and government more generally, of digitally-based systems of data creation, transmission and storage using the Internet, social media platforms, computers, and a variety of wireless electronic devices.

For much of the past decade, “soft power” has been touted as a means for making foreign policy more effective by emphasizing enticement rather than coercion, conversation rather than conflict. The concept has won applause, but putting it into practice has often been half-hearted...In an era in which revolutions rely more on social media than on machine guns, soft power will be ascendant.

The Occupy movement, decentralized and leaderless, has mobilized thousands of people around the world almost exclusively via the Internet. To a large degree through Twitter, and also with platforms like Facebook and Meetup, crowds have connected and gathered.

Beginning with the Twitter Race to 1 million followers...the malaria fight has consistently broken new ground in the use of social media. The UN created a powerful group of social media advocates called the Social Media Envoys, each of whom take an action on Twitter each month. And we're seeing great promise using communications technologies in malaria endemic countries too.

The Internet has become an ambassador for American soft power abroad through brands like Apple and Google, but policymakers need to appreciate that it is just a medium and not a panacea for competitiveness in the long term. The challenge for the United States is to think anew about products and their distinctiveness.