The United States intends to use its public diplomacy efforts in Pakistan to bridge the differences between the people of the two countries, newly-appointed US Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Tara Sonenshine said on Friday. She was speaking to a gathering at Kinnaird College University during her day-long visit of the city.

Addressing the students at KC, she spoke about the role of public diplomacy in building bridges between people of both the countries. She said that as citizens of the globe, everybody faced a combination of shared challenges and opportunities. She discussed how US public diplomacy empowered, engaged, and supported citizens around the world.

Under Secretary Sonenshine’s goal was to better understand how public diplomacy can bolster US-Pakistan relations and build a sustainable future for the generations to come....Speaking to students from various universities at Kinnaird College, the under secretary spoke about the role of public diplomacy in Pakistan in building bridges between the people of both countries.

Speaker of the National Assembly Dr Fehmida Mirza and the visiting US Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Tara Sonenshine joined by US Ambassador Cameron Munter Wednesday. inaugurated the Pakistan Institute for Parliamentary Service (PIPS) here.

During her visit, Under Secretary Sonenshine will engage with civil society and emphasize people-to-people ties shared between the United States and Pakistan. She will meet with young Pakistani entrepreneurs and female students to discuss the shared goal of empowerment and to discuss ways to unlock their full potential.

Pakistan is seething with anti-Americanism. This public sentiment is constraining the state's ability to find sensible options to work out the US-Pakistan relationship. People in the decision-making mix realise that a failure to transform the situation could eventually force a complete breakdown of this all-important partnership to Pakistan's own detriment.

Despite moving in the right direction, the entire ordeal demonstrates just how incompetent Pakistan's government is when dealing with international crises, such as the NATO strikes, and how an emotional response, coupled with a poor understanding of bargaining power, can cripple a nation's international soft power and reputation.

Obama’s public diplomacy on drones has its uses on the 2012 campaign trail, but for U.S national security policymakers it is needed to counter the daily reports out of Pakistan that virtually everybody from the pro-American foreign minister to the Islamist right opposes the drone war. In the country’s upcoming presidential election, perennial populist candidate Imran Khan is surging on the strength of his pledge to shoot down U.S. drones.