The US Consulate General in Lahore is pleased to welcome a new team of officers working in its Public Affairs section. Bringing extensive experience from previous diplomatic posts,as well as prior experience in the private media and education sectors, the three public diplomacy officers will work with the media, initiate American cultural programming and increase educational opportunities...

The announcement Thursday that President Obama will visit Pakistan in 2011 has further sapped enthusiasm in India for Mr. Obama’s visit here next month.

The United States will provide 125 scholarships to Pakistani journalists during 2011 as part of public diplomacy and capacity building cooperation, Federal Information and Broadcasting Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said after leading discussions with senior American officials on public diplomacy.

The US has been generous to Pakistan in its times of need, but deep-seated hostility towards Washington won't change if people suspect that humanitarian aid has a hidden agenda.

A policy of branding U.S. aid to flood-ravaged Pakistan is risking the security of aid workers working in the Islamic nation, according to a group of relief organizations. Eleven aid agencies including Oxfam, Save the Children, World Vision and CARE International warn that using a “stars and stripes” logo on U.S.-funded assistance compromises their neutrality in a nation mired in anti-U.S. sentiments.

For the US the war seems to have intensified from Afghanistan to a public diplomacy initiative in a West vs Islamdebate. Whether the US public diplomacy initiatives can resolve this larger cause to marginalise the radical Islamic elements across the globe is a tough ask at the best of times, especially now.

The U.S. relationship with Pakistan offers a perfect example of a dysfunctional relationship that neither side seems willing to end. During the Cold War the United States had an on again, off again relationship with Pakistan, hoping that a pious nation would counter communist influence.

he strategic implications of our recent poll of public opinion in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) are many and layered, but taken together, should point Washington toward a policy capable of meeting a broader set of U.S. interests in the region.