Public diplomacy received considerable attention, given that Al Jazeera’s creation was a public diplomacy effort by Qatar’s rulers to increase international recognition of the country’s aspirations in the Arab world and beyond.

That’s largely the case for the U.S. government’s most expensive foreign broadcasting effort: the Arabic-language news channel Alhurra. Since the television station was founded in 2004, the U.S. has sunk close to a billion dollars into it.

The State Department's public diplomacy position "isn't about marketing," according to its current occupant, former Discovery Communications CEO Judith McHale, as much as conversations and connections, often enabled by digital and social media.

In the history of international relations, WikiLeaks probably signifies the most direct attack on diplomacy as a political tool for managing affairs between countries. Hopefully, it will also trigger open and honest discussion about diplomacy’s future role and practice in this new information era.

People-to-people diplomacy is playing an important role in international relations in the contemporary global world, adding a new dimension to international relations and redefining the way a country engages with its citizens to garner support for its foreign policy and national interests.

It was more than a half-century ago when Hungarian freedom fighters dared to take to the streets and do battle with the Soviet Union. Expecting help – apparently promised but never delivered – from the United States, the Hungarians were quickly outmatched and paid a terrible price at the hands of the Soviet military.

Here and there in downtown Budapest, the bullet holes remain. It was more than a half-century ago when Hungarian freedom fighters dared to take to the streets and do battle with the Soviet Union. Expecting help - apparently promised, but never delivered - from the United States, the Hungarians were quickly outmatched and paid a terrible price at the hands of the Soviet military.

On Sept. 2, Chowrangi, an English-language online journal of culture and news in Pakistan, published a story about three explosions in Lahore that killed more than 30 and wounded more than 200, including women and children. Like a lot of online stories, this one sparked vociferous comments.