Much of American public diplomacy, like much of the rest of U.S. foreign policy, is reactive. When a crisis erupts, policymakers respond as best they can to limit the damage. In this social media era, they are often outpaced by those who are better prepared to use new communication tools to deliver their messages.

CCTV America promotes itself as the "media crossroads where news and views about the world's two largest national economies intersect and sometimes collide".

Russia has launched a new international multimedia information agency Sputnik that plans to broadcast in 30 languages including Estonian and Latvian.  In 2015, Sputnik intends to broadcast over 800 hours of radio programming a day, covering over 130 cities and 34 countries.

Like many students in Japan, Kim Yang Sun cycles to school each morning. Unlike most, she then changes into a traditional Korean outfit and studies under portraits of former North Korean leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il.

The battle for hearts and minds of the global television news audience has entered a new phase with the launch of a dedicated UK version of the Kremlin-backed 24-hour news channel, RT.

Russia also has ramped up its advances on the information warfare front, aiming a barrage of propaganda at foreigners, particularly at Russian speakers living in its “near abroad.”

Russian propaganda, often masquerading as legitimate news, is disseminated through state-controlled media to confuse, obscure, and shift the debate about Putin and to legitimize Russian aggression abroad.