Public diplomacy (PD to its friends) is one of the less celebrated but more intriguing investments in U.S. foreign policy.  For decades, it has earned lasting allies for our country and helped multitudes understand and embrace our core values, including human rights, freedom of information, strong civil society and education for all.

First, the shortcomings in "public diplomacy" and lack of transparency in the five-month-old Kurdish peace process have led to confusion and anger, especially among Turks. This sentiment has triggered street violence by small groups, but what is more important is that the "silent majority" feels deprived of adequate information about the process. Prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan grasped that.

Digital diplomats broadcast messages and multimedia, attract commenters to specially designed forums in foreign languages and monitor trending topics in an attempt to take the world’s pulse. But whether conducted online or off, public diplomacy has always been an inexact science. how do diplomats know whether their efforts are paying off?

Our public diplomacy was a failure. Public diplomacy is about winning hearts and minds and is therefore an important tool of diplomatic influence. SA's conviction that the AU roadmap is the best blueprint for engaging Libya, and Gaddafi, suffered at the hands of poor public diplomacy.

The U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy met last week to discuss its biennial report to appraise U.S. Government activities intended to understand, inform, and influence foreign publics. In 2008, the Commission come out with a report on the human resource aspect of public diplomacy.