Secretary of State John Kerry warned Wednesday against creeping American isolationism, making the case that U.S. global leadership is essential in uncertain times as he hosted a rare public reunion of five of his predecessors. Speaking at the groundbreaking of a new museum celebrating the achievements of American diplomacy, Kerry said the United States looks inward at its peril and that U.S. engagement is needed more than ever.

A native Charlottean and former broadcaster, Snepp has started a nonprofit called Silk Road Leadership to help many resettle in the United States. “From my perspective, a nation has a responsibility to take care of those who risked their lives for our country,” says Snepp, 53. “Giving them a visa is not enough. We’re trying to provide a softer landing … to help them become more productive citizens here in the U.S.” 

A high level Eritrean delegation led by Mr. Osman Saleh, Foreign Minister, conducted working visit to Finland from 25 to 30 August 2014. In the course of its visit the delegation has met with Foreign Minister MR. Erkki Tumoioja and Mr. Pekka Haavisto, Minister of International Development Cooperation and discussed bilateral and regional issues especially with regards educational cooperation and in the development of higher learning and vocational education.

Israel's internal public diplomacy failed during Operation Protective Edge, deputy minister for liaison with the Knesset Ophir Akunis (Likud) charged Sunday in an interview with Israel Radio.  There has been much written about whether Israel's external public diplomacy to the foreign press succeeded during the operation. But Akunis was the first politician to allege a failure in how information about the military campaign was relayed to the Israeli public.

The State Department actually has a Twitter account focused on countering some of these jihadis and extremists online and specifically on Twitter. It’s hard to say how effective that is, perhaps it’s better than doing nothing. But we shouldn’t kind of delude ourselves into thinking that public diplomacy can really change people’s minds in a very obvious way. The American government doesn’t have a lot of credibility with anyone who is going to be vaguely sympathetic to the aims of th

China's president, Xi Jinping, has paid visits to Russia, South Korea and Mongolia since February this year, visits that have "hit pressure points" that "cut right to the chase," according to Duowei News, an overseas Chinese news outlet. Zhang Jiuhuan, vice chair of the China Public Diplomacy Association, compared Xi's recent official foreign visits to hitting pressure points, or points on the energy channels of the body — in other words, they were "short, fast, rich in content and fruitful." 

Hong’s new book, “The Birth of Korean Cool: How One Nation Is Conquering the World Through Pop Culture,” loosely follows South Korea’s growth from the mid-60s, when the country’s per capita G.D.P. was less than Ghana’s, to now. Today, South Korea is the 15th-largest economy in the world. From Psy’s “Gangnam Style” video to the chips that Samsung furnishes for Apple’s iPhones, the book explores the confluence of factors that make for Korea’s pop-­cultural perfect storm.

Contextual intelligence is critical for corporate and public diplomats alike. It is as essential to the effective practice of public diplomacy as it is to the global business environment. And as someone who has taught in various law enforcement and military academies, I would even argue it has direct application to our broader counter-terrorism and infrastructure protection efforts.