It hasn't been the best of times — this week, this month, indeed, this year — for American foreign policy. The US looks imbecilic abroad when a few dozen members of Congress can bring the government to a standstill — later striking a compromise that only offers the same hotheads another shot in the new year. Nor, of course, did the amateurish roll-out of Obamacare enhance the reputation of the leader of the free world.

I join my GWU and IPDGC colleague Tara Sonenshine in saluting Donald M. Bishop for a thoughtful speech on the state of U.S. public diplomacy and the challenges it faces. Let me add my two cents to the discussion. I agree with the bottom line: public diplomacy is not a sufficiently vital dimension of diplomacy, foreign policy and national security. In an increasingly interconnected world of the Internet, global media, personal media and billions of smartphones, it should be, but isn’t.

Recently, I read a fascinating speech by Donald M. Bishop, President of the Public Diplomacy Council. He led U.S. public diplomacy in Bangladesh, Nigeria, China, and Afghanistan. He is a trainer, speaker, and mentor in public diplomacy and communication. He also speaks on history and leadership. His remarks are bold and insightful. I found myself agreeing with many of his individual points – but I take issue with the overall, rather dire view and negative view, that America’s public diplomacy is weak, lacks direction, and increasingly focuses on feel good issues.

Last week, Rodrigo Tavares wrote in Foreign Affairs about Brazil’s recent involvement in paradiplomacy, or subnational foreign relations, by establishing formal bilateral relations between São Paulo and the UK. According to the article, the U.S. established a similar agreement with the world’s ninth largest city this past March - the first time that the State Department has forged direct relations with a subnational government in the southern hemisphere.

Iran and the United States should establish public and non-official diplomacy, first deputy Speaker of Iranian Parliament, Mohammad Reza Bahonar said, Iranian Bahar newspaper reported. He went on to note that, official diplomacy has limitations while public diplomacy does not have.

Over three years ago, on January 22, 2009 - in the immediate aftermath of Operation Cast Lead - the government of Palestine lodged a declaration with the Registrar of the International Criminal Court, accepting the Court's jurisdiction "for the purpose of identifying, prosecuting and judging the authors and accomplices of acts committed on the territory of Palestine since 1 July 2002".

The increased tempo of Beijing’s public diplomacy activities in recent years, from Confucius Institutes to the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, have received poor to mediocre reviews internationally. Expensive projects have been received positively by the Chinese public, but have done little to reverse China’s continued international image problems. Although a narrative of crisis pervades international scholarship on Chinese public diplomacy, there appears little evidence to suggest that Beijing is concerned.