News has broken that the new nominee for the Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs at the State Department will be Richard Stengel, who is leaving his position as Editor of Time Magazine. If confirmed, he will be the 8th Under Secretary since the creation of the position in 1999. Stengel will be replacing Tara Sonenshine, who left the R Office this June.

Putin is known for the love of strong language and a questionable, if not inappropriate, sense of humor. This has not changed over his nearly 15 years in power. Russia’s head of state ascended to the presidency in 1999-2000 famously promising to “waste terrorists in the out house, ” and most recently dismissed Assad’s chemical attack claims as “utter nonsense,” raising some eyebrows in the West.

Richard Stengel, the managing editor of Time magazine, is leaving to become under secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs at the State Department, according to people familiar with the appointment. Mr. Stengel replaces Tara Sonenshine, who held the post with Secretaries of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and John Kerry before leaving in July.

Time managing editor Rick Stengel (pictured above) is leaving journalism to go work for the State Department, making him at least the 15th 21st reporter to go to work for the Obama administration. Stengel will be the Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, Politico and Capital New York report. The last high-profile journalist to leave Time for the Obama administration is Jay Carney, who is currently White House press secretary (pictured at right).

Richard Wike, associate director of Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project, gave a presentation on global opinions of the United States on Wednesday at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. The event, hosted by the USC Center on Public Diplomacy (CPD), took place from 12 to 1 p.m. Accompanying Wike was Annenberg adjunct professor Robert Banks and CPD Director Jay Wang. The event was part of the center’s Conversations Series.

From Haiti to Japan to Egypt, digital natives have reshaped society by bringing ideas to life with the touch of a button. In his latest book, analyst John Zogby characterizes the Millennial generation as “the First Globals”—the first generation to truly view themselves as part of a global citizenry above the old boundaries of traditional nationalism. For these “First Globals”, the world is their oyster, and a passport their ticket to success.

September brings a change in seasons and a chance to remember. A dozen years have passed since the day the twin towers fell, but we never look at a bright-blue, clear September sky quite the same way, and certainly each September 11 anniversary gives us pause. With so much global agony, including conflict in Syria and throughout the Middle East, this is a good time to remind ourselves about the value of our diplomacy, particularly public diplomacy, and to remember those working overseas so that we can feel secure at home.