Over the past decade, Slovakia has reformed its taxation, healthcare, pension, and social welfare systems, attracting large inflows of foreign investment into the automobile and electronic sectors, and becoming Central Europe’s first country to adopt the euro in January, 2009. But Europe’s economic woes have slowed growth. The Slovak government believes it must forge ahead finding new and innovative sources of growth - particularly on the Internet.

The recent restructuring of the government’s hasbara (public diplomacy) body opens a window of opportunity that can revolutionize Israel’s PR strategy. Public diplomacy has become an essential aspect of Israel’s strategy in its battle against delegitimization. As Israel’s enemies focus their energies and resources out of the battlefield and inside various initiatives such as the BDS movement or the flotilla incident, it might seem odd that Israel’s latest coalition agreement closed down the Public Diplomacy Ministry and transferred its authority to the Prime Minister’s Office.

Apparently having trouble driving traffic to its websites, in 2011, State undertook a major campaign to boost its numbers, including buying sponsored ads to increase its English-language Facebook page “likes” from 100,000 to more than 2 million and to 450,000 on Facebook’s foreign-language pages.

Aerial shots of Jerusalem filled the big screen, along with a giant concrete wall built along the Green Line. We saw security checkpoints at the entrance to Israel but in a very different context than the typical portrayal of checkpoints. These giant walls and security measures were seen as safety, salvation, and stimulated a positive feeling in the audience.

Former NBA star Dennis Rodman says that something is “seriously wrong” if he isn’t a top contender for the Nobel Peace Prize this year. The five-time NBA champion became the first American to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un earlier this year when he visited the country as part of a Vice trip to film a documentary. While there he struck up quite a friendship with the North Korean leader and urged U.S. President Barack Obama to call Kim upon returning home.

Football, contrary to many other banned fun activities and hobbies, was one of the most popular sports and was played all over the country even during Taliban government. The teams played nationally and regionally. After the collapse of Taliban rule, sport in general, but especially football, began to flourish and significant achievements in football were made both nationally and at international level.

Werbel's new book Lessons from China: America in the Hearts and Minds of the World's Most Important Rising Generation chronicles her experiences in and out of the classroom. The book captures Werbel's Chinese students in their own words as they grapple with America's tragic and transcendent past and, in doing so, inevitably reflect upon their own country's past, present, and future.

The Snowden affair provides a teachable moment for a great many things, not least of them the need for robust U.S. public diplomacy. Today more than ever, global public opinion matters. The U.S. cannot conduct itself with disregard for how its actions will be perceived by the rest of the world; even public diplomacy at its best cannot fix bad policy. But modern public diplomacy is not at its best.