The United States has played a significant role in Yemen’s transition, which ushered out former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, in exchange for immunity, and inaugurated a unity government and consensus president that are overseeing a national dialogue launched last month. The United States has pledged support for the dialogue, which will lead to a constitutional referendum and new elections.

Two recent books on China and India have highlighted the rising importance of public diplomacy within the foreign policies of these rising Asian giants. Taken together, U.S. academic David Shambaugh’s China Goes Global and Indian writer and Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor’s Pax Indica reveal some telling differences between the way both governments approach the pursuit of soft power. Both books suggest quite divergent outlooks for the two governments in their search for global influence through PD in the coming years.

Exporting culture to China isn't just about profit. It's also an extension of Britain's soft power. Listening to Mamma Mia in Mandarin I was amused to hear that in the chorus of Abba's Money, Money, Money, the singers revert to English...Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats is also touring, and producer Cameron Mackintosh in confident that Les Misérables will follow soon. It is proof that Britain's creative industries are a key export sector, which we can and should be growing.

Public diplomacy is "badly needed" to open more communication channels between China and Japan, veteran Japanese diplomats told China Daily on Monday. The current relationship between the two countries is like a human body that is "bleeding", said Yuji Miyamoto, Japanese ambassador to China from 2006 to 2010.

In 1998, while completing my Masters of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Dallas, I was nominated and then selected for the Presidential Management Fellowship (PMF). The PMF which began in 1977 is a flagship leadership development program for advanced degree candidates, accelerating careers in public service.

Ethiopian Ambassadors and heads of Mission from all Ethiopian missions abroad and Director Generals at the head office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs today (April 1st) began a five-day meeting in Addis Ababa.

Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of former President John F. Kennedy, is close to being announced as the next United States ambassador to Japan, according to people familiar with the appointment process.