“Seeing is believing” is the philosophy behind a Foreign Ministry proposal to bring 3,000 North American non- Jewish campus influentials to Israel to show them the country and combat what ministry director-general for public diplomacy Gideon Meir called the “industry of lies” against the country.

Audiences in Mali can now get the latest news from the Voice of America (VOA) on an FM transmitter that went on the air today — part of a stepped-up response to the Malian crisis by the Broadcasting Board of Governors.

Despite Africa’s uneven progress, I remained deeply and profoundly optimistic about Africa’s future. This optimism is grounded in expanding democracy, improved security, rapid economic growth, and greater opportunities that exist for all of Africa’s people. It is clear to me as well as to many others that the 21st century will not only be shaped in Beijing and Washington, but also in Pretoria, Abuja, Nairobi, and Addis.

The Department of State sponsors Fulbright-mtvU Fellowships to promote music as a global force for promoting mutual understanding. Fellows are chosen through a multi-tiered, merit-based selection process including reviews by U.S. and foreign academic leaders and area experts. The final selection is made by the presidentially-appointed J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.

South Korea has spent billions in promoting its "nation brand" via its technology and other attributes. But what has driven up the country's soft power across the world as much as anything is "Gangnam Style," the Korean rapper PSY's galloping horse dance, hipster wannabe clothes and tongue-in-cheek attitude, offset by an irresistible and simple hook that even a three year old could mimic.

As Washington broadens its military footprint in the Sahel region of Africa, US analysts are urging the administration of President Barack Obama to devote more effort to diplomacy, especially in Mali.

Kris Kam, a 28-year-old advertising executive in Singapore, tells me, for example, that when his mother asked him to buy her a new smartphone, she requested a Samsung Galaxy S3 “just like the white one she saw in her favorite Korean drama, My Love, Madame Butterfly.”

Through strategic planning and investment in research and technology, strong political will, and effective governance, Singapore has emerged from water insecurity to become a global hydrohub.