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.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has taken issue with critics who say US global power is waning, arguing in her final public speech in office that America will continue to lead the 21st century. But on the day before she officially steps down, Clinton called for the nation's institutions and relationships to be modernised, saying what was needed was "a new architecture for this new world. More Frank Gehry than formal Greek".

They have, along with other of my colleagues, really embraced the whole idea of partnerships and understood that in the 21st century, diplomacy and development is not in any way confined to government-to-government relations. Those have to be tended, those have to be respected, those have to be nurtured and grown. But at the same time in this increasingly interconnected, networked world, we wanted to reach out people-to-people, to our NGOs, our faith communities, our private sector, and so much more.

APDS Blogger: Sarah Myers

The current state of America's brand abroad is no longer new, different or attractive. It is a never ending montage of guns, debt and indecision. Follow international press coverage of the U.S. and these themes emerge again and again.

Freddy Balsera, founder of a Coral Gables public relations firm, has been nominated by President Obama to the U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy. “I am proud to nominate such impressive individuals to these important roles, and I am grateful they have agreed to lend their considerable talents to this Administration."