As Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs at the United States Department of State, I work to build meaningful relationships and mutual understanding between citizens of our country and others. That is what we call public diplomacy. And we do this by joining and expanding a global conversation with people everywhere – both face to face, through educational and cultural exchanges, and through social media.

Easily overlooked amid the flurry of reforms in Myanmar, a diplomatic retooling is taking place at the US Embassy in Yangon. Cubicles that were once empty have found new occupants, relationships that had turned cold during two decades of political isolation are thawing and public diplomacy is flourishing.

Under other circumstances, advancing understanding of America through American Corners and Centers, of which the State Department has more than 800 throughout the world, is a great idea. But certainly not where the most basic security is missing, leaving State Department personnel dangerously exposed.

The center will focus on coordinating public diplomacy efforts by enlisting a reservoir of 25,000 activists who have been trained by the Ministry for public diplomacy and to transmit messages in Israel and around the world.

On November 8, Hu Jintao, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and President of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), delivered his last major speech to the 18th Party Congress in Beijing.

Over the weekend in Doha, Syrian opposition figures reached an agreement to form a group called the National Coalition for Revolutionary Forces and the Syrian Opposition, amid calls from the United States and European and Gulf countries for a show of greater unity. This is another example of American soft power influence in the region.