"We recognise that countries such as China, India and Brazil are gaining influence less because of the size of their armies than because of the growth of their economies," Clinton wrote in an oped in 'New Statesman' published yesterday.

Clinton's itinerary included stops in nine nations: France, Afghanistan, Japan, Mongolia, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Egypt and Israel. It focused on two interrelated US foreign policy objectives. The first is the elaboration of Washington's counterrevolutionary strategy for asserting hegemony over the oil-rich regions of the Middle East and Central Asia.

"We will continue to extend diplomatic, political and moral support to the people of Kashmir till the resolution of the core issue in accordance with UN resolutions and the aspirations of the Kashmiri people," Ashraf said while addressing a public meeting at Athmuqam in Neelum Valley of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

Watch live a video chat on US-India Higher Education Dialogue between US Under Secretary of State for Public Affairs & Public Diplomacy Tara Sonenshine and the Indian Ambassador to the US Nirupama Rao. The chat is moderated by Robert Blake, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs.

Chinese president Hu Jintao on Thursday pledged African governments 20 billion in credit over the next three years and called for more China-Africa coordination international affairs to defend against the "bullying" of richer powers.

Recently, Israeli leaders have made successive high profile visits to China, while engaging in considerable public diplomacy efforts vis-à-vis the Chinese people. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu even greeted the Chinese people in their native Mandarin during their New Year’s Festival.

Americans deserve transparency about what their government is doing, as long as that transparency doesn’t threaten national security. Transparency should also be the guiding principle of the State Department’s public diplomacy and U.S. international broadcasting.

"Within the State Department, a Silicon Valley veteran has quietly launched an improbable new initiative to annoy, frustrate, and humiliate denizens of online extremist forums," writes Wired's Spencer Ackerman today, reporting on the government's Viral Peace initiative, which sounds more apt to take down a World of Warcraft guild rather than a terrorist network.