Not long after becoming secretary of state in 2009, Clinton took up the cookstove cause, one of what she describes as “smart power” issues — though skeptical veterans of American foreign policy tend to deride them as soft more than smart.

It was hard to find a happy soul at the end of the Rio+20 environmental summit.

What the U.S. should do is incorporate the space program into strategic communications and public diplomacy. For the PRC, space is seen not only as an arena for industrial policy but as a diplomatic and public relations tool. By contrast, NASA has a level of name recognition and positive association known the world over, but it underutilizes it.

"Annie did a World Bank event at a critical time for us when we really needed to get the attention of mid-level staffers to get them to move stuff around autocrats. Usually you only get 50 people to show up for a World Bank event. We had, like, over 500.”

Chinese leaders are obsessed with their nation's rise, and see it reclaiming its historic position as a dominant world power. Many Chinese strategists also believe the U.S. is in decline. But their opinion splits on what this means.

During his time in Iraq, Clark will share orchestral scores and recordings with students. Many of them have received American Voices training in stringed instruments. He will provide instruction in music theory; music history from 1200 A.D. to the present; composition; and conducting.

An initiative of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, Center Stage brings compelling contemporary artists from Haiti, Indonesia and Pakistan to the United States to engage Americans in cultural diplomacy as a way to create opportunities for greater understanding.

Amazon will be responsible for upgrading software and enabling a text-to-speech capability on the Kindles. That latter requirement is aimed at integrating the Kindles into embassy-supported English teaching programs...Content on the Kindles will be sorted into “collections identified by the Office of the Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs.”