Public diplomacy or grandstanding will limit the scope for quiet diplomacy...The full picture of Chen’s case comes to us in Susan Glasser’s Foreign Policy magazine cover profile of Clinton, at the very beginning and very end of the piece.

The app displays the most-used hashtags, measures an individual’s influence (think Klout), and maps the relationships between these important figures. The e-diplomacy hub is an effective way to show which figures are talking about what issues, and where these public diplomatic dialogues are taking place.

The difference in budgets is not the most disproportionate ratio. That would have to go to the sheer number of Chinese journalists allowed visas to work in the United States compared with the number that U.S. state-sponsored press receive from China.

In the MENA region, the UAE reigns supreme in the latest Country Brand Index, up from third place last year to hold the top slot, ahead of Israel and Egypt, but it owes its 25th place overall out of the 113 countries surveyed to a blend of positive attributes.

Like any powerful tool, the Internet can be used for both good and evil, by citizens and governments alike. It is so powerful that the US State Department is actively tapping social media for public diplomacy. Just check out “It’s me, Kristie” – the blog of Kristie Kenney, the former US ambassador to Manila who’s now assigned in Bangkok.

She said that rumors in South Korea that the U.S. was exporting cows infected with mad cow disease spread through SNS, fueling anti-U.S. sentiment and nation-wide protests, and hindering free trade negotiations between the two countries. Esser said in such cases, however, the majority of the online community tends to shout down the extremists, working as a “self-correcting mechanism.”

He also highlighted the positive economic and cultural impact of the UK’s GREAT campaign which supports the marketing and public diplomacy efforts of UK Trade and Investment, Visit Britain, the British Council and the Foreign Office.

Ms. Kwan is attending the event as the Public Diplomacy Envoy for the President’s Council on Fitness, Sport and Nutrition.