Ms. Sonenshine is currently the Executive Vice-President of the United States Institute for Peace (USIP), but was nominated by President Obama for Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy in November. Once confirmed, she will lead the country’s public diplomacy efforts abroad...

APDS Blogger: Jennifer Green

Washington, D.C. -- We are just so excited to be in a place where others understand the term “public diplomacy.”

The “we” I am talking about is the delegation of 18 public diplomacy graduate students from the University of Southern California, on an inaugural trip to Washington, D.C. to meet with professionals working in our field at various organizations. The goal was to broaden our awareness of careers in public diplomacy, and to build connections and opportunities between the East and West coasts.

The United States and Europe used sanctions and public diplomacy to try to effect change in Burma. We cut off non-humanitarian funds, targeted the regime with stiff sanctions, and publicly challenged the junta on its human rights abuses.

Powered by the Public Diplomacy Division of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the 'India Is' Global Video Challenge, invites the world to both share their perspectives, and vote for contestant 2-minute video shorts. 'India Is' contestants, are eligible to win and receive up to US $7500 in prizes.

U.S. airstrikes remain the most reliable means of targeting AQAP members in the near term, but overreliance on them is unsustainable if the U.S. wants to maintain a positive relationship with Yemen for years to come. The negative impact of collateral civilian damage and hitting misidentified targets can quickly undermine U.S. foreign assistance and public diplomacy efforts.

APDS Blogger: Karen Calderon

On February 3rd, 2012, the USC School of Cinematic Arts held a screening for “Education Under Fire,” a film that provides a provocative insight into the lives of Bahá'ís in Iran who lack access to the country’s education system.

What does Asia’s increasing prominence mean for ASEAN – a ten-member political community whose regional presence has received growing attention from the global community of late? Already Washington has embarked on its “forward-deployed diplomacy” strategy in the region as evinced by Clinton’s attendance at last year’s ASEAN Regional Forum and her landmark visit to Burma in December.