The U.S. Department of State has designated January 2012 as 21st Century Statecraft month. Twenty-first Century Statecraft complements traditional foreign policy by harnessing and adapting the digital networks and technologies of today’s interconnected world.

The dominance of western brands in China has long been a sore spot for the country's leaders. You can't walk through a Chinese commercial district without bumping into an Apple or Prada store occupying the city's finest prime real estate.

The friendship has solidified further after the Great East Japan Earthquake last year, according to Ann Stock, the Under Secretary of Public Diplomacy at the U.S. State Department. After the 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami rocked Japan, the U.S. provided weather and nuclear expertise...

Whether they are advancing Internet freedom or helping to connecting women entrepreneurs in West Africa or responding to the devastating earthquake that struck Japan, our diplomats and development professionals are using digital networks and technologies in service of U.S. foreign policy.

Culture defines the lives of Americans. Humans all over the world tend to find that common ground in points of cultural crossover. It’s a reasonable place to start. If Hip Hop has been its own diplomat until now, the logic goes, the U.S. Government shouldn’t be allowed to use it to begin build anything.

The conference underscored the importance of training and capacity building of personnel of the ministry...Opening of press sections in important capitals of Central Asia, Latin America, Africa, Eastern Europe and Australia was suggested...

A better question to ask today is, what has really changed since Harlem Rep. Adam Clayton Powell Jr. urged the State Department to set up the jazz tours as part of its cultural-diplomacy efforts during the Cold War?