These would mainly entail concrete and transparent democratic improvements, as well as economic measures aimed at improving quality of life and opportunities for the general public. The United States could complement assistance by augmenting its public diplomacy, cultural outreach and educational exchanges.

In addition, and in his “lame duck” year, Lee Myung-bak isn’t well positioned to pursue multilateral diplomacy beneficial to Japanese-Russian relations, especially given the hardening of South Korean opinion against Japan over historical themes.

Now Iran is demonstrating "sympathy" with the Arab Spring and mistakenly calls it as an Arab version of the Iranian "Islamic revival." While Iran calls on all Arabs to support the Islamic brotherly relations, it supported a coup in Bahrain and a web of espionage in Kuwait.

In yet another display of democracy and "People Power," the unarmed protestors in Syria have set off two bombs in Damascus...The US media -- even some alternative and antiwar sources -- do not bother to exercise even a touch of skepticism when the rebels who seek regime change in Syria...

The war... diminished America’s soft power and credibility globally...One of the ways in which the US has left Iraq a better place is that it has nudged the country towards democracy...The major adverse effect of the US withdrawal could be renewed fighting among warring ethnic groups.

The "soft power", i.e., the power to lead by example, of the U.S. has reached an all-time low in Egypt. Female Presidential candidate Bothaina Kamel recently declined a nomination for the annual Women of Courage award at the State Department.

My office, part of the State Department’s public diplomacy efforts, was responsible for enlisting museums to assemble art exhibitions that would be presented overseas, creating cultural links and displaying art that would “tell America’s story.”

Half a dozen years after her last competition, long after Michelle Kwan realized being a figure skater was only one part of the person she wanted to become..."I'm starting now to have skating dreams," said Kwan, 31 and deep into a career in public diplomacy and promoting educational and cultural causes.