Singapore, which has hosted film festivals from Israel and Germany in recent years, is opening its doors to France. “1st Rendezvous with French Cinema”...has been designed as a platform to allow French business and industry players to network with each other in the business-friendly island state.

This was Ripken's third trip as a Public Diplomacy Envoy. He travelled to China in 2007 and to Nicaragua in 2008. A 2008 trip to South Africa, was scrapped because of scheduling issues.

An expansion of youth sports programs nationwide and the potential for future training opportunities for Afghan athletes and coaches are among the benefits of a developing partnership between the national Olympic committees of the United States and Afghanistan, and other U.S. sports associations, officials said.

The speech and doctrine was far less grounded in a liberal illusion of Obama as a cosmopolitan-in-chief. His public diplomacy on this trip was meant less to reassure and more to make plain America’s intent to augment its hard military power in Australia’s backyard. His believe in the efficacy of hard power is one of the most underappreciated aspect of his presidency.

Faith based law, tribal traditions, the secondary status of women and tolerance for human trafficking and corruption explained away as social inclusion contradict some of the principles and values of Arab Spring and other public diplomacy products Washington brands and markets to sell American-style democracy to the world.

The editors invite proposals for for a special issue of the Global Media Journal-American Edition to be published Fall 2012 on the theme "Use of Social Media in Public Diplomacy: Getting Connected and Getting the Message Out."

Abbas, perhaps remembering these history lessons, apparently came to the conclusion that the status quo needed to be shaken up. To his credit he did not chose a violent option for this action. Abbas’s goal of going to the UN was to peacefully shake things up.

The award’s sponsors are professors and academics who say they are independent of the government. While the government has enthusiastically embraced the need for more robust cultural links to enhance China’s “soft power,” it wants that charm campaign to stay under the firm direction of the ruling Communist Party.