It is unclear what might have precipitated this precipitate shift in Chinese public diplomacy. Nothing seems to have transpired in the South China Sea, especially regarding Vietnam or the Philippines, to elicit such a series of over-wrought Chinese reactions. Just a few possible explanations include:

Take Mitt Romney's 59-point plan to rebuild America, which contains a set of foreign policy principles.. [including] enhanced "soft power" to bolster American influence around the world and steadfast alliances in Europe and the Middle East.

Those who doubt this need only look at the bipartisan public diplomacy failures of the last decade, or today at the critical elections in Egypt, where the U.S. has an astonishing lack of situational awareness and influence.

The dedication of one new school building and three renovated buildings was attended by students and community members, as well as members of the Kenyan Ministry of Education, the U.S. Embassy and Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa.

Turkish President Abdullah Gül said on Wednesday that Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan needed to act as "six states with one nation" and display solidarity with each other.

Fewer than 10 diplomats make up the State Department’s digital-outreach team, which is charged with countering al Qaeda’s recruitment efforts via social networks, blog posts and Internet videos, according to current and former officials.

Since its launch in 2007, the Peace and Sport International Forum has been increasingly successful and established itself as an essential event in the diplomatic sports calendar for peace and sport.

“We think that putting all the events under one theme like the Czech Points in Seoul Festival will show the variety of Czech culture available while offering more than just the things that people know,” said Czech Republic Ambassador Jaroslav Olsa Jr.