For years, the United Nations has taken pains to present itself to the world as an impartial, international institution... but...no matter how hard the UN tries to be neutral, many, especially in the Muslim world, see it as a proxy of Western powers.

“The relationships forged through operations like Continuing Promise fosters trust, collaboration, and cooperation with our friends and allies,” Nickerson said, adding the mission “also be characterized as defense support to public diplomacy...

Day to day public diplomacy deals with particular groups, networks and individuals but it is also important to keep the big picture in mind. That big picture is not just the overall image of the country but the image of the preferred international order.

Improbably, I was in Calgary, another stage in the campaign of public diplomacy on which I had embarked shortly after my arrival in Canada five months before - explaining to Canadians how the United States regarded the changing world and how it regarded Canada's place in that new world.

Two Pakistani journalists filing reports home from Washington are quietly drawing their salaries from US State Department funding through a nonprofit intermediary, highlighting the sophisticated nature of America’s efforts to shape its image abroad.

"Soft power", which mainly comprises values, systems, political views and cultural influence, is being increasingly emphasized by various countries around the globe...This has given rise to public diplomacy, which is considered an important means of developing soft power.

Al Qaeda’s attack on the United States ten years ago was a profound shock to both American and international public opinion... Anyone who flies or tries to visit a Washington office building gets a reminder of how American security was changed by 9/11

America's real strength, more than its military and economic power, is its "soft power," its moral authority. And this, too, was weakened: As the U.S. violated basic human rights like habeas corpus and the right not to be tortured...