Media and technology have played a powerful role in mobilizing protesters and exposing authoritarian rulers and regimes. Political consciousness and solidarity have given shape and strength to civil societies, making it increasingly difficult for recalcitrant establishments to go unchallenged.

Pew recently reported that younger generations "favor multilateralism over unilateralism and the use of diplomacy – rather than relying on military strength -- to ensure peace." We need to see that hard power is often best used in restraint, and that soft power can be thrown away by a few criminals in the White House deciding they know what's best about interrogation methods.

The Egyptian people, who at times since January have seemed apathetic about the future of the revolution, have shown their determination to reclaim it. The people dying on Egypt's streets are fighting for the true conditions of a just society. Elections, which in Egypt always can be manipulated, cannot be trusted to deliver that goal.

The message is clear: voters want more, not less, global engagement. They understand that in today's interconnected world it is not an option to wait until the economy recovers before facing global challenges. Should it continue engaging with the world in smart ways, the United States will find plenty of cooperation. Among all the countries surveyed, a majority say that U.S. influence on global affairs is positive.

In an age where reputation often seems to be all, where image is carefully managed and soft power of all hues plays an increasingly important role, this was a timely survey....The correspondents’ verdict on the reputation-management capabilities of the VK+O administration was scathingly clear cut: failure.

Soft power relies heavily on the image of the U.S. abroad as a tolerant, democratic, fair and open society. Any deviance from this image by the U.S. will be noticed and ultimately will undermine American efforts to assert soft power and achieve its diplomatic aims.

Before public diplomacy, there was propaganda, a term coined by Pope Gregory XV in 1622 when he founded a new college to train missionaries to be sent to Protestant Northern Europe, Asia, and the New World. In this context, it is often noted that the Pope’s intention in making his new congregation responsible for ‘propaganda fide’-literally, propagating the faith-was not to endorse a shared information policy based on deceitful practices. Rather, the connotation of this first use of the term ‘propaganda,’ and its meaning until the twentieth century, was a value-neutral one.

As part of its cultural diplomacy program, the U.S. embassy brought the FEW Collective, a hip-hop troupe from Chicago, to Islamabad, where they danced, rapped and recited poetry to a Westernized, educated elite audience of young Pakistanis.