public opinion
While China’s foreign policy has traditionally relied on economic leverage and “soft power” diplomacy as its primary means of power projection, Beijing has also been actively exploiting concepts associated with strategic information operations as a means to directly influence the process and outcomes in areas of strategic competition.
As soon as news broke that the San Bernardino, Calif., shooters were Muslim, skilled Muslim activists took to social media platforms to denounce Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and his 27-year-old wife Tashfeen Malik. But after the New York Post’s online headline “Muslim Killers: Terror eyed as couple slaughters 14 in Calif.,” the term “Muslim Killers” began trending with more than 10,000 tweets.
![Photo by woodleywonderworks/ CC by-SA 2.0 Global warming graphic based on word frequency](https://uscpublicdiplomacy.org/sites/default/files/styles/275x168/public/uploads/4975471255_f84343af18_z.jpg?itok=6gfTmQyA)
A useful social media tracking app.
PBS News Hour explores how the U.S. Ambassador to Denmark is using new media platforms, including social media and his own reality TV show, to connect with Danish citizens.
![Photo / The Asia Foundation/Gulbuddin Elham http://www.usip.org/events/afghanistan-in-2015-survey-of-the-afghan-people](https://uscpublicdiplomacy.org/sites/default/files/styles/275x168/public/uploads/Afghanistan.jpg?itok=3Q6lei5N)
Iran’s Javad Zarif has told a meeting of Foreign Ministry media and public diplomacy constitute an important component of power in today’s world.