Efforts to combat ISIS propaganda have been unified under a newly expanded State Department center. Kelly McEvers speaks with Richard Stengel, undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs, about the challenge that new center is tasked with.

Richard Stengel, who left his job as managing editor of TIME magazine in 2013 to become Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs in the Obama administration, said ISIS conquering land is an "opportunity" because "it's easier to combat people holding land and trying to government it than it is to combat people who are non-state actors."

Hundreds of citizen diplomats will arrive in Washington, D.C., this week for the Global Ties U.S. National Meeting, the first of many events and outreach efforts throughout 2015 to mark the 75th anniversary of State Department international exchange programs.

India and US today decided to boost cooperation in the field of higher education including exploring possible American assistance in setting up a new IIT campus. 

The Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, Richard Stengel, will travel to New Delhi, India, November 17-18, where he will meet with government officials, civil society leaders, educators and students, business leaders and entrepreneurs, and representatives of the media.

The United States and its partners are focusing their military might on stopping the spread of the group known as the Islamic State in Iraq and on disrupting IS operations in Syria. Behind the scenes, however, efforts also are underway to prevent the violence from spreading back to Europe and the United States.  

VOA State Department correspondent Scott Stearns and VOA Kurdish reporter Motabar Shirwani conducted a wide-ranging interview with U.S. Undersecretary of State Richard Stengel about the Islamic State, Ukraine and Ebola.