Richard Stengel, the State Department’s undersecretary for public diplomacy, bluntly states the problem that has been worrying him and should worry us all: “In a global information war, how does the truth win?” The very idea that the truth won’t be triumphant would, until recently, have been heresy to Stengel, a former managing editor of Time magazine.

According to Ma Weihua, CEC president, the main purpose of the group's international tours is to bolster public diplomacy of the Chinese private sector, demonstrate the integrity of Chinese entrepreneurs, learn from the most advanced business environments of the world and seek opportunities for cooperation.

An FBI probe will tell us more about the current email intrusion, although it will take time before we know exactly who (and if Russia) is potentially behind hacking into the DNC's network. But one thing is certain: The Russians have been perfecting the art of manipulating information in recent years to sway public opinion within Russia and around the world in the hopes of building up the stature of Russian President Vladimir Putin.