How to win hearts and minds in the international political arena? Use social media. From Facebook to Twitter, social media extends the shelf life of government-funded appearances by U.S. artists deployed to such diplomatically sensitive areas as Libya, Iraq and Pakistan.

Dubai: Ever since the news of resumption of India-Pakistan cricketing ties broke on Monday afternoon, the readers’ polls and social networking websites have gone into a tizzy. The range of emotions, both for and against the tour, clearly shows the passion that the game can ignite between the two countries.

"Within the State Department, a Silicon Valley veteran has quietly launched an improbable new initiative to annoy, frustrate, and humiliate denizens of online extremist forums," writes Wired's Spencer Ackerman today, reporting on the government's Viral Peace initiative, which sounds more apt to take down a World of Warcraft guild rather than a terrorist network.

"First and foremost, we want to show people that China is not all about censorship and political debate. People talk about movies, celebrities, social issues and even international news. We explain how Weibo’s used for many other things than just to talk about what people are eating or doing, how it's helping people, how it affects lives, how silly it can be and how it’s not that different from social networks in the West.

While mainstream media often reported on the news of a disaster, citizen journalists were able to provide valuable background information that could impact humanitarian policy. "Reporting a disaster or an emergency is as critical as reporting the events leading to it. How did people react just before it happened and so on," Palatino said.

The episode was a reminder not only of the prevalence of the internet even in the world’s failed states, but, more importantly, it underscored how social media might be used as a tool in the conduct of international wars – or in the pursuit of peace.

The Foreign Ministry is taking steps to expand its online presence, with plans to open a Facebook account and increase the number of its Twitter feeds. The Foreign Ministry's move to attract online followers comes after President Vladimir Putin met last week with top diplomats and called on them to take up new approaches to transmit the government's message. "