Public diplomacy (PD to its friends) is one of the less celebrated but more intriguing investments in U.S. foreign policy.  For decades, it has earned lasting allies for our country and helped multitudes understand and embrace our core values, including human rights, freedom of information, strong civil society and education for all.

True, neither the pope, let alone Argentina, have the political, military or financial power to enforce the UNGA-approved principles. But they can exercise their “soft power,” which is the ability of a country — or, in this case, the Vatican — to persuade others to do what it wants without force or coercion, be it (again, in this case) financial or political. In fact, soft power, a given for important states, is a must for those nations lacking such attributes.

 Russia knows that soft power requires hard power. Given the mutually hurting stalemate in Syria, the only way to convince Assad that the terms of peace will not be against his interests was to back him up militarily. 

These sorts of gender-exclusive comments and questions on size, hairstyle, and fashion reinforce perceptions of women in the foreign policy and national security worlds. They are insulting in their own right, but also prolong conscious and unconscious biases against women and their access and empowerment in these fields.

Indian prime ministers have made it a practice to meet Indian communities during their foreign tours for the past two decades, but Modi has made a more concerted effort to harness the energy of the diaspora by holding public meeting like galas in major cities abroad.

With his feel-good tours of Boeing, Microsoft and a local high school complete, Chinese President Xi Jinping departs Washington state Thursday for the other Washington, where tougher discussions on cybersecurity, intellectual property protections and human rights await.

Throughout China’s history, elements of hybrid warfare have often been crucial components of its conflicts with its neighbors. [...] The contemporary analogy would be “diplomatic warfare”; neutralizing unfriendly states through public diplomacy, support for local insurgencies and pressure in international organizations. 

This is Conflict Café, a month-long pop-up restaurant that uses food as a vehicle for dialogue on conflict and peace building. Organized by London-based peace building charity International Alert, each week of the pop-up brings a new chef and cuisine from the many regions in which the organization works.