Ambassador Alberto M. Fernandez today assumed the position of Coordinator of the Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications, which was established to coordinate, orient, and inform government-wide public communications activities directed at audiences abroad and targeted against violent extremists and terrorist organizations.

The framework does have an interesting reference on closer coordination and collaboration between State and Defense: ”where DOD runs public-facing websites, we have developed closer coordination with State on editorial oversight and content selection.” This may mean State, likely the regional bureaus to be specific, has input to Defense-run sites.

Efforts to stabilize Somalia have been intensified.. Getachew Reda, a public diplomacy and communications director general at the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on Wednesday said the coordinated military operations, to wipe out Al-Qaeda linked extremist group in "disarray".

The new way of making war, the projection of “soft power,” is cynical in that it involves millions of people in the persuasion effort. The lords of this new media war are the communication and image experts closely tied to political power, producing a sophisticated kind of communication...

“New media and connective technologies enhance our ability to listen…Social media provides new ways for us to keep our ear to the ground,” said McHale. “Of course, we are not interested in developing social media platforms for the sake of having them. We are interested in applying social media to promote our strategic objectives in the Americas.”