Overseas, marketing and public diplomacy efforts featuring posters on public transportation systems and TV ads have been underway for the past few years. These efforts all show signs of success, on both the supply side and the demand side of trade in shark fins. Hong Kong's Census and Statistics Department tracked 3,100 metric tons of shark fin being imported from the island to China last year, but this year's numbers are way down.

In the end, this war will be won through changing hearts and minds—or in other words, public diplomacy. We need education to reinforce the principle that killing animals is not cool and that the crime of poaching will lead to serious consequences.Whether it is good luck, wisdom or patience, elephants are vital to our planet and must stay front and center in the global mindset until their slaughter is stopped.

As Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, it has been my honor and privilege to lead our country’s vibrant engagement with the world. As I move on, I do so with an unshakeable belief, constantly reaffirmed during my 14 months here: People matter in ways they never have before. Thanks in large part to connective technology, they are communicating, sharing ideas, influencing others, growing businesses, and improving their lives in ways that were previously unimaginable.

The State Department needs to "do a better job" of explaining to Americans what it does overseas, as well as the "return on investment" in America's diplomatic activities, Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy Tara Sonenshine says on this week's episode of "Conversations with Nicholas Kralev."

I mention this because – as I take leave as Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs – I want to make Americans more aware of what the State Department does, --specifically public diplomacy- how much real value it brings to jobs overseas, jobs here, education, entrepreneurship, travel, tourism, and a healthy and robust trade and investment climate in both directions.

The United States seeks to support the people of the Middle East and North Africa as they work to realize their aspirations for greater dignity, justice, and opportunity. So said Tara Sonenshine, Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, at the U.S.-Islamic World Forum.

Public diplomacy humanizes the economic, cultural, and political relationships we are working to build. As Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, I work to extend avenues of opportunity to those affected by our policy. And that is the first point I’d like to make: that people – citizens – today are increasingly driving global events, and must therefore be front and center in formulating and executing policy. You need policy and public diplomacy.

The forum will host President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, HE the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Ahmed bin Abdullah al-Mahmoud, former US ambassador to the United Nations Thomas Pickering, Egyptian Minister for International Co-operation and Development Amr Darrag, Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs undersecretary Tara Sonenshine and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation secretary-general Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, among others.