My answer is best summarized in the words of Joseph Nye... "Even the best advertising cannot sell an unpopular product. Policies that appear as narrowly self-serving or arrogantly presented are likely to prohibit rather than produce soft power."

Israel’s Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren told The Jerusalem Post, “Netanyahu had an extraordinarily successful visit here in New York in terms of public diplomacy and his appearance on American television. His interviews, were an unqualified success.”

“Across the world, bridges of understanding strain under the weight of intolerance and polarization.” He told the meeting that promoting dialogue and understanding has long been considered a form of ‘soft power’ because it brings about change slowly, without military action.

David Cameron was branded a warmonger today for advising the United Nations to embrace Nato-style military interventions to rid the world of "oppressive" governments. Revelling in his "victory" in Libya, the Prime Minister said that the international community needed to use a combination of military action or "hard power" and "soft power" like diplomacy and financial aid.

Iran's President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has criticized the structure of the United Nations...I think this speech is a public diplomacy measure and...for the most part they will have an influence among their audience that they are directed at.

The Prime Minister said the international community needed to use a combination of military action or "hard power" and "soft power" like diplomacy and financial aid. He argued that the people of the Arab world had made clear their aspirations for greater freedom...

The cynical take believes that the U.S. has in fact changed its foreign policy as Obama claims and as his responses to the Arab Spring this year suggest, but has made an exception for Bahrain... The Bahraini opposition is largely Shia, but most Arabs (and most Muslims, for that matter) are Sunni. The "soft power" dividends of pushing Bahrain to reform, the U.S. may have decided, just aren't there.

The United States has the wherewithal to promote similar national resolves in the Middle East and North Africa through public diplomacy and education. Instead of giving a hand, however, the Obama Administration is celebrating violent protests and civil wars as a “spring” while promising handouts that will unfailingly find their way into the usual corrupt pockets.