BBC reports there were “40 world leaders” present. But President Obama wasn’t one of them; Vice-President Biden and Secretary of State Kerry apparently weren’t there, either.(...) Is there some particularly good “smart diplomacy” reason why we would be absent when so many others were present?

Sister Cities International grew out of a White House conference on citizen diplomacy called by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday called for a rapid expansion of U.S.-India trade and commercial ties as he attended an international investment conference ahead of visit by President Barack Obama later this month.

It’s a term that seems so obviously dreamed up in a government boardroom; something to do with the developed world’s constantly advancing technologies and foreign relations.  In short, digital diplomacy is a means for foreign governments to engage with a country’s people rather than its government.

US and Chinese warships have rushed to help Indonesia search for a crashed plane, but analysts say more than altruistic motivations are at play with world powers jostling for influence.

Western broadcasts provided essential information to all those dedicated to change and helped accelerate that change. Cuba is approaching such a moment, and once again the United States has a powerful instrument in place to help shape the outcome.

US and Chinese warships have rushed to help Indonesia search for a crashed AirAsia plane, but analysts say more than altruistic motivations are at play with world powers jostling for influence.

The success of Obama, Modi, and others has been particularly good for digital diplomacy, which is the use of new communication technologies to help achieve diplomatic goals. It is hard to even imagine how many countries and heads of state didn't have a Twitter or Facebook account not that long ago.