Matthew Wallin of the American Security Project posed an interesting question in a recent blog post titled “Engagement: What does it mean for public diplomacy?” This question touched a nerve for me, because there are no ready definitions for the term – despite the fact that it appears across statements articulating the purpose of U.S. public diplomacy.

On June 19, U.S. Ambassador Michael McFaul welcomed new Russian exchange students and alumni of U.S. State Department programs to his Moscow residence, Spaso House.

US Consul General in Karachi Michael Dodman welcomed on Wednesday Sindh’s 45 students who have returned to the country after completing one year of study in the United States through the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study programme.

The Academy of Contemporary Music (ACM) has become the first specialist contemporary music school in further and higher education to offer students an exchange programme between the UK and the US. Starting from 2014, ACM students have the option to study at both ACM in England and its sister college ACM@UCO in Oklahoma.

The lack of public debate, shifting attitudes towards civil liberties, insufficient disclosure, and a decreasing terrorist threat demands that collecting Americans' phone and Internet records must meet the absolute highest bar of public consent. It's a test the Obama administration is failing.

Strip away the ostensibly benign surface of public diplomacy, cultural exchanges and language instruction, and it becomes clear that the U.S. and China are engaged in a soft power conflagration – a protracted cultural cold war.

Erdem Gunduz, the “Standing Man” performance artist who instigated a wave of peaceful protests throughout Turkey, participated in the Kennedy Center’s Cultural Exchange Visitors Program in 2007. The two-week arts education program, developed with the State Department, brought four modern dancers and two hip-hop dancers from Turkey to Washington and New York.