As befitting a celebrated poet at the height of his powers, Robert Pinsky strides toward an interview in the company of a striking flame-haired woman in black. At 72, Pinsky comes close to fulfilling Hollywood's fantasy of what a poet ought to look like: trim and fit, with a full head of steel-gray hair and a profile eerily reminiscent of another Massachusetts poet, Robert Lowell.

In response to the release of Reporters Without Borders’ 2013 World Press Freedom Index, Radio Free Asia’s President Libby Liu said the survey’s findings show little signs of improvement in Asia with the exception of Burma.

Voice of America Director David Ensor has categorically denied allegations contained in a Chinese state television report, which blames VOA broadcasts for encouraging self-immolations in Tibet.

As John Kerry began his term as the new Secretary of State, the US said people-to-people and public diplomacy relations with India are extremely important going forward. Kerry had yet to make any calls to his Indian or Pakistani counterparts, State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland reporters Monday. But a senior official was in New Delhi to highlight the breadth and depth of the US-India people to people relationship.

APDS Blogger: Shaocong 'Amanda' Hu

On Jan. 19th, the USC MPD Beijing Delegation attended a roundtable themed “The Present Situation and Prospects of China’s Public Diplomacy” sponsored by the Charhar Institute, a leading public diplomacy and international relations think tank in China.

Secretary of State John Kerry vowed Wednesday that the United States will not retreat from the world stage due to budget constraints or the complexity of global challenges. He noted several so-called soft-power projects that he said represented American values, such as U.S. contributions to AIDS treatment and prevention, pushing for the rights of girls and women, and childhood education. Yet, he stressed that successes may be endangered by technological advances, the explosion of youth populations and “unleashed sectarian strife and religious extremism.”

The U.S. Army has embraced what civilians would call public relations as a key part of military operations for the 21st-century battlefield. Added to the traditional war elements — among them movement and maneuver, intelligence and firing against an enemy — is the new “Inform and Influence Activities” (IIA).