"The use of this public diplomacy on the part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defence minister aims to obtain a clearer commitment by the United States to attack if Iran continues its nuclear programme, or at least to give Israel the green light to do so," he told AFP.

Religious liberty may not be a recognized Olympic event but in the game of life it is neither a trivial pursuit. The recent release of the U.S. Department of State annual report on international religious freedom underscores the importance this issue.

The State Department is involved in a massive "educational" endeavor aimed at guiding Muslim imams to start teaching the compatibility of "women’s rights": As part of its effort to combat “gender-based violence,” the State Department has trained 450 Muslim leaders (imams), using a curriculum focusing on the “compatibility of women’s rights and Islam."

Two members of Congress have released an August 9 letter they sent to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, calling on the Obama Administration to strengthen public diplomacy and form a multilateral forum to resolve the Tibet crisis. They specifically call for starting a “contact group” with like-minded governments to have focused meetings on Tibet.

Bolen recently completed his third summer teaching in American Voices’ Youth Excellence on Stage, or YES Academy. The program has taken him to Iraq, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon for two-week intervals to introduce classical piano music and techniques to young pupils from around each country.

In our daily use of the cell phone, the World Wide Web, and Google's search we should recall that basic research is the springboard of their development, and, as importantly, American influence in the world is spread largely through its "soft" power of science and technology, according to a Pew Research poll.

A seminar on cross-border dialogue through books and television, part of the two-day Charar Forum on Public diplomacy in Hebei Province, emphasized how cooperation on joint media projects can strengthen bilateral ties.

At the same time, American influence in the world is bolstered largely through its "soft" power, and science and technology is an essential force of this influence, according to the Pew Research Center's Global Attitudes Project poll.