Open Hands Initiative co-founder and chairman Jay T Synder says,” “This is not just a comic book; it’s a breakthrough effort in public diplomacy that helps forge lasting bonds and understanding between the youth of the United States and the Middle East.

At the close of the 100th anniversary celebration of Tokyo's gift of cherry blossoms to Washington, it's worth remembering the story of diplomacy behind the trees. Like most diplomatic initiatives, this one had to overcome indifference, opposition, and many setbacks before it could flower.

This colonial Mexican city recently received a special guest. Malia Obama, the US president’s 13-year-old daughter, walked through the city’s elegant, ornate churches on a school field trip with 12 classmates and two dozen security guards.

Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Tara Sonenshine will travel to Beijing May 3-4 to serve as co-coordinator of the third annual U.S.-China Consultation on People-to-People Exchange (CPE) with Chinese Vice Minister of Education Hao Ping.

This is the America that draws ever-growing numbers of Chinese students, who then take home a view of the United States that refutes the stereotypes.Such an exercise of informal diplomacy on a grand scale cannot help but change U.S.-China relations. It may even change the world.

“Media freedom is oxygen” for societies, Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Tara D. Sonenshine told a group of international journalists in discussing the campaign. “It’s the moral equivalent of oxygen – it is how a society breathes...”

Café DC , a new weekly TV interview show for Pakistan, premiers on Friday with a relaxed and personal look at some of the people making headlines in and around Washington.. the program gives newsmakers “plenty of opportunity to talk about the burning issues of the day.."

This week, Tara Sonenshine was formally sworn-in as the Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs by Secretary Clinton. Secretary Clinton’s introductory remarks were personal, insightful, and deeply supportive of public diplomacy and of Tara.