“Would the world be more peaceful if women were in charge?”...Unless soft power is introduced into the power equation it is unlikely that things will change any time soon. The spreading of ideas, creating allies on all sides, building and enforcing a group’s influence in the most positive manner are of the essence.

With sparkling new offices in Washington, D.C., on New York Avenue since February 6, and a staff of 75 soon to be 100, CCTV America is making a serious and well-financed bid to be a player in the U.S. media market. CCTV America is a subsidiary of China Central TV, the Chinese state broadcaster, whose global ambitions have been making headlines.

Millions of Iranians hunger not only for news, but for democracy. For the U.S. government’s international broadcasting complex, Iran is a place where a good communication strategy is a necessity; Tragically, America’s principal instrument, Voice of America’s Persian News Network (PNN), has simply not been up to the task.

Under the Obama Administration’s proposed FY 13 budget, the potential damage to...the Voice of America would be unprecedented...Such hemorrhaging must be halted if the free flow of information from America to the world is to be secured...for the Voice’s 140 million weekly listeners in 43 languages around the globe.

In this world, the United States will not use dicta or hegemon power to shape or control the world order. Instead, the United States has a more humble role with a soft-power advantage, and hence the superpower will not be at the center of global issues ...

The priority of PD is set by one’s definition of it...Whether we decide to advocate for PD within or outside the bureaucracies of the U.S. government, they will undeniably affect us in one way or another throughout our careers in PD. The key will be to understand the interagency relationships and strive to remain nonpartisan in our approach to PD.

It has been at least five years since Zhao Qizheng introduced public diplomacy to China at the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the top political advisory body in China. However, this form of unofficial, cross-cultural communication faces a rather uncertain future with Zhao's retirement this year as CPPCC spokesman.

...Dickinson State College in North Dakota became the most recent university to turn down a Confucius Institute — a cultural outpost of the Chinese government that already has 350 branches on campuses around the world, from Paris Diderot University to Penn State University, and from Argentina to Zimbabwe.