U.S. Embassies worldwide are declaring support for the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people through innovative public diplomacy. The Department uses its full range of diplomatic and development tools to press for the elimination of violence and discrimination against LGBT people worldwide.

As the J-1 program brings over 100,000 young people coming to the U.S. annually, it has become as much about money as cultural understanding. The reforms by State Department would limit and refine the types of jobs students can have and ensure that the objective of the program — positive exposure to the United States — is accomplished.

"Sesame Street," the world's most-viewed children's educational television show since the 1960s, has debuted in Afghanistan. Its producers hope their culturally adapted version of the nearly half-century old format can reach Afghan kids facing some of the world's most daunting adversity.

Diplomacy needs to be backed by strength, but the US has plenty without militarizing Asia and the Pacific more than it already has. The peaceful resolution of these conflicts depends upon China having a role in the decision-making process, but this will require the US to step back and forego its desire for primacy in the region. And it will require the same of China.

Washington realizes that Turkey has greater influence in the transformation efforts of the people in the region due to its soft power.... The outcome of this is now becoming visible with Turkey’s growing influence and its changing perception and image in the US.

As far as dramatic timing goes, the text message from the powers that be announcing the sudden cancellation of a post-performance discussion of “Top Secret: Battle for the Pentagon Papers” was, well, perfectly timed.

Clinton - with security and journalists in tow - went barefoot at the famous Shwedagon Pagoda and rang a bell with a giant wooden mallet as onlookers cheered. It was the type of public diplomacy that is Clinton's forte as a former politician, although many of those snapping her photo were tourists and she had little direct contact with local Burmese.

Some U.S. democracy activists and government officials claim that the advent of new information technology and social networks can bring democracy to places like Russia, Central Asia or the Middle East. They talk in terms of the “TV Party”...