The Tunisian and Egyptian regimes fell faster than anyone could have expected. But it also took longer than anyone should have imagined. Where opposition groups in Eastern Europe came to count on Western support, in the Arab world, they often found themselves standing alone.

This three-day event, organized by the Secretary of State’s Global Partnership Initiative in collaboration with USAID and the Migration Policy Institute, brings together over 300 leaders from diaspora communities across the country to discuss and collaborate on projects related to development and diplomacy with their countries of origin.

Human rights activists at a congressional hearing Friday implored the Obama administration to publicly and forcefully denounce Bahrain's violent and abusive crackdown against anti-government protesters.

Take a look at Barack Obama’s 2009 speech in Cairo.... The beautiful words were seen to have been built on air, not on a foundation of policy. Arabs are a tough audience. They’ve heard it all before: blueprints, roadmaps, promises about this and that. And yet nothing ever seemed to change…until they took matters into their own hands.

“Muslims do not ‘hate our freedom,’ but rather they hate our policies…when American public diplomacy talks about bringing democracy to Islamic societies, this is seen as no more than self-serving hypocrisy” in light of the U.S. record of blocking democracy in the region.

DUBAI --- Take a look at Barack Obama’s 2009 speech in Cairo. It was beautifully written and radiated good intentions. The U.S. government relied heavily on new media tools to disseminate it throughout the Arab world and beyond. Arab opinion of Obama improved significantly; and then it dropped like a rock.

Taiwan has a plan to compete with China in the international cultural propaganda stakes: by opening “Taiwan Academies” that will teach the Chinese language with a strong focus on traditional characters and culture.

The U.S. Travel Associationn, the trade group for the country's travel industry, unveiled a plan Thursday to help get more international travelers to visit the U.S. The association's plan calls on the federal government to overhaul the process to approve visas for foreign visitors.