US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's speech on Internet freedom on February 15 has been criticized by the Chinese media as hypocritical. However, I think it should be seen as a wake-up call for Chinese policymakers to prepare a Web-based public diplomacy with the US.

The nonviolent revolution in Egypt that prompted President Hosni Mubarak to resign after 18 days of protest of his people has, once again, exposed the conflict between idealism and pragmatism in American diplomacy. Historically, our idealism inspires people around the globe, but our pragmatic approach gives money to dictators.

On numerous levels, the United States continues to fall farther behind China in public diplomacy. This is yet another indication that for all its protestations about its commitment to reach out to foreign publics, the U.S. government is unwilling to commit the resources needed to do so effectively.

CNN's Candy Crowley was perpetuating one of the American media's favorite myths about Barack Obama, that his mere election in 2008 had radically improved the United States' image around the world...

Rugby is a potential way for New Zealand to exercise "soft power" in the world of international diplomacy, a joint New Zealand-US study has found.

By now, it’s clear that social media has played a critical role in fomenting and sustaining public protests across the Middle East...In that vein, the State Department has just launched a new Farsi Twitter account, USAdarFarsi. Its first tweet: “US State Dept recognizes historic role of social media among Iranians. We want to join in your conversations.”

After two years of trying, human rights activist Abdelaziz Dahhassi realized his dream late last year of setting up a think tank to find new ways to fight ethnic and religious discrimination in France.

On numerous levels, the United States continues to fall farther behind China in public diplomacy. This is yet another indication that for all its protestations about its commitment to reach out to foreign publics, the U.S. government is unwilling to commit the resources needed to do so effectively.