The federal budget deficit will run a record $1.65 trillion in 2011. So why does Washington continue to subsidize foreign governments? The House Republicans appear determined to reduce spending, and one of their targets is foreign “aid.” This year the State Department would lose 16% of its budget; humanitarian aid would drop by 41 percent.

As Israeli Apartheid Week nears, the government on Monday unveiled its latest initiative aimed at debunking the analogy made by Palestinian supporters between the Jewish state and minority rule in South Africa.
At a reception at the Knesset, the Public Diplomacy Ministry presented a diverse group of about 20 volunteer speakers consisting of Arabs, gay rights activists, Ethiopian Jews and a former MTV presenter who will tour campuses in North America later this month highlighting Israeli society’s pluralism.

It's not surprising that the White House worked with Bahrain's Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa to end the crackdown on protesters and to hold talks with the country's mainly Shiite-led opposition, after reading classified State Department cables released last week by WikiLeaks.

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.