The US State Department maintains nine full-time Arabic-language bloggers, two Farsi bloggers and two Urdu bloggers, while the Pentagon also maintains a team of bloggers. The UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office maintains two full-time Farsi language bloggers.

The events unfolding in Tunisia and Egypt are part of an arc of profound political change across the Arab world. Each country has its own historical contours, but this moment is offering a cumulative example that demonstrates that the times are indeed changing. And the ways in which the U.S. engages the Arab world must change accordingly. Fast.

Since the abolishment of the United States Information Agency, the State Department has struggled to balance the need of the embassies with what Washington perceived was needed. This challenge has been particularly acute on the Internet where the resulting mix of information and voices can undermine the very purpose and effectiveness of engagement.

As events in Egypt move forward, the United States has appeared to be a befuddled bystander, reacting slowly and with a muted voice that cannot be heard above the din of those demanding freedom.

As millions march in the streets of Cairo, it is far too soon to tell whether the upheaval will deliver the economic and political freedoms that the people demand. History is littered with radical transformations that have taken societies in radically different directions.

The Greater Middle East or the Greater Arab World extending from Tunisia to Egypt and reaching Jordan, Lebanon, Yemen and Sudan are today in a state of turbulent unrest.

An Egyptian political activist, a Bush-appointed diplomat, and Obama campaign staffers met in New York in 2008 to talk about revolution—of the social media kind. And now the Internet is buzzing. Plus, full coverage of the Egypt revolt.

Dozens of works of art by diplomats and their retinue and families who live in the city were shown to the public inside a small gallery at the building operated by Bing Stanford in Washington, Stanford University’s campus in Washington D.C.