The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington and its escorts are heading for the waters off the Korean peninsula, in the aftermath of the flare-up between North and South Korea. This is very much gunboat diplomacy 21st Century-style.

In 1941, celebrated animator Walt Disney went on a diplomatic mission to Latin America. The creator of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck became a good will ambassador. The U.S. had not yet joined its allies in war, but feared growing Nazi and Fascist influence in the Americas.

The term “public diplomacy” is problematic, born out of bureaucratic wrestling in the mid-1960’s as the “struggle for minds and wills” gave way to counting tanks, bombers, and missiles. It’s very use today continues to signify something that is different, but it is not a separate line of activity that is discretely separated other “private” or any other diplomacy.

Rolfe was one of seven people honored for their efforts in fostering cross-cultural understanding. The awards, which included one for actor Robert Redford for founding the Sundance Institute, were presented during the U.S. Summit and Global Initiative for Citizen Diplomacy conference Nov. 16-19.

A record 15 million people around the world this year entered America's green-card lottery, an immigration program that offers a quick path to legal, permanent U.S. residence for 50,000 people a year—selected purely by the luck of the draw.

Last week the White House announced the President’s “intent to nominate” two individuals to the US Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy: Ambassador Ryan Crocker and Sim Farar. These are the first nominations to the Commission by this White House, but certainly not the last.

I often tell audiences at home and abroad that medicine is a language all nations understand. It’s one of the best ways to help people who are in need. Medicine builds bridges, builds trust and cooperation, and working together, our partnership in Djibouti will help improve our two countries for our mutual benefit.

“We want to give these aspiring children boys and girls—wealthy and poor—the opportunity to learn and develop their skills in baseball,” [US Ambassador to the Philippines Harry] Thomas said, citing the case of Filipino-American Tim Lincecum...