On March 30, 1949, in its first semi-annual report by the US Advisory Commission on Information, the predecessor to today's Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy, recommended an "immediate and broad expansion of the world-wide information program being conducted by the State Department, including the activities of the Voice of America."

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan E. Rice and her staff moved this morning into the new U.S. mission to the United Nations, a 26-story solid concrete tower that is designed to protect America's diplomats from a suicide car bomb or chemical or biological weapon attack. Its completion is two years behind schedule.

Sometimes effective public diplomacy can be conducted through a simple and unambiguous gesture. Such was the case when President Barack Obama recently commemorated the 50th anniversaries of 17 African nations’ independence at the White House. The gesture – or really a non-gesture – was to not invite a single African head of state to the event.

Hard as it may be to believe when you see the images of the monsoon floods that are now devastating Pakistan, the country is actually on the verge of a critical shortage of fresh water. And water scarcity is not only a worry for Pakistan’s population — it is a threat to America’s national security as well.

Sometimes effective public diplomacy can be conducted through a simple and unambiguous gesture. Such was the case when President Barack Obama recently commemorated the 50th anniversaries of 17 African nations’ independence at the White House.

China's rising influence, particularly its robust economic growth in the past three decades, has created a view among some that it is no longer a developing country.

The US debate over the so-called ground zero mosque in New York tracks similar fights that have taken place in European capitals in recent years over national identity and the impact of growing Muslim populations.

Rapid U.S. action to support Pakistan's relief efforts may help improve America's image among a population that generally resents the United States. Washington's $55 million aid pledge makes it the largest donor among the international community.