As a candidate, Barack Obama promised to withdraw from Iraq, "finish the fight against al-Qaida and the Taliban," shut down Gitmo and break through the impasse with Iran. But as president, Obama is learning that conducting U.S. foreign policy is far more difficult than simply critiquing it.

Along the gradient of power, there's a possible mix of "soft" and "hard" varieties. The public diplomacy originating at the U.S. State Department is commonly associated with the "soft" power of peaceful persuasion and cultural appeal...

The USC Office of Globalization has opened a new international office in Seoul, Korea, its sixth worldwide and fifth in Asia. The USC Korea office will strengthen and facilitate research partnerships with Korean universities...

The significance of public diplomacy has grown exponentially during the past decade, partly because of the pervasiveness of new media. To an unprecedented extent, publics that previously were difficult or impossible to reach can now be contacted in cyber cafés and on their mobile phones.

A delegation from Pskov, Russia, was welcomed to the city on Monday, taking in sights ranging from City Hall to Baystate Medical Center and learning how officials here tackle some of the same challenges they face in their homeland.

The U.S. was a smart power in the past. Serious challenges from China now are reducing America's influence internationally. The U.S. has to wake up and focus on the task of rediscovering how to be a smart power again.

Along the gradient of power, there’s a possible mix of “soft” and “hard” varieties. The public diplomacy originating at the U.S. State Department is commonly associated with the “soft” power of peaceful persuasion and cultural appeal; the foreign information efforts at the Pentagon are often in the service of some tangible “hard” power goal. The mixing often takes place in conflict zones, where a variety of forces and actors are in play. So who decides the mix, and how?

Ascending Dragon, the biggest cultural exchange between Viet Nam and the US, has created a buzz among the Asian country's music scene.