The U.S. State Department, in recognizing the need for inclusiveness in the world of sports and people-to-people exchanges, has announced today that it will bring 14 athletes from Kazakhstan to the United States to participate in an inaugural exchange for athletes with physical disabilities.

With great fanfare, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton launched a Quadrennial Development and Diplomacy Review (QDDR)—modeled on the Defense Department’s Quadrennial Defense Review—which promised a new era in foreign relations. In the President’s 2010 budget, State and USAID were the clear winners (with defense spending a clear loser).

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton met with Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken, Jr., 16 Japanese youth baseball and softball players, and four coaches participating in the U.S. Department of State’s first international sports exchange with Japan. The Secretary highlighted the role of sports to empower young people worldwide...

Over the weekend, Dr. Jill Biden led a delegation to Kenya to view firsthand the situation on the ground. Dr. Biden wanted to do this trip to highlight the crisis in the Horn of Africa and help mobilize both an American response, but also a global response to a crisis that is acute but to also underscore the fact that there is a lot we can do about it; that we can get assistance to people...

We think to date, the government is responsible for the deaths of more than 2,000 people of all ages, and the United States has worked very hard to corral and focus international opinion to take steps toward a unified response to the atrocities that are occurring...

The Department of State is pleased to announce “Ask Alan,” a new effort to engage with the Iranian people through our Persian language social media brand, USAdarFarsi. Every month on Facebook and Twitter, we will be asking our fans for questions on a topic that we set in advance. Our Persian language spokesman, Alan Eyre, will then provide answers to the most popular questions in Persian.

A seismic shift is under way at the U.S. Department of State as Foggy Bottom increasingly draws on Sillicon Valley expertise to develop tools and strategies for remaining effective — and relevant — in a rapidly innovating world...public diplomacy in particular has had to adapt its perspective and overhaul its outreach to stay current in a constantly evolving technological landscape.

As the Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom, a big part of my job is combating religious intolerance and encouraging respect for religious diversity around the world...in order to live peacefully side by side, we cannot allow violence based on religion to continue under any circumstances.