A global public diplomacy portal by the State Department launched during the Bush years has been shut down, as the State Department recalibrates its efforts towards social media.

The U.S. State Department is set to announce $28 million in grants to help Internet activists, particularly in countries where the governments restrict e-mail and social networks such as those offered by Facebook Inc., Twitter Inc. and Google Inc.

In a speech at the U.S.-Islamic World Forum in Washington, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the United States believes there is no reason why the Middle East "cannot be among the most progressive, prosperous, peaceful, successful regions in the world.

Joseph Nye is as gifted at branding as he is at thinking, teaching, and serving the public. He turned "soft power" (essential to "smart power") into a golden brand. In Washington, you know something has reached gold when the secretary of state wraps a "strategy" around it...

The State Department has a "rigidly narrow" view of diplomacy that neglects religion's role in foreign affairs, a prominent Catholic ambassador charged on Sunday (April 17) as he announced his resignation.

The State Department has secretly financed Syrian political opposition groups and related projects, including a satellite TV channel that beams anti-government programming into the country, according to previously undisclosed diplomatic cables.

Elements with the State Department are trying to silence an American diplomat who believes that he was personally charged by the White House with promoting President Obama’s interfaith initiatives.