The philosophy is that the military can secure an area, while civilians implement quick impact development projects meant to win the support of Afghans. Hillary Clinton calls the strategy “smart power” and praises the inter-agency coordination it has brought to U.S. involvement there.

In a bid to streamline diplomacy and foreign aid, the State Department will "fundamentally change our management approach by turning to the expertise of other federal agencies where appropriate -- before engaging private contractors," according to the department's inaugural quadrennial review.

The Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR), was led by the state department and USAid to look at how diplomacy and development can work together more effectively. It was leaked ahead of schedule last month.

There hasn't turned out to be any striking difference between what politicians and diplomats say publicly and what they are saying among themselves. Imagine: All the secrets of the U.S. State Department were exposed and not a single person had to resign!

Last week’s unveiling of the State Department’s first-ever comprehensive strategic review – titled the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR) – has been a long time coming. After a full year of delay, the department has finally admitted what government officials, academics, civilian workers and others have been saying for decades: the U.S. foreign policy apparatus is failing.

As the State Department prepares to implement recommendations from its first Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR), its leadership team must inevitably focus on management. This report...offers recommendations for how the State Department can incorporate corporate management lessons as it grapples with its own efforts at reform.

The Brooklyn Academy of Music has been tapped to produce the first official year of DanceMotion USA, a cultural diplomacy project. The U.S. State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs worked with BAM on a pilot program this year that sent three U.S. dance companies to tour three regions of the world.

But there’s still some interesting stuff, albeit sometimes superficial, to be found in the cables. A confidential memo from late 2009, released on Tuesday December 7, informed the State Department that Saudi youth love to party with “alcohol, prostitutes, and drugs.”