The projection of America’s abundant soft power is still wholly inadequate. Tally the scorecard in Afghanistan – you’ll see the consequence of our inadequacy in misspent treasure and tragic human sacrifice. When we fail with our soft power, we rely more heavily on hard power to achieve our goals, placing an undue, and unfair, burden on our armed forces.

Through a cultural diplomacy program sponsored by the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, she helped some of Northern Africa’s most talented vocalists take a brave and historic step: singing in public. In some parts of the region, women are not only discouraged from singing...

Four decades ago, the US Department of Defense created the Internet; today, by most accounts, the US remains the leading country in terms of its military and societal use. But greater dependence on networked computers and communication leaves the US more vulnerable to attack...

The outlook is uncertain for hundreds of support contractors, which toiled in obscurity before 9/11 and whose business grew rapidly over the past decade as military spending soared. Some might exit the market, while others are likely to return to their roots, working in peacekeeping operations and State Department soft-power initiatives.

DanceMotion USASM builds on Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s vision of “smart power” diplomacy. It embraces the full use of diplomatic tools, in this case dance, to engage people and create opportunities for greater understanding.

The book 'Lift Up your Hearts' is being launched at the Aula Magna in St Paul Street, Valletta on April 19 at 1.45 p.m. The book talks of the ambassador's resignation when he saw that his inter-faith diplomacy in Malta was not supported by the State Department.