It is a new beginning down at Foggy Bottom. Tara becomes only the seventh Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs since the job was created upon the merger of USIA into the Department in 1999.

Just before heading out of town, the Senate confirmed dozens of Obama administration appointments, including a host of ambassadors and several top officials at Foggy Bottom. Among the newly confirmed appointees are Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy Tara Sonenshine...

Also confirmed was Mike Hammer as Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs (he’s been “Acting” all this time). A list of all confirmations for the State Department, Ambassadors and Assistant Secretaries, including for the Bureau of Conflict and Stability Operations, is below.

“The US approach to issues in the Middle East has been very defined and I will say that rather than looking at the words of mouth, which do not really matter, I will suggest that people should look more at actions being taken by the US,"

The third U.S.-China Women-LEAD dialogue focused on the topic of “Women and Employment.” The U.S. delegation consisted of government officials, academics, and other members of civil society. The two sides discussed best practices and effective policies...

In the United States, diplomats are transforming the way they work using social media, and, according to a report released today by the Lowy Institute, the contrast with Australia is huge. The US State Department now has 600 social media platforms with a global audience of more than 8 million people.

"The US State Department has become the world's leading user of ediplomacy," states the new report put out by Australia's Lowy Institute for International Policy, highlighting a range of initiatives that Foggy Bottom has included in its "21st Century Statecraft" Initiative.

Sports diplomacy builds on Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s vision of “smart power,” which embraces the full range of diplomatic tools – in this case the game of basketball – to bring people together to foster greater understanding.