WASHINGTON --- Tara Sonenshine, nominated to serve as Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, offered advice this morning to public diplomacy observers: Watch China.

“We are challenged every day by what the Chinese are doing in public diplomacy,” she said.

Part of the Empowering Women and Girls Through Sports Initiative, this exchange 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.

Ambassador Alberto M. Fernandez today assumed the position of Coordinator of the Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications, which was established to coordinate, orient, and inform government-wide public communications activities directed at audiences abroad and targeted against violent extremists and terrorist organizations.

As part of the “Empowering Women and Girls Through Sports Initiative,” the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and U.S. Soccer announced today that the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team will take to the soccer field and lead a event for Japanese youth...

Michael Brooke, the Public Diplomacy officer at the US embassy said: “We hope the visit will inspire more women and girls to become involved in sports and experience the benefits of participation; improved health, greater self-esteem, and greater academic success.

The worlds of diplomacy and science and technology, of government-to-government relations and people to people exchanges, are more intertwined and interdependent than ever. By working together, we can expand our horizons by sharing resources, networks, people and program content.

The 2012 American Film Showcase...is an international cultural diplomacy initiative that will bring award-winning American films, including documentaries, feature films and animated shorts, to foreign audiences through events worldwide.

Clinton also announced the release today of an Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) on Global Water Security. The ICA is based on a National Intelligence Estimate requested by Secretary Clinton a year earlier to assess the impact of global water issues on U.S. national security interests