"America should hire al-Qaeda's PR Agent," argues Matt Armstrong. Iraq, he says, has become "a stage" for "a new public diplomacy that insurgents understand, and the U.S. State Department doesn't. ...

Karen Hughes, the U.S. Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, has been using the term "diplomacy of deeds" to describe U.S. charitable activities aimed at winning hearts and minds overseas. Retired Foreign Service officer John Brown has some doubts.

Media activists in Grand Rapids, Michigan attended Shell Oil president John Hofmeister's recent talk there, on "How the US Can Ensure Energy Supply for the Future." Hofmeister "stated up front that he was on a 50 city tour and that Grand Rapids was number 45," according to Media Mouse.