Many of the causes, consequences and implications of the popular unrest sweeping the Arab world and Iran are topics of heated debate. However, one outcome is without dispute: the "freedom to connect" has become the newest, high-profile irritant in United States-China relations.

China has warned the US not to use calls for internet freedom as an excuse to meddle in other countries' affairs. The foreign ministry comments came after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced an initiative to help dissidents around the world get past government internet controls.

The Obama administration will pump $25 million this year into helping cyber dissidents foil Internet repression in autocratic states and plans to broaden the reach of its online mini-appeals for human rights and democracy by creating Twitter feeds that cater to audiences in China, Russia and India.

PD Magazine announces the launch of the Winter 2011 issue: "Corporate Diplomacy". This unique publication examines a variety of factors that make the private sector an important source of innovation and collaboration within the public diplomacy process.

As millions march in the streets of Cairo, it is far too soon to tell whether the upheaval will deliver the economic and political freedoms that the people demand. History is littered with radical transformations that have taken societies in radically different directions.