The video was released as many analysts believe the terror network is struggling to cope with the loss of a string of leaders and has found its jihadist message undermined by popular protests against authoritarian regimes which have swept the Middle East.

If a Millennial foreign policy exists, the concept of smart power—developing and employing the complete policy arsenal at our disposal to influence through soft power and, when necessary, compel with hard power—might be its central tenet.

Yet these new commitments to control the border have been largely expressions of public diplomacy rather than manifestations of new thinking about the border.

It is true that the new ruling party initially had problems with credibility, due to a lack of proper public diplomacy at the international level, the core of the Israeli state, in alliance with a powerful lobby in the US, chose to undermine it, using every opportunity to describe the AK Party as a dangerous one, with a hidden political agenda.

Joseph Nye observes: ''A key lesson of 9/11 is that hard military power is essential in countering terrorism by the likes of bin Laden, but that the soft power of ideas and legitimacy is essential for winning the hearts and minds of the mainstream Muslim populations from whom al-Qaeda would like to recruit - a 'smart power' strategy does not ignore the tools of soft power.''

This momentous anniversary is an occasion for U.S. public diplomacy to project a clear message to the world that Americans have suffered but remained strong in the years that followed the tragedy. This would not preclude an appropriate recognition of the suffering and loss inflicted by terrorists on citizens of many other nations...

9/11 was a fire that shaped a generation. It's true that Americans of all ages felt shock, fear, and uncertainty....Not all of them learned Arabic. Not all of them joined the military. Their lives may have been affected by Facebook and new social networks as much as by the visage of Osama bin Laden.

This discourse had its roots in economic self-interest, obligations to the diaspora and political considerations, including those involving the Northern peace process. It could also be construed as an opportune use of soft power by a small state. And it was also short-lived.