Alarge part of a diplomat's role and mission is to reach out to and engage with the citizens of his or her host country. Traditionally, this has involved cultural events, receptions and business exchanges. But with the advent of Web 2.0, an increasing number of diplomats are turning to the Internet and social media...

Last Friday, an official accompanying President Aquino in his state visit to Vietnam was criticized for comments posted on Twitter. Carmen Mislang, who holds the rank of assistant secretary in the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office, tweeted that the wine served at a dinner hosted by Vietnam "sucks"...

In the run-up to the Nato summit on November 19 in Lisbon, the transatlantic community must confront not just the burning issues it faces (from Afghanistan to Russia), but the way free nations can and should wield their power for global progress.

The official portal of Hon'ble CM Narendra Modi (www.narendramodi.in) got the prestigious eGov 2.0 award for the ‘Most innovative use of social Media'. There were more than 400 entries for this prestigious award, The other two recipients in this category were Ministry of External Affairs' Public Diplomacy Division and Delhi Traffic Police.

The Public Diplomacy Division of the Ministry of External Affairs was on Thursday given the prestigious India eGov 2.0 Awards 2010 for the most innovative use of social media and Web 2.0 tools in government. The event was held in the evening at the Hotel Claridges in Central Delhi.

Jon Stewart's "Rally to Restore Sanity" has gone global, sparking sister rallies from Tel Aviv to Mt. Everest Base Camp on Oct. 30, the same day that Mr. Stewart will convene a gathering of like-minded cohorts on the Washington Mall. "Everyone was getting excited" about the rally in Washington, says Kittie Brown, a marketing consultant and mother of three who lives in Paris.

The Christian Science Monitor interviewed CPD Director Philip Seib about how the Internet has influenced the rise of social movements such as Jon Stewart's "Rally to Restore Sanity" which has gone global in a short amount of time. Seib notes, "the Internet only amplifies these movements. I would think we’re going to have more and more phenomena that start national and become global."

On Sept. 2, Chowrangi, an English-language online journal of culture and news in Pakistan, published a story about three explosions in Lahore that killed more than 30 and wounded more than 200, including women and children. Like a lot of online stories, this one sparked vociferous comments.