Diplomacy is the second oldest legal profession but arguably the least understood. This reality has triggered disparate assessments of the impact of WikiLeaks’ release of thousands of U.S. confidential diplomatic dispatches. The consequences for the conduct of diplomacy are far-reaching and go beyond U.S. fundamental values of freedom of speech and transparency.

During the Cold War — when the U.S. and the Soviet Union raced to find allies — you were viewed as a way to exert soft power and build friendship with countries susceptible to communist influence.

Part I of this series examined the relationships – or lack thereof – between diplomacy, science and international policy, and noted the serious image problems which plague all three enterprises. These difficulties have hobbled the practice of science diplomacy...

But quietly, India has been embedding itself as a soft power through its prophet of non-violence. In the last decade, statues and busts of Mahatma Gandhi have been installed by scores of cities -- from Trujillo in Peru to Osnabrueck in Germany -- to honour what could arguably be India's greatest export: Gandhian philosophy.

Israel has instructed its embassies in 10 European countries, including the UK, each to recruit 1,000 members of the public to act as advocates for its policies in a new public relations offensive.

Here and there in downtown Budapest, the bullet holes remain. It was more than a half-century ago when Hungarian freedom fighters dared to take to the streets and do battle with the Soviet Union. Expecting help - apparently promised, but never delivered - from the United States, the Hungarians were quickly outmatched and paid a terrible price at the hands of the Soviet military.

A group of dancers from California left a lasting impression on an audience in India this weekend. The dancers from San Francisco performed gravity defying routines on the side of this landmark building and drew gasps and applause from the audience.