Today, as America looks for ways to engage the world -- and not compromise its core values in the process -- promoting our culture of volunteerism and service stands out as a promising avenue.

President Barack Obama's administration is taking a multi-faceted approach toward women’s rights worldwide. The U.S. Department of State is charged with much of the coordination of this effort, through the Secretary’s Office of Global Women's Issues.

Jared Cohen, who sits on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s policy planning staff, calls himself a technopragmatist. Technology is neither good nor bad, he said. “The technologies themselves don’t choose sides; people do.”

While newer technologies such as Twitter are capturing more headlines, the State Department still sees untapped diplomatic potential in the humble text message.

Alec Ross, Secretary Clinton's Senior Advisor for Innovation, said the new policy is designed to promote access to global education and culture by permitting certain telecommunications equipment and services to flow to those countries. Export of those equipment and services had previously been blocked by U.S. sanctions.

WASHINGTON -- A recent “pivot” of U.S. sanctions policy toward Iran, Sudan and Cuba was discussed in detail this morning by a senior State Department official.

Alec Ross, Secretary Clinton's Senior Advisor for Innovation, said the new policy is designed to promote access to global education and culture by permitting certain telecommunications equipment and services to flow to those countries. Export of those equipment and services had previously been blocked by U.S. sanctions.

Reaching out to the two countries that voted against new sanctions on Iran, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday that she thought Brazil and Turkey would continue to play an important role in diplomatic efforts with the Iranian government.