“The 21st century is a terrible time to be a control freak,” quipped Jared Cohen, a technology and social networking advisor on the Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Staff, at panel discussion held Tuesday at CSIS. Governments cannot control the spread of "connection technologies," Cohen said, but in his view, the U.S. government should work to influence and shape both the development of these technologies and the messages conveyed on them.

As part of its ‘roadmap’ to strengthening U.S. public diplomacy, the State Department plans to create seven new senior positions, the Washington Times emphasized in its report of last week’s Senate hearing that featured testimony by four Under Secretaries of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs (see Alliance report).

Four Under Secretaries of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs—three past and one current—gathered yesterday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to discuss “the Future of U.S. Public Diplomacy.” The panelists testified in chronological order based on their tenures in office— former Under Secretaries Evelyn Lieberman (1999-2001), Karen Hughes (2005-07), and James Glassman (2008-09) spoke on the first panel, while current Under Secretary Judith McHale (2009-present) followed them as the sole voice on a second panel.

An interview with former Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs James K. Glassman will run in this Sunday’s Washington Post Outlook section. The interview, both a video and the transcript, is already available on Washingtonpost.com.

The U.S. Senate last night confirmed the nominations of James K. Glassman to be Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, and Janice L. Jacobs to be Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs. Glassman replaces Karen Hughes. Jacobs replaces Maura Harty.

Ms. Goli Ameri, nominated by President Bush for Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), was confirmed by the U.S. Senate yesterday.

At a hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee yesterday, Mr. James K. Glassman and Ms. Goli Ameri, President Bush’s nominees for Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs and Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) respectively, praised the value of exchanges and pending their confirmation, pledged to build on those programs during their terms in office.