We had a great session yesterday at the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office.  We heard from three panelists - each from a different desk within the FCO - and discussed a number of issues, including the UK's strategic approach to public diplomacy.  Over the last few years, the British government has made a concerted effort to both revaluate and reconceputalize how their country conducts public diplomacy.  Most recently, the FCO, led by Minister for Europe Jim Murphy, published a report called "Engagement: Public Diplomacy in a Globalized World."  The report, which I highly recommend, was launched in the US at the Brookings Institution last month.  It is a compilation of essays by leading public diplomacy scholars and addresses a number of the challenges facing governments today as they seek to promote their values and foreign policy objectives overseas.  What struck me the most was the report's emphasis (and this was also brought up by the speakers) on a "new" public diplomacy for the 21st century - one that focuses on listening, dialogue, and real cooperation as opposed to diplomacy as propaganda:  keep shouting your message, and if foreign publics don't seem to get it, shout louder.  As an American, it seems that all too often we seem to fall in the latter camp, and sure enough Karen Hughes' failed "listening tour" was mentioned a number of times as an example of the old, ineffective way of conducting public diplomacy.  Reading "Engagement" and listening to the panel, I was impressed not only by the more progressive vision for public diplomacy offered by the FCO, but also by the simple fact that their government is actively and critically reflecting on what does and does not work when it comes to public diplomacy and is unafraid to adopt a new paradigm and take bold action when old practices appear ineffective.