The State Department is gearing up with a set of new-age tools for diplomacy, including Facebook, text messaging, YouTube and a new adviser to help pull it off.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has hired a senior advisor on innovation whose job is to blend technology with diplomacy and advance the Obama administration's global agenda. The appointee, Alec Ross, worked during the Obama campaign to help craft tech policy under the campaign's tech adviser, Julius Genachowski.

"Secretary Clinton believes technology is a powerful tool to address the priorities of the State Department, including promoting human rights and vibrant democracies, fostering development and enhancing the impact of smart power," said State Department spokesman Robert Wood. "Alec's track record of successfully using technology for development initiatives around the world made him an ideal candidate for this job."

The administration sees cell phones, for example, as a way to reach isolated communities to warn people of natural disasters. And it sees social networking sites as ways to connect youth in warring tribes to reach peaceful solutions.

For more on diplomacy and technology:
- check out this washingtonpost.com article