The result is what we academics call premature closure, or what policy makers call a failure in due diligence; basically an unwillingness to consider all of the potential options, the risk and the consequences of a particular course of action. In this newspaper and elsewhere, I have addressed the reasons why a foreign policy that is not open to public scrutiny lacks both accountability and legitimacy.

Iran is a country of many contradictions. You have have heard that before. Unrelated men and women aren't allowed to mingle freely, yet they find a way to do so. Women are required to cover their hair, but many cover it in a way that becomes a fashion statement. There are many others. Here's another contradiction: Iranian officials — including the President Hassan Rouhani and foreign minister Javad Zarif — are frequent users of social media. Yet Iranian citizens are officially banned from signing up.

The use of social media is exploding in Brazil. It's the third largest market for Facebook; fifth largest for Twitter. The controversial women-only app Lulu recently launched here and quickly became the top downloaded app in the country, making Brazil Lulu's biggest market. "I think it is cool because it's a social network for what all women throughout history have always done," says 20-year-old Marcela, as she taps away at the Lulu app on her iPhone.

On the cusp of the New Year 2014, I went to St. Peter’s Square to see and hear perhaps the only person in the world -- not counting Justin Bieber, Rihanna or the boys in One Direction -- able to draw an eager outdoor crowd of 100,000 on a chilly, drizzly, gray December afternoon. It was Pope Francis’ first Christmas Day speech to the city and the world, and what I witnessed was a leader aware that he lives in an era of rampant digital disruption.

“Why tweet in English?” demanded a pro-government commentator of his opponent in a TV debate, insisting that Turkish people tweeting in English about the recent graft probe is part of an international conspiracy. Twitter has become the most recent fixation of Turkey’s ruling party who alleges the social media platform is a part of the international conspiracy against the Justice and Development Party, Ihsan Dagi discussed in a piece originally published by Turkey’s Today’s Zaman.

Turki al-Hamad paid a heavy price for a tweet. Last year the novelist told his followers that Islam as practiced in Saudi Arabia was not the "message of love" preached by the Prophet Muhammad. The outcome was six months in prison without trial. Conditions were immeasurably better than when he was detained in the 1970s, but the hazards of speaking out in the digital age were still painfully clear.

A Twitter conversation on Asian American feminism using the hashtag #NotYourAsianSidekick quickly became a global discussion aimed at breaking silence around issues faced by Asian communities. Writer Suey Park launched the hashtag, which was used nearly 50,000 times in less than a day.

Indians online are posting photos of same-sex affection to show their outrage over a Indian supreme court ruling that criminalises gay sex. Thousands of Facebook users have joined the "Gay for a Day" campaign, which is soliciting photos of people kissing someone of the same gender. Though many in India still disapprove of homosexuality, online users joined the pro-LGBT rights campaign after the decision was announced on Tuesday.