For the first time in five years, the number of international graduate students admitted to U.S. universities has declined, according to a study by the Council of Graduate Schools. This is a potentially ominous sign. Over the years, education exchanges have been a cornerstone of U.S. public diplomacy. Even in countries where American foreign policy is not supported, U.S. higher education was highly valued. Think of it as the new jazz, the worldwide American currency of good will, just as American jazz and later rock music helped pull back the iron curtain of the cold war.

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Many publishers will refer to advertisers as business partners. Tyler Brûlé, the founder of Wallpaper magazine and editor in chief of Monocle, calls them “patrons of Monocle’s approach.” And he means it, too. In the United States, magazines abide by the rules of the American Society of Magazine Editors, which call for clear bright lines between advertising and editorial. But for Monocle, a globe-trotting magazine for what Mr.

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As the world fights an economic downturn, a new dimension is being added to trade and business relations between India and the Arab world, enhancing centuries-old ties between two sides of the Arabian Sea. Though Arab countries, particularly the Gulf nations, have traditionally been looked at as an important source of oil and gas for India, today it has changed into cooperation across multiple sectors marked by cross-investments from both sides.

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Were Washingtonians to attend Trinidad and Tobago's independence celebration Saturday, they not only would hear the only acoustic instrument invented in the 20th century in the island republic, they would hear the musician who holds a Guinness world record for playing the piano for 101 hours 7 minutes.

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Call it the evolutionary school of revolution. After years of brutally suppressed street protests, many Burmese have adopted a new strategy that they say takes advantage of small political openings to push for greater freedoms. They are distributing aid, teaching courses on civic engagement and quietly learning to govern. "We are trying to mobilize people by changing their thought process," said an entrepreneur in the city of Mandalay who is setting up classes on leadership. He added half in jest, "Civil society is a guerrilla movement."

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Starting in September, President Obama will face a politically fateful battle in Congress over health-care reform. There is also the escalating war in Afghanistan and the tricky task of "responsibly" extracting some of the 130,000 remaining U.S. troops from Iraq. A showdown is approaching with Iran, which shows no sign of responding to a September deadline for opening negotiations on its nuclear program. All of that is on top of nursing the still-convalescing economy.

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Greening the world will certainly eliminate some of the most serious risks we face, but it will also create new ones. A move to electric cars, for example, could set off a competition for lithium -- another limited, geographically concentrated resource. The sheer amount of water needed to create some kinds of alternative energy could suck certain regions dry, upping the odds of resource-based conflict.

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Chengdu has been applauded as the Chinese city with the most "soft power" after beating a number of mainland cities - including Hangzhou, Dalian and Kunming - to secure the title. In recent years "soft power" has become an increasingly important factor in the success or failure of a city or region, in terms of both satisfying the needs of its residents and in attracting external support from the commercial sector.

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