Afghans are more pessimistic about the direction of their country, less confident in the ability of the United States and its allies to provide security and more willing to negotiate with the Taliban than they were a year ago, according to a new poll conducted in all of Afghanistan's 34 provinces.

At dinner in Prague with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s president, Jeff Gedmin, and half a dozen RFE/RL staffers, Gedmin said, to no one in particular, “Do you think at any time in the future history will look back and say, ‘I wish they hadn’t broadcast so much information’?”

Rolfe was one of seven people honored for their efforts in fostering cross-cultural understanding. The awards, which included one for actor Robert Redford for founding the Sundance Institute, were presented during the U.S. Summit and Global Initiative for Citizen Diplomacy conference Nov. 16-19.

They break up child suicide-bomber rings, take down drug lords and government ministers (even when they are the same thing) and kick in doors to rescue kidnapped diplomats — all with little or no help from the Americans and NATO.

They are the fictional police unit of "Eagle Four," the first of several television shows funded by the U.S. government as part of a strategy to galvanize Afghans behind their security forces. The show's first episodes debuted in recent weeks on Tolo TV, one of Afghanistan's largest stations.

Up to 950 Canadian troops will train Afghan army recruits from 2011 to 2014, maintaining a particular focus on solving the "huge problem" of low literacy levels, Defense Minister Peter MacKay said on Tuesday.

Foreign policy is typically the executive branch’s domain because that is the branch that decides who the US negotiates with and what gets offered in those negotiations. However, Tuesday’s Republican victory, particularly the GOP takeover of the House and leadership of some key committees, has the ability to affect the US's dialogue, and in some cases policy, on a few key US relationships with other countries.