Robert Pszczel said he felt like he was in a Monty Python skit when he made a routine call to Russia's Defense Ministry back in June 2013."We cannot talk to you!" came the agitated reply in a hissed whisper, says Pszczel, acting out the scene for comic effect.This was how Pszczel, NATO's envoy in Russia, found out his line of contact with the ministry had been terminated.(...)Pszczel says incidents like this have been business as usual at the NATO outpost he runs in Moscow.

The NBA is the first U.S. professional league to visit sports-crazy Cuba since the declaration of detente between the Cold War enemies late last year. Stars such as former MVP Steve Nash and Hall of Fame inductee Dikembe Mutumbo will open a four-day training camp Thursday to wage athletic diplomacy and boost the profile of Cuba's arguably fourth most-popular sport, after baseball, boxing and soccer.

Last week’s unanimous vote by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on legislation allowing congressional oversight of a potential nuclear deal with Iran has been interpreted by some as a setback to President Obama. The opposite is the case. The fact is that the president’s patient and intricate diplomatic approach, along with other major world powers, to negotiating this historic agreement has gained real traction and it now seems highly unlikely that opponents of the deal could sabotage it through congressional action.

Of course, the image of a Marxist guerrilla is tied with the idea of camouflage and rifles, so we were trying to pitch the image that we could also dress in suits, speak in a moderate voice, and speak fluently in English. That simple thing changed many misconceptions about the FMLN. 

Why did the US State Department sponsor international dance tours during the Cold War? An official government narrative was sanctioned and framed by the US State Department and its partner organization, the United States Information Agency (USIA—and USIS abroad). However, the tours countered that narrative.

Duquesne University professor Greg Barnhisel skillfully shows how modernist art and literature was used to influence the Cold War game.

The White House has proposed turning Radio Marti, a U.S. government-controlled broadcaster created in part to undermine communist rule in Cuba, into a separate entity as Washington seeks rapprochement with Havana.