When chipotle and kimchi abound in the suburbs and Univision co-hosts a presidential debate, it is easy to forget how sudden and extraordinary our ethnic makeover has been. Americans middle-aged or older were born into a country where immigrants seemed to have vanished. As recently as 1970, the immigrant share of the population was at its lowest level on record, and the foreign-born were mostly old and white.

Since Somalia's 1991 civil war and the political instability it wrought, capital city Mogadishu has struggled to rebuild. But recently, signs of better times have begun to emerge. With Al-Shabab militants no longer in control, a new, technocratic government has helped plant signs of stability while attracting a substantial new wave of investment from longtime ally Turkey and other members of the Somali diaspora.

Stands selling jewelry, embroidery and beer imported from Ethiopia lined the entrance to Tel Aviv’s Habima Theater on Friday, as people waited in line for about half an hour to buy the flat, lemony Ethiopian bread injera at the entrance to the Sigdiada, a festival celebrating the culture and folklore of Israel’s Ethiopian Jewish community.

Maria Miller, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, visits the Getty Villa in Los Angeles to highlight what the ancient Cyrus Cylinder holds for cultural diplomacy. On loan from the British Museum, the Persian Cylinder represents a step toward government acknowledgement of basic human rights-- namely, a written acknowledgment of the freedom to practice religion without persecution from the state.

A few months ago, the Pew Research Center observed that Americans’ “isolationist sentiment” hit an all time high. According to Pew, Americans want to pay attention to problems at home, rather than focusing on problems overseas.

David Stern is set to retire in February 2014, after completing exactly 30 years of service as commissioner of the National Basketball Association (NBA). In transforming the NBA from a drug-addled public-relations nightmare of a league into a multi-billion dollar entity, Stern’s proudest accomplishment is growing the game globally. After investing in Europe for the better part of a decade following the fall of communism in the Eastern Bloc countries, Stern set his sights on Asia as a new frontier.