President Barack Obama’s May 23rd speech at the National Defense University has been cited primarily for its assertion that the war against Al Qaeda has largely been won and that methods for countering violent extremism will change. The President stated that the United States “cannot use force everywhere that a radical ideology takes root,” and said that “the next element of our strategy involves addressing the underlying grievances and conflicts that feed extremism.”

Taiwan and its 23 million people will eventually be absorbed by China, which claims it as a breakaway province, by a process of economic osmosis. So runs the conventional wisdom among many businessmen, and some diplomats. Or will it? Instead of China changing Taiwan, might Taiwan change China? Taiwan has a powerful weapon at its disposal: an inclusive national identity that absorbs and celebrates difference...

On Thursday and Friday, Indonesia will host the fifth Bali Democracy Forum. This year’s BDF will focus on the contribution of democratic global governance to international peace and security, the enjoyment of human rights and economic development.

Ironically, technology has radically democratized nearly every social institution and industry except democracy itself. A handful among us are pioneering ways to bring transparency and interactivity to the process of self-government. On the eve of America’s political new year, Election Day, we highlight this year’s most innovative people in democracy.

The screening room of the public library in the U.S. Embassy is dim and quiet. Around 20 pairs of eyes are locked on the flat screen Sony TV at the front as the theme song to The West Wing rises to a crescendo.

World leaders, ministers and high-level officials from 54 countries across the Asia-Pacific region will participate in the fifth Bali Democracy Forum (BDF). The Foreign Ministry’s director general for information and public diplomacy, Abdurrahman M. Fachir, said that the BDF would seek to discuss approaches to integrating democratic principles into global governance, especially in managing collective efforts to promote peace, security, economic development and the enjoyment of human rights.