The new Middle East is very much a work in progress, but... the latest developments...are making the stirring picture of freedom, democracy and secularism that so many had envisioned in the early days of the Arab Spring look more like a glassy mirage masking anti-liberal, anti-Western sentiment.

Bruce Wharton... said that by inviting the four presidents to Washington, the Obama administration is highlighting the importance of "holding credible elections, building strong democratic institutions and fostering economic development."

The forum is a critical venue that provides the necessary tools...to export Israel’s message of freedom and democracy... “This is an historic opportunity to support democratic movements in the Middle East, and speak out against the manipulation of popular hope by extremists.”

Washington, especially Obama’s State Department, has a democracy problem. Too many see democracy promotion as a Bush-era priority, others see democracy as “cultural imperialism,” and still others see dangers, not opportunities.

In the last hundred days, the world has seen not only how weak and divided are the European members of NATO, but also how the once-celebrated European notion of "soft power" means very little in the world of perpetually savage nations. What stops China from carving out a new co-prosperity sphere in Asian waters...

Using the Twitter hashtag #AskUSA, the State Department continued its digital media outreach Wednesday with a Q & A conducted entirely on Twitter in 10 languages.

Proposals to reorient European policy have come from the European Commission and..European External Action Service...through advocacy of a “Partnership for Democracy and Shared Prosperity” and...to create a European Endowment for Democracy and a Civil Society Facility...

Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese democracy leader and Nobel peace prize winner, has issued a passionate manifesto for freedom in an unprecedented international broadcast describing the continuing 21-year-long struggle against Burma's military junta and the inspirational impact of the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions.