The writer also had a 45-minute meeting with Mr Morsi. The Syrian crisis and the relationship with the neighbours were among the topics. But the Ethiopian dam crisis was the focal point, with Mr Morsi saying he preferred the "soft power" way to handle it.

Ethiopia's decision to begin diverting the course of the Blue Nile (the largest of the Nile river’s branches), as a prelude to the construction of the Renaissance Dam, put Egyptian diplomacy in a difficult position and stirred fears over Cairo’s declining share in the Nile waters, but the Egyptian presidency managed to tame these fears.

“The casual visitor to the square in early 2013 might even wonder if SpongeBob has become, like the ubiquitous Che Guevara shirts or the spooky Guy Fawkes masks made popular by the film V for Vendetta, a bizarre transnational pop culture symbol of resistance,” Malsin added. SpongeBob’s images have even become as ever-present as images of revolutionaries who were killed during the uprising, particularly in Cairo, the newspaper reported.

News from the Middle East is dominated by conflict, whether the stories come from Syria, Libya, Iraq, or other states in the region. Blood is plentiful; hope is scarce. But beyond the lurid viciousness that dominates daily journalism are long-term challenges to the region’s future that are impervious to solutions that rely on the weaponry of conflict.

The Foreign Ministry told APA that during the meeting Elman Abdullayev briefed his counterpart about Azerbaijan's foreign policy, humanitarian projects that it carries out and the main directions of its public diplomacy…Azerbaijan and Egypt can also cooperate on common objectives of the public diplomacy.

APDS Blogger: Alex Laverty

Jon Stewart, Bassem Youssef, & U.S. Embassy, Cairo: Reconceptualizing Diplomatic Norms in the Digital Age

Steven Partyka, drummer for Capital Region jazz group the Arch Stanton Quartet, wasn’t in the best of moods when the group went to perform for high school students in Egypt. But the experience turned out to be the highlight of the band’s weeklong tour in the country from March 20-26, not just for Partyka but indeed for the whole band — guitarist Roger Noyes, bassist Chris Macchia and trumpeter Terry Gordon.