With the neutrality status declared after gaining independence in 1991, Turkmenistan started to implement a distinct foreign policy strategy. In this way, Ashgabat attempted to preserve its stability in the state-building and nation-building processes, keeping its distance from current regional and global problems. Under the leadership of President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, Turkmenistan gave the sign that Ashgabat will be more active in the international area with its new foreign policy concept, adopted for the period 2013-2017

After nearly four years of often testy relations with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, US President Barack Obama is about to try a different tack - going over the head of Israel's prime minister and appealing directly to the Israeli people.

A growing electronic blitzkrieg by Beijing - blasted by Barack Obama as ''state sponsored'' hacking and now extending to the jamming of Australia's radio news broadcasts in Asia - threatens to derail delicate negotiations for the ABC to win television rights in China.

If South Korea resorts to force to unify the peninsula, the region would be trapped in long-term chaos, as happened in the Middle East. A turbulent Korean Peninsula is harmful to China and the Northeast Asia. Both China and South Korea could be victims. The cost of abandoning North Korea is much higher than that of protecting it. China's strategic considerations should be aimed at maintaining the stability of the Korean Peninsula.

APDS Blogger: Danni Li

BEIJING--

Consider this statement: “The great body of citizens are refusing to wait until negotiations are over or policies are acted upon or even determined. They demand to know what is going on and to have an opportunity to express their opinions at all stages of diplomatic proceedings.”

Yesh Atid, Likud Beytenu return to disputes on number of ministries, equality in burden; Likud MKs concerned Bennett will turn Public Diplomacy post into de facto Foreign Ministry.

When John Kerry took to Twitter on his first day as US secretary of state, he joined an army of diplomats using social media to reach out and connect directly with people around the world. “Exhilarating to walk into @StateDept today and get to work with remarkable team. Dad on mind! -JK,” Kerry wrote in his first personal tweet.