President Enrique Pena Nieto’s PRI and the like-minded PAN have the congressional votes to pass an energy reform. Doing so without preparing Mexicans for the change could be counterproductive. The PRI has also vowed to unveil its own proposal later this year. But pushing a little-known reform on Mexicans at the very last minute may be as troublesome as not having a reform at all. Mexico has a historic opportunity to change its energy future. The country's politicians will make history if they educate their citizens about why their insular oil nationalism is no longer an option.

On Sunday, John Hudson, writing for Foreign Policy, depressingly labeled the Bureau of International Information Programs (IIP) the red-headed stepchild of the State Department. While the Bureau does indeed have directional and organizational problems, it is more the “forgotten middle child” of distracted, arguing parents rather than an unwanted addition to the family.

After nine months in Havana, Cuba, negotiators are making slow but steady progress toward ending the conflict between Colombia's government and its largest leftist guerrilla group, the 49-year-old Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The talks are now at the second of five agenda points, and a growing segment of public opinion believes that this peace process—the fourth in the past 30 years—may end in an accord.

The presidents of Colombia and Venezuela have agreed to work to improve relations, two months after a row erupted between the two neighbours. Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia and Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro met for talks at a border town in Venezuela. They agreed to set up high level groups to discuss security, energy and trade. Relations had been strained since Mr Santos agreed in May to meet Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles in Bogota.

The United States is facing the worst of all worlds in the Middle East: interventions that erode Washington's prestige and popularity but fail to exert enough influence to secure U.S. interests. If Secretary of State John Kerry's effort to restart Israeli-Palestinian talks is to succeed -- and if the United States is to secure its interests, ranging from oil security to nuclear nonproliferation -- America must once again play a leading role in the region.

At first glance, Cuba’s basic political and economic structures appear as durable as the midcentury American cars still roaming its streets. The Communist Party remains in power, the state dominates the economy, and murals depicting the face of the long-dead revolutionary Che Guevara still appear on city walls. Predictions that the island would undergo a rapid transformation in the manner of China or Vietnam, let alone the former Soviet bloc, have routinely proved to be bunk.

Brazil has something of an identity crisis right now. As protests continue, the world has been exposed to the massive social unrest in the country over inequality, corruption, and the adverse economics of preparing to host global sporting events like the upcoming World Cup. Still, as one of the so-called BRIC countries — a term that has become less vogue as investors take a wider look at emerging market countries — Brazil is uniquely positioned to keep growing.

Building the nation's "soft power" - the kind of intangible influence the United States enjoys through its cultural strength and global connections - has emerged as a key priority in recent years and was repeatedly emphasised by former president Hu Jintao. "China's impact in Africa should not be underestimated. China is the most influential world power in Africa at present; its soft power is overwhelming," said Anthony Desir, a partner of the Strategic African Mineral Investment Fund, an African resource consultancy.