Transparency in government took a huge step forward on January 3. On that day, President Obama signed into law the Smith–Mundt Modernization Act as an amendment to the 2013 Defense Authorization Bill.

A Korean wave is sweeping the world. The secretary-general of the United Nations is Korean, the head of the World Bank is a Korean-American. “Gangnam Style,” a song by the Korean rapper Psy, has become the most watched video on YouTube.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Tuesday said that promoting relations with Russia is a priority for Chinese diplomacy as he met with a Russian delegation in Beijing.
Xi, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, told Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev that China will continue to push forward a bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Twitter footprint improved in 2012, but it still lags behind other leaders in the region. According to a report released last month by the Digital Policy Council (DPC) that ranked all 123 heads of state with Twitter accounts, Netanyahu jumped three places, from #31 to #28.

From her statements and pledges during the election, president-elect Park Geun-hye’s plan for North Korea policy appears less antagonistic than the Lee Myung-bak administration’s approach, but not as conciliatory as that of the Roh Moo-hyun administration.

As a new nation created in this magnificent techno-age of the 21st century, the Republic of South Sudan is faced with numerous challenges. One such challenge is the need to anchor the nation on a firm economic platform so as to advance the livelihoods of the populace.

In 2006, a 5-year-old captive-bred giant panda named Xiang Xiang ("Lucky") was released into the wild — the first of his kind to make that transition. Ten months later, he was dead. Chinese wildlife officials reported at the time that it appeared Xiang Xiang had suffered fatal internal injuries after being attacked by other wild-born male pandas in a battle for food and territory.

Buried deep in the report of the Accountability Review Board convened by outgoing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to examine the tragic events that took place this fall in Benghazi, Libya is the answer to why the U.S. ambassador was there in the first place. Ambassador Christopher Stevens, who lost his life in Benghazi, was there "to open an American Corner at a local school and to reconnect with local contacts."