I am delighted to spend some time this afternoon outlining how and why we gauge the effectiveness of our PD programs, talk about evaluation strategies, and lay out statistics. But first, I want to share an experience I had in Bosnia Herzegovina last week. I tell you this because few things are more compelling than looking our program alumni in the eye, and talking to them face to face about their very personal experiences in the U.S.

Press service of the US embassy in Azerbaijan told APA that Bay Fang will meet with the representatives of youth organizations on December 5-6 and become familiar with the situation of public diplomacy in Azerbaijan. The US official also plans to meet with youth, who are the participants of the US education program in Sumgayit and Salyan.

I cannot speak for all of the region but generally this is a good moment for press freedom in the Middle East. In fact, the advent of satellite television had already made it hard for dictatorial regimes to suppress all alternative sources of information. Al Jazeera was a breath of fresh air, not only to those limited by CNN’s version of world news, but also to all those whose only news came from state controlled television, radio and newspapers.

When it began in 2004, the CSL was closer to a hobby than the top-tier professional league it made itself out to be. Back then, 12 teams, composed of mostly domestic footballers, played half-hearted games in front of near-empty stadiums. Match fixing and bribery were so common that many scores were set before the ball was rolled onto the pitch.

Since 1948, Israeli-Turkish relations have been through periods of disagreement and tension, as well as periods of cooperation and understanding. Relations developed gradually over the years and eventually reached their peak in the 1990’s when the two countries forged a strategic partnership, supported and strengthened by the United States. During those years, the Turkish general staff and the Israeli defense establishment were the main proponents for an enhanced relationship between the two countries.

The public aspects, trade, culture, science, are all strong and Britain was one of Israel’s main supporters during last month’s Operation Pillar of Defense against Gaza. Last year, Britain changed its universal jurisdiction law, greatly limiting (though not totally ending) the possibility of senior Israeli officials being prosecuted in London.

Abe advocates stronger diplomacy that includes significant revisions in Japan’s security policies. Not only does he want to allow the exercise of collective self-defense by Japan’s Self-Defense Forces (SDF), he wants to rename the SDF the National Defense Force (with the Japanese character for ‘Force’ changed to ‘Military’)

WHEN I presented Sachin Tendulkar with an honorary Member of the Order of Australia earlier this month in Mumbai, I was struck by the way he spoke so eloquently and emotionally about the important engagement he had with Australia when he started his Test career.