The President isn’t the only one engaging Americans on Twitter. On June 28, the notice went out from the State Department’s spokesman that Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy Judith McHale would field her first “Twitter Q & A” the following morning.

The decision by President Obama to participate in Wednesday’s first Twitter town hall meeting, live from the East Room, is a reminder that the White House is eager to exploit whatever technologies will help get out his message, unfiltered.

Clegg’s visit was part of what British officials described as a “year-long charm offensive”. In this, he was successful, becoming the first British politician to address the Mexican senate, which he did in Spanish. He went on to ha{il} a new “axis of openness” and renewed ‘multilateral liberal interventionism’ in international affairs.

This month, Indonesians will get a chance to learn more about their neighbors to the north through a special cultural exchange program called "Experience China"...A series of cultural events, including music performances, film screenings, kung fu exhibitions and book fairs, will be held throughout July in the cities of Jakarta, Surabaya, Medan and Semarang.

Joe Biden, the vice president of the United States, is on Twitter. Known for making the occasional hilarious gaffe in a speech from time to time, the microblogging platform that is Twitter introduces new possibilities for Biden to throw out a bit of straight talk directly to the world.

If the U.S. and its allies are to address national security challenges successfully, then there is no choice but to engage in nation-building. The problem isn't that we are engaged in nation-building. The problem is that we do it so poorly. The U.S military hasn't fully embraced it as a part of its mission, and neither has the State Department.

Judging from voting trends during the past three decades, Democratic President Barack Obama can rest assured that he will receive a majority of Jewish votes in the 2012 presidential election. Obama will undoubtedly continue to enjoy wide support among American Jewry. But it is a sobering thought, as the US celebrates July 4, that this does not mean his Mideast policies will be good for Israel.

Recently the International Monetary Fund confirmed what the average Chinese has long anticipated: China will soon have the world's largest economy, surpassing the United States. Some Chinese believe that passing this milestone will have automatic consequences for international politics, giving China more international influence. But as history shows, the path may not have a single destination.