Authorities in Inner Mongolia sought to calm some of the worst ethnic strife in two decades by pledging to address concerns of the local Mongol population about the environmental costs of mining in the resource-rich region, and by announcing that a Han Chinese will be tried for murder over the death of a young Mongol man.

We are living in the 21st century, and the motor of the day is soft power. And those who would be able to use soft power with full gear would be able to secure their leading position in the Middle East, in Northern Africa and other volatile regions.

Pressure is building from governments, companies and nonprofit groups to lift sanctions and “engage” with the regime. With U.S. companies and diplomats mostly absent, China has become the dominant power. The Burmese people remain poor and isolated from the world.

CPD Director Philip Seib was recently quoted in an article in The Layalina Review concerning President Obama’s new vision for American foreign policy in the Middle East.

A Chinese film festival will be launched in both Myanmar's new capital of Nay Pyi Taw and the former capital of Yangon next month under the culture exchange program of Myanmar and China. The Chinese film week, which will last from June 11 to 17, will be the first since 2006.

The images of Barack Obama's recent visit were a publicity consultant's dream. But beyond the feel-good photography and the cheerful bonhomie, there was purpose and substance to Obama's trip, specifically the need to redefine America's relationship with Europe in a much-changed world.

Obama's morale-boosting stop-off, together with Queen Elizabeth's historic state visit just days earlier, have given Irish tourism a boost it desperately needed after three years of recession saw revenues and visitors drop by about a third.

Korea, China and Japan will establish tourism routes linking the countries, as agreed in a trilateral tourism ministers' meeting. They also agreed to cooperate in minimizing the effects of natural disasters and terrorism, and develop a crisis management manual and tourism promotion programs.