And Obama didn't just lecture on the need for tolerance of religious minorities. He spoke of the importance of women's rights in a country where shocking abuses still endure. (...) These are unobjectionable remarks, and a point of view shared by likely everyone who crowded in to hear the American president speak. But don't expect Obama to share the same message with the United States' Saudi partners, whose cooperation on matters of counterterrorism in the Middle East and energy policy are vital for Washington's interests.

A new report by Physicians for Human Rights accuses Israel of using human shields and attacking medical workers and facilities during last summer’s war in the Gaza Strip. The report is based on testimony from eight overseas medical experts who made three visits to Gaza and interviewed doctors and wounded Palestinians.

On International Migrants Day 2014 (December 18), Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) William Lacy Swing wrote in a New York Times op-ed that 2014 was “the deadliest year for migrants on record” characterized by “unprecedented anti-migrant sentiment worldwide.” 

“Showing up is 80 percent of life” remarked filmmaker and writer Woody Allen in 1977, a quote that if taken to heart could have saved the Barack Obama administration lot of woes and embarrassment in the way it approaches policy and politics across the globe. Obama’s failure to show up or send the vice or an ex-president to Paris’ massive rally on Sunday in solidarity with Charlie Hebdo and freedom of speech, vividly illustrates the decline of U.S. soft power and absence of American leadership on the global stage.

Clooney found his match in a woman of high intelligence, cosmopolitan elan and Muslim heritage. Hmmm. President Clooney. First Lady Amal. American soft power at its best.

In 2014, China stepped up its campaign to shape international norms governing the Internet, moving vigorously in its public diplomacy and behind the scenes to subjugate the online world to state power.

Beijing has previously said its cooperation with African nations covers farm, health and infrastructure-related projects. In July, China said more than half its foreign aid, of more than $14 billion between 2010 and 2012, went to Africa. China says there are no strings attached to its aid, but some of its projects have drawn attention for their support of governments with poor human rights records and lack of transparency, such as Zimbabwe, Sudan and Angola.