Governments may better appreciate the potential of social media in coming years but it is up to citizens to engage today. Tweet once a day, participate in social media meetings, volunteer to teach and brainstorm ways to benefit your society. Never underestimate the knowledge you have; pass it on.

Almost every day, we see new examples of the power of connection technologies...The Arab spring brought home the power of the Internet to governments far beyond the Middle East, and the result has been more censorship, more surveillance and more restrictions...the Internet space – which has seemed so open and free – could become less so.

Leaving Iraq will ease the US of the burdensome image of invader and occupier of a Muslim country, which of course has strengthened al-Qaeda and like-minded groups from the Maghreb to Indonesia.

Sharjah has opened its doors to national and international media, and pledged to offer real-time responses to incidents and inquires for information about incidents taking place in the emirate. The Sharjah Media Centre will facilitate the flow of information and news from different departments in the emirate to local and international media.

Robert Ford, the American ambassador to Syria, slipped out of the country on Sunday after credible threats were made against him. Ford and the Damascus embassy staff have been posting extensive content criticizing Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to Facebook and offering public sympathy for Syrian rebels.

A new era of caution, particularly toward a model that once looked like the wave of the future. Some experts say branch campuses - where a U.S. university "plants a flag," operates its own campus and awards degrees in its own name - are falling from favor.

For two countries that have spent so much time together, the traces of an American cultural impact are faint and will grow dimmer still as the United States military withdraws...but there is a hip-hop scene.