Despite the incredible energy Israelis spend on integrating with the American consensus - sending students to Harvard and MIT, scholarly hob knobbing and shoulder rubbing with policy institute doyens in Washington and political back scrubbing - no such efforts (or even signs of interest) are invested in developing relations with China.

Pakistan blocked YouTube and many other Internet sites Thursday in a widening crackdown on online content deemed offensive to Islam, reflecting the secular government's sensitivities to an issue that has ignited protests in the Muslim country.

Hazami Barmada is the president and CEO of Al-Mubadarah Arab Empowerment Initiative. As a public and cultural diplomacy professional, she focuses on international collaboration and community development with Arab-Muslim global communities.

Three new radio programs, Daybreak Asia, Crossroads Asia, and Middle East Monitor, focus on key developments in each region... Another program, International Edition, provides lively, fast-paced world news coverage, and American Café brings you stories about life in the United States.

Lebanese President Michel Suleiman yesterday stressed the importance of His Highness the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah's visit to Lebanon, which he said would benefit Arab unity as a whole.

As the European Union's economic vows continue in the wake of the Greece economic crisis, the effects are being felt across the Middle East. The European Union is struggling with what some argue is the region's worst economic crisis since the Second World War.

It has been almost 17 years since Yasir Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin shook hands in the White House Rose Garden, setting in motion a process that was supposed to end the conflict for good.

Russian diplomacy has been on a roll in recent months, the revival of ties with Ukraine being the most dramatic manifestation. But a string of successes, major and minor, sung and unsung, has been notched up below that high point - in Poland, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Norway and Syria.