In a move that sounds convenient and a little terrifying, international travelers to Australia may not need a passport by 2020. Officials say that the country is implementing a system to replace the standard paper ID with biometric technology that recognizes faces, irises and/or fingerprints. If all goes to plan, passengers from other countries will arrive in Australia and walk directly out of the airport just like a domestic traveler.

Indonesia has for the first time revealed that it protested to China about the publication in its passports of its “nine-dash line” claim to almost the entire South China Sea. Beijing’s decision to print the new map last year prompted protests from the Philippines and Vietnam, which also claim large parts of the South China Sea.

When you pass through a country's borders, what does it mean to have immigration issue that authoritative stamp in your passport? For Palestinian artist, Khaled Jarrar, it means a great deal because his country does not exist as a nation state.

Anyone attempting to visit the United States as a student, businessman or tourist knows that getting a visa can take weeks or months, and involve several visits to a U.S. embassy or consulate. U.S. officials say they are aware of the need to improve visa and other services for visitors, and that they are making concerted efforts toward that end.

Goodbye, Mom and Dad. Hello, Parent One and Parent Two. The State Department has decided to make U.S. passport application forms "gender neutral" by removing references to mother and father, officials said, in favor of language that describes one's parentage somewhat less tenderly.

After two centuries of economic growth and increasing world influence, America has come to view itself as a nation apart. Other countries - France, Great Britain, Germany, Russia - may have been great powers. But the US has historically seen itself as an exceptional power - one destined to lead the others into a globalized era of democratic peace, underpinned by a universal network of free trade.