From Haiti to Japan to Egypt, digital natives have reshaped society by bringing ideas to life with the touch of a button. In his latest book, analyst John Zogby characterizes the Millennial generation as “the First Globals”—the first generation to truly view themselves as part of a global citizenry above the old boundaries of traditional nationalism. For these “First Globals”, the world is their oyster, and a passport their ticket to success.

September brings a change in seasons and a chance to remember. A dozen years have passed since the day the twin towers fell, but we never look at a bright-blue, clear September sky quite the same way, and certainly each September 11 anniversary gives us pause. With so much global agony, including conflict in Syria and throughout the Middle East, this is a good time to remind ourselves about the value of our diplomacy, particularly public diplomacy, and to remember those working overseas so that we can feel secure at home.

Recent events surrounding Syria have prompted me to speak directly to the American people and their political leaders. It is important to do so at a time of insufficient communication between our societies. Relations between us have passed through different stages. We stood against each other during the cold war. But we were also allies once, and defeated the Nazis together. The universal international organization — the United Nations — was then established to prevent such devastation from ever happening again.

Last year, on the anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States, an assault on the US mission in Benghazi, Libya, led to the deaths of four American diplomats, including Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens. The attack, which caused the US government to cancel public-diplomacy programs, evacuate offices, and tighten security substantially, was a massive setback for American diplomatic efforts in Libya.

The Australian elections today may not make global headlines, but as any Australia-watcher will tell you, politics "down under" is dramatic, passionate and almost Shakespearian in its endless narrative of unexpected betrayal, ruthlessness, revenge and the search for redemption. Today’s contest is between incumbent Prime Minister Kevin Rudd from the Labour Party and Tony Abbott, leader of the opposition Liberal and National coalition.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded tepidly to Hassan Rohani's Rosh Hashanah Twitter greetings on Saturday, saying he is not impressed by "Greetings coming from the mouth of a regime that only last week threatened to eradicate the State of Israel." Netanyahu added that the Iranian leadership will be evaluated through its actions, and not via greetings "whose only goal is to divert attention from the fact that even after the elections, it continues the enrichment of uranium and the cunstruction of a plutonium reactor meant to allow it to develop nuclear weapons that will threaten Isr

In recent days, the blogosphere and the international press have been abuzz over the public relations campaign undertaken by Iran's new president, Hassan Rouhani, and his foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif. Tweets by accounts associated with both men — caveat: the president has not explicitly confirmed his —can be credited with nudging Iran’s public posture on Syria in a more moderate direction, and distancing the new Rouhani administration from the anti-Semitic trope of his predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

With parts of Venezuela still dark after a mysterious blackout that left the capital and 17 states without electricity, President Nicolas Maduro was to meet Wednesday with public utility and military officials to respond to the power failure, which he blamed on opposition sabotage. The power shutdown began midday Tuesday after an apparent failure involving high-voltage transmission lines in western Aragua and Guarico states, which led to total power outage in several of the country’s most populous areas.