In these cases of chronic crisis, recurring shocks erase development gains and set local populations back into urgent need over and over again. With many in the Sahel still struggling to recover from the region's last food crisis in 2010, they now face a new crisis of food access.

This creates a tension between immediate, sometimes kinetic responses to security challenges that the military typically delivers and “soft-power” solutions that take a longer-term view toward resolving the underlying political, economic and social development causes, the ambassador noted.

Some people say we're trying to export Chinese films to the United States," he said. "That does not reflect our real thinking. What Chinese films lack is content and concepts, not [distribution] channels. The U.S., especially Hollywood, is so strong for film production. So if we're going to produce films, we need to work together.

“Showcasing favorite cuisines, ceremonies and values is an often overlooked and powerful tool of diplomacy,” Mrs. Clinton wrote, “The meals that I share with my counterparts at home and abroad cultivate a stronger cultural understanding between countries and offer a unique setting to enhance the formal diplomacy we conduct every day.”

Lost in such big-hearted diplomacy is the fact that India is downriver to China rejects the very concept of water sharing...Instead, the construction of upstream dams on international rivers shows that China is increasingly bent on unilateral actions, impervious to the concerns of downstream nations.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced the United States would join the European Union and other nations to develop the "International Code of Conduct for Outer Space Activities" that would establish an international framework for the responsible use of space..."the United States was committed to reversing the troubling trends that are damaging our space environment."

If some marketers, fans and athletes have anything to say, these Games will be the first Social Media Olympics -- the "Socialympics," as some are calling them. Even the Olympic movement, which sometimes steps into the future with great caution, has warily accepted the idea.

Through the Colombo Plan, the Menzies Government draw in the best and brightest students to universities in Australia and students who came to Australia under the plan developed this lasting impression and an understanding of our country and our way of life and built a legacy of enduring friendship between peoples and countries in the region.