Saudi Arabia's new foreign minister, a US-educated connoisseur of Washington's diplomatic scene and longtime adviser to the Kingdom's rulers, is an articulate spokesman for his country's new assertive approach to the Middle East's growing conflicts.

Over the next year, the United Nations will make a critical choice. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s term ends Dec. 31, 2016, and a new leader will replace him. In the past, the election of a successor has taken place in the fall of a secretary-general’s final year in office, but the debate is heating up early this time around.Since the birth of the United Nations in 1945, eight men, from Norway, Sweden, Burma (or Myanmar), Austria, Peru, Egypt, Ghana and South Korea have held this important post. The next secretary-general should be a woman.

Robert Pszczel said he felt like he was in a Monty Python skit when he made a routine call to Russia's Defense Ministry back in June 2013."We cannot talk to you!" came the agitated reply in a hissed whisper, says Pszczel, acting out the scene for comic effect.This was how Pszczel, NATO's envoy in Russia, found out his line of contact with the ministry had been terminated.(...)Pszczel says incidents like this have been business as usual at the NATO outpost he runs in Moscow.

China and Algeria announced the comprehensive strategic partnership in February 2014 on the 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations and the 10th anniversary of strategic cooperation between the two countries.

The selection of a gown for a state dinner is always a matter of sartorial politics, cultural exchange and U.S. Chamber of Commerce-style marketing... It was also a beautiful example of fashion diplomacy.

In the unfolding reinvention of the U.S.-Cuban relationship, health appears as a sector with special promise for cooperation, particularly well-positioned to be the front edge of an opening with Cuba. Normalization of relations has the potential for fruitful, enlarged engagement in four key health-related areas that can bring mutual gain in improving lives and advancing knowledge.

Both China and the EU have attempted to form strong relationships with African countries over recent years, but how do citizens within these countries view China and the EU as development partners? Floor Keuleers presents survey evidence from a number of different countries in Africa. She notes that while views of the EU are positive in most cases, there is no evidence that the EU is seen as a better development partner than China overall.

A joint statement by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Spanish counterpart Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo said both countries have expressed their interest in taking full advantage of trade agreements in order to enhance the transformative impact of their respective economic policies.