Nowadays, we call this phenomenon globalization: "the intensification of economic, political, social and cultural relations across borders,"... But make no mistake: the world that Ibn Battuta experienced in his travels nearly 700 years ago was as globalized as the world we live in today.

Since it is a given that the Palestinian proposal for unilateral statehood will pass in the UN General Assembly, it is not enough to ignore the proposal or simply lobby against it. Israel should announce, very publicly, that it will vote in favor...

Despite only being 64 years old, and constantly in a state of political turmoil, Israel is fast becoming known in technology circles, as the world’s second Silicon Valley and as a ‘start up nation’. This prowess in technology has resulted in leaders and high profile figures from around the world to make regular visits to the small embattled state to see the start up nation in action.

Nicholas J. Cull, Professor of Public Diplomacy at USC was invited to the Chinese Consulate General in Los Angeles and delivered a lecture on public diplomacy and soft power... Professor Cull discussed the concept of public diplomacy, its new development and shared lessons.

And we have a great commitment to our government-to-government relations, but we have an even greater commitment to our people-to-people ones. And we view them as absolutely central to the partnership and friendship between our countries.

"The problem with the Pakistanis is if they take away support from the Taliban they fear it will come back to haunt them," the diplomat said. But as weariness with the war grows, public diplomacy aimed at making a settlement more palatable to Western voters has been ramped up in recent weeks.

The impact of public diplomacy activities are crucially shaped by their context. What might be a good initiative in one situation will be totally ineffective in another. In the case of France’s work in the US context comes to the fore in at least three ways.

When it comes to overseas aid, the British are hard-headed but not hard-hearted, David Cameron declared on July 19th in Nigeria. In Lagos, Mr Cameron painted a vision of British aid as a catalyst for economic growth. A new opinion poll commissioned by Chatham House, a think-tank, shows deep scepticism about Mr Cameron’s foreign priorities.