Crises have always existed in diplomacy and will always come upon us, and as a result, there are several traditional mechanisms for crisis management and crisis prevention that are more relevant than ever.

Glued to television sets in Ramallah’s shisha cafes, Palestinians have been watching al-Jazeera television attentively as Egyptian people rise up from Alexandria to Cairo. Looking on with admiration as tens of thousands fill the streets during the January 28th “Day of Rage”, cheers erupt through the cafes with every police retreat and every Molotov cocktail that lands on security vehicles.

"Long live Al Jazeera!" chanted Egyptian protesters in Tahrir Square on Feb. 6. Many Arabs -- not least the staff at Al Jazeera -- have said for years that the Arab satellite network would help bring about a popular revolution in the Middle East. Now, after 15 years of broadcasting, it appears the prediction has come true.

Gallup is out with a new national poll on Americans' views of the pro-democracy protests in Egypt. The results show that fear-mongering by some in the media about a post-Mubarak Egypt has apparently not taken hold, with huge majorities expressing sympathy for the protesters.

Protesters buoyed by the release of Wael Ghonim, a cyber activist and Google executive, are holding mass demonstrations against the rule of Hosni Mubarak for a 15th day in Cairo.

The wave of protests in the Arab world has highlighted the power of Al-Jazeera, which has unparalleled influence in the Middle East. It has been banned from reporting on the unrest in Egypt, where its reporters have been targeted by Mubarak supporters. Governments in the region fear the station could be their undoing.

The Obama administration is hoping the aid program to Pakistan [USAID], the second-largest recipient of U.S. civilian aid after Afghanistan, will help stabilize the fragile but strategically important country and boost America's image among ordinary Pakistanis.

A series of cables released today reveal that U.S. diplomats were alarmed by Brazil's forays into Mideast diplomacy, long before last year's unsuccessful nuclear deal with Iran and the recognition of the Palestinian state.