Praise for Ms. Clinton came from Philip Seib who is the director of the Center on Public Diplomacy at the University of Southern California. He claimed that "her skill in advancing the use of public diplomacy was a highlight of her tenure as secretary."

Russian authorities on Tuesday expelled an American they accused of being a U.S. Central Intelligence Agency officer operating under diplomatic cover in Moscow, alleging that he attempted to recruit a member of the Russian intelligence services involved in antiterrorism work.

Increasingly noisy nationalist movements in both countries seem to consider the other country their ancient enemy, with citizens leading sometimes violent anti-Japanese or anti-Chinese protests and national leaders, including the heads of state, promoting confrontation over diplomacy.

The eruption of the Arab revolts in late 2010 and early 2011 put power relations among Middle Eastern countries in a state of flux, and both winners and losers have emerged. But, given that the strengths and weaknesses of most of the actors are highly contingent, the regional balance of power remains highly fluid.

In the same week as China announced a peace plan for the Arab-Israeli conflict and Russia and the United States announced agreement to hold an international conference to try and resolve the Syrian conflict peacefully, and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he would return to the region later this month to try and re-start Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, the Israeli government announced plans to build 300 new settler homes in the Beit-El colony near Ramallah.

After delivering a speech in front of a group of Arab journalists, Deputy Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Arinc raised his hands in prayer to bless good actions. The government and Turkey’s Anadolu news agency, invited us to the Turkish capital where we spent several days meeting with politicians and people close to the ruling party.

In Cuomo’s first major venture trying to resolve an international border disagreement – the worsening Peace Bridge situation – the governor and his team have unleashed a hardball strategy that has infuriated Canadians and aroused the concerns of federal officials in Ottawa and Washington.

On the face of it, the Browder vs. Russia match is uneven: One Man Against the Kremlin is almost a comic book title. In fact, it leveled out last December when the U.S. Congress, after heavy lobbying by Mr. Browder, adopted the so-called Magnitsky list, which imposes sanctions on 18 Russian officials alleged to have been complicit in the lawyer’s mistreatment.