I was glad to see more than 200 people in the audience for a discussion on water, peace, and security on the margins of the 67th meetings of the UN General Assembly yesterday. The United States, the European Union, and UN-Water co-sponsored the event, which drew senior representatives from governments, UN agencies, and international financial institutions.

Amy Zalman recently proposed that “soft power” – as a conceptual frame for understanding global politics – is too narrow and has outlived its usefulness. Her provocation generated fruitful responses and suggests that we might be ready to stop treading water and move beyond our decade-long fixation with the term to new and more constructive places.

Obama's comments to the General Assembly will be scrutinized around the globe and by the gathering of presidents and prime ministers in the famed United Nations hall, given the tumult, terrorism, nuclear threats and poverty that bind so many nations. He will respond to unrest in the Muslim world and seek to underscore U.S. resolve in keeping Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.

The US Agency for International Development (USAID), aimed at spreading American values all over the world, has started packing up in Russia early this week. Moscow was the initiator of closing down the instrument of American “soft power”, referring to Russian laws.

President Hosni Mubarak did not even wait for President Obama’s words to be translated before he shot back. "You don’t understand this part of the world,” the Egyptian leader broke in. “You’re young.”

Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague is in Ottawa to announce an agreement between the two countries that Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird says will start with embassies in Haiti and Burma, and will allow civil servants to consider doing so in more countries as the need arises.

Over the past few years, Korean popular culture, often abbreviated as “K-pop,” has gained immense popularity in many countries. Following the initial surge of interest in Korean television dramas and popular music, nowadays all things Korean ― from food, movies and dances to fashion and language ― are quite the rage.

The United States and Pakistan are planning a joint effort to draw the Taliban toward peace talks in Afghanistan, an initiative that could help reconcile some militants and give Pakistan a say in the political future of its larger neighbor. A joint commission, or "action group," would help vet candidates for political rehabilitation, with a goal of helping Afghanistan frame a workable peace deal after U.S. and foreign forces leave.