It might be the end of American hegemony in the global political and economic order, but unemployed and underpaid Americans can at least take heart at today's news. Social networking site Badoo.com conducted a poll of 30,000 people in 15 countries to name the coolest nationality. Despite a sinking economy, pathetic politics, and increasingly suspect pop culture exports -- Americans are still number 1.

As Russia tries to undo its reputation as the most unwelcoming tourist destination in Europe, Moscow is investing $3 billion to make the country more enticing to visitors and has set aide $82 million for its 200 nature preserves, some of which are unique natural wonders that have never been open to even the Russian public, much less foreign tourists.

A research carried out by The News International shows that there are nearly 510 million Chinese-speaking people using the internet currently—-the second most after those who talk in English. Mandarin is the most widely spoken language on earth as over 1.372 billion humans residing on the planet express themselves in this lingo.

Arab states engage in far too little outreach, even to other Arabs close to home. Perhaps this is because they have been unimpressed – and justifiably so – by much of the public diplomacy that has been sent their way...But the Arab Awakening of 2011 has captured the world’s interest, and failing to capitalize on that would mean missing a valuable opportunity to move the Arab states more fully into the global mainstream.

Cowboys and Aliens was the biggest, shiniest fruit yet to fall off the tree planted in July 2009 by Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks and India's Reliance Entertainment. What Reliance are attempting – to perform locally within India as a Bollywood production house, and step up to the international stage, too – is extremely difficult.

As the government slowly ousts the traffickers and regains the upper hand — part of an organized cleanup ahead of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro — companies are starting to understand that there is cash in what was once chaos. Taking products, services and jobs back into the pacified favelas is the latest challenge facing a city hoping to reverse decades of neglect as it prepares to host not just the Olympics but also the soccer World Cup final in 2014.

As Turks returned Monday from a month of fasting and holidays over Ramadan, their government proudly declared the amount of aid they had gathered together to send to fellow Muslims in Somalia: More than $237 million. Turkey has made no secret of its desire to increase its influence in the Middle East and Muslim Africa.