Last week, I participated in an official visit to Indonesia with the president of Turkey, Abdullah Gül. I was told that Mr. Gül often asks academics to accompany him during official visits abroad and this time it was my turn.

How ironic that in a time of rapidly increasing connectivity around the globe, we are still so far from understanding other cultures, especially those that observe religions and traditions different from our own.

“We have been doing well on the development front,” the official, Zhao Qizheng, former head of the State Council Information Office, was quoted by China Daily as saying. “Now we need to talk better, to make our messages clearer to the world.”

These Chinese are not alone. A recent poll shows there are more Americans who believe China will be the dominant power in 20 years than believe the United States will retain that position.

Over a decade in the making, and with a $400 million price tag, it's a key piece of China's efforts to exert the "soft power" of culture on a grand international scale. The museum merges two prior institutions: the Museum of Chinese History and the Museum of Chinese Revolution.

Israel’s Defense Minister Ehud Barak has warned that the country could face a “diplomatic tsunami” later this year. He was referring to an effort by the Palestinians to win recognition from the United Nations as an independent state.

The revolutionary upheaval in the Southern neighbourhood and the failures of reforms in most of the Eastern neighbourhood are begging for a revised EU approach to the neighbourhood policy (ENP). In March the EU presented some ideas on ‘a partnership for democracy and shared prosperity’ with the Southern Mediterranean.

With Kim Jong-il, the Reverend Moon and military coups grabbing headlines, Korea has not always been the kingdom of cool.But since the South Koreans sent their generals back to the barracks and became the world's most internet-wired people, the transformation has taken place...